For the more analytical types out there the detailed race results can be found here.
The page listing is a bit whacked but the latest results are at the top. The first race was numbered 393 and the last race was number 403. For other results just look at the filename dates, time, and numbering sequence.
Detailed results can show some interesting things. For example, G-Man had a horrible second segment in the Viper V-Spec race in the yellow lane (filename 396), losing what looks like at least eight laps, which resulted in him finishing in 5th place. However, when you look at the final segment results, Kondrek’s race stats are tops in every category.
Tip: If your car doesn’t start refueling after a couple of seconds, go around again. It’s not very common but sometimes the pit sensors don’t detect a car entering the pits. Typically the sense time is 2-seconds, in a V-Spec race that’s about a half-lap lost right there.
Turned out to be a good date for our 2022 season kick-off. A cold but sunny day with everyone stuffed into the paddock area with not much space for tearing into cars, if needed. I don’t think many of us have ever raced little cars on New Year’s Day before but it worked out pretty well.
Of course, the first order of business was presenting 2021 driver awards to Brad Sandahl and Jordan Walker. Brad took 2021 Rookie of the Year honors while Jordan earned Junior of the Year honors. Brad’s first-year 2021 season was nothing short of spectacular with many race wins and an overall event victory in the 50/50 Series season finale back in November. Jordan has been racing with us for several years now but he’s definitely the top junior driver at Stewart Raceway right now.
The last time Stewart Raceway hosted a Formula-E event was way back in late December of 2019. Six drivers showed up for that inaugural race with well-prepared Tyco 440-X2 narrow-chassis cars with brass weights replacing the traction magnets and brass independent front-ends, aka a Tyco-Jet. So it was only fitting that we kick off our 2022 Formula-E Series with a Tyco-Jet IROC race.
Race 1: Tyco-Jet IROC
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Ian Douglass
80
16
582.406
2
Steve Stewart
79
13
574.761
3
Greg Kondrek
78
11
619.206
4
Brad Sandahl
78
7
630.554
5
George Peters
75
6
607.322
6
Russ Toy
69
5
598.027
7
Kevin Webster
66
4
625.232
8
Jordan Walker
65
3
647.373
Ian didn’t waste any time re-establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with at SR2. The Tyco-Jets clearly suited Ian’s driving style but it was still a very close race.
Race 2: OS3 TFX (Lite)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
80
16
589.896
2
Greg Kondrek
80
13
599.084
3
George Peters
74
11
597.952
4
Ian Douglass
72
7
591.499
5
Russ Toy
72
6
608.772
6
Brad Sandahl
71
5
610.538
7
Jordan Walker
67
4
598.134
8
Kevin Webster
65
3
609.071
This was our first-ever OS3 TFX “Builders” race, featuring some very cool T-Jet and Fray-style bodies and livery. We’ve raced the TFX plenty of times prior but only IROC sets. The G-Man (Greg Kondrek) even arrived on time and ready to start the 2022 season much stronger than he ended his 2021 season. Home Cook`n edged out Greg by just 10-seconds in total run-time break the tie.
Race 3: U-Build Viper V-Spec Lexan Bodies
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Ian Douglass
78
16
287.385
2
Steve Stewart
75
13
293.657
3
Russ Toy
74
11
304.048
4
George Peters
71
7
305.575
5
Greg Kondrek
69
6
281.316
6
Kevin Webster
67
5
298.125
7
Jordan Walker
66
4
298.053
Ian Douglass and Greg Kondrek showed up with some serious speed in the Viper V-Spec class. Ian easily won the very fast race after Kondrek experienced refueling issues, which cost him a whole bunch of laps. Most of us benefited from Kondrek’s misfortune and Russ Toy took full advantage of the situation bagging the final podium spot in this fast & furious race. ROTY-winner, Brad Sandahl, unfortunately, had family commitments and was unable to continue racing after Race 3.
Race 4: Jag Hobbies PR-5 “Indy/F1” (Feature Race)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Greg Kondrek
399
16
1655.972
2
Steve Stewart
390
13
1706.066
3
Ian Douglass
380
11
1668.836
4
Russ Toy
380
7
1691.526
5
George Peters
350
6
1741.148
6
Kevin Webster
322
5
1672.853
7
Jordan Walker
245
4
1753.366
The feature race had a couple of tweaks to the program. The rotations were left over from previous 600-lap Formula-E races, which Ian quickly pointed out. So we switched from the slated 300-lap race to a 400-lap race with the correct number of rotations. Don’t remember the fuel allocation but it was too much!
