Category: Stewart Raceway III

All about Stewart Raceway

Race Report: 2024 Summer Extreme Series, Round 3

Continuing our new racing format in Round 3, we conducted a five-lap qualifying session that divided the field into two qualifying races. The winners of each qualifier race transferred directly to the main event. The rest of the field went on to the Last Chance Qualifier race, where two more drivers (1st and 2nd) transferred to the feature race.  We had enough drivers to do a Consolation Race but opted not to.

Round 3 Feature (Main) Event Short Story
120 Lap Feature “Main” Event
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 59 588.969
2 Aaron Castro 120 50 592.295
3 George Peters 117 45 603.752
4 Jerry Pearson* 115 34 591.528
Qualifying

We changed the qualifying format for this round. Instead of a 7-lap session, drivers had a 5-lap session, two warmup laps, and three laps on the clock. Of course, if you have a crash, spin, or other mishap in the last three laps, your average lap time will suffer greatly.

Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane)
Class: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan
Descr: 5 laps, average time of last three laps
Name Lap Time Speed (Mph) Place
George Peters 4.617 713 1
Aaron Castro 4.710 699 2
Steve Stewart 4.854 678 3
Kevin Webster 5.247 627 4
Jerry Pearson* 6.470 509 5
Madeline Johnson* 6.836 481 6
Jared Johnson* 7.439 442 7
Matthew Johnson* 9.743 338 8

* Sportsman Driver

Qualifier Heat 2 (80 laps, winner transfers to Main)

Team Johnson’s Junior drivers didn’t stand much of a chance against two Expert drivers vying for that single transfer spot to the main event. Aaron won all four of the segments, Kevin came in second in four. Madeline Johnson found her groove in the final segment and put some serious pressure on Kevin Webster, finishing third but just one lap down and posting a slightly faster median lap time than Expert Kevin Webster. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Aaron Castro 80 64 453.176
2 Kevin Webster 75 52 464.196
3 Madeline Johnson 57 40 472.893
4 Matthew Johnson 52 32 463.234
Qualifier Heat 1 (80 laps, winner transfers to Main)

This qualifier race pitted the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th fastest qualifiers against one another, with only one driver transferring to the main event. The two Expert drivers, George Peters and Home Cook’n, looked to be the favorites to win, but Sportsman Jerry Pearson (Pearson Racing) was having none of that. Jerry took second in three of the four segments and second overall against a hard-charging George Peters. Team Johnson’s Jared Johnson was introduced harshly to our fastest class of cars, the Viper V-SPEC chassis. Jared did amazingly well against two experts, including a seasoned and highly motivated sportsman, Jerry Pearson. Jared also found his groove in the final segment, posting his fastest race lap. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 61 400.107
2 Jerry Pearson* 74 50 417.555
3 George Peters 72 49 411.908
4 Jared Johnson* 55 28 417.161
Last Chance Qualifier (60 laps, 1st & 2nd transfer to Main)

Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson was on fire again in the Last Chance Qualifier. Only two drivers would transfer to the Main Event, and Jerry was determined to be one of them. Jerry won three of his four segments and bagged second in his final segment. Also vying for one of the two transfer spots, George Peters won three of his four segments and took a second in the other. In the end, George and Jerry tied in laps and total points, but Jerry took the top podium spot by just 1.18 seconds. This is competitive racing at its finest! This was Team Johnson’s first “official” race day with the more serious crowd, but they all finished every stage and segment of the event and recorded some impressive results. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Jerry Pearson 60 61 331.906
2 George Peters 60 61 333.086
3 Kevin Webster 56 50 340.214
4 Jared Johnson 49 42 335.092
5 Matthew Johnson 43 36 346.24
6 Madeline Johnson 43 32 350.569
Feature “Main” Event (120 lap Sprint)

After experiencing a hiccup with SlotTrak’s latest version (scoring and fuel management feature failures), we abandoned the planned fuel stop component of the main event. We continued with a straight-up sprint race with 30 lap segments and no fuel stops. This race was an adrenaline party. Team Forza’s Aaron Castro put the heat on Home Cook’n and everybody else with three 2nd place segments and just missing a 1st in the first segment by 4/10’s of a second. Pearson Racing’s Jerry Pearson and GP Design’s George Peters would prove to be spoilers in the last two segments: Jerry put in a fabulous effort in the third segment, taking 2nd place to Home Cook’n by just 2/10’s of a second; George bagged the win in the final segment with the fastest runtime of the segment at 145.139. Both driver’s late-race performances robbed Aaron of valuable points that could have put him on the top of the main event podium had Home Cook’n not won three of the four segments. What a blisteringly fast race! Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 59 588.969
2 Aaron Castro 120 50 592.295
3 George Peters 117 45 603.752
4 Jerry Pearson 115 34 591.528
Series Points Standings After Round 3
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 852 470 4999.727
2 Aaron Castro 828 408 5027.041
3 George Peters 815 399 4980.924
4 Jerry PearsonS 636 291 3979.904
5 Kevin Webster 330 185 2056.297
6 Jordan Walker 302 133 2894.16
7 Eric LaneS 209 76 1794.119
8 Madeline JohnsonJ 57 40 472.893
9 Matthew JohnsonJ 52 32 463.234
10 Jared JohnsonS 55 28 417.161

S = Sportsman drivers, J = Junior drivers
Note: Jerry Pearson is well on his way to the Expert ranks—two more events.

