It didn’t look good for an official race, with Team Forza and Webster Motosports not attending. However, we had four teams committed and another two tentative, so we forged ahead.
On the morning of the event, Team Johnson bailed out then later committed. Team Maddox also confirmed that it would attend. So, with six teams making an appearance, Round 4 materialized.
Round 4 Short Story
Another barn burner main event using the MegaG+ 1.7 Modified platform. Man, these cars are fast and highly competitive.
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 119 | 55 | 1101.403 |
| 2 | George Peters | 119 | 54 | 1157.912 |
| 3 | Jerry Pearson | 114 | 51 | 1092.854 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 87 | 28 | 1145.827 |
Qualifying
Qualifying doesn’t always predict the outcome of the race day, but George Peters and Jerry Pearson established themselves as the teams to beat in Round 4. Team Maddox’s Abe Maddox put down an excellent qualifying round and sat third fastest going into the day’s program. (Details)
| Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane) | |||
| Date: Oct-05-2024 11:51 | |||
| Class: MegaG+ Modified | |||
| Descr: Progressive | |||
| Name | Lap Time | Speed (Mph) | Place |
| George Peters | 5.194 | 634 | 1 |
| Jerry Pearson | 5.251 | 627 | 2 |
| Abe Maddox | 6.165 | 534 | 3 |
| Matthew Johnson | 6.286 | 524 | 4 |
| Shaylin Maddox | 6.762 | 487 | 5 |
| Jared Johnson | 6.822 | 482 | 6 |
| Steve Stewart | 6.921 | 476 | 7 |
| Eric Lane | 7.815 | 421 | 8 |
Race 1: Qualifier Race 2
The second fastest qualifier, Jerry Pearson, started on the pole of the first qualifier race and pretty much dominated it. Team Johnson was running house cars and could not match Pearson Racing’s pace. Jerry easily transferred to the main event with a perfect run of 80 laps and some exceedingly fast lap times. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Jerry Pearson | 80 | 64 | 484.274 |
| 2 | Jared Johnson | 68 | 46 | 512.827 |
| 3 | Matthew Johnson | 66 | 40 | 502.131 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 68 | 38 | 520.418 |
Race 2: Qualifier Race 1
The fastest qualifier heat had George Peters, Home Cook’n, and Team Maddox drivers in the mix. George dominated the race, winning three of the four segments. Team Maddox fought hard for a transfer but came up short, mostly due to car issues. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | George Peters | 79 | 61 | 455.329 |
| 2 | Steve Stewart | 78 | 55 | 459.048 |
| 3 | Shaylin Maddox | 67 | 36 | 462.865 |
| 4 | Abe Maddox | 66 | 36 | 464.606 |
Race 3: Feature Event
There should have been a Last-Chance Qualifier race, but Team Maddox and Team Johnson could not continue racing after their qualifier races. Instead of a Last-Chance Qualifier, all remaining teams transferred to the Feature event. The two fast qualifiers, George Peters and Jerry Pearson, both won their respective Qualifier races and were favored to win the Feature event.
George Peters burst out of the blocks, winning the first segment, Jerry Pearson won the second segment, and Home Cook’n won the third. Going into the final segment, Home Cook’n had a two-point lead on Jerry Pearson in 2nd and just a lap on George Peters in 3rd. This was a fueling event, which always added strategy and tactics to the mix. George opted to refuel near the end of segment three, while Jerry Pearson and Home Cook’n battled for critical points and did not refuel. That meant both drivers had to refuel pretty early in the final segment.
With the points situation extremely close between all three drivers, the race was up for grabs. Jerry opted to get fuel early in the segment while Home Cook’n didn’t top off his fuel until about lap 7. George Peters gained a two lap lead after the two chasing drivers had to refuel, putting him in a comfortable position for the final segment win.
With Eric Lane not threatening the two chasing drivers, it was pretty much a dog fight between Jerry Pearson and Home Cook’n for the 2nd place points needed to win the overall race. Jerry was finishing on the more challenging Blue lane while Home Cook’n was finishing up in the faster Orange lane. In the end, Jerry would lose two laps to Home Cook’n and have to settle for 3rd in the segment and 3rd overall. Eric Lane, returning to racing after an extended layoff, ran well at times but was never able to pressure the two chasers.
