Author: Race Director

Just an old slot car racer and Race Director at Stewart Raceway.

Race Report: 2023 50/50 Racing Series, Round 1

While the weather didn’t cooperate, the slot car faithful certainly did. Nice turnout in spite of the rainy conditions and lack of shuttle service from the parking lots to the paddock. Oh well, 1/64 scale shuttles can’t transport many “real” people anyway.

Okay, so the short stories are a battle royale between George Peters and “Home Cook’n” in the Expert class and Jordan Walker and Kevin Webster in the Sportsman class.

George Peters, Home Cook’n, Kevin Webster. (Right-click and open in a new tab for a larger image.)

Race 1: Mega-G+ 1.7 Support Class (NASCAR bodies) (18v)

Wow! This was the debut of our new MG+ Support class and the summary of results shows just how competitive this class is. Yea, the two experts (1 & 2) in the race had more laps in the end. But look at the Sportsman class results, very close competition and very exciting racing. George Peters had a very good run in the expert class while Kevin Webster and Jerry Pearson battled it out in the Sportsman class. Jerry held the lead until the sixth segment with 75-laps but Kevin finished off the the last two segments with 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the last two segments, placing third overall and first in the Sportsman points chase.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 80 16 618.884
2 Steve Stewart 79 13 670.183
3 Kevin Webster 75 11 667.132
4 Jerry Pearson 75 7 725.873
5 Jordan Walker 74 6 653.039
6 Eric Lane 72 5 630.132
7 Martha Elderon 71 4 620.547

Race 2: Mega-G+ 1.7 “Super Modifieds” IROC (18v)

Making a smooth transition to yet another Mega-G+ platform, Race 2 would be an IROC format utilizing box-stock MG+ platforms but with taller and harder compound rear tires. And, of course, an even more top-heavy body style.

A new neighbor, Tim Bisson, and his son, Jake showed up in time for Race 2. Tim and Jake didn’t waste any time deciding to jump right in and race. Jake, only five years old, was amazing in his first slot car race ever. He had incredible throttle control and clicked off lap-after-lap with minimal crashes, finishing the race with a very respectable 56-lap total.  Dad, Tim, returning to slot car racing after 20-years, finished the race with 70-laps, just 5-laps less than the Sportsman race leader–nice!

Martha Elderon came out of the starting grid extremely fast in this first segment posting the Best Lap time and the best Median Lap time, finishing in the segment in second place–nice driving!

In the end, Home Cook’n bagged the Expert win by just one lap over George Peters. The Sportsman class was just as competitive with only 3-laps separating first from fifth. Eric Lane bagged third overall and the top Sportsman points.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 16 684.799
2 George Peters 79 13 676.107
3 Eric Lane 75 11 744.85
4 Jordan Walker 74 7 670.911
5 Kevin Webster 74 6 718.375
6 Jerry Pearson 73 5 659.657
7 Martha Elderon 72 4 778.706
8 Tim Bisson 70 3 746.119
9 Jake Bisson 53 2 732.403

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC “Lexan” (15v)

Always crazy fast, this race was no different. Once again, Martha Elderon came out swinging and bagged a second, two thirds, and a fourth-place finish in this fast and furious race.

Jordan Walker would bag three second-place finishes and Eric Lane would bag two second-place finishes, very nice driving.

In the end, George Peters was not going to be outdone by Home Cook’n. George took the lead in the race in Segment 5 and never looked back, winning three of his four rotations and besting Home Cook’n on total run time for the win.

The backstories in this one are many but Jerry and Martha finished on the same lap with Jerry besting Martha by just a hair over 2 seconds in their final segment. Very close racing, indeed.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 80 16 478.143
2 Steve Stewart 80 13 598.6
3 Jordan Walker 77 11 495.259
4 Kevin Webster 74 7 504.747
5 Jerry Pearson 70 6 492.392
6 Martha Elderon 70 5 604.793
7 Eric Lane 69 4 639.381
8 Tim Bisson 56 3 620.068
9 Jake Bisson 36 2 518.317

Race 4: Viper Jet “Maximum Leeway” Lexan (15v)

Well, we lost a few racers prior to this one but five of us pressed on and finished the program. The last race was a bit slower pace but we ran these cool rigs at 15v, which is a bit challenging on any course.

