Stewart Raceway III – Page 3

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.

Track Day Report: August 10, 2024

Eric’s fleet of Viper-built Super7 NASCAR rigs. Very fun and smooth cars to drive.

We didn’t have enough participation to record Round 2 of the Summer 50/50 Series, but we had some fun racing anyway.

It was a lot of practice and testing laps, followed by just one fuel race. Six drivers, 30-lap segments, and a 34-lap fuel allocation.

For the one IROC race of the day, we had Webster Motorsports, Team Maddox, and Team Fast Lane on the starting grid. We were running Eric Lane’s latest addition to the track’s IROC fleet, a set of Viper-built Super7 chassis’ with Tyco NASCAR hardbodies.

The short story is that Team Fast Lane’s Eric Lane and Team Maddox’s Shaylin Maddox battled fiercely throughout this race, all the way to the end. Eric won one heat, and Shaylin won one heat. In the end, Eric consistently finished 1, 2, and 3 and ended up on top. Team Maddox junior driver Abe Maddox won the final segment with a perfect score of 30 laps despite Kevin Webster’s blistering fast laps in pursuit.

Eric Lane withstood the competitive pressure and placed second overall, sandwiched between two Experts in first and third—some exhilarating and competitive racing, for sure.

Not to be outdone by the older drivers, Team Maddox’s youngest driver, Grace Maddox, completed 86 laps of this race and clicked off her fastest lap of 6.375 in the orange lane–nice!

Thank you all for hanging out and racing little cars with me!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Track Day Report: July 20, 2024

We didn’t have enough attendance to pull off an official race, but race we did.

There was some practice and testing but we actually completed five “fun” races; three IROC and two Builder/Tuner races.

We ran Eric Lane’s new Super 7 NASCAR set with replacement bodies. No breakage this time but the bodies definitely need to be taped or better secured to the chassis.

Eric’s Viper-built, Super7 NASCAR Hardbodies (IROC)
MegaG+ 1.7 Modifieds (IROC)
Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
Vintage Fray T-Jets (IROC)
OS3 TFX “BOX STOCK” Camaros

Short Story Of The Day On The SR3 “Fast Esses” Road Course

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	527	262	5687.813
2	Aaron Castro	527	241	5798.367
3	Kevin Webster	442	183	5832.26
4	Jerry Pearson	326	133	2826.058
5	Abe Maddox	93	32	921.978

Notice that Home Cook’n and Aaron Castro completed the same amount of laps on the day. That’s close racing!

Notes: Pearson Racing completed three races, Team Maddox completed one.

Current Series Points Standings After Round 1

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	434	233	2754.266
2	Aaron Castro	415	203	2698.972
3	George Peters	408	194	2696.241
4	Jordan Walker	302	133	2894.16
5	Jerry Pearson	229	106	1710.905
6	Kevin Webster	174	89	996.869
7	Eric Lane	209	76	1794.119

Let’s target next Saturday, July 27 to complete Round 2 of the series. We’re also playing with the idea of a weeknight track session. I’ll see if we can schedule something soon, perhaps next week, we’ll see.

Okay, shut up and drive!