Category: Series/Season Standings

2026 Season Kicks Off With A Friday Night “Under The Lights” Event

3-ohm Mayhem in the PR-5 GT IROC race.

We were shooting for a doubleheader (Friday night and Saturday), but we couldn’t field enough teams for Saturday. Probably a good thing, since Friday night’s event went well past 1:00 AM.

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 312 178 3420.310
2 Dustin Jolley 303 157 3494.790
3 Dean Donaldson 274 131 3578.762
4 Mike Langell 262 98 3506.202
Race 1: Jag Hobbies PR-5 GT F1/Indy Hardbody (IROC)

The latest fleet addition to Stewart Raceway, these cars are very nearly as fast as a Viper V-SPEC L4 car, and they’re out of the box. I think with a paper Modified body, they’ll be as fast, or faster. Put some aftermarket silicon tires on them, and look out!

The new IROC set debuts on SR2’s straight road course in a 30-lap fuel race with no marshals and the Track Call FOB.

Dustin came off the starting line blazing in this one after only a few minutes of warm-up. Dustin won two segments, Home Cook’n won two. Dustin took the overall win with some superb driving and some good fortune in the final segment. Mike Langell (pronounced “Looungell”), had a significant first segment, besting Home Cook’n by 3 laps!

Going into the final segment, Home Cook’n had a very slim lead of just one point on Team Jolley, who managed a very nice 2nd place finish in the tricky Red lane in Segment 3. Home Cook’n managed to get a nice gap on everybody early on, but racing is never over until the checkers fly. In the last few laps, Home Cook’n got tangled up in a crash, and Dustin managed to get through the carnage and pulled ahead for the win. Never give up!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dustin Jolley 114 58 1743.112
2 Steve Stewart 113 56 1728.365
3 Mike Langell 97 42 1751.195
4 Dean Donaldson 88 32 1767.821
Race 2: Mega G+ 1.7 Corvette C8 (IROC)

Back to SR3’s Fast Esses road course… New Expert driver, Dean Donaldson, had a terrific run in this one with a 1st and two 2nd place segment finishes. Dean prefers Vipers, but this result shows that he’s more than capable of driving the “less-stuck” cars as well.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 99 58 862.716
2 Dean Donaldson 96 53 859.096
3 Dustin Jolley 94 49 855.746
4 Mike Langell 86 28 864.304
Race 3: Jag Hobbies PR-5 GT F1 Hardbody (IROC)

Yep, we ran this awesome IROC set again on SR3. This time, Kathy handled the Race Director chores and flagged the race. This race was pretty competitive in the first segment, but not all that close in the end. Team Jolly and Team Full-Speed (Donaldson) remained very close throughout the battle, with Dustin placing 2nd in three segments and Dean placing 3rd in three. Team Langell had clearly over-hydrated before or during the final race and would finish well off the pace, though he did have a few blazing laps to his credit.  He’s on target for “2026 Best Young Driver.”  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 100 64 829.229
2 Dustin Jolley 95 50 895.932
3 Dean Donaldson 90 46 951.845
4 Mike Langell 79 28 890.703

It’s a bit too early in the season to post points standings (See overall results above). However, Team Jolly obviously earned his 2025 Rookie of the Year honors, and Team Full-Speed continues to improve his driving skills.

So, how did the new Jag Hobbies PR-5 GT platform do? On SR2’s straight road course, Home Cook’n clicked off a 3.464 in the Blue lane. With Eric Lane’s Viper V-SPEC L4 F1/Indy set, Jordan Walker clicked off a 3.119 lap in the Blue lane back in July of 2024. On SR3, the fastest lap for Eric’s way cool Viper set is a 4.526 in the White lane. Dustin clicked off a blazing 3.695 lap Friday night in the Blue lane with the PR-5 GT. This is the fastest lap I know of on SR3!

