The first ever Electrathon race in Polk County went off without a hitch. Almost, our Team Sponsor at George Jenkins (James Heuslein) got VERY sick the week of the race and was not able to host/attend, causing a situation, because a School Employee/ Sponsor had to be on campus. The race was cancelled until Charlie and Rodney visited the school on the Friday before the race. The great staff at George Jenkins (Brad Hiers, AP, Erin Crosby, Dean, and Antwan Carter, Custodian) worked with them and got the race back on track. A great BIG THANK YOU to all three of the George Jenkins Staff Members that made our first race in Polk County a success.

The track was in great shape with two LONG straights and two 180s. The campus is huge, it was a trick finding the track. I thought I was going to run out of campus before I got there. George Jenkins is a large campus and very impressive.

Our good friend from LOWES (Sponsor Rob Nolen) and Polk County School Board Member (Billy Townsend) shared the starting duties for the first race.

In the High School Class it was a battle between Mulberry High and Simmons Career Center with both schools trading First place finishes in the first and second race. Mulberry had the fastest high school lap at 45.104 second.

The Simmons #53 car took the overall in High School followed close behind by the Mulberry #38 car and Simmons #353 came in 3rd. Mulberry’s 2nd overall was outstanding considering they had a bad first race with only half the laps of the Simmons #53 car.

In the Open Class Tiger Racing (Rodney) and Silver Bullet Racing (Robinson) teamed up. Since Silver Bullet Racing seems to always be out of cars, he sells them almost as fast as he builds them, Rodney brought his old Erector Set car, the original #4 and drove it and Robinson drove Rodney’s new car #4. Robinson won the first race beating Rodney with his own car but Rodney came back the second race beating his own car driven by Robinson. Robinson took 1st Place overall and Rodney took 2nd followed by HCC in 3rd place.

In the Advance Battery Class it was the usual suspect. USF car #48 and Pro EV car #39 battling it out. Both cars were turning laps in the mid 30second range with Pro EV turning in the fastest lap of the day at 34.277seconds.

Pro EV took the first race buy 1 lap. In the second race Pro EV “drove the wheels off of that car” bit him again. Pro EV took second in the second race after having blown a drive wheel late in the race. USF #132 car was cautious the first race but came out strong in the second race beating Pro EV by 1 lap.

When the race day ended, the standing for the day were:

High School – 1st Simmons # 53 – 101 laps, 2nd Mulberry #38 – 89 laps and 3rd Simmons #353 – 87 laps.

Open – 1st Robinson Racing #94 – 137 laps, 2nd Tiger Racing #4 – 122 laps and 3rd HCC #30 – 36 laps.

Advance Battery – 1st USF #48 – 181 laps, 2nd Pro EV #39 – 168 laps and 3rd USF #132 – 131 laps.

From The Pits: Overall the cars are looking better with fewer problems during inspection. We only had one team blow up a tire in the pits. It makes a large bang when you over inflate a tire and it blows.

USF has some really good info on Advance Battery Management and Safety Protocols. If teams check the Electrathon America Handbook they list the Advance Battery options. Looks like you can equip an Electrathon race car for about HALF the cost of Yellow Tops and you only need ONE battery and a special charger, a compatible motor controller, safe securing in car and a battery management system.. You can recharge it between races and it doesn’t have to come out of the car.

The track layout for the December 8, 2018 race looks like another fast track with “strong left” / “strong right turnsas shown in red.

See you then
VIC

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/knfsv1a091cj8nx/AAAgKYP2gGQZw9VHTPM_Tcvta?dl=0

Electrathon of Tampa Bay’s 10th Birthday Race had cars coming from far and wide for a great day of racing. There were teams from Hialeah FL (Tiger Racing), Davie FL (Pro EV), Titusville FL (Silver Bullet Racing), Longwood FL (Electrocutioners) and Chambers County AL along with all our local teams. Local teams were Brandon High School, Lennard High School, Simmons Career Center, and USF.

