Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Lites” Grand Sport Corvette bodies or maybe the short wheelbase Augoran bodies.
Another option for a new class could be the MG+ 1.5 chassis. We could run many hard bodies or paper bodies on that platform.
I’m bullish on the Jag Hobbies platforms but open to anything the group considers a good choice. Please review the links above and let me know what platforms you’d be okay adding to the mix by completing the following survey.
New Platform Survey
Other than the Viper V-SPEC chassis at ~$50.00, all the others are relatively cheap. The Jag Hobbies TR-3, for example, is only $25.00 for a complete rolling chassis. In any case, expect to invest roughly $50 to $75 to procure any of these platforms with the appropriate body.
Introducing the MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” class of 2023.
Below are shots of all the Round 2Â bodies, which were picked from a batch prepared by Hammerschlagen Fabrication for the new Xtreme series. Drivers picked their bodies based on qualifying order in Round 2.
Most of these shots were taken with the bodies just sitting on a random chassis, not taped. (Right-click on image and open in a new browser tab to see full-res image)
Qualified 1st: Jerry Pearson, #69Qualified 2nd: Aaron Castro, #7Qualified 3rd: Kevin Webster, #47Qualified 4th: Shaylin MaddoxQualified 5th: Eric “Fast” Lane, #4Qualified 6th: Grace Maddox, #6DNS: Abe Maddox, #3
Well, we didn’t have all of the usual suspects in the paddock but we clicked off three action packed races, all with the MegaG+ 1.7 platform.
George Peters, Abe Maddox, Jordan Walker
The first event was qualifying. We had hoped to do a new style/format for qualifying but it didn’t work so we just did an Indy-style format but with 10-laps to get the best average lap time.
Young gun, Abe Maddox, of Team Maddox fame knocked first-up qualifier, Kevin Webster, of Webster Motorsport fame off the leaderboard with a blistering 10-lap average of 6.072 putting Abe on the pole until the last qualifier, George Peters, put in another blistering 10-lap performance with an average lap time of 6.026 and an average speed of 546-mph. Neither driver appeared to have suffered a crash during their 10-lap pole setting efforts.
These cars are fun but when you fit a super-light paper body on them, they get even more fun. The paper bodies are so light, the car handles like it doesn’t have a body at all.
George Peters pretty much dominated this event, but Team Maddox had one heat win and several second-place finishes with Shaylin Maddox winning the final segment handily while filling in for teammate, Grace Maddox. Shaylin completed all laps of the final segment and clicked of the best lap of the segment (5.954).
Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, quietly bagged the final podium spot with one solid segment win and solid placings in his other segments. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
98
56
889.721
2
Steve Stewart
97
52
816.236
3
Kevin Webster
89
47
898.078
4
Jordan Walker
83
47
740.99
5
Grace Maddox
82
45
716.313
6
Abe Maddox
81
42
789.937
7
Shaylin Maddox
88
40
870.364
Race #2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Lites”
Home Cook’n, Kevin Webster, George Peters
These are our pretty much box-stock MegaG+ cars with very slight mods and hardbodies, typically F1/Indy or NASCAR stock car livery.
Kevin Webster very nearly won this event with outstanding driving, Kevin and Home Cook’n were neck and neck the whole event going into the final segment. Kevin would end up one lap down after a hard crash with just a few laps left in the final segment. The crash gave Home Cook’n a good gap and Kevin was unable to close it before the race ended.
The past, present, and future of slot car racing. Team Maddox rocks!
George Peters came on very strong in the final segment placing second and on the same lap as the leader but struggled during the other heats due to distraction from erratic driving by teammate, Jordan Walker. Jordan put in some amazing laps during the race but lost his focus and would abandon after the third segment. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
64
1446.079
2
Kevin Webster
99
50
1461.834
3
George Peters
92
46
1463.719
4
Jordan Walker
58
28
1472.685
Series Standings after Round 1
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
197
116
2262.315
2
George Peters
190
102
2353.44
3
Kevin Webster
188
97
2359.912
4
Jordan Walker
141
75
2213.675
5
Grace Maddox
82
45
716.313
6
Abe Maddox
81
42
789.937
7
Shaylin Maddox
88
40
870.364
So, there you have it. Round 1 of the 2023 50/50 Xtreme Series is in the books. As always, you can miss one race in any series and still be in the hunt for a series win.
