Yep, Round 3 of the 2024 Open Wheel Series was a speed fest.
The big story is George Peters (GP Sports). George is a consummate builder, master tuner, and gifted artistic talent when painting and detailing car bodies.
George put down the fastest lap with a “SPEC STOCK” Viper V-SPEC platform, clicking off a 4.270-second lap in the SR3 Orange lane during Round 3 of the 2024 Open Wheel Series.
Sportsman driver Jerry Pearson clicked off a new lap record with a MegaG+ 1.7 Modified car in the IROC race in the White lane. Jerry won the individual MegaG+ Modified race, so he has some special skills with this platform, which suits his driving style well.
Aaron Castro continues to build his legacy at Stewart Raceway, setting numerous lap records in our individual classes. In our current premier Viper class, Aaron was just .139 seconds off George’s blistering record time and in the Blue lane!
Wow! What an amazingly competitive day of racing. Round 3 was not only blistering fast; it was one of the most competitive race days we’ve had at Stewart Raceway in quite a while.
We’ve made a few changes in our racing formats using fuel allocation parameters that seem to be helping level the playing field between Sportsman and Expert drivers, who race together but are scored separately.
The key ingredient for this seems to be a slight change in fuel delivery during pit stops. All drivers are allocated the same fuel at the start of each race, but Sportsman drivers enjoy a slightly faster fuel refill time than Expert drivers: six-second tank refills for Sportsman drivers and eight seconds for Expert drivers.
This small change seems to pay big dividends to the Sportsman ranks, making the racing much more competitive and changing fuel races’ overall dynamics and excitement.
Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
471
227
3127.513
2
Aaron Castro
467
216
3141.732
3
George Peters
461
204
3114.904
4
Eric Lane
419
163
2923.108
5
Kevin Webster
396
133
3108.326
6
Jerry Pearson
230
102
1536.13
7
Martha Elderon
102
36
775.14
It was a very competitive race day! Jerry and Martha had to depart after Race 2. All others completed all four official races.
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (IROC)
Our latest and increasingly popular car class. It is a perfect warmup for the subsequent individual Modified class. Again, an extremely competitive race, with nearly all drivers winning at least one segment. Second through fourth were only separated by one lap at the finish, and the top three finishers were separated by just one point. While Sportsman driver Kevin Webster jumped out front, winning the first segment, Sportsman Jerry Pearson won the next three and remained in the lead until segment 5 when Expert Aaron Castro took over the lead through segments 5 and 6.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
118
55
755.518
2
Aaron Castro
115
54
788.33
3
George Peters
114
53
759.984
4
Jerry Pearson
113
47
792.398
5
Kevin Webster
105
43
762.624
6
Eric Lane
103
41
757.853
7
Martha Elderon
102
36
775.14
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified
Not actual podium, Race Director spaced–again!
After 120 laps with an IROC version of the same car, everybody was well-prepared for this barnburner race. Jerry Pearson dominated this race with one segment win and three second-place finishes. Jerry led the race from Segment 2 through to the finish, besting a hard-charging Expert, Aaron Castro, by just two points and grabbing the top podium spot, great driving, Jerry!
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Jerry Pearson
117
55
743.732
2
Aaron Castro
119
53
780.164
3
Steve Stewart
116
52
788.384
4
George Peters
117
50
747.699
5
Eric Lane
110
44
744.725
6
Kevin Webster
96
28
770.995
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 Lexan (IROC) c/o Eric Lane
Another great IROC set to prepare for the day’s finale, the Viper V-SPEC “Spec Stock” class. Sportsman driver Eric “Fast” Lane graciously donated these cars to Stewart Raceway. How many tracks have you visited that have Viper V-SPEC IROC sets? This mainly was a fast and furious battle between the three Experts, but Eric Lane put in a great effort in Segment 1, placing second to Home Cook’n just one lap down and very close on total run time–Nice driving, Eric! Aaron Castro would win two segments but came up short of Home Cook’n despite a perfect 30 laps in the final segment.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
120
61
934.366
2
Aaron Castro
116
56
926.674
3
George Peters
112
46
950.901
4
Eric Lane
102
38
760.075
5
Kevin Webster
100
34
913.266
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
Pinned Lexan F1/Indy bodies.