The team from Chambers County AL made the trip down for the race bringing 2 cars, a school bus full of students and the biggest trailer you ever saw. It even had a solar array on the roof to power up everything. So of course by the time they got to the pits the only place big enough for their trailer was under a big tree. At least they were out of the hot Florida sun.

The race day started out VERY FOGGY. The fog did not lift until the first race was almost over. After Race Steward Mike Fredric’s drivers meeting there were 18 cars lined up for the start of the first race. The starting grid was lined up back around the turn coming into the finish line. When the green flag dropped it was a mad dash for the first turn and into the straights and 180s. After a good bit of bumping and jockeying, the drivers settled into a pretty fast pace.

The Electrocutioners, Pro EV, Tiger Racing, Robinson Racing and USF quickly made it to the front and kept up a blistering pace. The Chambers County #212 car had a very good start and was doing very well right up till the steering broke and they had to withdraw. Hard to steer when the front wheels want to go in different directions. Their #222 car did much better taking 4th place in overall in the High School Division. The #222 car is a 4 wheel design, the first one we have had at one of our races. The drivers did a good job negotiating all the tight turns on the course. Simmons Career Center now has 3 cars. This was the shakedown run for their 3^rd car and it will be competitive after they get the bugs worked out.

The Simmons Career Center Culinary Arts class did a great and much appreciated job of supplying cupcakes with a racing theme for our 10th birthday celebration.

USF had a good outing with their #132 car sporting a new paint job. They also resurrected the OOOOOLD King High School car for one race. It is the one that uses an old aluminum traffic control BOX for a body.

We had a new local team join us for the race. Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School had the #55 car ready to go. The #55 car is an ETO loaner and they made great strides getting it race ready. As with every new team and car on the track, they had their challenges during the race day.

The Electrocutioners continued their winning ways with the #90 car taking both races. The Brandon team took the spill of the day award when they tried to see how far they could get one of their cars to go on its side. They turned it over coming out of one of the tight 180’s and the race had to be red flagged because they were taking up the whole track. They did get it right side up and were able to continue the race. No damage to the driver and only some scratches to the car. Great driver as they remembered to keep their hands inside the car rather than the normal reaction to reach outside. The Lennard #86 car had a great return with a 2nd overall in the High School Division. They have been out for a few races with car problems; The Team Sponsor Jim Reve has his team back on the track at 100% and busted Simmons string of 1^st – 2^nd finishes. This is a team to be reckoned with.

Between races ETO recognized three of the founding and still active members of Electrathon of Tampa Bay, Mike Fredrick, Jim Truitt and Vic Nieves. Also on hand at the race were Jim Robinson and Rodney Shrek two of the longest running Electrathon competitors. They both got started right after the invention of the electric motor.

A big thanks to everyone who helped tear down the course. It took 4 people over 4 hours to set it up and it was taken down and put away in 30 minutes

Race Results

Open Class 1st place #4 Tiger Racing 2nd place #94 Robinson Racing

Advanced Battery Class 1st place #90 Electrocutioners 2nd place #72 Electrocutioners 3rd Place #132 U.S.F. 4th place #8 Electrocutioners 5th place #39 Pro EV 6th place #60 U.S.F.

High School Class 1st place #35 Simmons 2nd place #86 Lennard 3rd place #53 Simmons 4th place #222 Chamber County AL 5th place #14 Brandon 6th place #353 Simmons 7th place #9 Brandon 8th place # 55 Brooks-DeBartolo 9th place #212 Chambers County AL

Our next race is at St Petersburg College/Seminole Campus on March 24, 2018 in conjunction with Maker Con and Comic Con.

The ETO annual membership meeting was held at the Cracker Barrel on July 17, 2017.

Charles Harrison gave a breakdown of last year’s season which saw considerable growth for ETO.  We met a large number of our business plan goals and objectives. There was a lot of discussion about the upcoming season which will see even more growth and be very busy.

