Wow, what a turnout! Our first “official” race of the 2025 season opened with a bang. We had 14 drivers in the mix: four Experts, five Juniors, and five Sportsman drivers, including two new drivers visiting Stewart Raceway for the first time!
The Short Story
Sportsman driver Jared Johnson 3rd overall, and first-time Stewart Raceway driver Dave Rowland finishes 4th overall. Expert driver George Peters leads the Expert points chase by 58 points.
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | George Peters* | 238 | 232 | 1645.44 |
| 2 | Steve Stewart* | 159 | 174 | 1158.701 |
| 3 | Jared Johnson | 169 | 142 | 1292.315 |
| 4 | Dave Rowland | 144 | 142 | 1291.611 |
| 5 | Aaron Castro* | 139 | 120 | 868.844 |
| 6 | Coe Rowland | 136 | 110 | 1353.497 |
| 7 | Arlo Roland | 132 | 106 | 1255.253 |
| 8 | Abe Maddox | 112 | 101 | 908.988 |
| 9 | Shaylin Maddox | 102 | 83 | 846.329 |
| 10 | Jerry Pearson* | 79 | 58 | 496.859 |
| 11 | Matthew Johnson | 67 | 42 | 518.012 |
| 12 | Eric Lane | 66 | 40 | 498.861 |
| 13 | Cameron Bill | 50 | 32 | 411.714 |
| 14 | Madeline Johnson | 54 | 28 | 507.557 |
* Expert driver
After about an hour of open practice, racing got underway at 12:15. The first race of the 2025 50/50 Racing Series was the increasingly popular MegaG+ 1.7 Modified class, a speedy and straightforward racing platform that anybody can be competitive with.
Race 1: MegaG+1.7 Modifieds
This race should have had nine drivers. However, the Race Director mistakenly dropped two drivers from the lineup: Cameron Bill and himself. Jerry Pearson very nearly bagged his first race win as an Expert driver in this one. Jerry won the first two segments and never finished worse than 2nd through his rotations. In the end, Aaron Castro knocked Jerry off the top podium spot by winning all four of his rotations. Team Johnson’s leader, Jared Johnson, drove well and took the runner-up position against three Expert drivers! Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Aaron Castro | 80 | 64 | 476.54 |
| 2 | Jerry Pearson | 79 | 58 | 496.859 |
| 3 | George Peters | 79 | 55 | 488.663 |
| 4 | Jared Johnson | 71 | 42 | 491.625 |
| 5 | Matthew Johnson | 67 | 42 | 518.012 |
| 6 | Eric Lane | 66 | 40 | 498.861 |
| 7 | Madeline Johnson | 54 | 28 | 507.557 |
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Modifieds (IROC)
This one was a dogfight between all categories of drivers. Team Maddox Junior driver Abe Maddox led this one through the first three segments, winning his first two rotations and demonstrating he’s an incredibly talented driver capable of running with both Sportsman and Expert drivers. This race was highly competitive at every level, with wins by Junior, Sportsman, and Expert drivers. In the end, GP Design’s George Peters edged out Aaron Castro for the top podium spot by just two points and one lap. Junior phenom Abe Maddox bumped Home Cook’n off the final podium step with a win in the final segment. Aaron Castro set a new lap record on the Fast Esses road course in his first rotation with a 5.397 lap in the White lane. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | George Peters* | 60 | 58 | 404.21 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro* | 59 | 56 | 392.304 |
| 3 | Abe Maddox | 56 | 55 | 412.669 |
| 4 | Steve Stewart* | 59 | 52 | 401.707 |
| 5 | Dave Rowland | 56 | 49 | 434.333 |
| 6 | Shaylin Maddox | 55 | 45 | 396.168 |
| 7 | Arlo Roland | 51 | 40 | 426.627 |
| 8 | Coe Rowland | 52 | 36 | 440.038 |
| 9 | Cameron Bill | 50 | 32 | 411.714 |
* Expert
Race 3: Viper Super 7 NASCAR “Fast” Lane Set (IROC)