Other than a few gnarly crashes involving dislodged parts and loud noises, this one was fairly uneventful. Both Kevin Webster and Eric Lane posted second-place segment finishes in this one with Kevin bagging the final podium spot and a third overall.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 16 781.178
2 George Peters 76 13 730.166
3 Kevin Webster 73 11 823.422
4 Jordan Walker 66 7 815.471
5 Eric Lane 63 6 825.995

Okay, a very nice day of racing. Bad weather is what slot cars were made for and today was a perfect example of having fun even when the weather isn’t cooperating. Great to meet Tim and Jake. Most people typically just hang out and observe or help corner marshal slot car races when they first check it out or get back into it. Tim and Jake jumped right into the mayhem and did very well. Jake is definitely going to enjoy the frequent kids’ races and Tim looks like he’ll have no trouble at all getting up to speed racing with us “Slotheads”. Hope they both enjoyed it and return for more fun soon.

So what’s the story after Round one of this new series?

Sportsman Point Standings after Round 1:
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Kevin Webster 296 35 2713.676
2 Jordan Walker 291 31 2634.68
3 Eric Lane 279 26 2840.358
4 Jerry Pearson 218 18 1877.922
5 Martha Elderon 213 13 2004.046
6 Tim Bisson 126 6 1366.187
7 Jake Bisson 89 4 1250.72
Expert Points Standings after Round 1:
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 315 58 2503.3
2 Steve Stewart 319 58 2734.76
Eric always brings something to every race. These are napkins to help serve the awesome Krispy Creme donuts he often brings to get us through the day. Thanks for the chocolates also, Eric!

I think we should stick with this Mega-G+ 1.7 class, it seems to be one of the more competitive classes of cars we’ve run here at Stewart Raceway and it’s a very easy car to prepare and compete with.

We’ll likely do a track day next Saturday and Round 2 the following Saturday. Stay tuned for the calendar updates.

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

Open Track Day Report

Julian, Abe, and Grace cutting laps on SR3. Right-click and open a new browser window for larger pics.

Wow! I think we broke records for attendance at Stewart Raceway yesterday.

What a great turnout of junior drivers, parents, and club drivers preparing for next Saturday’s 50/50 Series opening round.

Thank you to all our friends and parents who brought their kids to the track Saturday. It was fantastic to see all lanes busy, parents helping and coaching the kids, marshaling crashes, and supporting all the young drivers as they clicked off hundreds of laps. That was cool!

Eric Lane’s healthfood contribution to the event. Thanks, Eric!

Yea, it was a bit crazy at times but what do you expect when you hand over control of a little car capable of doing 600 (scale) miles per hour? The kids like to go fast but they also like their total lap counts, which seemed to be the focus of the day.

Once again, the top junior driver was Abe Maddox. Abe clicked off the most laps in both “kids” sessions and wasn’t shy about it either.  That was his goal and he nailed it. Madeline Johnson was next best in terms of total laps in both sessions running on the outside Yellow lane. Yes, there were faster young drivers in the field today but Abe and Madeline seemed to understand the “Turtle and the Hare” story better than most. Dax Schwartz hung in there for both sessions and was a close third in total laps running in the other outside lane (Red), which is definitely not the ideal lane for total laps.

It wasn’t an “official” race but all the kids were very keen on keeping track of their lap counts and making sure their car was quickly placed in the slot after crashes. I’m amazed at the focus and attention they gave to driving these little cars for so long, totally cool.

Okay, it is clear that the kids enjoy this stuff just as much as we older “kids.” That said, I think we should have another “official” junior race soon. However, I think it might be more fun if the parents team up with the kids and do some sort of “teams” event. Anyway, I’ll look into it and see if the software we use can support it.

Thanks also to the veteran drivers who helped the kids while they patiently waited for access to the busy track. The kids eventually got bored with little cars and moved on to other things and the older kids got to get some track time in also. All in all, a great day playing with little cars.

Okay, stay tuned for details on a future parents/kids race day and get-together. Until then, next Saturday, February 4, kicks off the 2023 50/50 Racing Series. This is a “big kid” race event involving driver/owner-prepared Viper V-SPEC cars, the new Mega-G+ class, and two IROC class races. Register here. Mega-G+ car prep videos here.

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

 

 

 

New Website Features

Right-click image and open in new window to view the actual size.

While I’ve been “self-quarantined” I’ve been hacking on the Stewart Raceway website even more than previously announced.

Last week I added a new Forums service with a bit of a different twist. The new Forum is also available to the larger slot car community. We’ll see how that goes but anybody can create an account and post to the forums. Currently, Roseville Raceway and Thunder Road Raceway have their own forum categories, which they can manage. We’ll see if there is any interest from these track owners in taking advantage of forums to communicate with their communities. Their members/subscribers can also use most of the services available to Stewart Raceway members.

Native Private Messaging service. This is the primary and recommended PM service to use.

