What to do on a rainy day? Play with slot cars, of course!
We had no Junior drivers in the mix for the first time in a long time.
Eric “Fast” Lane was the first driver to show up and the first to leave but not without testing out some tweaks to his IROC fleet of “Scooby Doo” vans. Eric and I did one race with those and the tweaks appear to have improved these already fun-to-drive cars. It was just the two of us but we did a full rotation with all six cars to flush them out.
Shortly after Eric departed, Webster Motorsports and then Aaron Castro of Team Forza, showed up. Kevin and Aaron worked on a few MegaG+ cars before racing broke out. The three of us ended up doing about five fuel and tire wear races, running well into the night.
Aaron’s 1965 Shelby GT350 Mustang on a MegaG+ chassis, very cool new AFX/Racemasters offering.
The highlight of the day was adding Tire Wear to the racing formats. This is a feature of SlotTrak that we hadn’t used before. Similar to Fuel Allocation in the Race Management settings, Tire Wear is an additional factor that can be injected in addition to fuel stops. We found out that it works pretty much like the fuel allocation, when you wear out a tire, power is cycled just like running out of fuel. Fuel races make things more interesting, for sure, but adding tire wear into the equation and things get even more interesting and challenging.
New Lexan F1/Indy bodies for the Open Wheel Series fitted to the Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” chassis in the standard wheel base configuration.Top: Lexan Sprint Car bodies for a, hopefully, Round 2 Tyco 440-X2 IROC set being prepared by George. Bottom: New Lexan for our “SPEC STOCK” Vipers. Hopefully, we’ll have enough to go around and debut them in Round 2.
We started with 25-lap heats and then upped it to 50-lap heats with a 25-lap fuel allocation and a 75-lap tire allocation, with each driver starting the race having one tire 25% worn. Made for some interesting but exciting pit strategies and seemed like more competitive racing. We’ll try this out in Round 2 and see how everyone likes it. Might be a bit too much for the Junior drivers, we’ll see.
New Lexan Sprint Car body on a Tyco 440-X2 narrow chassis.
Okay, Round 2 is currently set for next Saturday, February 24. Stay tuned for more details but this round will be on the SR3 Oval.
Despite some last-minute bails due to fear of transmitting sickness, we started the racing action with seven drivers. Team Maddox was the most represented with three drivers; including Pam Ebert, Shaylin’s Mom, and Abe’s Grandmother. Pam had never raced slot cars before but she jumped right in after a brief practice session and started her first-ever race. The Maddox/Ebert clan have racing in their genes, Grandpa, Fred Ebert, showed up last year in much the same way and also drove amazingly well having not raced slot cars in many, many years.
The Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
397
236
3617.073
2
Aaron Castro*
393
214
3601.475
3
George Peters*
377
187
3615.911
1
Kevin Webster
351
148
3616.436
2
Shaylin Maddox
88
44
714.114
3
Pam Ebert
77
32
695.404
4
Abe Maddox
74
32
668.503
* Expert
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds”
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
In the spirit of open wheel racing, we started with our MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” class (paper bodies). Everybody had been practicing with this car so it was a great choice to kick off official racing with.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
64
687.115
2
Aaron Castro
100
58
654.395
3
George Peters
94
55
672.205
4
Kevin Webster
90
44
684.087
5
Shaylin Maddox
88
44
714.114
6
Pam Ebert
77
32
695.404
7
Abe Maddox
74
32
668.503
Even though there were three Experts in this race, Shaylin Maddox, managed to place third in every one of her heats, very impressive driving! Shaylin ended up second in the Sportsman class points, tying class winner, Kevin Webster, on points and just two laps down after 100 laps of racing. Meanwhile, Abe and Pam engaged in another heated battle with Grandma besting young Abe by three laps. (Let’s not tell Abe about this until he’s a bit older.) Detailed Results
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “Box Stock” F1/Indy (Eric “Fast” Lane IROC set
Aaron Castro, Home Cook’n, George Peters
Team Maddox unfortunately had to bail out early but we forged on with the schedule with Eric’s excellent set of Vipers with F1/Indy Lexan bodies.