The new season that starts with our opening event at Hillsborough Community College/Brandon Campus in September will see even more growth.  Representatives from teams as far away as Fort Myers (I Will Mentoring Foundation) and Orlando (Electrocutioners) were present and teams in South Florida (Pro EV) sent in material that was read at the meeting.  We were honored to have the new Electrathon America Vice President, Don Morgan from Quitman Georgia, attend our meeting.

Don went over the changes in store for Electrathon America.  Electrathon America has a whole new slate of officers headed by President Kirk Swaney who has a lot of new ideas to move everyone forward.

New rules at the national level are in the works for car and driver safety.  They are substantial but will not be difficult or expensive to comply with.  The main one concerns the roll bar set up and how it is measured.  More info will be forwarded when the rules are adopted in their final form.

Locally we should see the return of Lennard and Wharton High School.  Plant High School has a car ready to go for the season opener.  Brandon High School is working on a 3rd car but lost their sponsor and needs a new one to step up and help them out.  Middleton High School has new drivers and a new 3rd car in the works.

ETO has several loaner cars and we are working on getting new schools involved in Electrathon Racing.

Our local schedule and other out of town events will afford many opportunities for our teams to compete on a higher level and push that one hour envelope.

Sai and his guys from University of South Florida are working on their Lithium Powered car and have come up with some innovative ideas for battery management that will increase the reliability and safety of the batteries.  Sai has also come up with a very neat way to implement 2 way communications among the teams, officials and sponsors using our cell phones and an ear bud set up.  More info as the system is implemented.

Vic

A GREAT DAY FOR A RACE AND A SWIM

The day started off with great weather on the USF course. The weather forecast varied all week from 20-80% chance of rain LATE in the afternoon. Then the radar showed a BIG rain band out in the gulf and that late rain showed up at 1:30 and drowned the place.

We normally start the races at 10am and 1pm, with the radar looking real menacing we started the second race at 12:30. It turned out to be a good idea. The cars can run in the rain but its not a popular choice.  Mike Fredricks, our race steward, waved the checkered flag 1 minute early just as the clouds opened up.  We got the race in but had to take down the course in the rain. Trophy presentations were held under the canopy in the rain.

In the High School Class it was Brandons #14 against the three cars from Middleton. In this race it was Brandon #14 against Middleton #365 with Brandon taking 2nd in both races and Middleton taking 1st in both races.

In the last race it was Brandon #14 and Middleton #80 tied for season points. In this race it was #14 and Middleton #356 with Middleton taking first overall for the day to pull within 2 points of Brandon #14 and the season lead. There are 3 cars within 6 points of each other for the season.

In the Open Class we had Rodney, HCC and the #242 car.  The #242 car was at Tampa Bay Tech but Tech does not have a team this year so BRADY, some other Alumni and current students raced it in the Open Class. The #242 car was and is very fast and it was great to see it on the track again. Brady now has the car with plans to continue racing in the open class as the Titans.

Rodney in the #4 car took both races with HCC and the Titans car both having to withdraw with mechanical problems. They were not able to start the second race. The Titans car had a catastrophic blow out on a front wheel that blew the rim apart. In 10 years of racing we have seen many blow outs, flat tires and wheel collapses but never a rim coming apart like that. Almost half the rim sidewall was left on the track.

In the Experimental Battery Class it was close all day with Drew and Slam battling all day with Slam in the #90 car taking the day with 146 laps.

In the first race the #8 car had electrical problems and had to withdraw. Drew, Slam and USF were within 3 laps with Drew on top with 76 laps, USF with 74 and Slam with 73.

In the second race it was the #90 car and Slam with 73 laps and everyone else way behind. USF and ProEv both had problems and had to withdraw. Drew in the #72 car had problems with his car and it conked out several times and had to be pushed started to get going again. Pony in the #8 car had a wire come out of a connector and killed her throttle. Several members of other teams carried her car off the track and found the errant wire and soldered the pin and got it back on the track. The problems dropped her out of the season lead and put her 4 points behind Drew in the #72 car.