In addition to the forum features, I also added Private Messaging, Group Messaging, and Member/Subscriber Profile capabilities to the site. The basic idea behind these services is to allow members/subscribers to message each other directly or in a group fashion, and keep their member profiles updated with the most current info.

Yea, so what? I know, most of you could care less about these features. But one very useful aspect of profiles is having Stewart Raceway member profile information accessible to the Race Director. Right now the profile is pretty basic, consisting of contact info, scale interests, and classes currently competing in. The profile also includes driver availability for racing and/or track events. All of this helps track owners plan and organize racing and track events.

So, for now, the CALL TO ACTION is to simply log in to the site when you get a chance. This will automatically register you to the new profile and messaging features. All of these features, including the Forums, are only available to logged-in users.

Standalone PM service. Still evaluating but feel free to try it out and compare to the standard PM service. I may restrict this one to Race Director use-only, we’ll see.

Feel free to edit/update your profile while you’re logged in, only takes a few minutes.

NOTE: Right now there are two Private Messaging services. One is an integral component of your site account, which is accessible on your account/profile page after log in. The other is a stand-alone private messaging app accessible from the Member Resources page. Both are fine to use but each has its own interface and functionality.  

If there seems to be interest in these new services, I’ll post additional user information and maybe a video or two on how to use them, we’ll see.

Open Track Day next Saturday! Register now!

Round 1 of the new 2023 50/50 Series goes green February 3, 2023. Register Now!

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

 

 

 

The 2022 Racing Season Is In The Books

Given the holiday hustle & bustle, it’s not likely we’ll be able to pull off another race day event this year. As such, our season officially ended after the 2022 IROC Championship finale on December 10.

First off, I’d like to thank all of you who stuck with our program and attended as many races/events as you could. Kathy and I really appreciate your loyalty, interest, and friendship.

We’ve had a wild ride this season, for sure. The season started out well but once we made the planned switch to HOPRA rules, we lost a few drivers. Not only that, we lost those drivers while we were trying to bring a new 6-lane Brad Bowman track online. Nothing is more impactful than losing participation when you’re increasing racing capacity by 50 percent.

In spite of that setback, we also added a few new drivers to the group in 2022. These new drivers are entering a program that is very well-positioned to both encourage and cultivate new participants in this great hobby we all have loved for most of our lives.

So, again, I really appreciate those of you who stuck with the program and made it as successful as it has been. We’ve done a whole lot of different types of racing, with all kinds of different types of cars, body styles, racing formats, etc. And through it all, the competition has been extremely close and the racing super exciting and–most important–fun.

So who were the top dogs in the two different driver classifications we currently offer?

2022 Sportsman Class Standings
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Kevin Webster 6861 454 55303.45
2 Jordan Walker 5483 315 47097.53
3 Jerry Pearson 1949 167 21366.55
4 Eric Lane 915 69 7651.906
5 Gabe Maddox 35 29 218.53
6 Kathy Stewart 120 16 394.248
7 Martha Elderon 204 9 1020.019
8 Jared Johnson 122 7 1576.468
9 Madeline Johnson 105 5 1650.493
2022 Expert Class Standings
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 9674 862 69452.86
2 Greg Kondrek 4490 379 19191.5
3 Ian Douglass 3530 344 15465.58
4 Brad Sandahl 3157 265 25463.15
5 Russ Toy 3180 197 15957.58
6 Randy Cook 136 13 1566.557
7 Steve Stewart 10607 1182 70235.96

Again, congratulations to Kevin and George. They love racing these little cars and it clearly shows in the results they’ve achieved.

I hope everyone enjoyed the 2022 Stewart Raceway season and certainly hope all of you return for the 2023 season. We’re going to stick to our rule set and overall program in the hopes of growing our ranks by making it easier, more affordable, and more competitive–for more racers.

Stay tuned for the 2023 racing schedule and a couple of exciting additions to the program. Happy Holidays to all of you!

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

 

 

2022 I.R.O.C. Champs Enshrined

After a grueling four-event racing series, on both road and oval courses, the best “drivers” have emerged.

IROC racing removes the advantage of a particular type or build of car and determines the best overall driver by pure driving and adapting abilities.

In IROC racing each driver has to drive a fixed car on each lane for a set number of laps or rotations. The driver is not allowed to change the car other than clean the tires and pickup shoes between each segment.

In the Stewart Raceway IROC series, all kinds of different cars, courses, and race formats were utilized to determine which drivers best adapted to the varied conditions and scored the most points in four different race day events.

Today, the following drivers were enshrined on the Stewart Raceway “Wall of Fame” for outstanding achievement in a very competitive racing series:

      • Kevin Webster (Sportsman)
      • George Peters (Expert)

Congratulations, Gentlemen!