This is a six-car set that Sportsman driver Eric Lane donated to our racing program. The big stories in this race were Jared Johnson making his first podium visit with 3rd place overall and one of our newest drivers, Dave Rowland, who pulled off a hard-fought 4th place overall. Actually, pretty impressive driving by everybody in this race. Jared Johnson won two segments, while Dave Rowland won one segment. While I didn’t feel like the cars were all that easy to drive, George and Home Cook’n set new lap records on each of the four active lanes. George clicked off a 5.505 lap record in the Green lane, and Home Cook’n managed a 5.486 lap record in the Blue lane.  Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart* | 60 | 61 | 436.907 |
| 2 | George Peters* | 60 | 58 | 447.943 |
| 3 | Jared Johnson | 60 | 56 | 461.831 |
| 4 | Dave Rowland | 54 | 51 | 497.803 |
| 5 | Abe Maddox | 56 | 46 | 496.319 |
| 6 | Shaylin Maddox | 47 | 38 | 450.161 |
| 7 | Arlo Roland | 49 | 34 | 493.029 |
| 8 | Coe Rowland | 48 | 32 | 508.47 |
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 Lexan (Eric Lane Set) (IROC)
Another IROC six-car set donated by Eric “Fast” Lane. Until Eric arrived on the scene, I’d never driven a Viper V-SPEC IROC set. The cars cost $50 each! Not my first choice for a new IROC set. This final race of the day was quite competitive also, with the two Experts just three points apart going into the final segment, and Sportsman driver, Jared Johnson landing yet another podium finish on the day. Another new Junior driver from the Team Rowland, Coe Rowland jumped from last place going into the final segment to 4th overall with a well-timed 3rd place finish. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 40 | 61 | 320.087 |
| 2 | George Peters | 39 | 61 | 304.624 |
| 3 | Jared Johnson | 38 | 44 | 338.859 |
| 4 | Coe Rowland | 36 | 42 | 404.989 |
| 5 | Dave Rowland | 34 | 42 | 359.475 |
| 6 | Arlo Roland | 32 | 32 | 335.597 |
2025 50/50 Series Points Standings After Round 1:
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| Sportsman | ||||
| 1 | Jared Johnson | 169 | 142 | 1292.315 |
| 2 | Dave Rowland | 144 | 142 | 1291.611 |
| 3 | Shaylin Maddox | 102 | 83 | 846.329 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 66 | 40 | 498.861 |
| 5 | Cameron Bill | 50 | 32 | 411.714 |
| Junior | ||||
| 1 | Coe Rowland | 136 | 110 | 1353.497 |
| 2 | Abe Maddox | 112 | 101 | 908.988 |
| 3 | Arlo Roland | 132 | 106 | 1255.253 |
| 4 | Matthew Johnson | 67 | 42 | 518.012 |
| 5 | Madeline Johnson | 54 | 28 | 507.557 |
| Expert | ||||
| 1 | George Peters | 238 | 232 | 1645.44 |
| 2 | Steve Stewart | 159 | 174 | 1158.701 |
| 3 | Aaron Castro | 139 | 120 | 868.844 |
| 4 | Jerry Pearson | 79 | 58 | 496.859 |
What a day of racing! I’ll try to get a video of a very close finish between George and Aaron in Race 2 (MG+ Modified IROC). Speaking of video, we have the whole day on video, so I’ll try to get the photo finish clip and the event video posted ASAP.
A big welcome to our newest racing team, Team Rowland! Hopefully, Dave, Arlo, and Coe will join us again soon. They jumped right in without practice and raced the last three races with great enthusiasm and sportsmanship–awesome! Thanks to everyone for showing up and making Round 1 a great event!
We’ll see what happens next weekend; it could be a track day or race day, depending on who’s available.
Okay, shut up and drive!
We had also expected a fierce battle between Team Maddox driver, Shaylin Maddox and Team Fast Lane’s, Eric Lane. That battle seemed to get off to a roaring start in the day’s first race. Shaylin bested Eric by just four points in the MegaG+ Modified class, 40 points to Eric’s 36 points. Abe Maddox would finish the race with three 3rd place segment finishes and a win in the final segment, just ahead of a hard-charging Expert driver, Jerry Pearson. With that success, Team Maddox decided to pack in for the day and would not continue. 
