Our next race is going to be at Mulberry High School in Mulberry Fl.
First race will be at 10:00 AM with the second race at 1:00 PM
Go all the way to the end of the road to get into the track area at the back of the school.

This is a short turnaround from our race at USF where Mulberry took top spot in High School.
The race will be on their 1/4 mile track and will be a great opportunity for teams to try out new gear ratios and tactics. It will be easier on equipment and batteries.

This will be a good tune up for our season ending race at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa in April.

Vic

Race day started with most teams who used GPS to find the school having to try multiple entrances before finding the track. GPS sent you to a closed gate a ways from the track.

Todd and his crew from Mulberry put on a great race. Lots of help with set up and tear down. It is appreciated when the home team helps as much as Todd and his team did.

The home team took the High School class with a total of 183 laps in the #38 car driving a conservative race with new drivers. Their #83 car had a shaky start in the first race with a new driver. Late in the first race had a spin-out and landed into the infield when the steering had a problem. Skinned up sheet metal but the driver didn’t have a scratch.

In the Open Class we had a first on race day. HCC started both races on time. When they get another good set of batteries they will be a team to watch as they will be very competitive.

Funding is always an issue for all of our teams. Teams are always looking for sponsors or donations to assist in their costs to keep the car running all season.

Another first in the Open Class was the absence of Silver Bullet Racing/Jim Robinson. He went over to the dark side to the Advanced Battery Class. Give you more on that later.

Tiger Racing/Rodney Schreck took first with 173 laps with Titan Racing coming in 2nd and HCC took third. Titan Racing withdrew towards the end of the second race with electrical problems, turned out that there was a loose connection on the master kill switch.

Advanced Battery Class saw the duel between Pro EV and USF continue. USF showed up with a whole new crew and new drivers. They still took 1st place in both races. In the second race it was a VERY CLOSE finish with USF taking it by 9 seconds over Cliff in the Pro EV car. RYNO Racing/Ryan and his 365 car had a bad day. Ryan used a past team mate from Middleton High School, Josh Ridout as one of his drivers and Mulberry graduate Dillon Meeks as a second driver. The 365 car did well the first race but late in the second race the rear tire went flat (according to another teams driver) in one of the turns sending the 365 car into a spin out causing it to roll over into the infield on the far end of the track. The car was messed up but the driver did not have a scratch or injury. The front end of the car will need to be rebuilt to get the wheels going in the right direction. Ambur from Brooks DeBartolo offered to help with welding the car in those spots that needed TLC. It is great to see teams offer to help one another.

The new/old guy in Advanced Battery, Silver Bullet/Jim Robinson, took third with his new battery pack. Sai from USF replaced the three Electrocutioners Teams as our Advanced Battery guru and helped Jim with his battery pack.

By the way, where are the Electrocutioners, they dominated the advanced battery class for a number of years, we would love to see Andrew, Pony and Slam back on the track racing with us.

As Seen In The Pits Cliff with Pro EV had a bad cell in his battery pack the first race but had a spare cell and changed it out between races. The way these guys build their Lithium Ion batteries, you have to take the whole thing apart to work on them. Not something you want to do between races, but can be done.
Nick and the guys from USF were going to help Jim Robinson between races by reprogramming his motor controller computer. They did a fine job we think they left out a step as the car wouldn’t start the second race and had to visit the pits for another programming session. When it did get back onto the track in the second race it had a top speed of only 22mph.
HCC had an 8000w generator in the pits; it could have run half the school. USF used it to charge the batteries in their car as the 3500w generator that I had would not take the load to charge three Lithium Ion cars. Thank You HCC for being a great team that helps other teams.

The day was filled with teams offering to help one another in many different ways which is what makes Electrathon of Tampa Bay such a great family of racers.

It’s all about the Batteries in Electrathon Racing.
One of the Electrathon America rules state that the batteries must be secured in such a way that they will not come out or loose in the event of an accident or roll over. Teams will not be allowed to use the standard bungee cords. Batteries MUST be secured with some form of rigid device/clamps, cargo straps or DOT black rubber straps with the hooks on the ends.
We noticed some lateral, back and forth movement in the steering columns, this makes steering more difficult as steering inputs not as crisp as needed. Teams please check your car for these safety concerns.