We also discovered in the first heat that many drivers had PR-5 cars with hop-up magnets installed, which are not allowed by PR-5 “Lite” rules. In fact, Russ Toy had a 5-lap lead on the field before we discovered the discrepancy. Nobody was deliberately cheating but we had to stop the race and sort things out.
Since there seemed to be more “illegal” cars, we decided the inaugural PR-5 race would be run with “Modified” cars instead of “Lite” cars. Several of us borrowed PR-5’s with the hop-up magnets and we continued with the race.
Russ actually maintained his dominance of the race all the way through his first three-segment rotation, going out with a perfect 150 laps and winning all three heats. George Peters, Home Cook`n, and Greg Kondrek had brief stints as race leaders until Russ Toy came back in and clicked-off three more consecutive heat wins!
Meanwhile, Greg Kondrek threw off the bad luck that plagued him in the previous race and quietly stormed through the field during his final rotation and bagged the win with 399 laps, nine laps ahead of the second-place finisher, and 19 laps ahead of Ian Douglass, third-place. Long-time race leader, Russ Toy would end the race in fourth.
Race 5: Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lites” (15v)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Greg Kondrek
120
16
557.841
2
Steve Stewart
120
13
578.72
3
George Peters
112
11
559.841
4
Russ Toy
109
7
565.805
5
Ian Douglass
106
6
558.375
6
Kevin Webster
94
5
541.85
G-Man continued his “storm” in Race 5, with a fairly convincing win of ~ 20-seconds over Home Cook`n. George Peters capped off the podium with a nice third-place finish. We lost Jordan to fatigue (and too many of “my” cookies) after Race 5.
Race 6: Viper-Jet Lexan (12.1v)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Greg Kondrek
80
16
424.323
2
Ian Douglass
79
13
418.663
3
Steve Stewart
75
11
405.402
4
George Peters
68
7
431.998
5
Kevin Webster
61
6
439.669
The final race was a Kondrek-Douglass slugfest with the G-Man edging out Ian by just one lap.
Overall Formula-E Round 1 Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Greg Kondrek
826
78
4137.742
2
Ian Douglass
795
69
4107.164
3
George Peters
750
48
4243.836
4
Russ Toy
704
36
3768.178
5
Kevin Webster
675
28
4186.8
6
Jordan Walker
443
15
3296.926
7
Brad Sandahl
149
12
1241.092
After all the racing it seemed like either the New Year celebrations or the hot & heavy day of racing had taken its toll on the drivers. Everybody seemed pretty tired and we called it quits after six races. Even Kondrek didn’t hang out for hot-laps or testing, he left exhausted—but victorious!
Round 2 of the 2022 Formula-E Series is slated for January 15. Stay tuned for details.
Please share comments, suggestions, and ideas on this page or in the forums. I’d like some feedback on the race formats and overall program before the next event, please.
Well, it’s not a completely accurate account since many of us have been racing at Stewart Raceway since about 2016 and many races are not recorded here since we sometimes use Race Coordinator instead of SlotTrak. However, these stats are based on the average finishing position in each race recorded by SlotTrak since 2018 and excludes any drivers who did not race or attend events in 2021. What it does indicate is what your average results were in the races you completed in 2021 at Stewart Raceway using SlotTrak timing software.
The below table represents a summary of Driver Stats for only the 2021 season. It does not include races held using Race Coordinator. In addition, Ted and Bruce do not have any SlotTrak results in 2021.
[table id=12 /]
We’ll be honoring ROTY and JOTY drivers at Round 1 of the 2022 Formula “e” Series in January. We’ll do a Driver of the Year Award at the end of this coming season.
Despite missing one race of the five race series, Ian Douglass went into the final round 20-points ahead of second in points, George Peters, which meant that it was going to be tough for anyone to keep Ian from winning the overall prize.
Of course, winning any racing series rarely comes easy and this one was no exception. While George was laser-focused on besting Ian for the top podium spot, Rookie of the Year candidate, Brad Sandhahl, had other plans for the finale.
Brad, who started the series late, went into Round 5 just slightly behind George in 3rd place. Given all drivers could only use points from four of the five rounds, George would lose 45-points from Round 2. This meant that Brad was really only 10-points behind George in the overall standings going into the final round.
