Below is a summary of the current points standings for all “official” racing to date for the 2023 racing season.
Who will take home the Season’s trophy?
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
2773
735
26066.3
2
Aaron Castro
1015
401
8840.121
3
Jordan Walker
1980
385
15915.75
4
Jerry Pearson
1511
336
14395.3
5
Eric Lane
1440
183
12701.97
6
Shaylin Maddox
637
173
4788.795
7
Abe Maddox
550
153
4541.577
8
Fred Ebert
189
79
1658.412
1
Steve Stewart*
3382
1202
26227.38
2
George Peters*
2753
705
18209.27
* Denotes Expert ranked drivers.
The trophies shown are not the actual 2023 trophies.
With just one or two more races possible this season, it looks like Sportsman points leader, Kevin Webster (Webster Motorsports), has a very good shot at the 2023 Season Championship trophy.
Based on his performance in Round 3 of the 50/50 Xtreme Series, Aaron Castro has a mathematical shot at the trophy. However, Kevin would have to miss at least one remaining round and Aaron would need another stellar day like he had in Round 3 to pull it off. I guess we’ll just have to see if we can complete one or two more rounds before the end of the year.
Jordan Walker, also a championship contender, is expected to miss at least the next round, which, unfortunately, will take him out of contention for the championship win.
Below is a summary of ALL races ran to date in 2023, this includes kids races, dash races, official series races, and any other “unofficial” race completed throughout the season. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily reflect merit since some drivers show up much more than others, and some (me) show up for every event.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
6041
2590
59631.24
2
Kevin Webster
4649
1546
51604.85
3
Aaron Castro
2711
1043
27476.9
4
George Peters
3066
860
21576.99
5
Abe Maddox
1272
765
14974.65
6
Jerry Pearson
1943
702
21632.81
7
Shaylin Maddox
1258
611
15360.7
8
Eric Lane
1456
502
15520.8
9
Jordan Walker
1633
351
14267.18
10
Grace Maddox
335
214
5017.043
Some of our junior drivers getting ready to race.
A few things to note from the 2023 season so far:
The latest entry into our group, Aaron Castro is not long for the Sportsman ranks and will likely be the 2023 Rookie Driver of the Year and advance to the Expert ranks very soon.
Abe Maddox is clearly the 2023 Junior Driver of the Year and can race with the “Big Kids” anytime.
While I don’t believe there should be any distinction between male and female drivers in slot car racing, Abe’s Mom, Shaylin Maddox, is definitely our most active and possibly our best female driver in the group. It’s truly way cool to have women interested in racing and we have two adult women, Shaylin and Martha Elderon, who are very good slot car jockeys, for sure.
With just one more month remaining in the 2023 season, this summary isn’t likely to change much. We have two more “official” races to complete before the end of 2023. Hopefully, we can conclude them before the end of the year and give out some of these well-deserved awards.
Stay tuned for a complete summary of the “official” races of the 2023 season…
Abe Maddox pointing out his 1161 laps in practice before round 3.
Race 1: Johnny Lightning “Shaunadega” Vintage NASCAR (IROC) 18v
JL “Shaunadega” NASCAR podium: Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
George Peter’s dragged these cool cars out of his archives to run on the SR3 oval. They did not disappoint anybody. These cars are a hoot to drive, fast, and loose, but very predictable. The venerable pancake motor with vintage NASCAR bodies is a blast to race on an oval. The main battle in this one was between Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, and George Peters, with Aaron finishing a close second and on the same lap as the winner. A secondary battle was going on between Sportsman drivers, Kevin Webster and Shaylin Maddox. Shaylin had never driven the SR3 oval course nor had she ever driven a Johnny Lightning “Shaunadega” car. In the end, Shaylin managed to take third in the final two segments, besting Kevin by four laps and just four points. Great driving! Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
156
59
702.416
2
Aaron Castro
156
55
681.966
3
George Peters*
152
53
697.333
4
Shaylin Maddox
126
36
704.308
5
Kevin Webster
122
32
714.1
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” 18v
MG+ Modified podium: Hone Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
This relatively new class has been very interesting and competitive. The “paper” bodies transform the MG+ chassis into a real speedster by virtue of less weight and overall mass, making the MG+ 1.7 platform much more exciting to drive. Unfortunately, Team Maddox had to abandon racing after the first event due to their younger drivers favoring other interests. That would leave just four of us to complete round 3 but it was still hot and heavy racing from then on. Race was yet another barn burner with Aaron Castro putting in a fierce effort to win Race 2. In the end, each segment of the race was identical in terms of finishing order with Aaron finishing on the same lap as the leader again! Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
