Wow! Yet another way cool rainy track day filled with junior drivers and parents all from the hood. And what a spread of goodies and snacks shared by all, very nice!
We had one new neighborhood team and one returning neighborhood team join in the fun along with veteran family teams, Team Johnson and Team Maddox.
After several hours of open practice, the more serious junior drivers were ready to run a few races. We decided to stick to Dash races and started racing with six drivers and six lanes.
Race 1 Podium: Abe Maddox, Cameron Bill, and Isabel Foster
The first Dash race was very interesting as the lead changed quite often with Cameron Bill leading most of the laps. Not to be outdone, Junior driver Abe Maddox (driving for Mom, Shaylin) came from behind in the last few laps and knocked Cameron off the top podium spot to second. Our newest Junior driver at Stewart Raceway, Isabel Foster, rounded out the podium with a very impressive 3rd place finish.
Race 2 Podium: Jared Johnson, Cameron Bill, Abe Maddox
The second Dash race was an all-Jared Johnson show, with Jared winning by three laps over a hard-charging Cameron Bill in 2nd place, and an amazing 3rd place finish by Abe Maddox driving for Isabel’s Mom, Jenny Foster. Isabel had another amazing race finished in 4th place just one lap behind superstar Junior, Abe Maddox.
Overall Results of First Two Races
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Cameron Bill
52
26
421.582
2
Isabel Foster
43
18
425.308
3
Jared Johnson
30
17
212.991
4
Shaylin Maddox2
25
16
207.734
5
Madeline Johnson
32
12
435.491
6
Jenny Foster2
23
11
219.94
7
Matthew Johnson
31
10
444.515
8
Eli Bill1
20
8
211.734
Eli only participated in the first race.
Abe Maddox drove for both Shaylin and Jenny.
Nice to have all six lanes on the SR3 road course buzzing with racers! Prior to racing breaking out, Eli Bill had studiously been working on improving his lap times and, before practice ended, had bested the current lap record for the car he was driving, a MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified.” Nice driving, Eli!
All in all, amazing driving by all, especially all the first-time racers who stood on the podium after their first-ever slot car race—amazing!
Most of the teams departed after the two Dash races. However, Team Johnson wasn’t quite done for the day and we did three more Dash races with just the three of us. The first race was a straight-up 25-lap Dash, the second was a 25-lap Dash with fuel, and the third was a 30-lap Dash race with just tire changes.
Team Johnson dominated the last few races with Dad, Jared, winning two and Madeline winning the final race. Very impressive driving by Team Johnson. Jared should join us for a Big Kids race, he’s a natural. Madeline found her mojo and drove all three races extremely well.
Overall Results Of Last Three Races
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Jared Johnson
85
48
596.36
2
Madeline Johnson
80
38
591.418
3
Steve Stewart
78
37
594.015
Oh, and a very Happy Birthday wish to Matthew Johnson who just turned 4-years old! Thanks for sharing your delicious birthday cake, Matthew!
Another way cool track day with all neighborhood families in the mix. Hope everybody enjoyed it. Thank you all for supporting Stewart Raceway. Let’s do it again real soon!
The series continued to Round 2 on Saturday, February 24 on the SR3 oval course. We had a great showing by nine drivers throughout the day with some very competitive racing, as always.
In the spirit of “open-wheel” racing, we tried to run all open-wheel livery in each official race. However, we didn’t get one of the two IROC sets completed in time so had to substitute the venerable Maximum Leeway late-model sportsman cars for race 1. We did four races in all. Below is the short story but there is a whole lot more to it than the numbers below show.
All races were run with 45-lap heats (segments) and a fuel allocation of 62 laps. In addition, to try to make things even more competitive, Expert drivers were handicapped with a longer fuel refill time than Sportsman drivers, initially set two seconds longer but lowered to one second after the first couple of races.
Overall Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Adjust1
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
706
231
Â
2285.962
2
Aaron Castro*
695
215
Â
2302.982
3
Eric Lane
628
182
Â
2393.738
4
George Peters*
685
149
61
2270.22
5
Jordan Walker*
584
148
Â
2454.01
7
Jerry Pearson
340
94
Â
1157.006
6
Kevin Webster
483
81
53
1685.595
8
Shaylin Maddox
281
79
Â
1163.514
9
Abe Maddox
255
70
Â
1185.256
* Expert Driver 1 Points lost from a rules infraction
Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)
We started with the fast but loose Viper Jets. Just as much speed and power as a regular V-SPEC Viper but with brass weights instead of traction magnets. As might be expected, most of the Expert drivers came out on top in this one. Sportsman drivers, Eric Lane and Jerry Pearson drove these cars very well and were not too far off the pace considering the experts have far more track time with these cars than they do. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
173
59
649.321
2
George Peters*
177
58
680.100
3
Aaron Castro*
178
55
689.752
4
Eric Lane
155
40
707.989
5
Jerry Pearson
161
38
706.243
6
Jordan Walker*
138
32
691.378
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” (20v)
Jerry Pearson, Home Cook’n, Eric Lane
Our latest and one of the most competitive classes we run. These cars use the popular Racemasters MegaG+ long-wheelbase chassis with a super-light photopaper body. This creates a much better handling platform and because they are pretty much out-of-the-box chassis’, the racing is extremely close.
