Paul at center in photo, Fray in Ferndale, CA, 2020
Another accomplished Fray racer, Paul Josephy, passed away on January 9, 2023, Paul was 75.
I raced with Paul quite a bit over the years that I participated in Fray T-Jet racing. He was always helpful, kind, and always funny. In fact, Paul always had a funny joke or story to tell no matter what you were doing…even if you were racing.
I still have a pair of special pliers he gave to me during a race here in the Bay Area. They were excellently crafted and extremely precise pliers used for flattening or tweaking a T-Jet pickup shoe. I’m sure they weren’t cheap but he just handed them to me and said “keep them, they’re yours.”
Paul is on the far right, standing next to Curtis Adams, who also recently passed away.
I recall once showing up for a Fray race at George Peter’s Hillview Raceway with a new DiFalco controller. Paul came by my pit area and picked up the controller and said “nice feel, very smooth.” I said, yea, “it’s like air.” He said, hold on a minute…” He came back with his controller and said “try this.” Oh my, his controller was “air” smooth! Turns out, it was a Medanic “wiperless” Magic controller and I’ve raced with one ever since.
I hadn’t seen or heard from Paul over the past couple of years at all, likely due to his situation and C19. Paul died in Wichita Falls, Texas with family and friends.
God’s speed, Paul. You’ll be missed by the slot car community, family, and friends, for sure.
Don’t remember the year, Curtis (second from right) with the South Bay team accepting second-place in the Teams racing at the Fray in Ferndale, CA.
Curtis Adams was just 64 years old when he passed away from apparent congestive heart failure on December 19, 2020.
Curtis was an avid Fray car builder and racer. I didn’t know him well but in pretty much any Fray racing event I attended he would be there and do extremely well.
Curtis (back) at the Fray in Ferndale.
The things I remember most about Curtis were his smile and generosity. He helped everyone and often gave struggling racers a set of his self-made dual compound tires, which were incredibly good.
Curtis (right) finished third in the “A” Main at Junewood’s Festival of Speed in Loomis, CA.
Curtis’ last race at Stewart Raceway was back in late January of 2020, just before the Covid-19 fiasco was unleashed.
He’ll be missed by many, many, slot car racers. He was one of the best sportsmen in the hobby, for sure. God’s speed, Curtis.
Given the holiday hustle & bustle, it’s not likely we’ll be able to pull off another race day event this year. As such, our season officially ended after the 2022 IROC Championship finale on December 10.
First off, I’d like to thank all of you who stuck with our program and attended as many races/events as you could. Kathy and I really appreciate your loyalty, interest, and friendship.
We’ve had a wild ride this season, for sure. The season started out well but once we made the planned switch to HOPRA rules, we lost a few drivers. Not only that, we lost those drivers while we were trying to bring a new 6-lane Brad Bowman track online. Nothing is more impactful than losing participation when you’re increasing racing capacity by 50 percent.
In spite of that setback, we also added a few new drivers to the group in 2022. These new drivers are entering a program that is very well-positioned to both encourage and cultivate new participants in this great hobby we all have loved for most of our lives.
So, again, I really appreciate those of you who stuck with the program and made it as successful as it has been. We’ve done a whole lot of different types of racing, with all kinds of different types of cars, body styles, racing formats, etc. And through it all, the competition has been extremely close and the racing super exciting and–most important–fun.
So who were the top dogs in the two different driver classifications we currently offer?
2022 Sportsman Class Standings
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
6861
454
55303.45
2
Jordan Walker
5483
315
47097.53
3
Jerry Pearson
1949
167
21366.55
4
Eric Lane
915
69
7651.906
5
Gabe Maddox
35
29
218.53
6
Kathy Stewart
120
16
394.248
7
Martha Elderon
204
9
1020.019
8
Jared Johnson
122
7
1576.468
9
Madeline Johnson
105
5
1650.493
2022 Expert Class Standings
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
9674
862
69452.86
2
Greg Kondrek
4490
379
19191.5
3
Ian Douglass
3530
344
15465.58
4
Brad Sandahl
3157
265
25463.15
5
Russ Toy
3180
197
15957.58
6
Randy Cook
136
13
1566.557
7
Steve Stewart
10607
1182
70235.96
Again, congratulations to Kevin and George. They love racing these little cars and it clearly shows in the results they’ve achieved.
