Round 3 Cancelled! (Postponed)

Sorry folks!

We lost Brad, George, Randy, Jared, and even Kevin could not commit by the 8:00 pm deadline.  Sorry to Jerry, who was all-in on at least a few races. I’ll work on having an open track day soon.

Normally, I would have held the race with just three of us but my roofing tear-off uncovered a bunch of issues that need tending to. So I thought I’d better cancel this Saturday’s race and focus on that stuff. Hopefully done with the roof project by the next shot at Round 3.

Okay, shut-up and drive!

Race Report: 2022 NASCAR MADness Series, Round 2

While Round 2 was expected to see a full field of drivers, five were unable to appear for Saturday’s event.

The good news was four drivers rolled through the gates in time to start racing. Well, actually a couple strolled through the gates due to a landscaping crew blocking the entrance to Stewart Raceway.

Anyway, we got a bit of a late start but with only four drivers, the schedule would certainly get compressed. In fact, after the first race, we shut down the two gutter lanes and started racing with just four of the six lanes on SR3.

The short story is George Peters remains the series points leader after two rounds. While the summary results tell a different story, the battle for this round was a lot closer. In fact, several races were lost on the final lap or final corner.  That’s exciting racing!

Overall Results
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 565 78 6145.547
2 Kevin Webster 521 66 6182.358
3 Jerry Pearson 260 21 3487.966
4 Steve Stewart 589 96 6017.514

Round 2 was NASCAR racing on the SR3 road course, which meant slightly shorter segments but still six races, including a feature race of 150-laps with Jag Hobbies NC-2 cars with NASCAR livery.

Race 1: Tyco 440-X2 “Wide-Pan” Stock Cars (15v)
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Kevin Webster

Jerry Pearson started out his racing debut with a solid second-place finish in the first heat and a very close Run Time to the winner of the heat. The number 7 Lumina body was lowered by GP Designs (George) and worked quite well. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 16 1131.07
2 George Peters 111 13 1162.899
3 Kevin Webster 102 11 1160.71
4 Jerry Pearson 95 7 1224.1
Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” NASCAR Bodies (18v)

This was Jerry’s first crack at a “gravity car” race but he actually did pretty well, staying very close in total laps for many heats and increasing his lap times throughout the race. George–again– was very close and he had the best median lap time.  Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 16 1497.009
2 George Peters 111 13 1537.096
3 Kevin Webster 106 11 1532.322
4 Jerry Pearson 99 7 1545.817
Race 3: Jag Hobbies TR-3 Augorans (IROC) (15v)

This was another hotly contested race with George and Kevin Webster both winning heats and Jerry besting Kevin by one lap in the final segment. The TR-3’s used are slightly hopped-up with Jag IFE fronts and DF rear wheels. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 79 16 710.183
2 George Peters 79 13 720.339
3 Kevin Webster 71 11 759.035
4 Jerry Pearson 66 7 718.049
Race 4: Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lites” NASCAR Livery (15v)

The”Feature”race was another barn-burner with plenty of drama and controversy. We lost Jerry after the lone IROC race but the three remaining drivers soldiered on through the rest of the schedule using only three lanes and Call Buttons to manage the racing.

Home Cook’n clearly had the better car in the feature race thanks to the use of a Johnny Lightning Thunderjet500 “Pull-Back” snap-on body. We use some of their screw-on bodies for the TFX cars. They make two versions: one for T-Jet screw-on bodies; and one for snap-on AFX bodies. There was some discussion after the races about this body not being commercially available but clearly, it is. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 150 16 1388.062
2 George Peters 144 13 1422.24
3 Kevin Webster 137 11 1413.449
Race 5: Jag Hobbies PR-5 “Lites” NASCAR Livery (15v)

Yet another hotly contested race with George Peters very narrowly losing this one to Home Cook’n again. Kevin Webster kept up the good fight, only losing a couple of laps per segment, but first and second were both neck and neck on total laps and just two seconds separating them at the finish–that’s close!!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 60 16 697.351
2 George Peters 60 13 699.638
3 Kevin Webster 53 11 709.432
Race 6: Viper-Jet (SPEC JET) NASCAR Livery (12v) 

The final race of the day was nearly a repeat of Race 5, with only tenths of a second separating George Peters and Home Cook’n in the final two segments. Kevin Webster remained focused but didn’t have a Lexan body prepared and was forced to run a hardbody, which is obviously a disadvantage in this class.