Not sure if it had anything to do with the longer fuel stops for Expert drivers or what but Sportsman drivers, Jerry Pearson and Eric Lane put on a show in this one, besting the usual suspects quite convincingly with Jerry tying in points with Home Cook’n but besting him by one lap to take the top podium spot. That’s close racing! Both Jerry and Eric won two segments each. Way to go, Jerry and Eric! Detailed Results
These cars are another challenging platform with a powerful inline motor, they pack a lot of power but have no traction magnets and run hard-compound (B) Super tires in the rear. Very drifty and difficult to drive.
As usual, expert driver, Aaron Castro dominated this race, winning four segments! The bigger story, however, was Sportsman driver, Eric “Fast” Lane bagging the final podium spot. Eric drove these cars exceptionally well bagging three second-place segment finishes and one third-place. Nice driving, Eric!
Our lone Junior driver, Abe Maddox, bagged two second-place segment finishes while his awesome Mom, Shaylin Maddox also bagged two second-place segment finishes. Very impressive driving by Team Maddox adapting to these difficult-to-master cars. Detailed Results
As always, the V-SPEC class was another barn burner race with literally every driver posting impressive segment finishes. Shaylin Maddox, started her Race 4 rotation in the white lane and posted a perfect 45 laps, the segment win, and the fastest lap of the day at 1.654 seconds–a new SR3 oval course lap record! Way to go, Shaylin!
Unofficial Race Results
Yes, the final race was without a doubt the most intense and hotly contested race but not without some additional drama.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
175
61
387.202
2
Steve Stewart
178
58
402.922
3
Kevin Webster
177
53
402.978
4
Jordan Walker
164
46
427.604
5
Aaron Castro
170
45
405.883
6
Shaylin Maddox
145
41
412.764
7
Eric Lane
146
40
410.704
8
Abe Maddox
116
32
405.726
In the end, expert driver George Peters dominated this one. George took the checkered flag after winning three segments and placing second in another.
However, during the race, several drivers noticed that Jordan Walker’s car seemed exceptionally faster than any other car. The Race Director decided during the race that there would be a technical inspection of all cars entered post-race.
Each car was tested on the house VRP Dynometer and VRP Magnet Downforce Meter. To our surprise, Jordan’s car was well within the typical RPM and downforce ranges for this type of car. However, during the remaining testing and inspection, a balanced and trued armature (Hot Stock) was discovered in race winner George Peter’s car. In addition, when testing Kevin Webster’s car on the downforce meter, his car measured well over double the typical downforce of a Viper “SPEC STOCK” platform.
The “SPEC STOCK” rules we employ at Stewart Raceway do not permit hot stock armatures and Kevin’s downforce readings were well beyond the “SPEC STOCK” rules maximum for this car. Consequently, both drivers were disqualified and lost all points earned in Race 4. Detailed Results
Race 4 Official Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
178
58
402.922
2
Jordan Walker
164
46
427.604
3
Aaron Castro
170
45
405.883
4
Shaylin Maddox
145
41
412.764
5
Eric Lane
146
40
410.704
6
Abe Maddox
116
32
405.726
7
George Peters
175
0
387.202
8
Kevin Webster
177
0
402.978
I’m sure George’s rule infraction was simply an oversight. I’ve raced with George since I got back into slot car racing way back in 2017 and he’s always been very competitive and compliant with all racing rules. I’m sure George either mistakenly chose that particular car or just didn’t notice it had a hot stock armature installed.
As for Kevin’s infraction, I’ve also been racing with Kevin for nearly the same amount of time and he too has always complied with all house and racing rules. I suspect Kevin may have also made a mistake in choosing that particular car for this race.
This type of incident is not uncommon in slot car racing and very often the reason these things happen has much less to do with willful disregard for rules, but usually unintentional or careless selection of cars and/or parts.
Whatever the case may be, all this reinforces the importance of regular technical inspections at official races to help influence drivers and builders to be more diligent in preparing their cars for racing.