158
56
405.562
2
Aaron Castro
158
55
405.935
3
George Peters*
154
49
405.545
4
Kevin Webster
141
28
406.317
Race 3: OS3 TFX “Box Stock” 1968 and 70 Camaro Hard Bodies (IROC) 18v
TFX Podium: Aaron Castro, Home Cook’n, George Peters
In the spirit of the Aurora ThunderJet, these cars are completely stock TFX chassis’. Very challenging to drive, even on an oval. Sportsman driver, Aaron Castro, dominated Race 3 winning three of the four segments and clearly demonstrating his diverse driving skills with these fast but loose cars. Expert driver and veteran T-Jet driver, George Peters, fought hard for the win in this one but Aaron clicked off four perfect 40-lap segments and sealed the deal with a convincing win in the final segment. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Aaron Castro
160
61
1029.151
2
Steve Stewart*
155
55
1028.422
3
George Peters*
146
44
1037.697
4
Kevin Webster
120
28
1042.492
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan GTP 15v
Viper V-SPEC Podium: Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
One of our faster classes, these cars are essentially “box stock” Viper V-SPEC chassis’ with a Lexan body. No other mods are allowed. The fastest cars we ran in Round 3 and probably the most adrenaline-producing of the bunch. The final “official” race of the day was probably the most competitive of all with four very fast V-SPEC cars duking it out on the oval. The big story of the day was the Sportsman points battle between Kevin Webster and Aaron Castro. Kevin was leading the points chase by 21 over Aaron going into Round 3. Kevin knew he wasn’t having his best day going into the final race and was clearly on a mission to salvage the day with a win. Kevin came out of the gate with guns blazing and very fast laps, clinging onto second place until segment 3, when he had a disastrous run in the Blue lane only completing 34 laps. George Peters was in a solid third position until segment 3 when Aaron Castro came out of nowhere and won the segment with a perfect 40 laps completed. That would set the stage for an epic battle in the final segment. In the end, Home Cook’n managed to hold onto a slim 2-lap lead to take the win. The final segment was very close with Aaron and George putting in a perfect 40-laps and Kevin only losing one lap but with the best median lap time of the segment. That’s some very competitive racing, folks. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
158
61
501.295
2
Aaron Castro
156
47
503.668
3
George Peters*
154
40
505.022
4
Kevin Webster
151
40
505.363
Overall Results for Round 3
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
627
231
2637.695
2
Aaron Castro
630
218
2620.72
3
George Peters*
606
186
2645.597
4
Kevin Webster
534
128
2668.272
5
Shaylin Maddox
126
36
704.308
So cool to have Shaylin in the mix. She’s getting better and better each race and adapts amazingly well to every car, layout, and race format we throw at her. Way to go, Shaylin!
2023 50/50 Xtreme Series Points Standings after Round 3
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
1477
686
15573.7
2
Aaron Castro
1456
604
15715.95
3
Kevin Webster
1256
398
16165.68
4
Jerry Pearson
541
190
8600.651
5
George Peters*
606
186
2645.597
6
Eric Lane
339
112
6219.998
7
Martha Elderon
180
60
2304.775
8
Shaylin Maddox
126
36
704.308
By winning one race and coming in a close second in the other three events, Aaron Castro has rocketed into the lead in the Sportsman standings. With two more rounds to go, Kevin Webster is going to need a lot of luck and some very good driving to get back into a series-win position.
Vintage Fray T-Jets podium: Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
We actually didn’t stop racing after the four “official” races. The four of us clicked off four more fuel races, ending with a Fray T-Jet “slip-on” IROC race! Surprisingly, Aaron finished just two laps down on the leader having never raced a Fray car before.
Stay tuned for details on our next events at Stewart Raceway. Next weekend will be an open track and, hopefully, some junior racing. Round 4 of the series will return to the SR3 “Fast Esses” road course.
Round 2 of the series started with another qualifying session that would not only seed the subsequent races but also decide the selection order for the latest MegaG+ 1.7 “paper” bodies from Hammerschlagen Fabrications. The fastest Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson, clicked off a very nice 5-lap average time and got the first pick of the newly minted “paper” bodies for our new MG+ Modified class.
Grace Maddox qualified first and, of course, had the pole for a brief time before getting knocked off. She had a very nice run with no offs!
Shaylin Maddox and Eric Lane had the closest rivalry in qualifying with only a 4-mph difference in top speed.
Team Maddox was without Junior ace, Abe Maddox, this round due to a “contract” dispute forcing team management to suspend him for at least one event.