Our next race will be an away race down in Ft Myers/Lee County Mosquito Control, on a one mile airstrip.

See you there

Vic

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xwqfp7oeu147l0w/AAADTCdrnbv8Qk4lOpVoDXVEa?dl=0

The last local race on the season is in the books. High School, College, Open Class and Advanced Battery teams put in some FAST laps on the 1/4 mile track at Brandon. We thank Brandon High School Principal, Jennifer Sparano and new Team Sponsor Tim Ruman for allowing us to use their facility.

On a regular race day there are two one hour endurance races with ALL classes and cars on the track at the same time. Heats for this race were 20 minutes instead of one hour. In the dash races it was High School class racing by itself and Open and Advanced Battery together.

We were honored to have representatives of the upcoming Great American Celebration of Speed At Daytona International Speedway (celebratespeed.com) in attendance. We will be participating in their event October 10, 11, 12, 2019. They came over to see our cars and how we run our races. They also participated in our Sponsors Race.

In the Advanced class it was the new/old kid on the block taking both races. Ryan Norden racing as team Ryno (driver Neil) and the advanced battery car #365 put up 41 and 43 laps for a total of 84 laps over two heats. USF #132 car had problems in both races. The USF #48 car didn’t run the first race and was slated to run the second race,  more on that later.

Advanced finish order was Ryno #365 1st, USF #132 2nd. 

Tiger Racing #4 car and Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing #94 car battled it out for the two twenty minute heats. In the first heat it was Silver Bullet/Robinson (race time of 20.15) over Tiger #4 (race time of 20.18) and in the second heat it was Sliver Bullet/Robinson winning again over (race time of 20.21) Tiger #4 (race time of 20.22) both cars having 79 laps on the 1/4 mile track at the end of the day. The #60 car driven by Ryan Norden the first race and Todd Thuma the second race is one of the oldest cars in our area still running. It started life at King High School at least 10 years ago and has been in and out of storage since. The cars body is an old traffic signal box so it is quite unique. An oldie that still finished just 10 laps behind (69 lap two race total) Silver Bullet/Robinson and Tiger Racing.

Open Class finish order Silver Bullet/Robinson #94 1st, Tiger #4 2nd and Ryno II #60 3rd.

High School Class saw Mulberry High School and Simmons Career Center continue their season long battle.

In the first heat it was Mulberry #38 car (race time of 20.11) over the Simmons #35 car (race time of 20.13) with the Simmons #53 car taking 3rd (race time of 20.22).

In the second race it was Mulberry #38 (race time of 20.05) with Brooks DeBartolo #55 (race time of 20.18) and Simmons #35 (race time of 21.38)

High School Finish order Mulberry #38 1st, Simmons #35 2nd, Simmons #53 3rd and Brooks DeBartolo #55 4th.

Sponsors Race is a special race we do once a year where team sponsors and V.I.P.s see if they can keep up with their regular drivers. This year we had several V.I.Ps and our Brandon High School host Tim, the new Auto Tech Instructor took his turn behind the wheel.

Teams let the rookies use one of their cars for the race. Not sure if that will continue in the future as we had the most spectacular crash on the first lap. In the past we have given out a trophy, the I Broke Mine, to the team or driver who had the most memorable mishap on the track. This year we may have to rename it the They Broke Mine.

One of the reps from Daytona, who will remain nameless, was the lucky driver who got to drive the USF #48 rocket car. He did a wonderful job demonstrating the sturdiness and safety of Electrathon cars. If we scored like gymnastics he would have scored at leas an 11 for form and originality with one spin-out and multiple flips and sticking the landing on his side. Happy to report that the driver was walking and talking as soon as we got him out of the car. Bumps and sore but OK. The car on the other hand was not so lucky. We are glad that he is okay, cars can be rebuilt/replaced.