With Team Maddox accomplishing their team objectives and calling it a day, the rest of us continued the program and started Race 2.
The final race of the day! This one was quite the barnburner. Every driver moved into 2nd place during this one, and all set some very high-speed laps.
– November 2, 2024 –
The first race used Aaron’s newest IROC set of way-cool Camaros, which were fast and extremely capable cars. While Home Cook’n bagged the top podium spot, George and Aaron had a major battle throughout the entire race. At the end of five segments, Eric Lane was done with his rotations and sitting in second place but not enough points to seal the deal. Home Cook’n was also out with a perfect score of 80 laps and 64 points. The final segment was a dogfight for the second and third podium spots between Aaron Castro and George Peters. Both drivers finished on the same lap, with Aaron taking the win and points. However, because Aaron went into the final segment a lap down on George, George bagged the second podium spot with fewer points but just one more total lap than Aaron. Very close racing! 
Race 2 would utilize the venerable Viper-Jet platform, which would be a bit more challenging for the drivers since the downforce on these cars is considerably less than the previous Viper V-SPEC class with L4 traction magnets. This race saw a dogfight between the top three finishers and quite a battle between the 4th and 5th place finishers. The lone Sportsman driver, Eric Lane would best two Expert drivers with a nice 4th place finish. In the end, Aaron Castro took the win with one lap over George Peters in 2nd and two points over Home Cook’n in 3rd. Aaron clearly showed that he’s one of the top drivers at Stewart Raceway and won a great win with a reasonably loose platform. 
This one was everybody’s favorite race (NOT!). The Retro Viper platform was certainly the loosest car in the mix, and the runtimes clearly proved it. With almost no downforce and basically a L4 Viper V-SPEC chassis, this car is a handful to drive, especially on a road course. This one was a battle mostly between Home Cook’n and Aaron Castro, with the win going to Home Cook’n by just two laps. T-Jet ace George Peters was strangely not a big factor in this one as he struggled to dial in his setup while Eric Lane seemed to have a good handle on the tricky platform, finishing in 4th with more laps, but short just three points. Nice driving by the lone Sportsman driver! 
To cap off the challenging IROC championship, we decided to run Eric “Fast” Lane’s “Scooby Doo” vans for the final race of the day. Eric has been refining this set since first introducing them to us in 2023. With the high center of gravity and heavier resin-molded body, these cars are challenging but way fun to drive. Eric Lane came out swinging, winning the first segment with the fastest lap time over Home Cook’n in 2nd. With George still struggling, this one was a battle between Aaron Castro, Eric Lane, and Home Cook’n. Going into the final segment, Kevin Webster led the race but done with his rotation without enough points to maintain his position. In the end, Home Cook’n bagged the win by just one lap, tying with 2nd place, Aaron Castro on points. Eric “fast” Lane had a great final race, bagging the win in the first segment and finishing on the podium in 3rd. Great driving, Eric! 
In this one, Jared Johnson was on a terror, pressuring the second-fastest qualifier, Aaron Castro, early in the race and finishing on the same lap for two of the four segments. Jared had a rough time in the Blue lane and lost significant laps in that segment but put up a great fight against Eric Lane and eventual race winner, Expert Aaron Castro. 
Jerry Pearson was in the hunt in this race against the fastest qualifier, finishing second but losing four laps to Home Cook’n in the Orange lane. Matthew Johnson received excellent support from his team management and finished very well as a Junior driver against two of the fastest teams in the race. In the end, we didn’t have to do the Last Chance Qualifier due to no-shows and early departures , we just transferred all drivers to the Feature. 
The feature was a pretty chaotic event. I’m not going to cover it here but let’s say it had a lot of misc chaos and self-inflicted damage. In the end, Aaron Castro emerged as the winner by a lap. You’ll have to view the video of this one, it was wild. 