Stay tuned for Round 4 details, might be a day on one of the ovals. Okay, shut up and drive!

Operations Updates

SlotTrak Fuel Management Features Update

Many of you have suffered from the SlotTrak bug that can occur during a yellow flag situation. As power is cut to the lanes, the software does not detect or register that you have entered the pits. When the track goes green, your car doesn’t refuel. This is very frustrating, of course.

I haven’t fully tested the latest version of SlotTrak because the Fuel Management feature didn’t work with those versions. However, their update documentation indicates they may have fixed this problem in one of the latest versions. We tried to run the latest on SR2 and SR3 several times, but the software did not detect pit entries, rendering the feature useless.

We’re currently running version 16.24. I plan to upgrade both SR2 and SR3 to version 17.34, which is currently the latest version available.

Kevin and I figured out after the racing last Saturday that this issue was caused by the latest version install, which seems to corrupt the TrackConfig file by removing the Pit Detection setup. Once we realized this was happening, we updated the TrackConfig file, and Boom! All was good!

So, the bottom line is that we’ll test the fuel management features during a future racing event and see if the latest version solves that pesky refueling problem most of us have experienced in the past. Let’s hope so!

StewartRaceway.org Web Site Unsecure or Not Secure Notices

I didn’t realize this was causing people to stop using our site or become concerned that the site was somehow potentially harmful.

All this means is that keystroke data going to/from the site is not encrypted via SSL [SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and its successor, TLS (Transport Layer Security), are protocols for establishing secure links between networked computers.]

StewartRaceway.org is not an eCommerce site. To utilize it, you do not enter private or sensitive financial or other information anywhere on the site, and it does not collect or store that sort of information.

Unless you’re concerned about a remote possibility that somebody out there may be able to capture the keystrokes your computer sends to the site when leaving a comment on the site, for example, there is no threat to you or your computer/network. This is no different than any other site you use that doesn’t utilize expensive SSL/TLS technology.

StewartRaceway.org can conduct eCommerce activities, but we don’t sell or buy anything on the site today. No financial or personal/private information is collected. If that changes, of course we’d employ SSL/TLS technology to make sure those transactions and associated data was secure and protected.

So, please don’t fret about this message. I don’t think Russians, government agents, or other bad guys are snooping around StewartRaceway.org. And if they were, all they’d find out is that we’re having a lot of fun racing little cars for no money!

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

Race Report: 2024 Summer “Extreme” Series, Round 2

Yeah, we were in the throws of the 2024 Summer 50/50 Series, but we couldn’t seem to get to round 2. Summer is challenging, with school out, then back in, vacations, and many other things to do.

We’ll combine the points from Round 1 of the 50/50 series with this new “Extreme” Series, Round 2. The new series differs greatly from what we’ve been doing regarding race day formats.

The Extreme Series focuses a race day on just one platform and a series of events that start with time-trial qualifying, a series of main event qualifier races (winner advances to the main event), a last-chance main qualifier (top 2 finishers advance to the main event), and a consolation race (for all drivers who did not transfer to the main (Feature) event. This format ensures that all drivers who start the event can race at least three of the five races in the days official schedule.

We completed Round 2 today with just five drivers, which worked well despite the low turnout, but some felt that the qualifier races were not full enough, and the Consolation race only had one driver in it (easy podium if you don’t DNF). On the brighter side, the format provided more marshals for each race except the Main (Feature) event, which made the racing more intense. We’ll play around with this new format for a few races and see how it goes.

Round 2 Short Story

The final feature event of the day was a dogfight between Home Cook’n and GP Designs, George Peters. The two tied on laps and total points, but Home Cook’n managed to squeak out the win by just 1/10th of a second over 120 laps of racing–amazingly close racing!

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 56 669.066
2 George Peters 120 56 669.166
3 Jerry Pearson 118 40 667.837
4 Aaron Castro 116 36 683.473
Qualifying

The chosen platform for this Round was the venerable AFX/Racemasters MegaG+ 1.7 chassis with a taped-on paper body instead of a traditional plastic hardbody.