The car was taken over to Jim Robinsons shop in Titusville for emergency surgery and was back in shape, more or less, by Sunday night. The USF guys will be taking it to Alabama for races in Chambers County and at Barber Motorsoprts Park.   

This year, drivers in advanced battery cars were not eligible for placing in this race. Here are their results: Brandon Sponsor Tim Ruman completed 34 laps in Ryno #365 car and the driver in #48 car from USF stopped racing at turn three. Our lead acid racers finish: Simmons Sponsor William Knight in the #35 car was 1st with 36 laps. Executive Board Intern Nicodemus Brothers in the old King #60 Car was 2nd with 29 laps, Brooks DeBartolo Sponsor Chris Hochman in the #55 car was 3rd with 23 laps and Mulberry Sponsor Todd Thuma in #38 car was 4th with 11 laps due to old loaner batteries.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4ma8stu6vju5cey/AADCRKIfYI67NYPzIcAxmWYya?dl=0

Racing on the track at Lennard High School for the first time was a huge success. Lennard’s Team had their cars back on the track after an extended absence and took 3rd in the High School Class against some tough competition.

The track at Lennard is in great shape. It is 8 lanes wide and seal coated which made for some fast lap times and minimum tire wear. Thank you Team Sponsor Jim Reve for making sure we had a great race day and a special thank you to his wife and volunteers for doing their fundraiser that had great food and drinks for all.

In the Advanced Battery Class it was USF in their 48 car running a perfect race and setting a record of 230 laps on the 1/4 mile track over two races with the best lap time of 26.914. USF Team sold one of their cars, the 132 car, to Ryan Norden formerly of Middleton High and Duck car infamy. He did very well for his first time out in the Lithium powered car. Everything was doing well in the first race until he had a flat tire late in the race and had to withdraw. In the second race he put up an impressive 103 laps finishing second for the day with 196 laps.

In the Open Class it was Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing car 94 and Tiger Racing car 4 going at it again. Silver Bullet/Robinson had a total of 195 laps for the day with a best lap time of 32.213 and Tiger Racing had back to back 94 lap races for a total of 188 laps and a second place in the Open Class.

Jim Robinson designed cars filled the track (9 of the 10 cars). Jim must be doing something right with his designs. His personal car has a suspension integrated into the design. Something about making racing easier on his old bones.

In the High School Class it was Mulberry High School car 38 leading the pack AGAIN. They even took a 3rd in total laps in the second race with 99 laps, beating the open class cars by 3-5 laps. They finished first in the High School Class for the day with 187 laps.
Simmons car 35 had a good day taking 2nd in class with 174 laps for the day. They are working on a new car and should be highly competitive with it. Simmons cars (35 and 53) are running on some old batteries or they would be finishing higher in the standings.
Lennard had both their cars out for this one and did well with their 86 car taking 3rd with 157 laps in the High School Class with a best lap time of 31.151. Their car 78 had battery problems and did not have a good day. It was good to see them back on the track.
The team from Brooks DeBartolo High School had the events of the day in their 55 car. In the first race they did a beautiful spin out on the turn by the start finish line when the driver got the inside wheel into the sand. The car spun and then got going again all in one motion. In the second race we saw something never before seen in a local race. The driver only weighs 105lbs causing the car to require A LOT of ballast, installed and bolted down by the nose of the car, the drivers boots were getting in the way of her working the throttle. Part way thru the race we see the car pull into the grass infield on the far side of the track and we see a shoe being thrown out of the car and an infield crew member giving her another shoe. A few laps later we see the car pull into the grass in the same area and here come the shoes being thrown out of the car again and more shoes being handed to the driver. After the second pit stop for shoes the 55 car ran well for the rest of the race right up till the batteries died and they had to withdraw. Now that is real teamwork.
Brooks like most of the teams in the High School Class are battling a problem with old batteries. Batteries are the single most expensive item in these cars and at $400 + per set times two sets per car, High Schools have a hard time replacing them when needed.