This one was pretty much an Aaron Castro show. Aaron won two heats, Home Cook’n won two heats, and they tied on points. However, Home Cook’n faltered in the third segment, losing three laps battling with a hard-charging, George Peters, and Aaron finished all four heats with a perfect 25 laps each. Detailed Results
This IROC set had two very nice cars (orange & green lanes) and two not-so-nice cars (blue & white) lanes. The blue lane car handled great but lacked top-end speed while the white lane car had a bursty powerband that was difficult to manage entering and through corners.
The results below don’t show it but this race came down to the final segment. Aaron Castro went into the final segment just two laps down on Home Cook’n and only three points behind in total points. Not a great position to be in but certainly within reach of the overall win.
Aaron would need to complete all 25 laps and finish two positions ahead of Home Cook’n. The problem for Aaron was his last segment would be in the white lane with a difficult-to-drive car. Home Cook’n would finish in the orange lane with a very predictable and fast car and George Peters would finish in the green lane with another predictable and fast car.
In the end, the white-lane situation was too much to overcome. Aaron would finish third in the final segment and lose two more laps. George placed second with a perfect 25 laps sealing the deal on the final podium spot. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
61
1255.513
2
Aaron Castro
96
53
1264.628
3
George Peters
89
38
1259.671
4
Kevin Webster
83
36
1260.16
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan GTP
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Aaron Castro
Yeah, I know, this is supposed to be an open-wheel series. We didn’t get the open-wheel Lexan bodies finished in time so we ran our GTP bodies.
Another barn-burner race, as is always the case with this platform. This final “official” race of the day was so fast that we had at least two laps that exceeded the previously set minimum lap time.
Each of the Expert drivers would win heats (segments) but George Peters won two! In the end, Aaron and George both had less-than-perfect runs in the blue lane, each losing three laps in blue. Both drivers finished very strongly in the final segment, completing all 25 laps and George winning it. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
55
730.497
2
George Peters
97
50
726.34
3
Aaron Castro
97
47
731.974
4
Kevin Webster
90
36
720.591
2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings After Round 1:
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
397
236
3617.073
2
Aaron Castro*
393
214
3601.475
3
George Peters*
377
187
3615.911
1
Kevin Webster
351
148
3616.436
2
Shaylin Maddox
88
44
714.114
3
Pam Ebert
77
32
695.404
4
Abe Maddox
74
32
668.503
We did one ‘UNOFFICIAL’ race after the four official races. An IROC race utilizing a set of Webster Motorsports MegaG+ 1.7 chassis’ with LMP hardbodies. Another very close race with Home Cook’ just barely edging out Aaron Castro for the win by just one lap and tied in points.
Another great day of racing at Stewart Raceway. Thank you all for supporting our racing program!
Stay tuned for a post of videos for four of the five races on the day. Sadly, yours truly, spaced recording the first race of the day. Sorry, Team Maddox! May have well been the best race.Â
Another cool open track day on the 27th. We had a great turnout of junior and team drivers in the AM session and then another great turnout of Sportsman and Expert drivers in the afternoon.
We recorded a lot of the days action but only captured three of the fun races with the SlotTrak screens and these three were late-in-the-day and only three drivers remaining.
New camera view of SR3.
Still, for those interested, below is a link to those races on Rumble. I edited each video as much as possible but didn’t have time to reduce them to the nitty-gritty, so you’ll have to fast-forward through crashes or just grin and bear it. And, yes, we crashed a bunch.
The main reason for posting these particular videos is to show everyone a new video shooting scene setup. If you have time, please check it out. This setup utilizes two cameras above opposite corners of the track and switches between each view throughout the video, showing the SlotTrak scoring screens in one of the two whole-track scenes.
Please feel free to comment below. The next step in this video venture is to get some close-up video of various areas of the track and be able to produce slow-motion shots of the action.
Thank you all for showing up and supporting another very fun track day.