I hope everyone enjoyed the 2022 Stewart Raceway season and certainly hope all of you return for the 2023 season. We’re going to stick to our rule set and overall program in the hopes of growing our ranks by making it easier, more affordable, and more competitive–for more racers.
Stay tuned for the 2023 racing schedule and a couple of exciting additions to the program. Happy Holidays to all of you!
After a grueling four-event racing series, on both road and oval courses, the best “drivers” have emerged.
IROC racing removes the advantage of a particular type or build of car and determines the best overall driver by pure driving and adapting abilities.
In IROC racing each driver has to drive a fixed car on each lane for a set number of laps or rotations. The driver is not allowed to change the car other than clean the tires and pickup shoes between each segment.
In the Stewart Raceway IROC series, all kinds of different cars, courses, and race formats were utilized to determine which drivers best adapted to the varied conditions and scored the most points in four different race day events.
Today, the following drivers were enshrined on the Stewart Raceway “Wall of Fame” for outstanding achievement in a very competitive racing series:
On a cold, windy, and rainy day in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the four top drivers in the series took the green flag for the final round of the 2022 IROC Champs Series.
The final round of the series for the Expert class was never really a question, George Peters came into the final round with an insurmountable lead in points. The big question was who was going to win the Sportsman class honors.
Kevin Webster came into the final round with a 23-point advantage over Rookie of the Year candidate, Jerry Pearson. With a maximum of 64 points and a minimum of 28 points available in this final round, Jerry had a reasonably good shot at overtaking Kevin for top honors and taking home the 2022 IROC Champs trophy.
Unfortunately, the bad weather and road conditions prevented Jerry from making the potentially hazardous trek to Stewart Raceway to compete in the finale. As a result, Kevin Webster didn’t even have to finish the final event to secure his place on the Stewart Raceway Wall of Fame.
Congratulations to Kevin Webster and George Peters, 2022 IROC Champions! And, congrats to 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl for winning the final round of this hard-fought series.
Short Story Summary
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
386
50
4668.871
2
George Peters
381
46
4671.36
3
Kevin Webster
354
28
4662.525
*
Steve Stewart
399
64
4557.734
Race 1: Wizzard Storm Extremes courtesy of Kevin Webster’s stable of fine cars. (15v)
These are actually pretty cool magnet cars and easy to drive. The race wasn’t all that eventful after the first segment, which was quite a dogfight between all drivers. The rest of the race was pretty much a broken record with no lead or place changes but a very close race between the top three expert drivers. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
98
13
970.665
2
George Peters
97
11
983.099
3
Kevin Webster
90
7
968.232
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
926.601
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Super Modifieds
Recently updated from zero-downforce cars to L42 magnet cars, the MTS 3D-printed Super Modifieds are quite a bit faster and much more stable on the road course. Brad Sandahl and Kevin Webster burst from the starting line in this race to take 1-2 in the first segment.
Home Cook’n would recapture the lead after the second segment while George Peters overtook Kevin Webster for 3rd place. Brad stayed very close to Home Cook’n throughout the race but had some bad luck in the final segment in the blue lane, which forced him to have to settle for runner-up spot but valuable points towards the overall. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
96
13
1434.589
2
George Peters
93
11
1447.717
3
Kevin Webster
89
7
1435.581
*
Steve Stewart
99
16
1428.958
Race 3: Viper-Jet SPEC JET
The third race of the day was the VSR Viper-Jet utilizing a Maximum Leeway Lexan body. Brad Sandahl would suffer not only a flaky car in his first segment in the white lane but also a controller malfunction that forced him to replace it in the middle of the race. Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, took advantage of the mayhem and secured a nice second-place finish in the second segment. George Peters stayed steady and smooth throughout the race and would secure the second podium spot while Brad Sandahl recovered nicely for the final podium spot. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
93
13
1320.942
2
Brad Sandahl
92
11
1345.123
3
Kevin Webster
89
7
1335.915
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
1308.07
Race 4: Jag Hobbies TR-3 Augorans (15v)
The final race of the series was the always fast and exciting Jag TR-3. These are slightly upgraded from the stock configuration so a bit faster but smoother to drive.