We’re not going to be able to pull off an “Under The Lights” event this coming week, but Saturday or Saturday night are possibilities. Stay tuned for invites.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2025 Racing Season Year End Bash

The 2025 Stewart Raceway racing season ends with four races, good pizza, great eggnog, and the following well-deserved award presentations:

      • Junior Champion: Abe Maddox
        Abe only did 18 races in 2025, but his three overall race wins, multiple lap records, and a 3.1 placing average earned him his second consecutive Junior championship.
      • Sportsman Champion: Dean Donaldson
        In his very first season at Stewart Raceway, Dean completed a whopping 64 races in 2025 and finished with a 2.4 placing average, 10 lap records (SR2 & SR3), and six overall race wins. Dean joins the Expert driver ranks for the 2026 racing season.
      • Rookie of the Year: Dustin Jolley
        Dustin didn’t discover Stewart Raceway until October, but quickly established himself as a very talented and versatile slot car racer. Dustin completed 19 races with a 2.3 average placing, four race wins, and seven lap records in a variety of lanes and cars. Dustin is expected to upgrade to the Expert ranks early in the 2026 season.
      • Most Improved Driver: Jared Johnson
        Jared doesn’t get to race much (only six races in 2025), but when he does race, he’s typically on or near the podium. In their third season at Stewart Raceway, Team Johnson has been a force in both the Junior ranks and now the Sportsman ranks. Team Manager, Jared, invested in a Viper V-SPEC car and two MG+ 1.7 F1 cars during the 2025 season. Team Johnson also invested in a new development driver with the birth of his third child, Luke. I’m sure we’ll see Luke in the paddock in 2026 and beyond.
      • Team of the Year: Team Maddox
        We didn’t do much organized team racing in 2025, but the Team Maddox duo of Abe and Shaylin is clearly a force in any racing at Stewart Raceway. With Abe being our top Junior driver and Mom, Shaylin, holding nearly 20 lap records, and bagging two overall race wins in 2025, they easily won the Team of the Year honors.
      • Promoter of the Year (recruiter): Dean Donaldson
        We’ve always shown great appreciation for drivers who bring new drivers into the fold. Dean has set a very high bar for this recognition going forward. Dean introduced nine (9) new drivers to our program in 2025.  With that level of recruiting, we can now typically run a weekly program with enough drivers and marshals to support an official race day/night easily. Dean is also very active each week, chasing down RSVPs and urging drivers to attend events—hat tip to Dean for outstanding contributions to our hobby/sport.
      • Best Eggnog of the Year: Kathy Stewart
        Well, surprisingly, there wasn’t very much competition for this award. Kathy cleaned out Safeway’s stock of a delicious Eggnog brand that Eric Lane introduced to us at our end-of-season bash in 2024. This stuff is good!
Racing Short Story

The important thing to note here is that Team Maddox took over for Home Cook’n in Race 3, starting in segment 4 of 6. Both Shaylin and Abe switched off in the final three segments, which very likely kept Home Cook’n in the hunt for the Expert overall. Abe bagged a second-place finish in segment 5, which netted 13 points.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 338 210 3055.293
2 Dean Donaldson 338 194 3901.942
3 Jeff Seltzer 310 141 2964.951
4 Bev Seltzer 242 80 2520.254
5 Mike Langell 190 79 2238.219
6 Dustin Jolley 146 68 1795.775
Race 1: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan

Dean Donaldson cements his Sportsman Championship win and advancement to the Expert ranks with a win in the fastest race of the day.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dean Donaldson 99 58 601.807
2 Steve Stewart 98 58 639.526
3 Jeff Seltzer 90 40 617.176
4 Bev Seltzer 79 32 632.561
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan (Dash Race)

Bev Seltzer, getting back to racing after a long layoff, shows her stuff with a nice podium finish in a hard-fought Dash race with the fastest car we run. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 40 16 254.780
2 Bev Seltzer 40 14 113.362
3 Dean Donaldson 38 11 259.974
4 Jeff Seltzer 34 7 103.923
Race 3: Tyco 440-X2 Wide-Pan Porsche 935 Hardbody