 

Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane)
Date:  Sep-07-2024 11:35
Class: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified
Descr: Qualifying 5-lap Average

Name                Lap Time      Speed (Mph)   Place         
Steve Stewart       5.333         617           1             
Jerry Pearson       5.942         554           2             
George Peters       5.977         551           3             
Aaron Castro        6.206         530           4             
Kevin Webster       8.033         410           5
“B” Qualifier Race
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Jerry Pearson 100 61 592.079
2 Aaron Castro 97 55 599.125

Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson was on fire Saturday, second fastest in qualifying and transferring to the Main Event in his first qualifying race. Jerry bested Expert driver, Aaron Castro by 3 laps, setting up expectation that he just might win the Feature event. Detailed Results

“A” Qualifier Race
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 98 61 587.319
2 George Peters 98 55 599.857
3 Kevin Webster 81 44 595.232

After car issues before and during his qualifying session, George seemed to get the car dialed in and nearly forced Home Cook’n to have to get into the Main Event via the Last Chance Qualifier. Detailed Results

Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) Race
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 100 61 563.909
2 Aaron Castro 96 55 570.063
3 Kevin Webster 83 44 571.076

With only two drivers transferring to the Main Event, George put in a perfect run in the LCQ race, besting Aaron by a whopping 4 laps.
Detailed Results

Consolation Race

Webster Motosports, Kevin Webster. Didn’t have to run this one. Kevin didn’t have a great day, but he runs his own bodies and fought hard all day.

Main (Feature) Event
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 56 669.066
2 George Peters 120 56 669.166
3 Jerry Pearson 118 40 667.837
4 Aaron Castro 116 36 683.473

In what just might be the closest race ever recorded on any Stewart Raceway course, the dogfight between Home Cook’n and George Peters continued in the Main Event. After a whole lot of sweat, adrenaline, and superb driving by all, Home Cook’n squeaked out the win by just 1/10 of a second over the GP Designs Expert driver, George Peters. It really doesn’t get closer than this, race fans. George won two segments, Home Cook’n won two segments. They tied on laps, tied in points, and just one-tenth of a second in total runtime separating the two drivers at the end—simply amazingly close racing!

Many of us expected Jerry Pearson to take the win in this one. He drove the wheels of the car, but the three battling Expert drivers pushed the pace just a bit too fast for Jerry to bag a segment win or two. Jerry took close 2nd place finishes in two segments but 4th in the other two segments, indicating extreme pressure from the three Expert drivers he was up against in the Main Event.
Detailed Results

Stay tuned for a possible Round 3 next weekend.

Comment nicely or shut up and drive!

Track Day Report: August 31, 2024 – A Race Fest!

We couldn’t attract enough teams to pull off Round 2 of the Summer 50/50 Series, but we did a lot of racing anyway.

Team Maddox, Team Forza, Fast Lane Racing, Webster Motorsports, and even Team Johnson showed up. After about 100 laps of practice, testing, and hot laps, everyone wanted to do some racing.

We started with the MegaG+ 1.7 Modified cars where Team Maddox was putting in a strong performance, with Shaylin finishing 3rd overall with two 2nd place segments and Abe 4th overall with 2nd and 3rd place segment finishes.

I could have sworn Shaylin won a segment in this one, but the results don’t show that. Still, Shaylin put in an outstanding driving performance in her only race of the day. Team Johnson took over for Home Cook’n in this race and managed to place 2nd overall, with Jared and Matthew sharing driving duties.

Next up was Eric “Fast” Lane’s MG+ Scoobie Doo Vans, a cool IROC set that is smooth but very top-heavy. Eric likes these cars and managed three 3rd place segment finishes and 3rd overall.

Next up were Aaron Castro’s MegaG+ 1.7 C8 Corvettes. Aaron did a phenomenal job preparing these cars. They’re not Box Stock, but the modifications made them fast, smooth, and very predictable to drive on the SR3 road course. Aaron likes these cars; he finished a very close second in every segment.

Last but not least, we ran Aaron’s latest IROC set, Viper-built Super 7 GT40 cars. Team Forza also prepared these cars very well. They are crazy fast and extremely smooth. Aaron put down the fastest lap times in the race, but it was still very competitive. Aaron won the first segment by a lap, Webster Motorsports bagged a second and two third-place segments, and Aaron took first, second, and third place.

It wasn’t an official race day, but there were some lap records set:

Aaron Castro: MG+ 1.7 Modifieds, Red Lane, 6.412
Shaylin Maddox: MG+ 1.7 Modifieds, Yellow Lane, 6.497
Aaron Castro: Viper Super7 GT40, White Lane, 4.969

Two gutter lanes! These two drivers were putting the hammer down!

As always, it was a great day of racing. It is so cool that many teams and drivers are building new IROC sets for us to drive.