It is always an adrenaline-pumping race, but this one was really hot! Aaron Castro blasted into the lead from the get-go, winning the first segment just ahead of George Peters but on the same lap. Aaron would hold the race lead until the final segment, but George was clicking off high-speed lap times, vying for his first race win of the day. George was clicking off faster and faster laps but missed besting Home Cook’n at the finish of the last segment. George was just .381 seconds off the race winner’s segment run time and short just four points–great effort, George!
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
117
59
649.245
2
George Peters
118
55
656.32
3
Aaron Castro
117
53
646.564
4
Eric Lane
104
40
660.455
5
Kevin Webster
95
28
661.441
Speaking of lap times, George set new lap records on three lanes during this race, and Aaron set another. George’s fastest time of the race was 4.270 seconds in Lane 4 (Orange). Aaron clicked off a 4.409-second lap in Lane 5 (Blue). Blistering pace!
We did one fun race after the official races were over, running Eric’s MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans IROC set–way fun cars, thanks Eric!
Official Series Standings After Round 3:
With two more Rounds to go, Kevin Webster and Eric Lane are in a heated contest for Sportsman honors, with just two points separating the two drivers after Round 3.
In the Expert ranks, it’s not as close, but certainly still up for grabs between the top three points earners.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
1046
349
7360.796
2
Eric Lane
1077
347
5300.734
3
Jerry Pearson
910
290
3850.142
4
Shaylin Maddox
176
88
1428.228
5
Pam Ebert
154
64
1390.808
6
Abe Maddox
148
64
1337.006
7
Martha Elderon
102
36
775.14
1
Steve Stewart*
1567
697
8659.291
2
Aaron Castro*
1557
656
8656.26
3
George Peters*
1539
606
8651.218
4
Jordan Walker*
590
140
2405.214
*Expert
Okay, Round 3 of this incredibly competitive and exciting series is in the books. Stay tuned for a post on other lap records broken in Round 3. Drivers continue to get faster and faster on SR3.
I’ve posted a few videos of the action from last Saturday’s track day. Sadly, yours truly messed up and didn’t get the race management screen in the recordings. It’s pretty boring without that but it is what it is.
The first video below is a short clip of the action before the first races if you just want to take a quick look at the paddock.
Note: If you want to watch fullscreen, right-click on link and open in a new tab or window. These videos are private, only somebody with the below links can find or view them.
Wow! Yet another way cool rainy track day filled with junior drivers and parents all from the hood. And what a spread of goodies and snacks shared by all, very nice!
We had one new neighborhood team and one returning neighborhood team join in the fun along with veteran family teams, Team Johnson and Team Maddox.
After several hours of open practice, the more serious junior drivers were ready to run a few races. We decided to stick to Dash races and started racing with six drivers and six lanes.
Race 1 Podium: Abe Maddox, Cameron Bill, and Isabel Foster
The first Dash race was very interesting as the lead changed quite often with Cameron Bill leading most of the laps. Not to be outdone, Junior driver Abe Maddox (driving for Mom, Shaylin) came from behind in the last few laps and knocked Cameron off the top podium spot to second. Our newest Junior driver at Stewart Raceway, Isabel Foster, rounded out the podium with a very impressive 3rd place finish.
Race 2 Podium: Jared Johnson, Cameron Bill, Abe Maddox
The second Dash race was an all-Jared Johnson show, with Jared winning by three laps over a hard-charging Cameron Bill in 2nd place, and an amazing 3rd place finish by Abe Maddox driving for Isabel’s Mom, Jenny Foster. Isabel had another amazing race finished in 4th place just one lap behind superstar Junior, Abe Maddox.
Overall Results of First Two Races
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Cameron Bill
52
26
421.582
2
Isabel Foster
43
18
425.308
3
Jared Johnson
30
17
212.991
4
Shaylin Maddox2
25
16
207.734
5
Madeline Johnson
32
12
435.491
6
Jenny Foster2
23
11
219.94
7
Matthew Johnson
31
10
444.515
8
Eli Bill1
20
8
211.734
Eli only participated in the first race.
Abe Maddox drove for both Shaylin and Jenny.
Nice to have all six lanes on the SR3 road course buzzing with racers! Prior to racing breaking out, Eli Bill had studiously been working on improving his lap times and, before practice ended, had bested the current lap record for the car he was driving, a MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified.” Nice driving, Eli!
