On Thursday, July 22nd, teams began to arrive for the three days of STEM Electrathon Racing at Buckingham Field in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
Most of us stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites 1320 Business Way in Lehigh Acres, thank you for the great rates and service.
On Friday, July 23rd we arrived at the track around 9am to begin the venue set-up.
We send a huge THANK YOU to Lee County Mosquito Control for allowing us to use their facilities and Lee County Parks and Recreation for all of their support in planning our event.
Thank you Nic and his crew from Lee County Parks and Recreation for having all the items delivered for our event. Nic’s crew along with ETO, Mike, Trish, Jim, Ambur and Charlie got the track ready as some teams were arriving early to charge up batteries and do last minute adjustments to their cars.
Setting up the track took the steam out of all of us.
The drivers meeting went well and the track was opened for teams to test their cars for 30 minutes. Archer Racing took their new car out to see how it would do, first time on the track, and it was ready to race.
As the teams lined up for the first of two, 20 minute dash races it was first come for lineup position. The track was approximately 1.1 miles long.
We had two cars in each class (high school, open, advanced) lined up when the green flag was dropped. When the 20 minute Dash ended it was:
High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 8 laps and best lap of 144.833
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 6 laps and best lap of 172.418
Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 12 laps and best lap of 98.922
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 11 laps and best lap of 101.254
Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 11 laps and best lap of 104.517
2nd Place Archer 0 with 9 laps and best lap of 119.800
Teams made adjustments to their cars, drank more fluids and charged batteries.
All six cars lined up for the second race, as the green flag dropped, teams took their line on the track and put the power to their motors. Mulberry 38 blew the chain on its first lap and it was done for the day.
When the race ended it was:
High School
1st Place Mulberry 242 with 7 laps and best lap of 155.600
2nd Place Mulberry 38 no laps due to popped chain
Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 13 laps and best lap of 93.910
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 11 laps and best lap of 101.578
Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 11 laps and best lap of 102.344
2nd Place Archer 0 with 10 laps and best lap of 117.203
The overall totals for the race day were calculated and awards were presented to:
High School
1st Place Mulberry 242 with 13 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Mulberry 38 with 8 laps received a Bosch charger and trophy
Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 25 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 22 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy
Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 22 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Archer 0 with 10 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy
Teams went back to their hotels and then we all met at Rib City for some food, fun and relaxation.