Next race will be on the Track at Brandon High School on March 25th.  We will be doing another speed event. Two twenty minute races going for speed and distance. Between the races there will be an extra special event. Team sponsors and ETO officials will be taking to the track for a short race. If we can manage to get into the cars.

Finish Order:

High School: 1st  Middleton #365, 2nd Brandon #14, 3rd Middleton #80, 4th Middleton #133, 5th Brandon #9.

Open: 1st Tiger Racing #4, 2nd HCC #13, 3rd  Titans #242

Experimental Battery:  1st Electrocutioners #90, 2nd Electrocutioners #72, 3rd USF #132, 4th Electrocutioners #08, 5th ProEv #39

It was a great day for racing at Lennard High School with 14 cars from 10 teams in 3 divisions.

The schools name sake, Dr. Earl Lennard, former Hillsborough County School Superintendent dropped the green flag a 10 A.M. on a bright and sunny day.

The course was just short of a half mile around the drivers ed. range, a parking lot and as an added treat around the dumpsters.  The fastest lap of the day was just over 54 seconds by Drew in the 72 car.  He also turned in the top lap count of the day at 111 for both races.

Our ranks are growing.  USF was back with their Lithium Ion battery powered car.  They were here for testing and only ran the second race.  As fast as they were going the other cars in the Experimental Battery Class better look out when they are 100%.

Strawberry Crest was back and put in a good showing with a 3rd place finish in both races for 3rd overall.

The home team did a fantastic job getting the course ready for the races.  There were a lot of hay bales and tires to sling.  The Lennard 86 car was having a great day in the first race, right up to the point where their rear drive wheel had a slight problem when it lost its ball bearings.  Any time there is a problem with the drive wheel on any of these cars it makes for a real bad day.  Lennard missed 3rd place while sitting in the pits at the end of the race.

In the second race Brandon High School took 1st and 2nd in the High School Class.  The #14 car edged out the #9 car on time with the same lap count.  Strawberry Crest beat the Middleton #365 car by 13 seconds for 3rd place over the one hour.

Brandon took 1st in both races for their 1st overall of the year.  Something about new batteries in old cars.  They are working on a new car to start replacing the 8 year old cars they are using.

In the Open Class, in the first race Tiger Racing and Robinson Racing were neck and neck the whole race with Robinson Racing edging out Tiger for a 1st.  In the second race it was Tiger Racing all the way when Robinson Racing had to withdraw with mechanical problems.

In the Experimental Battery Class we want to welcome back Team USF.  They should give the Electrocutioners and ProEv a run for it when the are fully operational.  They only ran the second race but were very fast.  ProEv had some chain problems in the first race but kept it together in the second for a close 1st place heat win.

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PITS

Some teams need to work on their mirrors.  Way to much duct tape could cost you next race.  Check the rule book.  You can not continue racing if any safety device or ballast item fails during a race.  YOU MUST fix it or be DQ.   Our cars are electric/battery powered, everyone who works on them should know how to hook up a battery or electrical item properly and the wiring should be either red for positive and black for negative.  Positive = RED, Negative = Black.  One of the cars was having a problem getting their transmitter to register at the start of the race.  The transmitter was fried/killed/dead when it was hooked up when the ground side was connected to the positive side of the battery.  $50 plus transmitter fried.  This is the third or fourth one in two years.  All team should keep 9V batteries in their kit to use with the Red transmitters or if there is a problem with the wiring harness on the white ones.

We want to welcome Jefferson High School.  They are working on a car and had a team at the race to get a feel for how its done.  Word is Plant High School might have their car ready for the January Race at Wharton High School.

RACE RESULTS

High School  1st Brandon #14, 2nd Middleton #365, 3rd Strawberry Crest #30, 4th Brandon #9

Open Class 1st Tiger Racing #4, 2nd Robinson Racing #94, 3rd HCC #13

Experimental Battery Class  1st Electrocutioners #72, 2nd Electrocutioners #8, 3rd Pro Ev #39, 4th USF #132

Vic

Thank you, Middleton High School Electrathon Team, Faculty, Administration and Bus Drivers from around the County for a great race venue.