This one was a great example of why less lanes and more marshals is better. We had six drivers, so we decided to run six lanes. Which left us with just a race director at the keyboard and one marshal, making this a very long race due to many crashes forcing yellow flags. Home Cook’n led this one at the halfway mark, but handed over the reins to Team Maddox. Thanks to Abe’s and Shaylin’s driving, the team was able to secure a nice podium position. The detailed results show Dustin winning this one on laps. However, when sorted by points, then laps, which is our typical method of scoring, Dean came out the winner with Dustin bagging the final podium spot. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dean Donaldson 143 73 2650.090
2 Shaylin Maddox, Abe Maddox, S. Stewart 140 72 1787.480
3 Dustin Jolley 146 68 1795.775
4 Jeff Seltzer 132 54 1819.615
5 Mike Langell 137 47 1830.633
6 Bev Seltzer 123 34 1774.331
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan Eric Lane Set

This bunch loves Vipers, so we pulled out Eric “Fast” Lane’s coveted set of Formula V Lexan IROC cars and went racing again. The results below are deceiving; this race was short, very intense, and each segment ended the same. Jeff Seltzer bagged the final podium spot over Mike Langell, largely due to his best segment run in the more difficult Blue lane with the second fastest median lap time of 5.398.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 60 64 373.507
2 Dean Donaldson 58 52 390.071
3 Jeff Seltzer 54 40 424.237
4 Mike Langell 53 32 407.586

Other than the painfully long Race 3, it was a great day and evening of racing, good food, and a great bunch to hang out with. A big thanks from Kathy and me to all who showed up and made it a great and fun event!

That’s a wrap for our 2025 racing season. Thank you all for your continued support of our racing program. Kathy and I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and look forward to an even better 2026 season.

Race Report: Saturday Night Under The Lights, December 20-21, 2025

This was supposed to be a Saturday race, but ended up pushing to an Under The Lights event due to not enough RSVPs and prior commitments. Not a massive turnout with just three drivers, but the racing was way fun and competitive nevertheless.

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 284 181 2427.767
2 Dustin Jolley 269 154 2429.026
3 Dean Donaldson 233 123 2039.156
Race 1: AutoWorld Super III NASCAR 1.7 (i)

The AW Super III chassis isn’t the best choice for a SPEC STOCK platform. However, with a tire upgrade and some minor tweaks, it can be a fun car to drive. Our 2025 Sportsman champ, Dean Donaldson (full Speed Racing) didn’t take to this platform as well as Dustin did. Dean managed a nice second-place finish in the final heat, besting Dustin by two laps, posting the fastest lap of the segment in the White lane, and a perfect lap score of 20. Dustin had a very productive race with two 2nd’s, a 1st, and a 3rd. Going into the final segment, Dustin had a perfect lap score of 60 and was just three points behind Home Cook’n and a better total run time. Dustin ended up struggling in the Green lane, losing two laps and finishing third to Dean.

Still a terrific run for Dustin while setting a new lap record (6.317) in the Blue lane for this platform.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 61 765.127
2 Dustin Jolley 78 53 785.733
3 Dean Donaldson 73 46 942.068
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Lites (Support Class)

As always, this “Builder” class was a barn-burner. Dustin came out swinging in the White lane, posting the fastest lap of the first segment, getting all 25 laps, and crossing the line .372-seconds behind the winner. In the second segment, Dean Donaldson took advantage of not one, but two Home Cook’n “Senior Moments” and won the segment with a perfect 25 laps and the best segment run time, putting him in 2nd-place overall going into the final segment. Home Cook’n would drop from first to third after his disastrous rotation, losing 3 laps early on due to his foopah (hooking up in the wrong lane).