2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings after Round 2
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
834
229
5302.031
2
Eric Lane
628
182
2393.738
3
Shaylin Maddox
369
123
1877.628
4
Abe Maddox
329
102
1853.759
5
Jerry Pearson
340
94
1157.006
6
Pam Ebert
77
32
695.404
1
Steve Stewart*
1103
467
5903.035
2
Aaron Castro*
1088
429
5904.457
3
George Peters*
1062
336
5886.131
4
Jordan Walker*
584
148
2454.01
* Expert driver
Okay, Round 2 is in the books and the series points just got a bit more interesting after Round 2. Stay tuned for details on next week’s open track day and potential dates for Round 3.
Thank you all for making the trek to Stewart Raceway! Â
What to do on a rainy day? Play with slot cars, of course!
We had no Junior drivers in the mix for the first time in a long time.
Eric “Fast” Lane was the first driver to show up and the first to leave but not without testing out some tweaks to his IROC fleet of “Scooby Doo” vans. Eric and I did one race with those and the tweaks appear to have improved these already fun-to-drive cars. It was just the two of us but we did a full rotation with all six cars to flush them out.
Shortly after Eric departed, Webster Motorsports and then Aaron Castro of Team Forza, showed up. Kevin and Aaron worked on a few MegaG+ cars before racing broke out. The three of us ended up doing about five fuel and tire wear races, running well into the night.
Aaron’s 1965 Shelby GT350 Mustang on a MegaG+ chassis, very cool new AFX/Racemasters offering.
The highlight of the day was adding Tire Wear to the racing formats. This is a feature of SlotTrak that we hadn’t used before. Similar to Fuel Allocation in the Race Management settings, Tire Wear is an additional factor that can be injected in addition to fuel stops. We found out that it works pretty much like the fuel allocation, when you wear out a tire, power is cycled just like running out of fuel. Fuel races make things more interesting, for sure, but adding tire wear into the equation and things get even more interesting and challenging.
New Lexan F1/Indy bodies for the Open Wheel Series fitted to the Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” chassis in the standard wheel base configuration.
Top: Lexan Sprint Car bodies for a, hopefully, Round 2 Tyco 440-X2 IROC set being prepared by George. Bottom: New Lexan for our “SPEC STOCK” Vipers. Hopefully, we’ll have enough to go around and debut them in Round 2.
We started with 25-lap heats and then upped it to 50-lap heats with a 25-lap fuel allocation and a 75-lap tire allocation, with each driver starting the race having one tire 25% worn. Made for some interesting but exciting pit strategies and seemed like more competitive racing. We’ll try this out in Round 2 and see how everyone likes it. Might be a bit too much for the Junior drivers, we’ll see.
New Lexan Sprint Car body on a Tyco 440-X2 narrow chassis.
Okay, Round 2 is currently set for next Saturday, February 24. Stay tuned for more details but this round will be on the SR3 Oval.
Open track days are always full of surprises but when you get a bunch of Juniors in the mix, it’s never a dull moment.
Today, Team Maddox and Team Haglund showed up in full force. We had two Moms and five juniors in the paddock, most of them cut a bunch of practice hot laps. Even Dax Schwartz made an appearance on the track.
It was a pretty crowded track for an hour or so until the juniors realized it was a bright sunny day outside and decided to go out and explore the great outdoors. Not necessarily a bad thing for us big kids since it freed up a bunch of lanes for some senior hot-lapping.
The kids seemed to enjoy each other playing outside more than on the track so they didn’t return to the paddock and would depart before any racing broke out. And boy, did racing break out after that. We had a pretty stacked field of Sportsman and Expert drivers who had had enough practice and wanted to do some racing.
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Aaron Castro
Eric “Fast” Lane brought over his IROC fleet of Dodge Tradesman & Ford Econoline vans on MG+ 1.7 chassis’ to play with. Very challenging cars to race but very fun also.
Home Cook’n, Jerry Pearson, Aaron Castro
Of course, with this group, once racing starts it goes on for a while. The next race was another IROC set, this time the venerable Tyco 440-X2 chassis with Harden Creek “Hammer Head” Lexan bodies. These are the cars the Juniors typically practice and race with. They were recently tuned up by GP Designs so we thought we’d give them a go.
We did have a few issues with a couple of the cars but managed to complete another very competitive fuel race with them.
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
Yep, even though we lost Eric and Jerry after the first two races, we pressed on and kept going. This time, the drivers wanted to go faster, so we picked Eric’s Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy Lexan IROC fleet. Not too many tracks where the host can pull out a full set of Viper V-SPEC cars to thrash–Thanks, Eric!
These are the fastest cars we run and the lap times did not disappoint. Vipers are fast and furious cars that make a whole lot of noise when they exit rails and slam into something.