After a two year hiatus we were back on the BIG Parking Lot at Middleton.  Weather was great and the track was fast.

A new record was set for total overall laps.  The Old Record was 112 laps set the last time we were on this track in 2013 by the Electrocutioners in the 08 car.  That was also before Lithium Ion batteries.  The New Record is now 118 laps also set by the Electrocutioners car 08.  The record was set this time with the new batteries and a new driver.  Pony tore the track up with the next closest car 11 laps down.

The High School record for total overall laps was safe.  Brandon High School car 09 set that record in 2013 with 102 laps.

Lennard High School was back in action taking 2nd overall in the High School Class.  They are working on a second car and bought one of our spare frames.  We look forward to seeing what they come up with.  Lennard is hosting our next race on December 10th and the course looks like a good one with 11 turns and over 2000′ in length.

Robinson Racing was back for the first time this season with a brand new car and an out of state ringer for a driver.  They did very well breaking the new car taking 1st in the Open Class.

Our condolences go to Rodney (Tiger Racing) on the loss of his father. We regret that our race was scheduled on the same day of his father’s service. In all of the years that ETO has been racing, this was the first race that Rodney was not able to attend. Sorry for your loss.

Cliff from Pro EV was back with us and took a 1st place in the 1st race beating the Electrocutioners car 08 in the Experimental Battery Class on time differential on the last lap.  The tire gremlin got him in the second race for a 3rd place finish.

In the High School Class there was a lot of tight racing all day.  Brandon had controller problems with the 9 car and the 14 car lost laps due to chain problems.  Lennard High School ran strong in both races taking a 2nd in the first race and a 1st in the second race finishing 2nd overall in High School.

The Middleton Tigers ran strong with the 80 car taking 1st overall in High School.  The 365 car, the Duck Car, took 3rd.  The 133 car had battery problems in the second race and finished the race but down in the lap count.  All three of their cars ran well in both races.   After two hours of racing the top three cars were separated by four laps.  All the Middleton cars are running at least 36v using smaller batteries but at higher motor RPM.

There were some glitches in our scoring system with several cars having transmitter problems.  We were able to keep track using hand scoring.  We have added more transmitters and now have some set aside with 9v batteries as emergency spares to be installed mid race using every racers standby DUCT TAPE.  We did that on the 133 car in the second race with no loss of laps.

24v, 36v, 48v, 60v, more lighter batteries, fewer heavy batteries, aerodynamics, Lithium Ion, AGM, gear ratios, driver discipline and computer programming are just some of the factor that go into a successful race car/team.  Look around the pits the next race and see who is doing what.

High School Class: 1^st Place Middleton 80, 2^nd Place Lennard 86, 3^rd Place Middleton 365, 4^th Place Brandon 14, 5^th Place Middleton 133, 6^th Place Brandon 9

Open Class:  1^st Place Robinson Racing 94, 2^nd Place HCC 13

Experimental Battery Class:  1^st Place Electrocutioners 8, 2^nd Place Electrocutioners 72, 3^rd Place Pro EV 39

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and looking forward to seeing everyone at the December Parade in Longwood and at Lennard for the next race.

Vic

tbt-race

The second race of the season is in the books.

The usual suspects were present for the races. We want welcome back the team from HCC for their first race since early last season and Tampa Bay Tech High School for hosting the race.

The conditions were good with cool temperatures and plenty of sunshine. The course was smooth and fast, with some cars hitting speeds in the mid 30s on the long straights.

In the experimental battery class the 08 and 72 cars battled it out during both races with Pony in the 08 beating Drew in the 72 when his batteries went down early in both races. The 72 car is new this season and Drew is working out the bugs.

