Abe and Mom in action during the first teams race.
Wow! We don’t often report on open track days but this one was noteworthy.
Having to postpone Round 4 of the 2023 50/50 Series resulted in a big day for junior drivers and parents. We had three junior drivers show up for some track time with parents. Almost everybody ended up participating in our first-ever Teams race event (8 drivers).
It was just a fun race to check out the software and get some experience running team races. We had ten drivers on the day and ended with a four-team elimination race. Not exactly a fair setup but we broke it into three brackets, and the winner takes all.
The highlights were junior driver, Abe Maddox, taking his first heat race win in the first heat of the first team race. Then, another junior driver, Harper Hutchinson, bagged two heat race wins in the second team race. Very impressive driving!
Carrie worked hard during practice to garner the most laps on the day.
The junior drivers were awesome on the day with Abe Maddox (substitute driving for Home Cook’n) and Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, of team Unforgiven, storming to victory in the finale against a veteran team (The Pickleheads), Jerry Pearson and Eric “Fastlane” Lane.
Yet another junior driver, Carrie Sandahl, clinched the practice sessions with 329 laps over second place with 270 laps.
A way fun day and great to try something new and have parents and kids racing together. Can’t wait to try some more team racing!
Thank you all for showing up and supporting Stewart Raceway!
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.
On a cold, windy, and rainy day in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the four top drivers in the series took the green flag for the final round of the 2022 IROC Champs Series.
The final round of the series for the Expert class was never really a question, George Peters came into the final round with an insurmountable lead in points. The big question was who was going to win the Sportsman class honors.
Kevin Webster came into the final round with a 23-point advantage over Rookie of the Year candidate, Jerry Pearson. With a maximum of 64 points and a minimum of 28 points available in this final round, Jerry had a reasonably good shot at overtaking Kevin for top honors and taking home the 2022 IROC Champs trophy.
Unfortunately, the bad weather and road conditions prevented Jerry from making the potentially hazardous trek to Stewart Raceway to compete in the finale. As a result, Kevin Webster didn’t even have to finish the final event to secure his place on the Stewart Raceway Wall of Fame.
Congratulations to Kevin Webster and George Peters, 2022 IROC Champions! And, congrats to 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl for winning the final round of this hard-fought series.
Short Story Summary
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
386
50
4668.871
2
George Peters
381
46
4671.36
3
Kevin Webster
354
28
4662.525
*
Steve Stewart
399
64
4557.734
Race 1: Wizzard Storm Extremes courtesy of Kevin Webster’s stable of fine cars. (15v)
These are actually pretty cool magnet cars and easy to drive. The race wasn’t all that eventful after the first segment, which was quite a dogfight between all drivers. The rest of the race was pretty much a broken record with no lead or place changes but a very close race between the top three expert drivers. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
98
13
970.665
2
George Peters
97
11
983.099
3
Kevin Webster
90
7
968.232
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
926.601
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Super Modifieds
Recently updated from zero-downforce cars to L42 magnet cars, the MTS 3D-printed Super Modifieds are quite a bit faster and much more stable on the road course. Brad Sandahl and Kevin Webster burst from the starting line in this race to take 1-2 in the first segment.
Home Cook’n would recapture the lead after the second segment while George Peters overtook Kevin Webster for 3rd place. Brad stayed very close to Home Cook’n throughout the race but had some bad luck in the final segment in the blue lane, which forced him to have to settle for runner-up spot but valuable points towards the overall. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
96
13
1434.589
2
George Peters
93
11
1447.717
3
Kevin Webster
89
7
1435.581
*
Steve Stewart
99
16
1428.958
Race 3: Viper-Jet SPEC JET
The third race of the day was the VSR Viper-Jet utilizing a Maximum Leeway Lexan body. Brad Sandahl would suffer not only a flaky car in his first segment in the white lane but also a controller malfunction that forced him to replace it in the middle of the race. Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, took advantage of the mayhem and secured a nice second-place finish in the second segment. George Peters stayed steady and smooth throughout the race and would secure the second podium spot while Brad Sandahl recovered nicely for the final podium spot. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
93
13
1320.942
2
Brad Sandahl
92
11
1345.123
3
Kevin Webster
89
7
1335.915
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
1308.07
Race 4: Jag Hobbies TR-3 Augorans (15v)
The final race of the series was the always fast and exciting Jag TR-3. These are slightly upgraded from the stock configuration so a bit faster but smoother to drive.
This one was yet another dogfight between the three expert drivers with Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, letting it all hang out trying to hang with the trio in every segment. Brad Sandahl stayed focused and determined and finished the day with a nice placing just ahead of George Peters by two laps and winning the final segment. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
100
13
918.494
2
George Peters
98
11
919.602
3
Kevin Webster
86
7
922.797
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
894.105
Kevin obviously pleased with his efforts this season.
All in all, it was a great day of racing. Kevin secured his Sportsman IROC Champs victory by finishing well in all the races and hanging tough with a field of ALL expert drivers battling each other every lap in the finale.
George Peters secured his IROC Champs victory by showing up for all the races and garnering the lion’s share of points, as he typically does every chance he gets to race.
Georgie claims he doesn’t have room for all the hardware he’s amassed this season. I think he took it home anyway.