As Seen In The Pits Most teams now have the proper type of battery chargers and some are loaning other teams chargers to help out. Some of the teams are switching to moped tires. They are bigger than the BMX bicycle tires most teams use but will last most of a season instead of a few races. Even saw one team give another team a Master Power Cut Off Switch so they could pass inspection and race.

Our next race is going to be at Brandon High School on April 6th. This will be our DASH EVENT. Multiple 20 minute races and a Sponsors Race. Come out and see us try to fit into these cars.

Charlie already has tentative dates for the 2019/2020 races and is working to finalize one of them at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa another one at DAYTONA SPEEDWAY and a third one at an Airfield in Ft. Myers. Stand by for more info as it becomes available.

STAND BY FOR INFO FROM CHARLIE
Our short timers, Fredi and Tom are packing for their retirement move to Indiana. PLEAS DON’T GO. Isn’t that opposite of what most people do? They are waiting till after the area thaws. We will be having a Going Away event for them as soon as we get a definite get out of town date.

In case you missed it we were on TV Channel 28, they had a short clip of the start of our race on the 11 P.M. news on Saturday night, clip is at the beginning of this write up.

Vic

What a great start to the 2018-2019 season. Thank You Hillsborough Community College for hosting our first race of the season. 13 cars took the green flag on the old/new track at Hillsborough Community College. Old as in we have raced on it many times. New in the fact that it was recently seal coated which made it nice and slick while reducing tire friction.
The Open Class this year is starting out a little smaller with Titan Racing moving from Open to Advanced Battery.
Tiger Racing started out the year like the end of last season, with a win. His lap times and lap counts were down due to experimenting with a new lighter weight motor. The HCC team had multiple pit stops for tires and mechanical problems.
In the Advanced Battery Class (ABC) the competition was tough. ProEV took the top spot with 219 laps with a 3rd in the first race and a 1st in the second race. In the past ProEv has had multiple problems with wheels and chains. This weekend he had it under control and had only two minor problems but had enough laps to overcome them.
The powerhouse USF teams 48 car took 1st in the first race and 3rd in the second race matching ProEv for places but falling behind on total laps due to wheel issues at the end of the second race.
The new guys in the Advance Battery Class, Titan Racing, starting his first full year in the class was plagued by multiple tire problems and finished down the standing. Maybe ProEv passed off his tire and wheel problems to Titan Racing.
In the High School Class Simmons continued where they left off last season, leading the pack. With all new drivers learning the ropes they still led all comers finishing 1 – 2 overall in the class. As good as they are their lap count was 32 laps behind the Advanced Battery Class. One of the new teams in the class, Mulberry High School from Polk County, took a strong 3rd with their BRAND NEW CAR in its first race. It is another one of Jim Robinsons designed and built cars. They might have finished higher but they kept plowing through the grass on turns and did a beautiful 180 spin out on the tight turn by the track entrance.
Glad to see Plant High School get back on the track.
The Brooks team had a good day finishing 4th. It took them almost as long to set up that monster canopy they brought as it did to run the race.
The highlight of the day was the demolition derby acrobatics of the USF team 132 car and the multiple flips coming out of the fourth turn in the second race. The new driver rode it out and walked away without any injuries. It looked like they were carrying a casket as they raced back to the pits with the car in hand to get it fixed and back on the track. That probably accounted for them not placing higher than 3rd for the day.
IN THE PITS. A shout out to the USF team for helping the Brandon High School Team with some electrical problems on one of their cars and Brooks DeBartolo for helping with rim issues. Jim Robinson had to do some warranty work on the brake system on the Mulberry car. Great service as they didn’t have to take it back to the dealership for warranty work. The cars overall looked pretty good during inspections. Ballast and ballast placement need some attention. Ballast MUST BE Bolted Down or secured with cargo straps. Like the batteries it MUST NOT come out in a crash. Duct tape, bungee cords and rubber straps and the like are NOT SAFE. Ballast problems are grounds for a Disqualification.
The RACE STEWARD is and will hand out penalty laps for racing violations. Drivers need to remember to stop and look before pulling out of the pits onto the race course. Inspectors will be keeping an eye on the cars before, during and after the races so keep up on the NEW Electrathon America Handbook. If you don’t have the new copy it can be downloaded from the Electrathon Of America website.
FINISH
Advanced Battery Class 1st ProEv car 39, 2nd USF car 48 3rd USF car 132 4th Titan Racing car 242
Open Class 1st Tiger Racing car 4, 2nd HCC car 30
High School Class 1st Simmons 53 2nd Simmons car 35 3rd Mulberry car 38 4th Brooks car 55, 5th Plant car 98 6th Brandon car 14 7th Brandon car 9
Next Race is in Lakeland at George Jenkins High School and we should see even more cars take the track for our first ever race in Polk County.
See you at the race and keep the shiny side up,