In the first race the big excitement was the HCC car, with a new driver, blowing a tire on the drive wheel causing a Red Flag on the track when it went sideways and stalled. The driver did what most people do when driving. Hitting the brakes when a tire blows is never a good idea. The car got sideways and traded paint with the 08 car which escaped unharmed. The HCC car tore up the front end of the nose cone and had to withdraw as the damage caused the driver’s feet to have no protection.

A BIG SHOUT OUT to recognize the Middleton Team for jumping in to help the HCC two person team fix the car. When they were done the car looked fine but could not pass the safety inspection. The Middleton Team exhibited a good example of sportsmanship, one of the many such acts at our Electrathon Races. Before the races and during the break between the first and second races, teams were working on their cars and helping other teams with their car(s). One of the teams gave another team a new tire and inner tubes to help get them up and running.

During the second race that attention to detail monster showed up twice. The 133 car from Middleton, which was going real well and racking up the laps, lost power and had to pit. That Attention to Detail got them. A cable on one of the batteries came off. A lose bolt caused the problem and the pit crew was slow repairing the problem. The car lost multiple laps and missed out on 2nd place in that race by seconds. Then there was the 365 car from Middleton. The one that sported a green and yellow paint job that looks like a yellow beaked Oregon Duck. It spent the first part of the second race drafting the 133 car until the car took an unplanned pit, stopping up against the Brandon High School team trailer breaking its beak. The 365 car had a minor problem with the steering. The steering wheel weld to the steering shaft broke. Welds are the one thing that a safety inspection might not find, especially if the weld is not a smooth clean weld.

Thoughts from the Pits: Electrathon America Design and Safety rules allow a partial frame when the car has a full body over the frame. With the HCC and the Duck car both receiving front end damage and with no injury to the drivers the cars could not continue. The cars conformed to the safety rules and everything worked out.

ALL TEAMS should take a close look at their cars with the thought, would it be a good idea to ADD an additional piece to the frame. Look at the area where the driver’s feet rest. Then ask WHAT IF.  Is there a frame component that protects the driver’s feet in the event of a front end crash, even with a full body over the frame?

Idea for the pit crews:  How many different size nuts and bolt are there on the car?  The fewer sizes the fewer tools needed to make an adjustment, service or repair. You can have a small GO BAG with what you need to make a QUICK Repair/Pit Stop. Think Batteries, Steering, Wheels/Tires.

Results:

High School Class: Middleton 80 – 1^st place, Middleton 133 – 2^nd place, Brandon 14 – 3^rd place, Brandon 9 – 4^th place,  Middleton 365 – 5^th place

Open Class: Tiger Racing 4 – 1^st place, HCC 13 – 2^nd place

Experimental Battery Class: Electrocutioners 8 – 1^st place, Electrocutioners 72 – 2^nd place

We want to welcome Plant High School, from South Tampa, to the Electrathon of Tampa Bay Family. They picked up one of our loaner cars and will be working feverishly to get it ready to race. Hope to see them on the track in December at Lennard High School.

The next race is on the Famous Middleton High School course the first Saturday in November. We will be on the BIG parking lot. It is a long course with all the turns and long straights.

See you in November

Vic Nieves

It was a great day for racing, Sunny, Clear Skies, Cool Temps and a great USF course. This is the 8th time we have raced at USF and it has always been a great event on our most challenging course. Its a great test of teams and equipment.

As the cars lined up for the start of the first race and were checking their transponders for the automatic scoring system, a HITCH struck the 80 car from Middleton High School. As they were pushing the car under the scoring bridge to check the transponder they noticed that one of the front wheels was going straight and the other was in a hard right turn. A catastrophic steering system failure. The team had to carry the car back to the pits to work on it.

The race started on time with the Electrocutioners in the #8 and #90 cars and the Tiger Racing #4 car jumping out to an early lead and stayed there. The #8 car which is one of the faster cars had problems with charging the Lithium Ion batteries and ran low of battery power and had to withdraw late in the race and was not able to start the second race. The 90 car was the class of the field taking both class races and First Overall with 150 laps.

