Videos of all three races have been posted on our Rumble channel.
Your favorite Race Director got all four races on video, and I edited them down as much as I could. Just fast-forward through any pauses in the racing action.
We STILL need a better camera crew in our video production department. If anyone would like to volunteer to manage the video operations, I’ll show you what’s involved. You ensure it is set up and working and monitor things throughout the race day.
Round 4 was quite a day for the Sportsman field. Our newest racing team, Team Rowland, got a taste of T-Jet racing in Race 1, driving a set of almost stock OS3 TFXs with Aston Martin hardbodies that George picked up at the Fray in Ferndale last week.
Round 4 Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
399
247
3154.818
2
George Peters*
396
227
3280.585
3
Aaron Castro*
293
169
2436.719
4
Kevin Webster*
349
154
3289.097
5
Dave Rowland
263
124
2516.554
6
Coe Rowland
249
118
2542.809
7
Jared Johnson
190
106
1284.282
8
Jerry Pearson*
191
103
1838.426
9
Arlo Roland
223
102
2489.432
10
Matthew Johnson
79
32
732.806
11
Madeline Johnson
62
28
582.756
* Expert Driver
Jared Johnson on his way to his first podium, taking 2nd place in Race 4 at Stewart Raceway. Jared demonstrated he’s a force to be reckoned with even for Expert drivers, taking a 4th and 2nd in his two races.
Race 1: OS3 TFX Aston Martin Fray Hardbodies (IROC)
Courtesy of GP Design’s journey to the Fray in Ferndale, these Dash bodies fitted to an existing house set of TFX chassis handled very well and looked even better. As expected, the Expert drivers dominated this class, with Home Cook’n setting four new lap records; the fastest lap was in the Green lane, at 9.721. Dave Rowland topped the Sportsman class with a perfect last segment of 25 for 90 laps and a fastest lap of 10.181.
Team Rowland did pretty well, considering only Arlo had any track time with this type of car prior to Round 4. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
64
1153.579
2
Aaron Castro
100
58
1186.906
3
George Peters
100
58
1233.056
4
Kevin Webster
93
48
1237.436
5
Jerry Pearson
92
48
1170.544
6
Dave Rowland
90
40
1239.311
7
Coe Rowland
79
32
1216.53
8
Arlo Roland
66
28
1169.332
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Lite” F1/Indy Hardbodies
This platform continues to be highly competitive and enjoyed by all who have campaigned with it. We haven’t run the Lite class in almost a year! It’s not much different from the “Modified” variant, but the heavier hardbody causes it to have slightly slower lap times. Expert driver George Peters was the dominant Expert in this one, winning three of his four rotations. Junior driver Coe Rowland had an incredible run in this race. Coe was the top Sportsman finisher with 86 laps, 42 points, and a 6.469 fastest lap. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
100
61
665.921
2
Steve Stewart
100
58
660.951
3
Aaron Castro
98
56
663.246
4
Jerry Pearson
99
55
667.882
5
Coe Rowland
86
42
701.756
6
Dave Rowland
82
40
665.433
7
Kevin Webster
80
32
653.567
8
Arlo Roland
74
32
663.482
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan Bodies
Another very competitive platform at Stewart Raceway. The V-SPEC Viper is a favorite due to its incredible downforce and amazing speed. Always a substantial adrenaline-pumping race. This one was especially different since Sportsman driver and Team Johnson leader, Jared Johnson, was absolutely on fire. Team Johnson was late to the party and jumped into the program in Race 3 after just a few practice laps. Jared’s first segment was so-so, but he clicked off an impressive 4.8-second lap in the White lane. Jared stepped up his game in his second and third segments, winning handily by one lap and three laps, respectively. He had the fastest lap in his third segment of 4.610 in the Orange lane. Jared nearly made the podium and was the top Sportsman finisher, with 92 total laps and 50 points. Dave Rowland was a close second in the Sportsman category, with 91 total laps and 44 points.
In all the excitement, Coe and Arlo Rowland each finished second in this fast and furious race—amazing!
Despite the blistering pace in this one, no new track records were set. Jared’s 4.610 lap was the fastest in the race, but it was roughly four tenths of a second off the record currently held by Aaron Castro. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
64
608.253
2
George Peters
98
58
612.468
3
Aaron Castro
95
55
586.567
4
Jared Johnson
92
50
579.186
5
Dave Rowland
91
44
611.81
6
Coe Rowland
84
44
624.523
7
Arlo Roland
83
42
656.618
8
Kevin Webster
89
38
644.58
9
Madeline Johnson
62
28
582.756
Race 4: Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Augoran” Hardbodies (IROC)
Continuing his impressive driving in Round 4, Jared Johnson led Race 4 into the final segment, winning all four rotations. He finished his rotations in the lead and was 11 points ahead of Home Cook’n, who had one more rotation but with two other Experts in the mix.