VIC

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f7jrixox2ien2iv/AADifUVMxycRc7zyNVxbOXGCa?dl=0

The last local race of the season went off without a hitch. A few blown tires and spinouts and car issues notwithstanding.

Our normal format is two races of one hour each. Battery management is a big player in how you finish since you cannot do anything with the batteries once the race starts. The race this time was based on a series of 20 minute races going for speed. It’s hard to kill a set of batteries in 20 minutes so it’s wide open racing from the get go.

The Brandon 1/4 mile track was ideal for this event. Teams went full throttle with a few slight turns for 20 minutes. Mark Knowlton and his team was a great host for this event as the track was one of our cleanest race venues, we had lighting for race day setup and they did a fundraiser selling hot dog, chips and sodas so teams did not have to leave the campus and fight the Brandon traffic. Brandon High School Principal Jennifer Sparano came out to the race to support her team and Electrathon Racing for a short period of time as she had several events going on throughout the campus she had to oversee.

In the Open/Advanced Battery Class it was University of South Florida (Aditya Chelikani) taking both races and setting a track single lap record with a time of 24.7 seconds for a speed of 36+mph and a lap count of 84 laps at the end of the day. Silver Bullet Racing (Jim Robinson) was back on the track with a brand new car design taking 2nd with 83 laps and Tiger Racing (Rodney Schreck) taking the 3rd spot with 81 laps. The second race Silver Bullet and Tiger Racing fought it out for the second place finish coming down to the race time to make the determination. Silver Bullet had 20.13.575 race time and Tiger Racing had 20.13.952 race time. Titan Racing with Brady Weber at the wheel and making only their 3rd start of the year took 4th with 80 laps. This was a very close race for our advanced and open battery folks. Titan Racing had a blow out in the first race (just by chance close to his pit area) and finished the race in the pits. Otherwise they would have been contending for the top spot. When Titan Racing blew the tire it scared some of the spectators who had never heard one of our high pressure tires blow. No noise when a tire goes flat but when they blow, at 80-100 PSI, it sounds just like a gun shot. Several flat tires during the day but only one blow out.

Jim Robinson AKA Silver Bullet Racing AKA Robinson and Son Racing have been building Electrathon Cars for a LOOOOOONG time. He has outdone himself with his latest design. It has enclosed wheels, wide front end, VERY aerodynamic, a full suspension and a great color combination that if flashy. It will give other teams a run for its money. If Jim used lithium batteries it would not need rear view mirrors.

In the High School Class the Brandon #9 car (Dustin) took the first race with 40 laps and in the second had the fastest time in class with 27.9 seconds. The #9 cars luck ran out late in the second race when a tire went flat and it finished the race on the sidelines. It still managed a 2nd place overall with 65 laps.

Lennard High School ran strong in both races and took a 2nd place in the first race and a 1st place in the second race. This gave them 1st place overall in class with 75 laps. Their best lap of the day was 28.2 seconds.

The Simmons 53 car took 3rd with 61 laps and a best lap time of 36.0.

Brooks DeBartolo showed up with a team trailer that was bigger than a tiny house (we think they are planning ahead and will fill the trailer with a number of cars and become very competitive) They ran into vehicle issues in the first race allowing them to only complete 3 laps in the first race. During the sponsor’s race they experienced a flat causing the car to do a scary zig zag in the turn and had to withdraw when the throttle control went out and they were not able to start the second race in their class.