Simmons Career Center showed up with a new car. The #35 car was built by Robinson Racing and was one of the faster cars during the day. They were the first in the High School division first race by one lap over the TBT 242 car. In the second race they got bumped with 10 min, to go and had to pit. That allowed the TBT 242 car to pick up laps and finish first overall in the High School Class by three laps.

Wharton High in the 58 car had a drive wheel eat up the bearings and had to withdraw in the first race.  They were turning some fast laps when it happened.

Now back to the HITCH/disaster with the Middleton 80 car. They pulled off a feat never seen before in an Electrathon race. They first repaired the steering system with the welder they just happened to bring with them. When the repair didn’t work they  fabricated a complete new steering system and had it ready to go for the second race where they put in some fast laps.

We had some Electrathon Alumni stop by.  We want to give a shout out to Ken Nay, a retired instructor from Plant City and his number one driver and builder Zack also from Plant City.  They stopped by to say hello and just like when they were running their cars back in the day they jumped in and helped Middleton with their car.

We have a race scheduled at the Florida Solar Energy Center later this year and representatives from the center came over to check out the Expo and our race. They had many favorable comments on our race, the teams, the pits and the enthusiasm and cooperation exhibited by all.

High School Division:  1st TBT, 2nd Simmons, 3rd Brandon 14, 4th Brandon 09, 5th Middleton, 6th Wharton

Open Class Division: 1st Tiger Racing, 2nd USF, 3rd Robinson Racing

Experimental Battery Division: 1st Electrocutioners 90, 2nd Electrocutioners 08

Next race is on the track at Middleton High School on March 12th.  Hope to see everyone there.

Vic Nieves

Race Stats for Simmons and Year to Date

The new guys on the block put on a good show at the race on their home track.  We want to thank the staff of Simmons for their help and support.  The food booth was a popular place on race day.  The track was tight and rough with lots of turns but teams were turning lap at 30-35 sec. intervals.

In the High School class there were lots of ups and downs during the two races.  Simmons won the first race with 107 lap with the Middleton 80 car second with 96 laps.  The Middleton 133 car, the girls team, with new batteries came in 3rd with 93 laps, after they lost laps when the ballast fell out of the car and had to be reinstalled.  TBT was 4th with 85 laps after loosing laps with a blown tire.

In the second race Simmons broke a chain and lost a lot of laps before they could get it running again.  TBT had problems in the second race with more blown tires and wheel problems.  That left the two Middleton cars battling for the lead.   The girls team in the 133 car kept up a fast and steady pace and won the second race by 4 laps over the Middleton boys in the 80 car.

The Middleton girls team beat out the Middleton boys team by 1 lap after 2 hours of racing to take the overall 1st place in the High School Class.  Both cars ran steady and fast races.

In the Open Class in the first race it was Tiger Racing against the field.  After 1 hour of racing and 119 laps it was  Robinson Racings 13 car by .233 sec. over Tiger Racing  with Robinsons 94 car 3rd with 116 laps and USF 4th with 82 laps.  After the races were over Robinson Racings 13 car had holes rubbed in the nose cone and Jim Jr. had scuff marks on his shoes.  That was how rough the course was.

In the second race Robinson Racing had the 94 car withdraw early in the race and the 13 car blew a tire late in the race to drop to third and USF improved to 2nd place with 122 laps just 2 laps behind Tiger Racing in the 4 car with 124 laps.

In the Experimental Battery Class there was a lot going on with the Electrocutioners and ProEV battling hard over both races.  The surprise of the day was the Electrocutioners new 72 car.  Drew came up with an actual Go-Kart  running on Lithium Ion batteries.

In the 1st race the 72 car racked up 111 laps for a strong 3rd in its first ever race.  The Electrocutioners 08 car battled the ProEv 39 car for a one lap win.  Towards the end of the 1st race the 08 car, with 128 laps,  and the ProEv 39 car, with 127 laps got together on the front straight and the 39 car lost its canopy and messed up a tire.