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Yep, more racing ensued after an adrenaline-pumping Viper race. George and Jordan departed just before our fourth race of the day. This time, the remaining group decided on Stewart Raceway’s fleet of Jag Hobbies TR-3 chassis’ with Jag Hobbies “Augoran” hardbodies. These cars are slightly modified versions of the TR-3, with independent front-ends and dual flange rear hubs. Very fast and stuck rigs!
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Yep, this last bunch wasn’t quite finished for the day. After careful consideration, the small group decided on the Jag Hobbies NC-2 chassis’ with NASCAR-style bodies. Race 5 would be a very close battle between Aaron Castro and Home Cook’n. One of the cars had a larger body than the other two and would prove to be difficult to compete with the other two for all drivers. In the end, Home Cook’n edged out Aaron Castro by just two laps and three points in a hard-fought fuel race.
Yep, we did one more! This time, we opted for Stewart Raceway’s AFX Super G+ chassis’ with F1/Indy Lexan bodies. Haven’t raced these in quite a while but they did not disappoint, very fast but very predictable cars. Another barn-burner race with Home Cook’n just edging Aaron Castro out by one lap and one heat win.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
524
324
5172.575
2
Aaron Castro
507
275
5285.698
3
Kevin Webster
456
211
5377.044
4
George Peters
289
146
2425.914
5
Jordan Walker
271
123
2424.157
6
Jerry Pearson
189
97
1740.457
7
Eric Lane
180
77
1784.339
While there were quite a few highlights on the day, the top one was when Jordan’s recently captured snake found its way inside of Kevin’s controller. Kevin had to disassemble the controller to remove the snake!
Right-click and open in new window to see a larger image.
Brings a whole new meaning to “Racing with Vipers.”
Moms, Dads, and kids. The future of slot car racing!
We had thirteen participants show up on a rainy day in the mountains. Yes, thirteen drivers cut a bunch of laps on SR3. Not all ended up racing, but all did a lot of laps on the Fast Esses road course during practice.
I was expecting several juniors since Team Maddox and Team Johnson indicated they would appear. Team Maddox, however, blew through their advocacy goals and invited six new drivers to the event, which pretty much made practice, racing, and marshaling a breeze!
I think most of the fun was in open practice where all the new drivers got to experience a little hot lapping and the thrill of racing without any pressure. It was way fun to watch everyone get so excited besting each other and just having fun dicing with one another.
Amelia and Callum Macleod
We only did one Dash race and one Team Race, which I’m sure was probably more than most new drivers expected. Still, I think everyone had fun and, hopefully, will return for more slot car action soon.
As usual, our 2023 Junior Champ, Abe Maddox, accumulated the most laps in practice (507). Abe also won the Dash race just ahead of Madeline Johnson in a close second. New junior driver, Makana Haglund, finished in third, just two laps behind Madeline.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Abe Maddox
25
16
197.444
2
Madeline Johnson
23
13
203.566
3
Makana Haglund
21
12
193.704
4
Lucy Abramyan
20
7
197.478
5
Morag Macleod
19
6
197.49
6
Jenny Haglund
16
5
203.923
Team Race Summary
The final race was a team race between Team Johnson/Abramyan and Team Haglund in a full-rotation race with 10 lap segments in all six lanes. Madeline Johnson would be the dominant driver against a field of all first-time slot car drivers, winning three of the six segments and finishing three points ahead of her Mom, Lucy Abramyan, in second. Another Mom, Jenny Haglund (Team Haglund) finished third, just three points behind Lucy. That’s pretty competitive racing, for sure.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Madeline Johnson
57
83
684.106
2
Lucy Abramyan
58
80
675.083
3
Jenny Haglund
54
77
677.665
4
Malia Haglund
39
42
734.276
Team Johnson edges out Team Haglund in a very close team’s race. Likely our youngest racer today, Malia Haglund was awesome and hung in there the whole race, finishing every segment.
Very cool to see a bunch of new racers show up and check out Stewart Raceway. Hope everyone had a good time and we didn’t over-expose you to our addiction. It can be very discouraging for new drivers to run with more experienced drivers but today showed that here in the mountains, we have a whole lot of very capable slot car racers.
Madeline Johnson and Morag Macleod
Thank you all for braving the wet weather and coming over to drive little cars and hang out. We have a large contingent of junior and parent racers in the area, which calls for more of this kind of fun soon. Stay tuned for details on our next Open Track day.
The series continued to Round 2 on Saturday, February 24 on the SR3 oval course. We had a great showing by nine drivers throughout the day with some very competitive racing, as always.
Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)
