Visit the Photo Album for the awards banquet at: (Copy and paste link into Browser) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132647601@N06/sets/72157669368364175

First of all, I want to apologize for the late posting for our end of the year banquet

Charles Harrison, ETO President

We had our banquet on June 4, 2016; the food catered by Whaley’s was amazing. Fredi Beck and her ETO helpers once again hosted an excellent banquet. The guest speaker for the evening was Rodney Schreck of Tiger Racing. Rodney, an Electrathon Racer for over 20 years gave a summary of his 2015 -2016 race season. He attended all nine of our races and then traveled to Electrathon races at Barber Motor Sports in Alabama, Touchstone Energy in Beloit Kansas, Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola Florida, Sunflower Electro Rally in Scott City Kansas and Run for the Peaches in Quitman Georgia. Rodney drove over 2,000 laps this season in his Tiger Racing Electrathon car. Thank you Rodney for the insight on motors, gears and how races are held outside of our area.

Our awards for the 2015 – 2016 Electrathon Race Season

High School Class

1st Place – Simmons Career Center, Car #35

2nd Place – Tampa Bay Tech, Car #242

3rd Place – Middleton, Car #80

Open Class

1st Place – Tiger Racing, Car #4

2nd Place – University of South Florida, Car #132

3rd Place – Robinson Racing, Car #94

Experimental Class

1st Place – Electrocutioners, Car #8

2nd Place – Electrocutioners, Car #72

3rd Place – Pro EV, Car #39

Team Leader Awards

Brandon High School – Hannah Tracy

Middleton High School – Ryan Norden

Simmons Career Center – Jesus Esquivel

Tampa Bay Tech High School – Juan Jimenez

Wharton High School – Erica Winfrey

University of South Florida – Aditya Chelikani

Most Laps

1,160 laps – High School Class – Simmons Career Center, Car #35

1,368 laps – Open Class – Tiger Racing, Car #4

1,194 laps – Experimental Class – Electrocutioners, Car #8

ETO Team Advisor of the Year

Kyle Thompson – Middleton High School

ETO Sponsor of the Year

Bob Clarke, Owner, Clarke Automotive, Brandon Florida

Corporate Sponsor of the Year

Rob Nolen, Store Manager, Lowes #2282 in Valrico Florida

The 2015 – 2016 Electrathon and Junior Solar Sprint Race Season is over; we held nine races at various locations and had a great time. We want to thank everyone that sponsored a race at their location; the site was opened for us to have a Saturday full of fun and camaraderie among our teams.

The ETO Banquet (barbecue) and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at the HCPS Instructional Services Center, 2920 N. 40^th Street, Tampa Florida 33605. The cost is $10.00 adults/$6.00 kids under 12. Please RSVP the number in your party to fredi.beck@sdhc.k12.fl.us.We want to thank our 2015 – 2016 sponsors and supporters for this race season:

• Rob Nolen, Manager of the Valrico Lowes
• Bob Clarke, Owner of Clarke Automotive in Brandon
• Parrot Signs
• Debbie Dixon, Great Florida Insurance, Lakeland Florida
• Dan McFarland, Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Larry Plank, Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Cliff Rassweiler, Team Pro EV
• Rodney Schreck, Team Tiger Racing
• Vic Nieves, Retiree Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Jim Robinson, Team Robinson and Son
• Laura and Richard Epperson, Friends of ETO
• Numerous individuals that made cash donations to support Electrathon of Tampa Bay

UPDATE

On 4/21/16 we met with the staff at the Florida Solar Energy Center to plan the course for our race (1062′). TEAMS MUST PRE-REGISTER USING THE LINK BELOW.

Our next race (last one of the season) will be on May 14, 2016 at the Florida Solar Energy Center located at 1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, Florida. We will be meeting soon to plan the course.

The Florida Solar Energy Center’s Energy Whiz is all about clean energy and creative kids. Once a year hundreds of students converge at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Florida to participate in renewable energy competitions. Created by the Florida Solar Energy Center in 1999, the Energy Whiz is a forum for students to demonstrate their science, technology, engineering, artistic and mathematics (STEAM) knowledge and skills, as they relate to energy topics such as solar thermal, photovoltaic’s (PV) and hydrogen technologies. Competitions include: Junior Solar Sprint, Critter Comfort Cottage, Energy Transfer Machine, Solar Energy Cook-off, Energy Innovations, Hydrogen Challenge, and of course, the Energy Whiz EVTC Electrathon race.

For more information about the Energy Whiz Olympics, you may download their brochure at http://www.energywhiz.com/energywhiz/EWO-brochure_EW-10.pdf.

ATTENTION: TEAMS

If you intend to participate in the Electrathon race held at the Florida Solar Energy Center during the Energy Whiz Olympics on May 14, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER. TO REGISTER, click on this link, complete the form, and click the “submit” button at the end of the registration page.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/98GZ8C6

Our next race will be held on April 9, 2016 at the Florida State Fairgrounds located at 4800 US Hwy 301 in Tampa Florida. Our track is 1710′ long and includes an S curve and a tight turn on the North end of the track. Our first race will be at 10am and our second race will be at 1pm. This race will be part of the 2016 MakerCon Event which will include mechanical, electrical, communications, transportation, hardware and software development, heritage crafts and trades, arts, music, gaming, modeling and simulation, and STEM initiatives.  We will have one of our Electrathon cars (ETO Car 60) on display inside with brochures for guests attending the event.

http://gulfcoastmakers.com/gulf-coast-makercon/

Our next race will be held at Middleton High School, located at 4801 N. 22nd Street, Tampa, FL 33610 on March 12, 2016. This race will be unlike our normal races as our drivers will have only 20 minutes to obtain as many laps as possible. The course will be the oval track at the stadium. In between our Electrathon races, 11am to 1230pm our Junior Solar Sprint Teams will be racing their cars.

Our High School and College Divisions will race at the same time, line up for the first race will be at 945am, green flag racing will be 10am to 1020am. The second race line up will be at 1245pm, green flag racing will be 1pm to 120pm.

Our Open and Experimental Divisions will race at the same time, line up for the first race will be at 1025am, green flag racing will be 1040am to 1100am. The second race line up will be at 125pm, green flag racing will be 140pm to 2pm.

Lennard High School tested their new Electrathon today. Team Sponsor Jim Reve and his Electrathon Team are energized and ready for our March 12, 2016 race at Middleton High School. We welcome them to the Electrathon Family.

Our next race will be held at the University of South Florida Campus located at 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa 33620. The Engineering Expo will have events on Friday, February 19, 2016 of which ETO will have cars on display. Our Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) and Electrathon Races will be Saturday, February 20, 2016. The green flag for the first Electrathon race will drop at 10am. Our JSS Races will be between 11am and 1230pm. The green flag for our second Electrathon race will drop at 1pm. The Electrathon course is challenging for our drivers and exciting to watch as a spectator. Come out for a free day of fun for the entire family.

The results from the Wharton Race have been added into the 2015 – 2016 Season Points Stats.

We want to thank the good folks at Olin Mott Tires (528 West Brandon Blvd) for their use of old tires for our Electrathon Race on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at Wharton High School. Olin Mott and his family has supported ETO for a number of years. Please go by and support Olin Mott in Brandon when you make your next tire purchase.

Once again Rob Nolen and his Team at the Lowes in Valrico (1515 East Brandon Blvd) came through for ETO, donating yellow caution tape and a folding six foot table. Since the start of our race season this Lowes has supported ETO each month with a donation for each race. A special thank you to Rob Nolen and everyone at the Valrico Store. Please support them by driving the extra mile to visit their store to purchase your supplies.