In the second race the 72 car was going like a bat and put in 126 laps for a 1st place.  Cliff in the 39 car had problems with his canopy, too much duct tape holding it together.  Then he had problems with his rear drive wheel and other stuff and had to withdraw.

Pony driving the Electrocutioners 08 car held off Drew in the 72 car for 1st place overall in the EX Battery class by 1 lap.

Girl Power came on strong with Overall 1st place finishes in the High School and EX Battery classes.

Blown tires, locked up drive wheels, busted chains, mirrors, loose ballast, to much duct tape and other gremlins caused much consternation in the ranks, standings and order of finish.

The next race is in Jan. at Wharton HS.  That will be the last tune up before our biggest race of the year at the USF ENGINEERING EXPO.  We should see some new out of town cars with upward of 20 cars total and a large crowd of spectators over the two days.

I would like to wish every one a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and great end of the year.  Have a great time and be safe.  See you all rested and ready to go for the second half of the Electrathon Of Tampa Bay season.

Vic

The first cool race day of the year is in the books.

12 cars took the green flag for both races on the 1/4 mile track with some of the closest finishes ever in the series.

Racing on a 1/4 mile track allowed the teams to really see how the cars would do in a true time trial setting. Aerodynamics, gear ratios, battery life/conservation, steady speed and steering all come into play.  Much more so than on a road course where the cars are constantly slowing down and speeding up.  In the High School class the winner was driving a car with the aerodynamics of a brick and was 26 laps behind the Open Class winner and 32 laps behind the EX battery winner.  All but the EX battery winner were using the same type batteries.  AERODYNAMICS was a BIG factor.

In the 1st race of the High School Class, the Simmons #60 car and the Middleton #80 car had the same lap count with 80 laps on the 1/4 mile track.  Simmons took 1st by mere seconds.  In the second race Simmons beat Middleton again, this time by 2 laps.  TBT was late starting the race when they had a brake lock up on the way to the start line otherwise they would have been in the mix for 1st.

In the second race Simmons and TBT went at it with both cars finishing with 83 laps each.  Simmons took 1st again this time by 32 sec.

In the Open Class USF, driving their new car for the second race, missed 3rd place by 5 sec. to Rodney in the Tiger Racing #4 car.

In the first Open Class race, 1st and 2nd had a 2 sec. gap.  The Robinson Racing #13 and #94 cars drafted each other  for most of the race with the dad, in the 94 car, beating son in the #13.

In the second race the Robinson Racing #13 car took 1st again when the #94 car withdrew with it second blown tire of the race.  Tiger Racing took 3rd when he had to slow down towards the end of the race in order to preserve a tire that was looking like it wanted to come apart.  At the end of the race the tire looked like it was holding on by a thread or two.  That left the door open for USF to come in 2d in the race and second overall in the Open Class.  USF ran a strong, smooth and uneventful race which is just how it should go but rarely does.

In the Experimental Battery Class (EX) Cliff from ProEV #39 car out of Miami was unopposed and had a track high 195 laps for the day.  I think he scared off the other EX Battery Class cars.  There was a rumor that the other drivers had to work.  Work should never get in the way of racing.  Ha….

High School results for two races

1st Simmons #60 163 laps,  2nd Middleton #80 161 laps, 3rd  TBT # 242 156 laps, 4th Brandon #9 149 laps, 5th Wharton #58 138 laps, 6th Brandon #14 129 laps, 7th Middleton #133 125 laps.

Open Class results for two races

1st Robinson Racing #13 189 laps, 2nd USF #132 183 laps, 3rd Tiger Racing #4 181 laps, 4th Robinson Racing #94 127 laps

Thanks to the Middleton team for putting on a great race and for the food and goodies provided.  It made for a great day of racing.

In the pits during the day teams were seen helping each other and loaning batteries and wheels etc.  True sportsmanship on display for this race and every race.

Hope to see everyone and more at Simmons Career Center, 1202 Grant St in Plant City on December 12, 2015.

Vic Nieves