This was also a “Concourse” race, in which George easily bagged those style points with a nicely prepared Lexan Lumina (middle).  Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 60 16 593.839
2 George Peters 60 13 603.335
3 Kevin Webster 52 11 607.41

Again, thank all of you who braved the heat and beach traffic to come out in the sticks and race little cars with us. Round 3 of the NASCAR MADness Series is slated for June 25, 2022. Stay tuned for details.

Series Points Standings after Round 2:
Place Driver Race #1 #2 Appear Total Points Average
1 George Peters 70 57 2 129 63.5
2 Kevin Webster 49 57 2 108 49.0
3 Brad Sandahl 55 0 1 56 55.0
4 Jordan Walker 25 0 1 26 12.5
5 Jerry Pearson 0 21 1 22 10.5

Okay, shut up and drive!

Cars of the 2022 NASCAR MADness Series

Just a few cars debuting in Round 2 of the NASCAR MADness Series

GP Designs Lumina for a Viper SPEC JET chassis (Right-click to view larger images)

Saturday.

George “brushing” up on his Lexan detailing skills
These are actually snap-on “Pull-Back” Johnny Lightning “ThunderJet 500” bodies on NC-2 platforms. Smaller and lighter than Tomy/AFX bodies.
Lexan bodies for the SPEC JET (Viper-Jet) race.
Waterslide decals from eBay.
Lumina Lexan from Lucky Bob’s.

NASCAR MADness Series Continues This Saturday, June 11, 2022

The NASCAR MADness Series continues…

This Saturday, Round 2 takes place on the SR3 straight road course featuring a 300-lap Jag Hobbies NC-2 NASCAR race.

George Peters is currently leading the series after Round 1 on the SR3 oval. 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, currently in 2nd place, will miss Round 2. We’re also expecting two new drivers, Jerry Pearson and Randy Cook, to enter the series in Round 2. Both drivers have attended open track days on SR3 and both have had impressive results in practice races recently.

Schedule:

Gates Open: 10:00 AM, Practice begins, any car, any voltage, any lane.
11:15 Drivers Meeting, Announcements

11:30 Racing Begins…

Race 1: Tyco 440-X2 Wide-Pan NASCAR Livery (Tomahawk rules), 15v
Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” NASCAR Livery, 18v
Race 3: Jag Hobbies TR-3 Augorans (IROC)

Lunch Break

Race 4: Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lites” NASCAR Livery, 300-laps, 50-lap segments, 15v
Race 5: Jag Hobbies PR-5 “Lites” NASCAR Livery, 16.5v
Race 6: VSR Viper Jet (SPEC JET), NASCAR livery, 12v
Open Practice, any car, any voltage, any lane.

Unless otherwise specified, all races will be at least 20-lap segments (heats).

Okay, shut up and drive!

SR3 Road Course Open Track Day, June 4, 2022

Many thanks to those of you who attended the event Saturday. We ran a bunch of practice laps on the SR3 straight road course and then one  IROC fuel race using a house set of 440-X2 “Narrow” Lexan Hammerhead cars.

We also introduced another new driver into the mix. Our most recent new driver, Jerry Pearson, brought along a friend, Randy Cook, who raced 1/24-scale cars years ago as well as 1/1-scale Formula 1000 racing cars.

Seem like Randy and Jerry enjoyed the racing action since both made the podium in the 150-lap IROC race. Nice!

2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, took the top podium spot after battling with Jerry and Randy the whole race.

Both Brad and another new driver, Jared Johnson, brought along their amazing daughters, Carrie and Madeline, who actually did very well driving at lower voltages but amazingly attentive at both driving and marshaling.

While we’re definitely planning a Kid’s Race Day very soon, next Saturday is Round 2 of the NASCAR MADness Series on the SR3 road course. Hoping to see all our new and old drivers battling each other on the road course with NASCAR-style cars next Saturday. Stay tuned for details.

Okay, shut up and drive!