Events – Page 10 – Stewart Raceway

Race Report: 2022 IROC Championship Series – Round 4 Finale

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.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2022 I.R.O.C. Champs Series Finale Is Almost Here!

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:

Sportsman Class

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Kevin Webster	961	98	7612.257
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	1034	153	7457.567
2	Brad Sandahl	360	42	3331.948
*	Steve Stewart	1064	189	7336.991

Okay, shut up and drive!

Time To Start Racing Again!

Yea, it’s been too long!

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:

1. Qualifying (best average time of three laps)
2. Scratch Race 1
3. Scratch Race 2
4. Scratch Race 3
5. “B” Main
6. “Last Chance”
7. “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.

Okay, shut up and drive!

IROC Championship Series

Next up for the 2022 Stewart Raceway season, is an IROC Championship. Yes, take a break from preparing competitive race cars and enjoy the art and leisure of just showing up with your controller and having some fun driving cars you don’t need to worry about.

Stewart Raceway IROC fleet. A few missing but coming along.

Unless other track operators chime in and decide to host a road course event, all race days will take place on either SR2 or SR3. Two oval events, and two road course events. We’ll run all sorts of different cars and five races during each race day event.

The first round is tentatively slated for October 1, 2022. There will be two mondo trophies awarded in this series. Both the Expert class winner and the Sportsman class winner will receive hardware for their efforts. Both series winners will be awarded a Mondo trophy and, of course, will be enshrined on the Stewart Raceway Wall of Fame.

The 2022 IROC Series rules, points, and racing format are documented here.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Open Track Session Report: August 20, 2022

Thanks to all who came out for a few hours of track time on SR3 Saturday, really appreciate the interest and support!

The goal was to give Sportsman drivers some tips and tricks on driving technic and style. Unfortunately, only one Sportsman drive showed up (Kevin Webster) and he doesn’t really need any help.

Expert driver and 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl showed up with his daughter, Carrie, and did a bunch of laps. Brad certainly doesn’t need much help either but he tested various controller settings and by the end of the day had the fastest lap.

Julian Schwartz, another local junior driver, made an appearance and got to cut a bunch of laps with an OS3 Pro controller, which he seemed to adapt to well, and hopefully, gained some valuable experience for the next Kid’s Race at Stewart Raceway.

Kevin and I tested his various HOPRA-legal SUPER STOCK cars. The purpose of the testing was to determine if the HOPRA SUPER STOCK rules should be adopted. While these cars are very smooth and fast, they really weren’t all that much faster than an L4 V-SPEC Viper (HOPRA SPEC RACER) we currently run. Different, yes, but not really worth the extra expense of forcing a switch to ceramic motor and traction magnets. The HOPRA Super Stock class rules also allow dual-compound tires, which further increases cost and complexity.

The goal of introducing this new class to our racing program was to provide more advanced drivers and builders with a bit more flexibility in tuning their cars. The general consensus was that having to swap magnets and purchase dual compound tires was a bit much from a budget and performance gain perspective. So, we decided to introduce the Super Stock class into the program but without the ceramic magnet and dual-compound rear tire specs–for now.

So what’s different?

Well, without the ceramic magnets and the dual compound rear tires, not much. But, you can run different gearing than just a 7/23 pinion/crown. Higher gearing, for example, can make the car not only easier to drive on twisty technical courses but also faster on tracks with longer straights. The idea is to allow the more advanced racer more tuning flexibility.

What does this mean to you? This class presents a bit more flexibility in tuning. Meaning, that you can purchase a few different rear axle assemblies with different gearing for different track layouts or conditions. Just swap axle assemblies to change the handling and speed characteristics of a SUPER STOCK class car.

Do I need to buy another car?

No, the Super Stock class is essentially a SPEC RACER chassis. The only difference is that you can run any gearing available in the SUPER STOCK class, the HOPRA SPEC RACER class is restricted to 7/23 gearing.

Will the SUPER STOCK class be run at all Stewart Raceway events?

No, at the moment only a few drivers are interested in this class. If interest grows, it could be a popular class but only time will tell. Buy a couple of different rear axle assemblies and see if going to higher or lower gearing helps your lap times. If you determine that you’re faster with the gearing flexibility, then lobby in support of this class.

Keep in mind, that both classes allow adjustable armature brush tension on a brush-barrel type chassis, which is also a very useful tuning option. If you’re running that type of chassis, try them both and see what happens.

The SUPER STOCK class is intended to provide a bit more flexibility and a more sophisticated level of tuning for those interested in going faster and finding that winning setup on race days.

Okay, shut up and drive!