Thanks to all of you for showing up and racing. Thanks also to Team Johnson and Webster Motorsports for figuring out it was Home Cookn’s Birthday on Friday. Team Johnson brought a bunch of snacks and Madeline picked a bag of home-grown lemons, Kevin brought a fabulous birthday cake, and Fast Lane Racing brought a fantastic bottle of wine—very nice; thank you all!

Keep next Saturday open for finally completing Round 2 of the summer series!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Track Day Report: August 17, 2024 – A British Invasion of SR3

Wow! I’m not sure we should call these Track Days. We did four very competitive races on Saturday. There are too many highlights to mention here. Still, the most notable was a visit by a current resident of the UK, William Mansfield, and his Godfather, Dave Heber, who resides nearby off of Skyline Blvd in Los Gatos.

Both have experience racing slot cars and were very impressive drivers. Dave won a segment in his first-ever race at Stewart Raceway while William was busy clicking off some of the fastest laps in the race.

After running hot laps with IROC-prepared Viper V-SPEC L4 F1/Indy cars, both drivers agreed to do some informal racing with the five drivers we had on hand. Thankfully, a few other drivers showed up as we got the race underway, which meant our special guests could race with marshals instead of yellow flags.

William finished second in the first segment, while Dave won the next segment. This wasn’t their first rodeo, and it showed. Dave bagged a nice third-place finish in the third segment, while William placed third in the final segment. William clicked off the second fastest lap of the race with a 5.205 in the first segment in the Orange lane.

Not to be outdone by the British Team successes, our local Junior ace, Abe Maddox (Team Maddox), won three of five segments outright! Abe loves to race Vipers.

Abe Maddox, Dave Feber, William Mansfield

In the end, excluding the lone expert in the race, Abe, Dave, and William finished on the podium in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, respectively.  Very nice driving! Sadly, Dave and William had other responsibilities and had to vacate the paddock before we could get another race going. Thank you, Dave and William, for dropping in and cutting some laps with us! Race 1 Details

We also lost Team Maddox to a swim and early departure. So much for testing and tuning; the remaining four drivers would race for the rest of the day—four races in total.

The second race was Aaron’s Castro’s (Team Forza) prepared MG+ 1.7 Corvette C8 IROC set. Aaron did a great job on this IROC set. The cars were very equal, super smooth, and very quick. Very close racing in this one, with Team Forza bagging a hard-fought second place against Home Cook’n. Race 2 Details

The third race was our latest class addition, the MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds.” This class is amazingly competitive and fast. Sportsman driver Jerry Pearson (Pearson Racing) was on fire in this one, with a win, second-place segment finishes, and third overall. Race 3 Details

Jerry Pearson on the second step of the Viper podium.

The day’s final race was the venerable Viper V-SPEC “SPECSTOCK” Lexan platform. It is always a fast and furious race, regardless of who’s in it. No stranger to podium finishes in this race, Jerry Pearson (Pearson Racing) would finish on the podium in 2nd place in this hot and heavy race. Jerry, again, bagged first, second, and third segment finishes and secured a highly contested second spot on the podium in our fastest race of the day. Jerry went into the final segment just two points ahead of Hard charging Aaron Castro (Team Forza). Aaron would end up besting Jerry in the final segment with a second-place finish to Jerry’s close third-place finish. Tied in total laps and points, Sportsman driver Jerry Pearson secured the second podium spot against Expert Aaron Castro with just a four-second better Total Run Time, and both drivers were only one lap down on Home Cook’n. That’s very close racing! Race 4 Details

The day wasn’t without controversy, however. In the post-race Tech Inspection, it was revealed that Webster Motorsports had illegal traction magnets installed in the day’s final race. Measurements revealed a four-gram downforce advantage for Kevin’s car, which turned out to have Level 10 traction magnets instead of the specified Level 4 magnets installed.

Typically, we don’t conduct technical inspections after unofficial racing or track events. However, a number of drivers raised concerns that the Webster Motorsports car was substantially faster through turns than any other car in the race. The car also posted the fasted lap in the race.

The moral of that story is always to inspect your cars and test them with downforce and RPM measurement tools to ensure that you have a legally configured car. If in doubt, ask the Race Director to test your car with house tools to ensure it isn’t outside the “normal” parameters for your class rules.

We all have cars in our boxes that look the same but are substantially higher performing than others. Most hop-up parts look different than factory/OEM parts. Just because you purchase a car from a bonafide retailer doesn’t mean the car is legal to race at Stewart Raceway. We mostly race Box Stock or SPECSTOCK rules, meaning the car is minimally modified from its original factory configuration. We do this to make it so new drivers can go online or into a hobby shop, purchase a car, and compete at Stewart Raceway. Robust competition is essential to growth in our hobby.