This one was yet another dogfight between the three expert drivers with Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, letting it all hang out trying to hang with the trio in every segment. Brad Sandahl stayed focused and determined and finished the day with a nice placing just ahead of George Peters by two laps and winning the final segment. (Details)
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Brad Sandahl
100
13
918.494
2
George Peters
98
11
919.602
3
Kevin Webster
86
7
922.797
*
Steve Stewart
100
16
894.105
Kevin obviously pleased with his efforts this season.
All in all, it was a great day of racing. Kevin secured his Sportsman IROC Champs victory by finishing well in all the races and hanging tough with a field of ALL expert drivers battling each other every lap in the finale.
George Peters secured his IROC Champs victory by showing up for all the races and garnering the lion’s share of points, as he typically does every chance he gets to race.
Georgie claims he doesn’t have room for all the hardware he’s amassed this season. I think he took it home anyway.
Hats off to Brad Sandahl today, he’s in only his second year of slot car racing and is clearly a force to be reckoned with, both now and well into the future.
So how did the “Squeeze Lane” section change work out? Well, I think we only had a couple of incidences that resulted in crashes. We’ll leave that addition in the road course for a while and see what it yields.
2022 IROC Champs Overall Final Standings
Place
Name
Class
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
Exp
1415
199
12128.93
2
Kevin Webster
Sport
1315
126
12274.78
3
Brad Sandahl
Exp
746
92
8000.819
4
Jerry Pearson
Sport
641
75
5416.834
5
Eric Lane
Sport
915
69
7651.906
6
Jordan Walker
Sport
372
29
1608.379
7
Martha Elderon
Sport
204
9
1020.019
*
Steve Stewart
Exp
1463
253
11894.73
Sportsman Class
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
1315
126
12274.78
2
Jerry Pearson
641
75
5416.834
3
Eric Lane
915
69
7651.906
4
Jordan Walker
372
29
1608.379
5
Martha Elderon
204
9
1020.019
Expert Class
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
1415
199
12128.93
2
Brad Sandahl
746
92
8000.819
*
Steve Stewart
1463
253
11894.73
* Home Cook’n results are not factored in the series points. Owning the track means enjoying a massive advantage. And even more so when you build and/or maintain many of the IROC cars being contested.
Stay tuned for details on a possible open track day before the end of the 2022 season. This race likely concludes our “official” racing season for 2022. Stay tuned for season points standings, rookie of the year, and other accolades.
Given the holiday hustle & bustle, it’s not likely we’ll be able to pull off another race day event this year. As such, our season officially ended after the 
Today, the following drivers were enshrined on the Stewart Raceway “
On a cold, windy, and rainy day in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the four top drivers in the series took the green flag for the final round of the 2022 IROC Champs Series.
These are actually pretty cool magnet cars and easy to drive. The race wasn’t all that eventful after the first segment, which was quite a dogfight between all drivers. The rest of the race was pretty much a broken record with no lead or place changes but a very close race between the top three expert drivers. (
Recently updated from zero-downforce cars to L42 magnet cars, the MTS 3D-printed Super Modifieds are quite a bit faster and much more stable on the road course. Brad Sandahl and Kevin Webster burst from the starting line in this race to take 1-2 in the first segment.
The third race of the day was the VSR Viper-Jet utilizing a Maximum Leeway Lexan body. Brad Sandahl would suffer not only a flaky car in his first segment in the white lane but also a controller malfunction that forced him to replace it in the middle of the race. Sportsman driver, Kevin Webster, took advantage of the mayhem and secured a nice second-place finish in the second segment. George Peters stayed steady and smooth throughout the race and would secure the second podium spot while Brad Sandahl recovered nicely for the final podium spot. (
The final race of the series was the always fast and exciting Jag TR-3. These are slightly upgraded from the stock configuration so a bit faster but smoother to drive.