The final segment was a dogfight between two Experts and an increasingly faster Sportsman. George had a mathematical chance at second overall with but it was not to be. Jared would set a new lap record for this platform in the Blue lane and finish Race 4 second overall, enjoying his first “official” visit to the podium at Stewart Raceway. Great driving, Jared!! Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
99
61
732.035
2
Jared Johnson
98
56
705.096
3
George Peters*
98
50
769.14
4
Kevin Webster*
87
36
753.514
5
Matthew Johnson
79
32
732.806
2025 50/50 Series, Round 4 Overall Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
399
247
3154.818
2
George Peters*
396
227
3280.585
3
Aaron Castro*
293
169
2436.719
4
Kevin Webster*
349
154
3289.097
5
Dave Rowland
263
124
2516.554
6
Coe Rowland
249
118
2542.809
7
Jared Johnson
190
106
1284.282
8
Jerry Pearson*
191
103
1838.426
9
Arlo Roland
223
102
2489.432
10
Matthew Johnson
79
32
732.806
11
Madeline Johnson
62
28
582.756
Wow! Another impressive day on the SR3 “Fast Esses” course. The Sportsman category had some awe-inspiring results in Round 4, for sure. Jared Johnson seems to have figured things out and was crazy fast in the two races he participated in. Team Rowland also had some fantastic results on the day, Coe Rowland bagged a 2nd place finish in segment 7 of the MG+ 1.7 Lites class!
2025 50/50 Series Points Standings After Round 4
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
Sportsman
1
Dave Rowland
781
493
7434.468
2
Coe Rowland
768
465
7357.934
3
Abe Maddox
546
419
4299.19
4
Arlo Roland
706
412
7630.716
5
Shaylin Maddox
480
304
3929.265
6
Jared Johnson
359
248
2576.597
7
Lucille Rowland
177
130
1414.206
8
Matthew Johnson
146
74
1250.818
9
Madeline Johnson
116
56
1090.313
10
Eric Lane
66
40
498.861
11
Cameron Bill
50
32
411.714
Expert
1
Steve Stewart
974
716
7705.645
2
George Peters
967
687
7639.062
3
Aaron Castro
610
403
4398.698
4
Jerry Pearson
270
161
2335.285
5
Kevin Webster
349
154
3289.097
The final round of the 2025 50/50 Series will be on the SR3 oval layout. The tentative program is currently the following:
Qualifying
Race 1: Johnny Lightning or Autoword X-Traction cars (Loose)
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds” @22 volts
Race 3: Retro-Vipers “Maximum Leeway Lexan Bodies (Fast and loose)
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan Bodies
Qualifying points will be awarded as follows:
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
.5
Okay, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to hold the final round next weekend. If we have enough drivers (at least six), we’ll give it a go.
The Series points are based on your best results from four of the five rounds. Yep, missing one won’t hurt much, but missing two rounds will keep you off the Stewart Raceway Wall of Fame for this series.
Not sure if this can be considered Round 4 of the 2025 50/50 Series since we only ran IROC cars, but we did have five participating drivers in the mix today, which is enough to consider it an “official” race day.
We also had two new visitors to Stewart Raceway, who were impressive drivers, adapting to slot car racing like veterans. George’s sister, Vic, and her friend, Dave were incredible. Amazingly, six races were run on the day: three dash and three full rotation races, all IROC.
We started out with a couple of Dash races pitting Vic and Dave racing against each other, George and I marshaling.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Vic Peterson
49
30
NA
2
Hillbilly Dave
48
30
NA
Obviously, pretty close racing for their first experiences on the SR3 “Fast Esses” road course. George’s sis, Vic Peterson, won the first race, and Dave won the second race with only one lap deciding the overall winner.
Once the new drivers had a few laps under their belts, we did another Dash race with the same cars but with George and Eric in the mix.
Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane)
Date: Feb-22-2025 10:26
Class: Jag Augoran (i) 15v
Descr:
Name
Lane
Avg
Lap
Fast
Lap
Median
Lap
Laps
Points
Place
Eric Lane
Orange
9.455
7.122
8.320
40
16
1
George Peters
Blue
9.483
6.407
8.022
40
14
2
Vic Peterson
White
9.898
7.177
9.049
40
11
3
Hillbilly Dave
Green
11.056
6.713
8.520
36
7
4
Vic Peterson had a good run in this last Dash race, finishing 3rd and on the same lap as the winner, Eric Lane. Dave cut some fast laps with the second-quickest and third-fastest medium lap times. It appears that slot car racing prowess runs in the Peters/Peterson family.