Going into the final segment, Dustin was the race leader by one lap, but one point down on both Dean and Home Cook’n. I don’t remember the fuel dynamic, but both Dean and Home Cook’n needed to make up their lap and hope Dustin had a bad run in his final segment. Neither scenario played out. Dean would have a disastrous run in the segment, losing four laps and finishing third. Home Cook’n had a great run in the Green lane, but failed to get the lost lap back, winning the race but came up short putting a lap on the race leader, Dustin Jolley. Dustin put in the fastest lap of the segment, came up four points short, but held on to his one lap lead, and posted a better overall runtime to win!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dustin Jolley 75 39 508.919
2 Steve Stewart 74 43 557.980
3 Dean Donaldson 70 38 516.095
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan

Dean Donaldson (Full Speed Racing) was on a mission in his favorite race. The fastest car we run at Stewart Raceway, these races are typically very close, and the adrenaline is very high. Dean drove the wheels off his Viper in all three segments, ending with a perfect 90-lap score, three 2nd place finishes, and the fastest lap in Segment 2 in the Green lane. Dustin, on the other hand, had a disastrous Viper race, losing multiple laps in each segment and clearly not in the hunt. In Dustin’s defense, his L4 GT-40 Viper is not the ideal setup for SR3, and his results drove that point home. I’m sure Dustin is considering procurement of a new, more competitive Viper V-SPEC platform as I write this report. Congrats to Dean for stellar performance!

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 90 48 537.628
2 Dean Donaldson 90 39 580.993
3 Dustin Jolley 76 33 567.327
Race 4: OS3 TFX Box Stock Dash Aston Martin (i)

After losing Dean due to attrition from the grueling Viper race, Dustin and I turned down the speed dial a bit. The TFX platform isn’t the slowest car we run, but with roughly half the downforce of the typical magnet car and considerable acceleration, it is very challenging to drive.

This was more of an exhibition race than anything else. But the detailed results show that Dustin is an excellent, diverse driver, improving lap times, winning the last segment, and smiling throughout the race.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 40 29 567.032
2 Dustin Jolley 40 29 567.047

A big thanks to Dustin for bringing a delicious chocolate cream pie to the event. We didn’t serve dinner, but we paused between races 1 and 2 to enjoy the excellent pie. Thank you. Dustin!!

Okay, I think that about does it for the official 2025 season at Stewart Raceway. We’re hoping to do an end-of-season event next Saturday (Dec 27) to celebrate the following award winners, enjoy some good eats, and run a few fun races to end the year.

      • 2025 Junior Champion
      • 2025 Sportsman Champion
      • 2025 Rookie of the Year
      • 2025 Most Improved Driver
      • 2025 Team of the Year
      • 2025 Promoter of the Year (recruiter)
      • 2025 Best Eggnog of the Year

Okay, stay tuned for more details, enjoy Christmas, and shut up and drive!

Race Report: Wednesday Night Under The Lights, November 26-27, 2025

Despite the national Thanksgiving holiday on Thurs, we had an excellent turnout for this Under The Lights event. Kathy prepared some delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup and cornbread muffins. Team Clarke brought a home-baked peach pie (I didn’t try it, but everyone else loved it). Team Jolley brought delicious tortilla chips, guac dip, as well as great cookies. Of course, plenty of good hydration products were floating around the paddock, also.

We didn’t get racing until about 7:00 pm and had to interrupt that first race for dinner and dessert. Race 2 got underway around 9:30, and we wrapped up racing just before midnight.

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 214 156 1963.184
2 Dean Donaldson 210 133 2005.881
3 Dustin Jolley 207 126 1962.609
4 Joe Clarke 85 51 991.220
5 Harper Hutchinson 99 46 1075.561
6 Rylee Hutchinson 90 34 1042.174
7 Michael Hutchinson 89 34 969.277
8 Lisa Clarke 74 33 1004.625
Race 1:  Jag Hobbies NC-2 Lite BOX STOCK Mustangs (i)

The Jag NC-2 is a great magnet-car platform designed as an alternative to the AFX MegaG 1.5 platform. This IROC set utilizes out-of-the-box cars with paintable AutoWorld Mustang bodies. The AW hardbodies have a relatively high center of gravity, so they’re a bit tricky to drive on a road course.