All in all, amazing driving by all, especially all the first-time racers who stood on the podium after their first-ever slot car race—amazing!
Most of the teams departed after the two Dash races. However, Team Johnson wasn’t quite done for the day and we did three more Dash races with just the three of us. The first race was a straight-up 25-lap Dash, the second was a 25-lap Dash with fuel, and the third was a 30-lap Dash race with just tire changes.
Team Johnson dominated the last few races with Dad, Jared, winning two and Madeline winning the final race. Very impressive driving by Team Johnson. Jared should join us for a Big Kids race, he’s a natural. Madeline found her mojo and drove all three races extremely well.
Overall Results Of Last Three Races
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Jared Johnson
85
48
596.36
2
Madeline Johnson
80
38
591.418
3
Steve Stewart
78
37
594.015
Oh, and a very Happy Birthday wish to Matthew Johnson who just turned 4-years old! Thanks for sharing your delicious birthday cake, Matthew!
Another way cool track day with all neighborhood families in the mix. Hope everybody enjoyed it. Thank you all for supporting Stewart Raceway. Let’s do it again real soon!
The series continued to Round 2 on Saturday, February 24 on the SR3 oval course. We had a great showing by nine drivers throughout the day with some very competitive racing, as always.
In the spirit of “open-wheel” racing, we tried to run all open-wheel livery in each official race. However, we didn’t get one of the two IROC sets completed in time so had to substitute the venerable Maximum Leeway late-model sportsman cars for race 1. We did four races in all. Below is the short story but there is a whole lot more to it than the numbers below show.
All races were run with 45-lap heats (segments) and a fuel allocation of 62 laps. In addition, to try to make things even more competitive, Expert drivers were handicapped with a longer fuel refill time than Sportsman drivers, initially set two seconds longer but lowered to one second after the first couple of races.
Overall Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Adjust1
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
706
231
2285.962
2
Aaron Castro*
695
215
2302.982
3
Eric Lane
628
182
2393.738
4
George Peters*
685
149
61
2270.22
5
Jordan Walker*
584
148
2454.01
7
Jerry Pearson
340
94
1157.006
6
Kevin Webster
483
81
53
1685.595
8
Shaylin Maddox
281
79
1163.514
9
Abe Maddox
255
70
1185.256
* Expert Driver 1 Points lost from a rules infraction
Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)
We started with the fast but loose Viper Jets. Just as much speed and power as a regular V-SPEC Viper but with brass weights instead of traction magnets. As might be expected, most of the Expert drivers came out on top in this one. Sportsman drivers, Eric Lane and Jerry Pearson drove these cars very well and were not too far off the pace considering the experts have far more track time with these cars than they do. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
173
59
649.321
2
George Peters*
177
58
680.100
3
Aaron Castro*
178
55
689.752
4
Eric Lane
155
40
707.989
5
Jerry Pearson
161
38
706.243
6
Jordan Walker*
138
32
691.378
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” (20v)
Jerry Pearson, Home Cook’n, Eric Lane
Our latest and one of the most competitive classes we run. These cars use the popular Racemasters MegaG+ long-wheelbase chassis with a super-light photopaper body. This creates a much better handling platform and because they are pretty much out-of-the-box chassis’, the racing is extremely close.
Not sure if it had anything to do with the longer fuel stops for Expert drivers or what but Sportsman drivers, Jerry Pearson and Eric Lane put on a show in this one, besting the usual suspects quite convincingly with Jerry tying in points with Home Cook’n but besting him by one lap to take the top podium spot. That’s close racing! Both Jerry and Eric won two segments each. Way to go, Jerry and Eric! Detailed Results
These cars are another challenging platform with a powerful inline motor, they pack a lot of power but have no traction magnets and run hard-compound (B) Super tires in the rear. Very drifty and difficult to drive.
As usual, expert driver, Aaron Castro dominated this race, winning four segments! The bigger story, however, was Sportsman driver, Eric “Fast” Lane bagging the final podium spot. Eric drove these cars exceptionally well bagging three second-place segment finishes and one third-place. Nice driving, Eric!