Hats off to Brad Sandahl today, he’s in only his second year of slot car racing and is clearly a force to be reckoned with, both now and well into the future.
So how did the “Squeeze Lane” section change work out? Well, I think we only had a couple of incidences that resulted in crashes. We’ll leave that addition in the road course for a while and see what it yields.
2022 IROC Champs Overall Final Standings
Place
Name
Class
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
Exp
1415
199
12128.93
2
Kevin Webster
Sport
1315
126
12274.78
3
Brad Sandahl
Exp
746
92
8000.819
4
Jerry Pearson
Sport
641
75
5416.834
5
Eric Lane
Sport
915
69
7651.906
6
Jordan Walker
Sport
372
29
1608.379
7
Martha Elderon
Sport
204
9
1020.019
*
Steve Stewart
Exp
1463
253
11894.73
Sportsman Class
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
1315
126
12274.78
2
Jerry Pearson
641
75
5416.834
3
Eric Lane
915
69
7651.906
4
Jordan Walker
372
29
1608.379
5
Martha Elderon
204
9
1020.019
Expert Class
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
1415
199
12128.93
2
Brad Sandahl
746
92
8000.819
*
Steve Stewart
1463
253
11894.73
* Home Cook’n results are not factored in the series points. Owning the track means enjoying a massive advantage. And even more so when you build and/or maintain many of the IROC cars being contested.
Stay tuned for details on a possible open track day before the end of the 2022 season. This race likely concludes our “official” racing season for 2022. Stay tuned for season points standings, rookie of the year, and other accolades.
The series finale is almost upon us and the trophies are being prepared now.
Round 4 will be run on the SR3 road course but with a surprise “twist” to add some more complexity to the already challenging series for the drivers.
The final round is slated for Saturday, November 26, 2022 but may be delayed until after Thanksgiving, depending on the availability of drivers over the holiday weekend, of course.
The schedule is in the works and will be announced soon. Please PM the Race Director if you have a conflict or otherwise can’t make this final round date.
IROC Championship Series Points Standings After Round 3:
Again, congrats to George Peters on dominating the 2022 NASCAR MADness Series that ended August 6. George has likely completed his media tour and press appearances by now so it’s time to kickoff another series and start racing again. What we do next will depend a lot on interest and driver availability.
One series that I’d like to do before the end of the 2022 season is an ALL IROC Championship series. The first round of the IROC series is currently slated for October 1, 2022 and will consist of four events, four individual races each event, and will include oval and road courses, sometimes on the same race day. The total points winners of the series will take home mondo trophies for being the best Sportsman and Expert “drivers” competing in the series. This series may be run contiguously or not.
Another series I’m interested in is a weeknight oval course program that could include any type of car we currently run. The racing format will be a bit different than what we’ve been doing. Only one platform (car) will be run at each event. The nightly schedule will include:
Qualifying (best average time of three laps)
Scratch Race 1
Scratch Race 2
Scratch Race 3
“B” Main
“Last Chance”
“A” Main
The twist in this series is that all races after qualifying are reverse staggered starts. This means, if you are the fastest qualifier, you start in the last staggered position in the first Scratch race. If you win the first Scratch race, you again, start in the last staggered position in the second Scratch race, and so on. If you qualify for the “A” Main after the three Scratch races, you start the “A” Main in a reverse staggered position relative to those drivers who who qualified behind you.
Yes, you can sandbag if you’d like. But doing so will cost you valuable points. This series accumulates points from each heat, meaning sandbagging may garner you a better start position in the next race, but you’ll also lose points doing so. You decide how and where you’ll get your points but points are the name of the game in this series.
The primary intent of this racing format is to make things as competitive as possible between all skill levels on race days. Heat/segment points are combined on race days but overall event points are scored separately between Expert and Sportsman drivers–two trophies awarded at the end of the series.
We’ll dial-down the laps for all races to make race nights short and sweet and only one car contested at each event.
Please let us know your thoughts and opinions on these two ideas for our next racing adventures. We’re open to any and all ideas, suggestions, and any comments you may have, of course.
On a cold, windy, and rainy day in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the four top drivers in the series took the green flag for the final round of the 2022 IROC Champs Series.
These are actually pretty cool magnet cars and easy to drive. The race wasn’t all that eventful after the first segment, which was quite a dogfight between all drivers. The rest of the race was pretty much a broken record with no lead or place changes but a very close race between the top three expert drivers. (
Recently updated from zero-downforce cars to L42 magnet cars, the MTS 3D-printed Super Modifieds are quite a bit faster and much more stable on the road course. Brad Sandahl and Kevin Webster burst from the starting line in this race to take 1-2 in the first segment.
The third race of the day was the VSR Viper-Jet utilizing a Maximum Leeway Lexan body. Brad Sandahl would suffer not only a flaky car in his first segment in the white lane but also a controller malfunction that forced him to replace it in the middle of the race. Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, took advantage of the mayhem and secured a nice second-place finish in the second segment. George Peters stayed steady and smooth throughout the race and would secure the second podium spot while Brad Sandahl recovered nicely for the final podium spot. (
The final race of the series was the always fast and exciting Jag TR-3. These are slightly upgraded from the stock configuration so a bit faster but smoother to drive.
The series finale is almost upon us and the trophies are being prepared now.