Qualifying (5-lap average, 2-lap warm-up)
Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane)
Date: Oct-28-2023 12:29
Class: Mega-G+ 1.7 Support Class
Descr: F1/Indy bodies on “Lite: rules chassis
Name
Lap Time
Speed (Mph)
Place
Steve Stewart
5.998
549
1
Jerry Pearson
6.427
512
2
Aaron Castro
6.928
475
3
Kevin Webster
7.157
460
4
Shaylin Maddox
8.04
409
5
Eric Lane
8.132
405
6
Grace Maddox
8.488
388
7
Team Maddox had to exit Round 2 just after qualifying and would not participate in the day’s points racing. Details
Race 1: MG+ 1.7 Vans c/o Eric “Fast” Lane’s stable
Wow, these cars were interesting. MegaG+ speed and power but with a very high and top-heavy van hardbody. This race was pretty much a battle between Home Cook’n and our newest club driver, Aaron Castro. Though Jerry Pearson was knocking on Aaron’s door quite a bit throughout the race. In the end, Aaron would win the Sportsman class and Jerry Pearson would bag second with just two points over Eric Lane. Very close racing and way fun cars! Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
125
80
2192.957
2
Aaron Castro
121
61
2235.927
3
Jerry Pearson
113
43
2231.131
4
Eric Lane
113
41
2238.855
5
Kevin Webster
112
40
2243.482
Race 2: Retro-Vipers with Maximum Leeway Lexan Bodies
This one was probably a poor choice by the Race Director. Lots of crashes and mayhem as all drivers struggled with the incredible power of the V-SPEC motor box and almost zero downforce. These cars are loose but very fast. This one was a battle between Home Cook’n and Aaron Castro most of the way. But that didn’t deter Jerry Pearson, who fought hard all the way to the end, finishing third overall with outstanding driving performance with this very difficult-to-driver cars. Webster Motorsports would abandon the race in frustration after just 5-laps into the third segment. Some guys just don’t like loose cars. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
125
77
2331.13
2
Aaron Castro
121
63
2365.839
3
Jerry Pearson
111
55
2360.755
4
Eric Lane
105
39
2351.244
5
Kevin Webster
47
31
2393.731
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan Bodies
This is our newest class, which is a slightly different spin on HOPRA’s SPEC STOCK rules, which allows a Lexan body instead of the hard OEM plastic or resin bodies using a body clip.
This final race was very competitive with Aaron Castro putting in an amazing run against Home Cook’n, leading several segments for long periods and generally driving extremely well. Aaron would end up second in every segment but led much of each segment. Meanwhile, Jerry Pearson and Kevin Webster would have the battle royale fighting for the final spot on the podium.
End the end, Jerry would best Kevin by just two points even though Kevin had seven more total laps. This is a very competitive class, all drivers had some very good lap times and strong stints in the lead. Great racing by all! Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
150
80
1595.555
2
Aaron Castro
143
59
1617.635
3
Jerry Pearson
137
48
1626.956
4
Kevin Webster
144
46
1627.687
5
Eric Lane
121
32
1629.899
Round 2 Overall Results:
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
400
237
6119.642
1
Aaron Castro
385
183
6219.401
2
Jerry Pearson
361
146
6218.842
3
Kevin Webster
303
117
6264.9
4
Eric Lane
339
112
6219.998
Home Cook’n was the lone Expert driver in the field for Round 2 with experts, Brad Sandahl, George, Peters, and Jordan Walker all no-shows. New driver, Aaron Castro gets top honors in the Sportsman ranks with a very nice showing in his first official racing event at Stewart Raceway.
2023 50/50 Xtreme Series Standings as of Round 2:
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
597
353
8381.957
1
Kevin Webster
491
214
8624.812
2
Aaron Castro
385
183
6219.401
3
Jerry Pearson
361
146
6218.842
4
Eric Lane
339
112
6219.998
5
George Peters*
190
102
2353.44
6
Jordan Walker*
141
75
2213.675
7
Grace Maddox
82
45
716.313
8
Abe Maddox
81
42
789.937
9
Shaylin Maddox
88
40
870.364
* Expert
The standings are a bit distorted due to the attendance of the first two events. However, it looks like there will be a fierce points battle in the Sportsman division between leader, Kevin Webster and chasers, Aaron Castro and Jerry Pearson. Of course, all that can change quickly but I’m sure our newest driver on the scene, Aaron Castro, is looking for not only race wins but a series win also.
Stay tuned for details on Round 3. I hope to continue the series this coming weekend if we can get enough attendance.
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.