George won two of the four segments and clicked off the fastest lap of the race but could not seal the deal, tying on laps and just one point shy of the overall win. George’s fastest lap set a new record in the Orange lane (5.036), nearly besting Aaron Castro’s fastest lap of 5.026 in the White lane. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 119 | 55 | 1101.403 |
| 2 | George Peters | 119 | 54 | 1157.912 |
| 3 | Jerry Pearson | 114 | 51 | 1092.854 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 87 | 28 | 1145.827 |
Jerry’s results shows he’s ready for the move to the Expert ranks, for sure!
Stay tuned for complete video coverage of the day’s racing and the plans for the Round 5 finale!
Round 4 looked like it wouldn’t happen, with very few RSVPs and then a couple of RSVPs bailing out at the last minute.
Team Johnson’s Junior drivers were impressive in the first qualifier against two Expert drivers vying for the single transfer spot to the main event. George won all four of the segments, Madeline came in second in four. Matthew Johnson found his groove in the final segment and put some serious pressure on Madeline, finishing third but just one lap down and posting a slightly faster median lap time than Expert George Peters.
Continuing our new racing format in Round 3, we conducted a five-lap qualifying session that divided the field into two qualifying races. The winners of each qualifier race transferred directly to the main event. The rest of the field went on to the Last Chance Qualifier race, where two more drivers (1st and 2nd) transferred to the feature race. We had enough drivers to do a Consolation Race but opted not to.
This qualifier race pitted the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th fastest qualifiers against one another, with only one driver transferring to the main event. The two Expert drivers, George Peters and Home Cook’n, looked to be the favorites to win, but Sportsman Jerry Pearson (Pearson Racing) was having none of that. Jerry took second in three of the four segments and second overall against a hard-charging George Peters. Team Johnson’s Jared Johnson was introduced harshly to our fastest class of cars, the Viper V-SPEC chassis. Jared did amazingly well against two experts, including a seasoned and highly motivated sportsman, Jerry Pearson. Jared also found his groove in the final segment, posting his fastest race lap. 
Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson was on fire again in the Last Chance Qualifier. Only two drivers would transfer to the Main Event, and Jerry was determined to be one of them. Jerry won three of his four segments and bagged second in his final segment. Also vying for one of the two transfer spots, George Peters won three of his four segments and took a second in the other. In the end, George and Jerry tied in laps and total points, but Jerry took the top podium spot by just 1.18 seconds. This is competitive racing at its finest! This was Team Johnson’s first “official” race day with the more serious crowd, but they all finished every stage and segment of the event and recorded some impressive results. 
After experiencing a hiccup with SlotTrak’s latest version (scoring and fuel management feature failures), we abandoned the planned fuel stop component of the main event. We continued with a straight-up sprint race with 30 lap segments and no fuel stops. This race was an adrenaline party. Team Forza’s Aaron Castro put the heat on Home Cook’n and everybody else with three 2nd place segments and just missing a 1st in the first segment by 4/10’s of a second. Pearson Racing’s Jerry Pearson and GP Design’s George Peters would prove to be spoilers in the last two segments: Jerry put in a fabulous effort in the third segment, taking 2nd place to Home Cook’n by just 2/10’s of a second; George bagged the win in the final segment with the fastest runtime of the segment at 145.139. Both driver’s late-race performances robbed Aaron of valuable points that could have put him on the top of the main event podium had Home Cook’n not won three of the four segments. What a blisteringly fast race! 
Yeah, we were in the throws of the 2024 Summer 50/50 Series, but we couldn’t seem to get to round 2. Summer is challenging, with school out, then back in, vacations, and many other things to do.
The chosen platform for this Round was the venerable AFX/Racemasters MegaG+ 1.7 chassis with a taped-on paper body instead of a traditional plastic hardbody.
“B” Qualifier Race
Main (Feature) Event