The Sponsors Race was held between the regular races. This race is where team sponsors and race officials take their life in their hands when they get into the cars and race for 20 min.
The USF 132 car with Titan Sponsor Mike Kaufman driving took 1st place with 42 laps and the fastest lap for the race with a time of 25.4 seconds. The Lennard 86 car with Sponsor Jim Reeve driving took 2nd place with 39 laps. The Silver Bullet Racing 94 car with Mike Frederick (Race Steward) driving took 3rd place with 34 laps (20.03 race time). Simmons 353 car with Sponsor William Knight driving took 4th place with 34 laps (20.23 race time). Simmons 53 car with Cleto Chazares (Principal) driving took 5th place with 34 laps (20.32 race time). Brooks DeBartolo 55 car with Sponsor Chris Hochman driving took 6th place.

Our Electrathon teams are gearing up to represent ETO at the Five Flags Speedway Race in Pensacola on April 28th followed by Barber Motorsports Race in Leeds Alabama on April 30th. Good Luck Teams

We end the race season next month at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa. We expect to have another big field and a great race to end the season. Season Awards will be presented at the end of the races. Hope to see everyone there.

Our first race in Pinellas County in several years went off without a hitch, even though we were in the parking lot next to the building with all the Zombies and Superheroes at the St Pete College Maker Con and Comic Con Event. With some teams on spring break and others with family situations, our starting grid was a little down in numbers but the races were still very competitive.

We enjoyed having our Director of Community Outreach, Bob Clarke at the entire race day. We also welcomed Laura Spence, STEM Specialist with the Pinellas County Schools to her first race. Laura is helping us to recruit teams from the Pinellas County High Schools.

The Open Class Tiger Racing Team in the #4 car was the one to watch finishing the day with ONLY 205 laps and a 1st place overall in the open class. Rodney finished the first race with 99 laps and was challenged by Charlie to break 100 laps the second race, meeting that challenge with 106 laps the second race.

The up in coming Lennard High School Team in car #86 finished the day with 180 laps. The team has improved at every race, perfecting the car and racing strategy. The way Lennard HS is racing, they would be in 1st place if they could have made it to every race this season.

The Brooks DeBartolo Team had a great day as they are working out the bugs on their car. The team was pleased to finish the day with a 2nd place overall.

The USF Team had a challenging day as they had issues the first race. Getting back out on the track the second race and finishing in 1st place overall in the advanced battery class.

We welcome back the HCC Team after a short absence to change some components on their #30 car.

It was good to see the Titans Alumni #242 car back on the track after a long absence. The 242 car took 2nd overall with a new driver Robert Manring since Brady couldn’t make the race. Robert is a graduate of Brandon High School and was a driver for their team. We congratulate Brady on his upcoming job at Cocoa Cola. The Titan Teams might need to raise the role bar or shorten the driver for the next race as Robert is very tall.

We also had the old King Alumni Car #60 back on the track with its driver Nicodemus Brothers. The car had an issue the second race as it blew the front tire when the wheel hub motor lost some spokes ending the race day early but finished with a third place overall.

Our next race will be at Brandon High School on April 14th. This is a unique race for us. A regular race is a one hour timed event, how far can you go in one hour with one set of batteries. This time there will be two 20 minute races per class going for safe speed instead of endurance. As an EXTRA ADDED BONUS the High School Team Sponsor, College Team Sponsor and Executive Board Members will race for 20 minutes as well. Hopefully most of us will be able to fit into the cars.

Hope to SEE YA next race day
Vic

Our third race of the 2017 – 2018 put another great day of racing in the books. We had 14 cars ready when the green flag for the first race dropped.

We want to welcome Plant High School to the Electrathon family as they joined us for their first race. The team worked well together and came in with a 4th place in the first race and a 5th place in the second race for a 5th place overall in the High School Class. Their speed was slow compared to the other teams but the car and driver combo worked very well. They are going to work on gear ratios for the December race. When they get the right gear ratios watch out.