This race was very competitive, with nearly every driver bagging a segment win. Dustin Jolley would be the quickest Sportsman driver, with the fastest lap (6.272 on Orange) and the fastest median lap time in segment 4 (8.871). Team Clarke’s Joe Clarke won a segment overall and put down some impressive lap times, but came up a few laps and just 2 points short of the podium.

In the end, Dean Donaldson would take top Sportsman honors, besting the hard-charging Dustin Jolley for the overall win. They tied in total laps, and Dustin had the better runtime and won the last segment, but came up 7 points short of the overall win. (Details)

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 97 68 1008.684
2 Dean Donaldson 93 60 1021.363
3 Dustin Jolley 93 53 1004.292
4 Joe Clarke 85 51 991.220
5 Lisa Clarke 74 33 1004.625
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan Eric Lane Set

Team Hutchinson joined in the fun for Race 2 after Team Clarke had to head home to prepare for T-Day travels. Michael and his daughter, Harper, have raced at Stewart Raceway twice before, once on the SR3 oval, and once on SR3’s Fast Esses road course. Harper has a 4.0 average, and Michael has a 4.5 average. Daughter Rylee was driving for the first time. Obviously, the deck was stacked against Team Hutchinson in this one.

After a brief warm-up, the race got underway with the stage being set quickly. The Sportsman battle was clearly going to be between Dustin Jolley and Dean Donaldson, while Team Hutchinson had their own heated battle going within the team. Dustin and Dean swapped segment wins from the start, and Dean ended Segment 5 in the lead by 3 laps and 5 points. Dean also had the fastest lap and median lap time.

To make things even more challenging for Dustin in the final segment, Harper and Rylee Hutchinson were posting increasingly faster lap times as the race progressed. Harper won the segment 4 Sportsman battle with a nice 2-place finish overall, completing all 20 laps, and posting the fastest Sportsman lap and median lap time in the Orange lane.

Unfortunately for Team Hutchinson, all three drivers would spend the final segment in “gutter” lanes. Rylee faired the best, completing 17 laps in the final segment, finishing 4th overall, and 3rd for the segment. Dustin Jolley drove the wheels off the White lane car, setting the fastest Sportsman lap and median lap time, completing all 20 laps, and winning the segment overall. But it just wasn’t quite enough to overtake Sportsman race-leader, Dean Donaldson. While they tied on points, Dean finished 3 laps ahead of Dustin for the coveted Sportsman win. (Details)

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 117 88 954.500
2 Dean Donaldson 117 73 984.518
3 Dustin Jolley 114 73 958.317
4 Harper Hutchinson 99 46 1075.561
5 Rylee Hutchinson 90 34 1042.174
6 Michael Hutchinson 89 34 969.277

It was great to see Team Hutchinson back at Stewart Raceway, enjoying the racing, and steadily improving their lap times. Congrats to Harper on her second podium appearance in just three visits to Stewart Raceway!

This likely marks the end of the points chase for the 2025 Under The Lights season. Below are the points standings for our inaugural season:

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dean Donaldson 3372 2915 38657.469
2 Kathy Stewart 710 878 7171.465
3 Joe Clarke 828 855 8419.542
4 Dustin Jolley 1193 568 10955.320
5 Mike Langell 630 467 6317.622
6 Jeff Seltzer 826 301 14673.877
7 Tom Langell 375 282 4622.009
8 Frank Virgil 107 244 1075.160
9 Lisa Clarke 255 230 3264.112
10 Bill Shrum 101 144 929.429
11 Joey Vierra 136 102 2145.284
12 Joe Vargas 215 99 2111.097
13 Kevin Webster 229 97 1795.770
14 Ron Williams 205 74 3324.955
15 Mick Dudas 94 63 2116.387
16 Harper Hutchinson 99 46 1075.561
17 Rylee Hutchinson 90 34 1042.174
18 Michael Hutchinson 89 34 969.277
19 Bev Seltzer 98 28 1186.187
0 Steve Stewart 3593 3431 39283.808