Our lone Junior driver, Abe Maddox, bagged two second-place segment finishes while his awesome Mom, Shaylin Maddox also bagged two second-place segment finishes. Very impressive driving by Team Maddox adapting to these difficult-to-master cars. Detailed Results
As always, the V-SPEC class was another barn burner race with literally every driver posting impressive segment finishes. Shaylin Maddox, started her Race 4 rotation in the white lane and posted a perfect 45 laps, the segment win, and the fastest lap of the day at 1.654 seconds–a new SR3 oval course lap record! Way to go, Shaylin!
Unofficial Race Results
Yes, the final race was without a doubt the most intense and hotly contested race but not without some additional drama.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
175
61
387.202
2
Steve Stewart
178
58
402.922
3
Kevin Webster
177
53
402.978
4
Jordan Walker
164
46
427.604
5
Aaron Castro
170
45
405.883
6
Shaylin Maddox
145
41
412.764
7
Eric Lane
146
40
410.704
8
Abe Maddox
116
32
405.726
In the end, expert driver George Peters dominated this one. George took the checkered flag after winning three segments and placing second in another.
However, during the race, several drivers noticed that Jordan Walker’s car seemed exceptionally faster than any other car. The Race Director decided during the race that there would be a technical inspection of all cars entered post-race.
Each car was tested on the house VRP Dynometer and VRP Magnet Downforce Meter. To our surprise, Jordan’s car was well within the typical RPM and downforce ranges for this type of car. However, during the remaining testing and inspection, a balanced and trued armature (Hot Stock) was discovered in race winner George Peter’s car. In addition, when testing Kevin Webster’s car on the downforce meter, his car measured well over double the typical downforce of a Viper “SPEC STOCK” platform.
The “SPEC STOCK” rules we employ at Stewart Raceway do not permit hot stock armatures and Kevin’s downforce readings were well beyond the “SPEC STOCK” rules maximum for this car. Consequently, both drivers were disqualified and lost all points earned in Race 4. Detailed Results
Race 4 Official Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
178
58
402.922
2
Jordan Walker
164
46
427.604
3
Aaron Castro
170
45
405.883
4
Shaylin Maddox
145
41
412.764
5
Eric Lane
146
40
410.704
6
Abe Maddox
116
32
405.726
7
George Peters
175
0
387.202
8
Kevin Webster
177
0
402.978
I’m sure George’s rule infraction was simply an oversight. I’ve raced with George since I got back into slot car racing way back in 2017 and he’s always been very competitive and compliant with all racing rules. I’m sure George either mistakenly chose that particular car or just didn’t notice it had a hot stock armature installed.
As for Kevin’s infraction, I’ve also been racing with Kevin for nearly the same amount of time and he too has always complied with all house and racing rules. I suspect Kevin may have also made a mistake in choosing that particular car for this race.
This type of incident is not uncommon in slot car racing and very often the reason these things happen has much less to do with willful disregard for rules, but usually unintentional or careless selection of cars and/or parts.
Whatever the case may be, all this reinforces the importance of regular technical inspections at official races to help influence drivers and builders to be more diligent in preparing their cars for racing.
2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings after Round 2
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
834
229
5302.031
2
Eric Lane
628
182
2393.738
3
Shaylin Maddox
369
123
1877.628
4
Abe Maddox
329
102
1853.759
5
Jerry Pearson
340
94
1157.006
6
Pam Ebert
77
32
695.404
1
Steve Stewart*
1103
467
5903.035
2
Aaron Castro*
1088
429
5904.457
3
George Peters*
1062
336
5886.131
4
Jordan Walker*
584
148
2454.01
* Expert driver
Okay, Round 2 is in the books and the series points just got a bit more interesting after Round 2. Stay tuned for details on next week’s open track day and potential dates for Round 3.
Thank you all for making the trek to Stewart Raceway!
Okay, shut up and drive!
Typically replies within minutes when available...
Yep, Round 3 of the 2024 Open Wheel Series was a speed fest.
Another great IROC set to prepare for the day’s finale, the Viper V-SPEC “Spec Stock” class. Sportsman driver Eric “Fast” Lane graciously donated these cars to Stewart Raceway. How many tracks have you visited that have Viper V-SPEC IROC sets? This mainly was a fast and furious battle between the three Experts, but Eric Lane put in a great effort in Segment 1, placing second to Home Cook’n just one lap down and very close on total run time–Nice driving, Eric! Aaron Castro would win two segments but came up short of Home Cook’n despite a perfect 30 laps in the final segment.
Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)