It was good to see Drew and Pony from the Electrocutioners back at our races. Drew in the 72 car took over where he left off last season by taking both races in the Advanced Battery Class. Pony didn’t drive as she was the teams pit crew. University of South Florida and Pro EV had mechanical issues and finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Jim Robinson of the Silver Bullet Team car 94 made his return in the Open Class by taking 1st overall. Tiger Racing car 4 and Hillsborough Community College car 30 were both plagued with mechanical issues.

In the High School Class there were 8 starters with Simmons cars 35 and 53 continuing their winning ways with a 1st and 2nd overall. Middleton High School cars 80 and 365 (the home team) took 3rd and 4th. The Mulberry High School team had the drive wheel fail during the second race to ruin their day. We don’t  expect that to slow this new Mulberry team down as they are coming along in a strong fashion. Brandon High School cars 9 and 14 had multiple problems with both cars and finished in 6th and 8th. Team Sponsor Mark Knowlton continues with his team to drive forward at the races until their new car is completed and makes its debut at a race. 

Our next race will be on the 1/4 mile track at Lennard High School on December 9, 2017. We should see the new team from I Will Mentorship Foundation from Ft. Myers at our next race. Another new team, from Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, had members at this race to get a feel for what to expect and are making final preparations to join us in December.

We will be in the Longwood Christmas Parade on December 2, 2017, followed by a get together with Drew and Pony.

We want to give a shout out to Nicodemus Brothers for stepping up and taking Jim Truitt’s place as our Inspector in the pits. Jim was out of town due to a death in his family; our thoughts are with his family during this time of loss.

We should have a larger field and some exciting racing in December. Hope to see EVERY TEAM there.

Advance Battery Class – 1^st Place Electrocutioners car 72, 2^nd Place University of South Florida car 132, 3^rd Place Pro EV car 039

Open Class – 1^st Place Silver Bullet Racing car 94, 2^nd Place Hillsborough Community College car 30, 3^rd Place Tiger Racing car 4

High School Class – 1^st Place Simmons car 35, 2^nd Place Simmons car 53, 3^rd Place Middleton car 80, 4^th Place Middleton car 365, 5^th Place Plant car 98, 6^th Place car Brandon car 14, 7^th Place Mulberry car 38, 8^th Place Brandon car 9

The race at the University of South Florida was a question mark up till the day before. With the weather forcast changing daily and hourly and the tropical storm heading into the gulf what were we going to do.
Turns out the weather was great but we did start early. Light winds and sunny. Out next race at Middleton High School should not have the uncertain weather conditions.
The new course at USF was a real challenge and hard on tires, wheels and drivers.
There were multiple blown tires and this week the Brandon 9 car drove the wheels off of the car when a wheel bearing froze up and locked the rear wheel.
The 9 car took both races last time out but the wheel problems dropped it way down the standings this time out.
The Middleton 365 car kept its wheels on this time out and finished second on the day. The 365 car had a wheel come apart last time out.
The new kids in town, Mulberry and Simmons, both had good days. Mulberry took a 3rd in the second race and Simmons took the top spot for the day in the High School Class.
Plant High had their new car out for the first time. They ran some practice laps for a shakedown run. They have some inspection items to correct and they will be ready to go. Hope to see them on the track next month at Middleton.
In the Open Class it was Rodney in the 4 car taking both races. HCC had multiple problems over the course of two races including when they wound up spinning out late in the second race.
In the Exp. Battery class it was the home team, USF running away from the field in both races.
The new course had more turns and less straightaways which lead to more wear and tear on the cars. The roughness of the track surface didn’t help either. We made a suggestion to the USF team to put in a work order to have the parking lot repaved. They said Yeah, Right we will get right on that.
In Feb. we will be back on the regular track layout for the Engineering Expo at USF.
Observations from the pits: Still having problems with mirrors. Ground clearance is 1.5″ min. We will start failing cars for these problems.
Finish Order:
High School: 1st Simmons #53, 2nd Middleton #365, 3rd Simmons #35, 4th Mulberry #38, 5th Middleton #80, 6th Brandon #14, 7th Brandon #7
Open Class: 1st Tiger Racing #4, 2nd HCC #30
Ex Battery: 1st USF #132, 2nd ProEv #39