The MegaG+ platform has been an amazingly competitive platform and appears to be a keeper at Stewart Raceway. With the addition of the new “paper” bodies, we’re considering adding a “Modified” version of this car using the superlight paper body and maybe an independent front-end, and possibly N42 or even N52 traction magnets. Personally, I think just the paper body addition is quite the performance improvement, but some folks like to go even faster.
Stay tuned for details on Round 2 and our next track day.
Well, it was kind of a staggered day with Team Maddox showing up in the AM and doing a bunch of testing laps and one full rotation race. Shaylin Maddox won the only race we did, which I think is her first full race win–Way to go!
Abe Maddox seemed to be a bit distracted but wasn’t too far off. He also won a heat or two. Shaylin and Abe were both running Viper V-SPEC cars while I was running a bone-stock MegaG+ with a “paper” Whelen Modified body.
Normally, a V-SPEC Viper would blow the doors off a stock MegaG+ 1.7 car. However, with the paper body, the chassis is much faster and handles significantly better. Still working on the paper body design for the 1.7 MG+ but I am getting close to a simple and easy-to-install version. I’m focusing on a USAC Whelen Modified style first and will look at other designs once I sort out what works and what doesn’t.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Shaylin Maddox
174
83
2428.881
2
Steve Stewart
178
81
2443.839
3
Abe Maddox
158
76
2452.908
Later in the day, Aaron Castro showed up to test some MegaG+ cars and got to meet most of Team Maddox as they were getting ready to roll towards home. Webster Motorsports showed up shortly after Aaron’s arrival.
Team Maddox departing was a bummer but they accomplished their goals and had a great track day. The good news was we still had three drivers on the track so we did a bunch of hot lapping and then clicked off one Viper V-SPEC rotation race. The racing was very close with Aaron bagging second place overall and Kevin Webster very, very close.
We decided to tech the cars to show Aaron the process. Both Kevin’s and Aaron’s cars were relatively close in both dyno numbers and downforce, while Home Cookn’s car was substantially better in both categories.
Turns out, both drivers were running out-of-the box V-SPEC chassis’ with only timing adjustments. Kevin’s car was actually running retarded timing, which is good for small home tracks and tight courses. Aaron’s car was running fairly neutral timing. Both cars had stock Razor front ends and stock PST rear tires.
Of course, advancing the end bell timing makes a big difference in off-the-corner and straightaway speeds, installing smaller profile rear tires increases downforce considerably, and an independent front-end improves corner speed.
All this made me realize that most of our Sportsman drivers are probably running bone-stock Viper V-SPEC cars, which can be very competitive but obviously inferior to a properly setup HOPRA SPEC RACER chassis, which are the only V-SPEC rules we run at Stewart Raceway right now.
Maybe we need to revive the HOPRA SPEC STOCK class. Pretty much the same rules as SPEC RACER but is restricted to hardbodies and no adjustable brush barrels. Independent front-ends are still allowed but that is not a big game changer.
Any other ideas out there? I think the SPEC RACER rules are pretty basic but it looks like we need to bring some parity to the Viper V-SPEC class racing.
I’m sure some of you have seen these cars out there. RaceMasters has released a few new body styles for the MegaG+ 1.7 chassis. I really like those presented here.
I know buying a car for just the body is silly but these bodies are pretty cool. If you’re planning on purchasing additional MG+ platforms, I’d choose one or more of these. They come with a 1.7 chassis but the bodies are impressive also.
You can find these complete cars out there from $30 plus shipping.
Well, we didn’t have all of the usual suspects in the paddock but we clicked off three action packed races, all with the MegaG+ 1.7 platform.
Well, it was kind of a staggered day with Team Maddox showing up in the AM and doing a bunch of testing laps and one full rotation race. Shaylin Maddox won the only race we did, which I think is her first full race win–Way to go!
I’m sure some of you have seen these cars out there. RaceMasters has released a few new body styles for the MegaG+ 1.7 chassis. I really like those presented here.