While George fought hard and landed on the podium in two of the six official races, Brad managed six podium visits on the day and won the Round 5 overall. Quite impressive driving for a newcomer to the Bay Area H.O. racing scene.
Ian Douglass, meanwhile, finished Round 5 solidly in second place with 67.75 points, three podium visits, and a convincing win in the Viper-Jet race. Easily topping the series field in points and taking home the prestigious 2021 50/50 Racing Series winner’s trophy and Concourse de Elegance award.
Round 4 took us back to the road course and the usual 50/50 racing program. We ran three IROC races and one Builder’s Class race prior to a delayed lunch break. All races featured 20-lap heats and 25-lap fuel allocation.
The big story of the day was Russ Toy’s winning of the “inaugural” Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lite” race. Yes, we finally raced one of the new car platforms in the series and everyone seemed to enjoy driving the NC-2, especially Russ, of course.
The NC-2 race was very competitive with Russ besting “Rookie of the Year” candidate, Brad Sandahl, by just one lap, finishing with a 78-lap total. Home Cook’n was not too far off with 75-laps, and Ian Douglass rounded out the top three podium spots with 73-laps in third place.
In the end, Ian Douglass took the overall race-day victory by just one point! Brad Sandahl finished the day in 2nd place overall with 60 points, and the Gravity Master, George Peters, rounded out the podium in third with 50 points.
Overall Results Round 4:
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Ian Douglass
458
81
2779.278
2
Steve Stewart
467
80
2731.469
3
Brad Sandahl
444
60
2844.253
4
George Peters
438
50
2815.976
5
Russ Toy
412
43
2801.712
6
Kevin Webster
396
34
2786.317
All in all, it was a hotly contested race day and a fun—but very fast—group of drivers.
Race 1 was an IROC set from George Peter’s IROC stable, OS3 TFX “Lites.” These cars started the day out relatively slow but hectic as everybody got a taste for what this exciting new class of car has to offer. The TFX Lite car is basically an out-of-the-box OS3 TFX car with OS3 Black Dragon magnets in place of the stock Gray Dragon magnets. This minor upgrade gives the car a bit more downforce and a whole lot more drivability.
Race 2 was another challenging “gravity” car, the Viper Scale Racing’s Retro-V. This car is a hoot to drive at 12 or 15-volts. We opted for 12v and Ian Douglass quickly redeemed himself for accidentally missing Round 3 and handily won the race with 79-laps. George took the final podium spot with a nice run at 76-laps.
Race 3 was another exciting and very competitive race with Ian continuing to his redemption tour. This race only had at most a 3-lap spread between each finisher–way close racing! Thanks, Kevin for the great IROC set!
Race 4 the very first Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lite” event of the season. As mentioned, Russ Toy cemented his place in slot car history by besting Brad Sandahl by just one lap in this hotly contested inaugural race. The consensus was that the NC-2 is a keeper car and showed great promise for continued interest and even a Modified class at some point. Nice driving, Russ!
Race 5 was another Builder’s class race utilizing the venerable Viper Scale Racing’s Viper-Jet. Home Cook’n may have stole some valuable points in this one but the rest of the field battled fiercely for the last two podium spots with Kevin Webster very narrowly missing his first podium visit of the series. Great driving guys!
Race 6 capped off Round 4 with Viper Scale Racing’s V-Spec Lexan cars. We gradually ratcheted up the speed so we were all ready for these speedsters. This race was scorching battle for the top spot on the final podium of the day. Ian Douglass was intent on finishing his Redemption Tour on top but Home Cook’n had other intentions. In the end, the two drivers tied on laps but Ian’s Total Runtime was 3-seconds less, cementing his overall victory in Round 4. Equally impressive was Brad Sandahl’s fourth visit to the podium with a solid 3rd place!
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Ian Douglass
79
16
291.218
2
Steve Stewart
79
13
294.242
3
Brad Sandahl
75
11
299.378
4
George Peters
72
7
309.227
5
Kevin Webster
65
6
306.121
6
Russ Toy
64
5
289.077
VRS Viper V-Spec Lexan
Thank you all for supporting Stewart Raceway and spending your Saturday racing little cars with me. Stay tuned for “Official” Series Standings after Round 4.
Round 5 is currently slated for November 20, 2021 and will feature the road course but maybe with a chicane added to the inside straightaway, we’ll see.