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/512rcae7l6fqhqw/AABe3KUbTvYMkOT6SdnLwayUa?dl=0

Vic

The 2017-2018 season got underway with a great day of racing. With the aftermath of Irma it was not certain how many teams we would have for the season opener. At least 3 teams were not able to attend because of storm related issues. Some were still without power and all the school teams lost at least a week of preparation because of the storm. We still had 11 cars which was a good showing considering the last few weeks.

Some of the teams affected by the storm and not here were I Will Mentorship Foundation, Palm Bay Magnet, Silver Bullet Racing and the Electrocutioners for a total of 6 cars. Hope to see all of them back on the track soon.

We want to give a big shout out to the new team from Mulberry High in Polk County. They are using one of our loaner cars and had a good day on the track. They used multiple drivers to give more of their students a chance to drive.

Another big shout out goes to Simmons Career Center in Plant City. They were absent last year but returned with a vengeance with a new Advisor and a whole new team. They are racing two very fast cars by Jim Robinson of Silver Bullet Racing. They are using some old batteries but have a new order of Yellow Tops on the way. When they get them watch out. They took 3rd place in both races and a 2nd place Overall in the High School Division with the 53 car.

In the 1st race Mulberry High School in the 38 car set a blistering pace for the 1st half of the race before the battery bug got them. Cliff with Pro Ev in the 39 car was running away from the field with his Lithium batteries when he had a battery warning alarm sound causing him to pit. That allowed the other Lithium powered car from USF to take first place in the Advanced Battery Class.

Tiger racing with Rodney at the wheel cruised to a 1st place over the host HCC car in the first race when HCC had to make multiple pit stops.

In the High School class it was the Brandon High School 09 car running very fast and steady for a 1st Place finish with the 365 Duck car from Middleton coming in a strong 2nd. The Simmons 35 car had electrical wiring problems and had to withdraw early but made a strong second place finish in the second race.

In the 2nd race Pro Ev had his battery problems sorted out and finished 1st for an overall 2nd place for the day with USF taking the 1st place overall in the Advance Battery Class.

Tiger Racing continued his winning ways with a 1st place and a 1st place overall  in the Open Class.

In the High School Class the Brandon 09 car finished with another 1st place and a 1st place overall in the class.

You know the saying he is trying to drive the wheels off of that car. Well it happened today with the Middleton 365 car having a good race and looking at a possible 2nd place overall finish. Right up to the time the left front wheel fell apart. The 365 finished the race in the pits but still managed a 3rd place overall.

The Simmons 53 car  had two 3rd place finishes for the day and a 2nd place overall for the day. A great showing for their first race in over a year.

Observations From The Pits:

With all the uncertainties over the last few weeks its not surprising there were not more lapse in attention to the little details. A loose connection on an electrical circuit. A switch in the wrong setting. A battery not fully charged. Some teams need more or better battery chargers. When working with batteries a meter to test Volts and Amps is a must. Long sleeve shirts. Enough Ballast and no duct tape. Proper battery hold downs (NO Bungee Cords)

Other than the mild fall temps (NOT) it was a great first day of racing. Now there is a short turnaround till our second race of the season at USF. So charge those batteries change those tires, fix those wheels, tighten those bolts and lets do it again.

Open Class:  1st – Tiger Racing #4  206 laps, 2nd – HCC #30 165 laps

Advance Battery  1st – USF #132  211 laps, 2nd – Pro Ev # 39 199 laps

High School  1st – Brandon #09  205 laps, 2nd – Simmons #53  186 laps, 3rd – Middleton #365  186 laps, 4th – Brandon #14  172 laps, 5th – Middleton #80, 6th – Mulberry #38, 7th – Simmons #35

Vic