Race Report: 2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 4

Wow! Another barn burner race day in this super-fast open-wheel series. We opened the day with slower and loose MG+ Whelen/SK Modifieds, which are way more fun on an oval course. However, in the spirit of open-wheel competition, we ran them on the road course anyway. Happy Easter!

Short Story

This was another example of the highly competitive nature of the cars we’re running these days. I spaced and forgot to set the longer fuel fill times for Expert drivers in this round, but the results show that the racing was very competitive.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart* 477 235 4447.139
2 Aaron Castro* 467 212 4389.815
3 George Peters* 458 194 4603.055
4 Kevin Webster 404 142 4416.555
5 Jerry Pearson1 319 110 3413.512

* Expert (1 Jerry Pearson completed three races, not four.)

Race 1:  MegaG 1.7 Whelen/SK Modifieds IROC

Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters

Okay, it may not be the best choice to start the day, considering the lineup for the following three races, but it was pretty intense once everybody made some controller adjustments and settled into the race. Aaron Castro jumped into the lead early, winning the first segment by 3 seconds over Home Cook’n. Aaron would go on to win two segments and led the race after segment four but completed his rotation with 117 laps. Home Cook’n needed to finish the final segment second or better to steal the top podium spot, which he did with a perfect 30 laps and the win. George Peters fought hard for the second podium spot but came up short by six points. The big story in this one was Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson, who was driving these very loose and unpredictable cars exceptionally well for a guy who prefers much more downforce. Jerry ended up with two third-place segment finishes and bested his Sportsman rival, Kevin Webster, by two laps and four points. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 61 1594.322
2 Aaron Castro 117 56 1646.073
3 George Peters 112 50 1694.095
4 Jerry Pearson 105 36 1635.197
5 Kevin Webster 103 32 1594.884

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified”

Aaron Castro, Home Cook’n, George Peters

This race was the fastest MG+ “Modified” race ever. Aaron Castro would crush his previous race lap record of 5.146 in the Orange lane, clicking off a blistering 5.026 in the White lane, winning segment two by five laps! Aaron would win the following two segments, but the lead had already changed three times going into segment four. Aaron held the lead by six points and three laps into the final segment. George Peters would be the spoiler in the last segment by taking the win and the points second place finisher, Home Cook’n needed to overtake Aaron Castro for the overall win. Aaron and Home Cook’n tied in points, but Aaron edged out the win with just one more lap over Home Cook’n. Not to be outdone by the Expert drivers, Kevin Webster and Jerry Pearson both notched second-place segment finishes in this one. Blistering pace! Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Aaron Castro 118 55 729.94
2 Steve Stewart 117 55 833.805
3 George Peters 112 49 834.142
4 Jerry Pearson 105 38 751.684
5 Kevin Webster 105 38 761.6

Race 3: MegaG+ 1.7 “Lites” AFX Alpha Romeo F1 Team Cars IROC

Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters

Could be the first and last time these limited edition AFX cars see IROC action anywhere. Aaron bought a set, and Home Cook’n bought a set, so we decided to run them in our open-wheel series. Aaron’s set was in the White and Green lanes, and Home Cookn’s set was in the Orange and Blue lanes. Aaron blasted out front early, winning the first segment and holding onto the race lead through segment three. Kevin Webster held on to second place after the first two. In the end, Home Cook’n seemed to fair the best with these totally “Box Stock” cars, winning the race by six seconds and five laps. Sportsman driver Kevin Webster would finish fourth but tied in points with 3rd place finisher George Peters. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 64 952.757
2 Aaron Castro 115 47 958.644
3 George Peters 116 44 1001.05
4 Kevin Webster 106 44 980.686
5 Jerry Pearson 109 36 1026.631

Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” F1/Indy Lexan

Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters

Yet another barn burner Viper V-SPEC main event. Once again, Aaron Castro jumped into the lead, winning the first segment and clicking off a new lap record of 4.251 in the Orange lane in the process. Home Cook’n would take over the lead after segment two, but Aaron would come roaring back, winning segment three with a roughly 8-second better runtime and leading the race into the final segment. Aaron and Home Cook’n were separated by just one point going into the final segment with Aaron ahead by one point but down two laps. George Peters would once again prove the spoiler by winning the final segment by two seconds over Home Cook’n, but this time, Aaron would lose one lap and come up short by just one point, finishing third in the segment and second overall.  It doesn’t get much closer than that! Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 55 1066.255
2 Aaron Castro 117 54 1055.158
3 George Peters 118 51 1073.768
4 Kevin Webster 90 28 1079.385

Points Standings After Round 4

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart* 2044 932 13106.43
2 Aaron Castro* 2024 868 13046.08
3 George Peters* 1997 800 13254.27
4 Kevin Webster 1450 491 11777.35
5 Jerry Pearson 1229 400 7263.654
6 Eric Lane 1077 347 5300.734
7 Jordan Walker* 590 140 2405.214
8 Shaylin Maddox 176 88 1428.228
9 Pam Ebert 154 64 1390.808
10 Abe Maddox 148 64 1337.006
11 Martha Elderon 102 36 775.14 
NOTE: This is a best out of four series. If you're behind because you missed a round, the series points winners will be determined by their best four rounds points totals, not all five.

