MULBERRY HS OCTOBER 22, 2022 | Electrathon of Florida

We held our STEM Electrathon Event at Mulberry High School on Saturday, October 22, 2022. The turnout was amazing, eleven teams and fifteen cars.

We thank Mulberry High School Sponsor Todd Thuma along with the Mulberry Administration for hosting our event.

We thank everyone that arrived early to help with event set up.

We welcome new team Sponsor Nathan Cooley and his team from Lennard High School.

We welcome Sponsor David Kocher and his new team from Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation in Pasco County.

We appreciate and thank the students from Plant City High School for keeping their team active (thank you past Sponsor David Kocher for assisting them) until they find a new sponsor for their team.

We welcome back the University of South Florida team.

A walk through the pit area before the first race captured the teams making their final adjustments to their cars.

After the drivers meeting with our officials the track opened for 30 minutes of practice laps. All 15 cars lined up for the first race.

As the green flag dropped and the cars started their one-hour race, team Kinetic Industries car 99 had a slight delay and then off they went.

During the first race, Mulberry HS car 100 (first time on track) had chain and miscellaneous other issues pop up but the team did not give up, they addressed each issue and back into the race they went. We experienced transponder issues with the Middleton 80 car and had to record their laps by hand. The excitement did not end, S & J Racing car 128 pushed their car to its limits and in one of the turns the rear wheel spun them around and on their side they went. The driver was not injured and after checking the car, back into the race they went. The construction and safety equipment on the Electrathon cars has kept drivers safe over the years.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Plant City car 83 with 60 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 56 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 55 laps
4th Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 51 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 44 laps
6th Place Lennard car 86 with 37 laps
7th Place Mulberry car 100 with 20 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 59 laps
2nd Place Kinetic Industries car 19 with 57 laps
3rd Place Jane Deere Racing car 942 with 48 laps
4th Place Kinetic Industries car 99 with 45 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 73 laps
2nd Place S & J Racing car 128 with 48 laps
3rd Place S & J Racing car 256 with 34 laps
4th Place University of South Florida car 48 with 30 laps

Between races the teams worked on their cars, visited each other’s pit area, and checked out Mulberry’s solar charging station for their batteries and their classroom/lab.

As teams lined up for the second race, the USF Team was missing as they called it a day after the first race.

When the green flag dropped starting the second race, 14 cars took positions for their one-hour race. The excitement continued in the second race, Mulberry HS continued their evaluation and tweaking of their new car, they decided after 14 laps to call it a day.

Middleton car 80 hit the curb and dented up the side panel slightly but that did not stop the determined driver, back into the race they went.

Kinetic Industries car 19 had the front wheel assembly come apart sending the tire down the course.

Lennard car 86 struck the curb, upsetting the driver but it did not stop them from getting back into the race.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the second race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Plant City High School car 83 with 61 laps
2nd Place Mulberry car 38 with 54 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 47 laps
4th Place Middleton car 133 with 44 laps
5th Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 32 laps
6th Place Lennard car 86 with 26 laps
7th Place Mulberry car 100 with 14 laps

Open Class
1st Place Jane Deere Racing car 942 with 61 laps
2nd Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 60 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Industries car 99 with 20 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 76 laps
2nd Place S & J Racing car 128 with 53 laps
3rd Place S & J Racing car 256 with 39 laps

To find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals. Final results for the race day:

High School Class
1st Place Plant City car 83 with 121 laps