SR2 Straight Road Course
Next Saturday will be another open track day, if enough interest. Our racing season-opener will be February 10th. Stay tuned for more details on our first racing series of the 2024 season. It’s all open-wheel cars and probably three oval events and two road course events. Hopefully, one of the oval events will be held on SR2’s oval or road course.
Open track days are always full of surprises but when you get a bunch of Juniors in the mix, it’s never a dull moment.
Today, Team Maddox and Team Haglund showed up in full force. We had two Moms and five juniors in the paddock, most of them cut a bunch of practice hot laps. Even Dax Schwartz made an appearance on the track.
It was a pretty crowded track for an hour or so until the juniors realized it was a bright sunny day outside and decided to go out and explore the great outdoors. Not necessarily a bad thing for us big kids since it freed up a bunch of lanes for some senior hot-lapping.
The kids seemed to enjoy each other playing outside more than on the track so they didn’t return to the paddock and would depart before any racing broke out. And boy, did racing break out after that. We had a pretty stacked field of Sportsman and Expert drivers who had had enough practice and wanted to do some racing.
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Aaron Castro
Eric “Fast” Lane brought over his IROC fleet of Dodge Tradesman & Ford Econoline vans on MG+ 1.7 chassis’ to play with. Very challenging cars to race but very fun also.
Home Cook’n, Jerry Pearson, Aaron Castro
Of course, with this group, once racing starts it goes on for a while. The next race was another IROC set, this time the venerable Tyco 440-X2 chassis with Harden Creek “Hammer Head” Lexan bodies. These are the cars the Juniors typically practice and race with. They were recently tuned up by GP Designs so we thought we’d give them a go.
We did have a few issues with a couple of the cars but managed to complete another very competitive fuel race with them.
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
Yep, even though we lost Eric and Jerry after the first two races, we pressed on and kept going. This time, the drivers wanted to go faster, so we picked Eric’s Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy Lexan IROC fleet. Not too many tracks where the host can pull out a full set of Viper V-SPEC cars to thrash–Thanks, Eric!
These are the fastest cars we run and the lap times did not disappoint. Vipers are fast and furious cars that make a whole lot of noise when they exit rails and slam into something.
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Yep, more racing ensued after an adrenaline-pumping Viper race. George and Jordan departed just before our fourth race of the day. This time, the remaining group decided on Stewart Raceway’s fleet of Jag Hobbies TR-3 chassis’ with Jag Hobbies “Augoran” hardbodies. These cars are slightly modified versions of the TR-3, with independent front-ends and dual flange rear hubs. Very fast and stuck rigs!
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Yep, this last bunch wasn’t quite finished for the day. After careful consideration, the small group decided on the Jag Hobbies NC-2 chassis’ with NASCAR-style bodies. Race 5 would be a very close battle between Aaron Castro and Home Cook’n. One of the cars had a larger body than the other two and would prove to be difficult to compete with the other two for all drivers. In the end, Home Cook’n edged out Aaron Castro by just two laps and three points in a hard-fought fuel race.
Yep, we did one more! This time, we opted for Stewart Raceway’s AFX Super G+ chassis’ with F1/Indy Lexan bodies. Haven’t raced these in quite a while but they did not disappoint, very fast but very predictable cars. Another barn-burner race with Home Cook’n just edging Aaron Castro out by one lap and one heat win.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
524
324
5172.575
2
Aaron Castro
507
275
5285.698
3
Kevin Webster
456
211
5377.044
4
George Peters
289
146
2425.914
5
Jordan Walker
271
123
2424.157
6
Jerry Pearson
189
97
1740.457
7
Eric Lane
180
77
1784.339
While there were quite a few highlights on the day, the top one was when Jordan’s recently captured snake found its way inside of Kevin’s controller. Kevin had to disassemble the controller to remove the snake!
Right-click and open in new window to see a larger image.
Brings a whole new meaning to “Racing with Vipers.”
Okay, shut up and drive!
Typically replies within minutes when available...