Race 5: Tyco 440X2 Narrow F1/Indy “Box Stock” IROC

While we usually do a bunch of racing after the official racing is over, we only did one “unofficial” race after Round 4 wrapped up. This was a four-car rotation using Webster Motorsports prepared cars, which were very fun to drive and soothing after the blistering pace of the Viper V-SPEC cars in race 4.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 64 1225.128
2 Aaron Castro 115 52 1251.755
3 Kevin Webster 105 44 1264.05

I can’t remember which race it was right now, but we had a strange finish in a segment where the leader thought they had a lap on a pursuing driver and stopped to get fuel before the next segment. When the pursuing driver went through the pits, he won the race. These could have been perfectly legitimate results, but we definitely need to review the tapes.

Speaking of tapes, we got all the “official” and “unofficial” action on tape this time. I’ll process that video ASAP, post the individual races on Rumble, and update this post with links.

I have no idea how the final points standings will play out since they’re still very close in both the Expert and Sportsman ranks. The final standings will be based on your total points from your best four of the five rounds.

Stay tuned for a post on the video action for Round 4 and the schedule for the rest of the series.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Track Day Report: March 23, 2024

Sadly, there is nothing much to report since we only did one race, and nobody took any pictures to prove it even happened.

Team Maddox MegaG+ 1.7 Modifieds ready for action.

Team Maddox showed up first with drivers Abe and Shaylin. Then Team Johnson showed up with almost their entire team: Madeline, Matthew, and Dad Jared.

The race was a battle royal of 45 laps in a Dash format. Abe Maddox led the race from the get-go, but Madeline Johnson stayed close until the last five laps. Shaylin was charging hard as Madeline and Abe fought for the lead and managed to overtake Madeline with just a few laps left.

Team Johnson still made the podium, though, because Dad, Jared, kept fighting the whole race and managed to claw his way back into contention almost at the same moment Shaylin went ahead of Madeline.

Meanwhile, Home Cook’n didn’t have a chance against these two teams going at it and had his battle fighting off the other Team Johnson driver, Matthew, who was drilling it in the yellow lane with a Tyco 440X2 wide-pan car. Matthew had Home Cook’n on the ropes, but there weren’t enough laps to seal the deal.

Yep, no video, no pictures, just this post.

Name Avg Fast Median Laps Points Place
Abe Maddox 9.625 5.713 6.861 45 17 1
Shaylin Maddox 10.34 6.136 7.642 43 13 2
Jared Johnson 10.986 5.733 9.66 40 11 3
Madeline Johnson 11.439 6.047 10.564 38 7 4
Steve Stewart 15.153 7.394 14.657 29 6 5
Matthew Johnson 14.169 10.093 11.94 28 5 6

Thanks for spending part of your busy day at Stewart Raceway today. I may have gotten whipped in the racing action, but I fixed some lingering race management issues and got a few broken controllers working again.

Hopefully, we can pull off Round 4 of the Open Wheel Series next weekend; we’ll see what happens.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 3: A Record Setting Day

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!

Class Lane Time Driver
Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan 2 4.432 George Peters
Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan 3 4.320 George Peters
Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan 4 4.270 George Peters
Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan 5 4.409 Aaron Castro
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified 2 5.347 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified 3 5.233 Aaron Castro
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified 4 5.146 Aaron Castro
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified 5 5.328 Steve Stewart
Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan 3 4.826 Steve Stewart
Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan 5 4.668 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (i) 2 5.921 Jerry Pearson
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (i) 3 5.553 Aaron Castro
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (i) 4 5.552 Aaron Castro
MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (i) 5 6.017 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans (i) 2 7.680 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans (i) 3 7.339 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans (i) 4 7.530 Steve Stewart
MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans (i) 5 7.459 Steve Stewart

These drivers are crazy fast!

Race Report: 2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 3

2024 Open Wheel SeriesWow! 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.

Round 4 is tentatively slated for March 30th.

March 2, 2024 Track Day Video

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.

https://rumble.com/v4h3pxe-track-day-march-2-2024.html

The following are clips of three of the five races we did after practice ended.

Madeline Johnson finds her mojo and wins the final race of day!

https://rumble.com/v4h40qx-track-day-march-2-2024-final-race-of-the-day.html