On April 27, 2018 Electrathon of Tampa Bay members traveled to North Florida for the Emerald Coast 120/Five Flags Speedway Race in Pensacola. Team USF was able to bring three cars to represent ETO at the event. The morning started out cooler than we are used to. Our first challenge was at inspections. John and Stephen both passed weigh in and the 20 second exit of the car. The car did not do as well, it did not pass inspection as it is still in the developmental stages to get it 100%. The USF car 132 (Aditya) and Jim Robinson’s loaner Car 94 (Adam) passed without any issue.
During the first race Car 132 experienced issues with the rear wheel spokes and finished 10 laps behind Steve Archer of Archer Racing, Car 321. The Robinson loaner Car 94 experienced battery issues towards the end of the first race.
After an excellent lunch which was provided to everyone at no cost, we had everything on the cars ready to go. We want to thank all of the race officials, Vaughn Nicholas, Gulf Power and Five Flags Speedway for this great event.
We had to let the race officials know that we had a change in drivers for the 94 Car. Charlie had to suit up and weigh in. Passing the weigh in without a problem, the 20 second exit was next, It took 14 seconds and a not so pretty sight but we passed it also.
During the second race, Aditya was determined to make up the 10 laps and grab a couple more. He accomplished this task with 12 laps ahead of Archer Racing in the second race. Car 94 completed 50 laps and still had some battery power at the end of the race.
During the race day their were a few cars that had mechanical issues causing some of them to wreck/flip over. Race video battery died before the roll over of cars.
Car 94 (Adam and Charlie) took 3rd place in the Open Class, Archer Racing Car 321 (Steve) took second place and USF Car 132 (Aditya) took first place. USF Car 132 also took first place overall.
On April 28, 2018, Brady Weber and Fredi Beck represented ETO at the 5th Annual STEM Expo for Pinellas County Schools. We are getting excited to see who will be our first team from Pinellas County Schools.
Brady Weber will be representing ETO at the Pinellas STEM Fair this Saturday, April
28th! Come support us if you are going to be on that side of the bridge! Thanks Brady!
ETO posted that the new track record for Brandon High School was set this past race. We were asked to check last years results and found the track record for Brandon HS speed event was done by Pro EV Car 39 in 2017 with a time of 24.308 in one race and a 24.608 in the other. We are still compiling all race results from our past 10 years to develop a master file of the fastest lap at each track and the length of each track.
ETO also struck the wrong number key in reporting Titans Car 242 total of laps for the Brandon Race. In the first race they completed 29 laps and the second race 31 laps for a total of 60 rather than 80.
We want to thank those that take the time to review the information we send out and bring things to our attention to check on. It means that everyone is committed to ETO and making us the best Electrathon Group in the USA.
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 next Electrathon Race will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at Brandon High School located at 1101 Victoria Street, Brandon, Florida 33510. This race will be on an oval track and consist of a total of five races (two high schools, 2 open/advanced batteries, and 1 HS/college sponsor and Executive Board Members’ race). Drivers will be able to test their cars ability to run at a fast but safe rate of speed for 20 minutes to acquire the most laps. Minimal amount of vehicles and trailers permitted in PIT area. The schedule for this race day will be different than our normal schedule (see schedule below). Teams will also be asked about attending the upcoming races at Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola), Barber Motorsports (Leeds Alabama) and Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa Florida.
BLUE – PITS
GREEN – TOWER
RED – SCORING/REGISTRATION
PURPLE – VEHICLE PARKING
On March 27, 2018, Aditya from the USF Team, Brady and Mike from the Titan Team along with Fredi and Charlie represented ETO at the Synapse Innovation Summit that was held at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Members of various organizations were on hand with displays and demonstrations for those attending the event. We had a great day and handed out a number of flyers and answered many questions, hopefully we will attract more teams and sponsors from this event.
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.