Rotation IROC Race 1 (Jag Augoran (IROC) 15v)
Eric “Fast Lane” Lane dominated the first full rotation race of the day with two segment wins and nearly leading the race the whole way. He gave up the lead to George briefly after Segment 5, but came back in and placed 2nd in his final segment, on the same lap as segment winner, Kevin Webster.
Vic Peterson clicked off a speedy lap of 6.465 in the Blue lane during her final rotation. For first time visitors to Stewart Raceway, she and Dave were very impressive against us veteran drivers with way more track time. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Eric Lane
100
58
806.759
2
Steve Stewart
100
53
749.451
3
George Peters
98
51
804.177
4
Kevin Webster
96
50
751.482
5
Hillbilly Dave
93
42
826.877
6
Vic Peterson
91
28
814.706
Rotation IROC Race 2 MegaG+ 1.7 Eric Lane (Scooby Doo) Vans (IROC)
New driver, Hillbilly Dave had great run in Race 2 with a 2nd place finish in his first segment and only three laps down after 100 laps. Dave’s median lap time dropped from a high of 10.587 down to 8.950 in his last segment. He liked the Scooby Doo vans. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
61
969.59
2
Jerry Pearson
98
50
999.462
3
Kevin Webster
95
49
991.044
4
George Peters
97
48
978.185
5
Eric Lane
97
45
1014.672
6
Hillbilly Dave
97
44
1071.895
7
Vic Peterson
84
32
1023.523
Rotation IROC Race 3 Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (IROC) Lexan Eric Lane Set
Always a fast and furious race, the experts didn’t cut anybody any slack in this one and battled fiercely for a podium spot. Jerry completed all 100 laps and very nearly won the overall with some very impressive driving. Details
We should have handicapped the experts in all these races to give our guest drivers a better shot at podium spots, but the Race Director muffed that up as they went head-to-head with much more experienced drivers. Still, both Vic and Dave adapted to the different cars and race formats remarkably well and seemed to enjoy the racing very much.
Vic finished the day with an average placing of 4.3 and a fastest lap of 5.917, while Dave finished the day with an average placing of 4.0 and a fastest lap of 5.043.
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
100
64
600.129
2
Jerry Pearson
100
58
630.46
3
George Peters
99
52
617.886
4
Kevin Webster
88
44
618.477
5
Eric Lane
85
43
610.108
6
Hillbilly Dave
85
40
670.558
7
Vic Peterson
80
28
630.807
Our hapless Race Director–again–failed to get any video of the day’s action. Somehow, the open-source software crashed and nothing of any substance was recorded.
I sure hope Vic and Dave join us again soon. They both took to slot car racing and marshaling very quickly and got faster and faster as the day went on.
Thanks to all who showed up, supported the event and brought goodies to share. Vic’s oat cakes were delicious, and Kathy’s spread of bagels were, too.
If anybody has any pics/videos, please share them with me and I’ll update the post. We didn’t even take a podium shot!
This simple class has proven to be a great success. Its rules are simple, the paper body transforms the car’s handling, it has faster lap times, and it is generally an enjoyable car to drive.
I know the paper body is only available from Stewart Raceway, but I’m sure others could figure out how to make one. In fact, Webster Motosports makes a slightly different style of body, which seems to work pretty well, too.
Our current MG+ Modified class is not all that “modified,” which begs the question: should we allow more mods in this class?
There are quite a few additional modifications that could be made:
Aftermarket Replacement FF-N20 Motor and/or Shoe Hanger Assembly from Jag Hobbies
Neodymium 45 or 52 Traction Magnets from Harden Creek
I’m sure there are other hop-up parts out there, but the point is that this car could be much more “modified” than we’re currently running it.
I recently tested the replacement motor assembly from Jag Hobbies and found it pretty slick, easy to install, and a nice upgrade to the stock motor. The chassis I used to test it was doing laps in the 5.8 range with its factory motor. After replacing it with the new Jag motor and hanger assembly, lap times dropped into the 5.4 range. It’s not a tremendous upgrade, but knowing there are alternatives is nice. There are also “hotter” motors out there that could be allowed.
To be clear, I am not pushing changes to our current rules for this car. I think a heavier and independent front end would be a simple but effective performance upgrade. Another modification we could allow is the high-downforce configuration using the stock N30 traction magnets. This rapid mod involves flipping one traction magnet to go from low to high downforce, which results in an additional 2 to 4 grams of downforce.
Again, I’m not advocating changes; I’m happy with the current rules. However, if enough teams/drivers want to change the rules, it isn’t out of the question.
Videos of all three races have been posted on our Rumble channel.
Unfortunately, Race 1 and 2 have no background audio, and Race 3 has no audio at all. The good news is that both cameras captured video, so there are views from both turn four and turn two.
We need a better camera crew in our video production department. If anyone would like to volunteer to manage the video operations, I’ll show you what’s involved. You ensure it is set up and working and monitor things throughout the race day.