Dean Donaldson obviously won the Sportsman class points chase. Kathy and Joe are very close, with Kathy in 2nd place and Joe in third, 23 points behind. We could have a race-off between the two to see who comes out on top. Maybe we’ll get in one more race night before the end of the year; we’ll see. I think I’ve got some pretty solid video of both races. I’ll post those on Rumble soon.

I’ve still got some number crunching to do for the regular season (Saturday) points, but a couple of notable mentions for 2025 awards are Abe Maddox (3 race wins, 25 segment wins), Jared Johnson (Most Improved), and a decision on who earned Rookie of the Year honors.

I’ve got the 13th, 17th, 19th, and 20th available for an “End of Season” celebration event. If there’s enough interest, we’ll have lunch/dinner, present awards, recognize advancements, and maybe have a Race-Off between Joe and Kathy.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Race Report: Wednesday Night Under The Lights, October 8, 2025

Please welcome Dustin Jolley, our newest driver and slot car enthusiast out of Scotts Valley. Dustin has a 4-lane home sectional track and gets together regularly with a few friends and races Tyco 440-X2, MG+, and Vipers. Dustin did very well in his debut on SR3.

Also, a big welcome back to Tom Langell and Joe Clarke, both great drivers and way too fun to race with.

We only did two races on the night and, once again, no video or pics. 🙁

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve StewartEx 240 125 1918.234
2 Dean Donaldson 231 95 1950.328
3 Dustin Jolley 229 90 1987.657
4 Joe Clarke 134 38 1333.409
5 Tom Langell 136 37 1339.961
Race 1:

Don’t remember what we raced, but I think both races were house IROC sets. Dean took the Sportsman win, but Dustin was just one lap behind in the second spot. Joe and Tom duked it out the entire race, with Joe taking the final podium spot by just one point over Tom. Pretty competitive, I’d say.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve StewartEx 150 77 1260.435
2 Dean Donaldson 144 58 1267.585
3 Dustin Jolley 143 55 1302.034
4 Joe Clarke 134 38 1333.409
5 Tom Langell 136 37 1339.961
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (IROC)

We lost Joe and Tom to the demands of real life, but Dean, Dustin, and I soldiered on for one more race. Dustin, again, was knocking on Dean’s doors, only one lap off the pace and just three points short of the Sportsman win. More great racing!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 90 48 657.799
2 Dean Donaldson 87 37 682.743
3 Dustin Jolley 86 35 685.623

A way fun night, great food and hydration products, and some really good racing.

Under The Lights Season Standings

Yep, you gotta show up to be in the hunt for points. Given that there are only two months left in the 2025 season, I’d say Dean will be crowned the Sportsman champ for the 2025 “Under The Lights” season. Which means Dean is essentially an Expert-ranked driver now. Congrats, Dean!!

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 2409 2860 31724.980
2 Dean Donaldson 2335 2506 32099.450
3 Kathy Stewart 601 969 5669.916
4 Joe Clarke 500 842 4895.945
5 Frank Virgil 107 244 1075.160
6 Jeff Seltzer 613 217 12638.535
7 Tom Langell 242 189 2236.422
8 Mike Langell 105 188 883.814
9 Lisa Clarke 84 152 1191.066
10 Bill Shrum 101 144 929.429
11 Kevin Webster 229 97 1795.770
12 Dustin Jolley 229 90 1987.657
13 Ron Williams 205 74 3324.955
14 Bev Seltzer 98 28 1186.187

We’re hoping for another good turnout this coming Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Okay, shut up and drive!