Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida held the first STEM Event of the 2021-2022 Race Season on September 11, 2021 at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Brandon Florida.

We thank Hillsborough Community College Administration and Electrathon Team for hosting our first race of the season, without you, we would not have had a great day of STEM competition.

When we arrived it was a fresh but overcast Florida morning filled with excitement and anticipation as this was the first race of the season.

Signs were posted at the registration area reminding everyone of the social distancing and mask guidelines.

Teams arrived and got to work on their final adjustments to their cars.
A total of eleven cars registered for our first race of the season. We missed our teams from Simmons, Brooks DeBartolo, Middleton, Lennard, Brandon, Parrish, Palm Bay, USF, Seminole State, Electrocutioners, Archer, and I will Mentorship. We hope to see you at our upcoming races.

We welcome our new team to the Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida family, Kinetic Industries, Kevin and Amanda.
To honor and remember the individuals of 9/11 we had a moment of silence and sang the National Anthem with the American Flag at half staff before our first race.

In the first race there was a lot of exciting things to keep you watching. Our new team Kinetic Industries car 919 blew multiple tires but Kevin kept his car under control, changed tires and got back into the race.

Tiger Racing and Mulberry bumped each other in turn three and both drivers recovered and continued racing. Mulberry blew a tire and got their replacement tire on in lightening speed. Pro EV and Mulberry bumped in turn one. Plant City car 83 blew a tire and had to hit the pits to get it replaced. Mulberry spun out in turn one and was pointing in the wrong direction, the driver got on the throttle and turned it around and back to racing. Mulberry’s rear tire was rubbing the frame and did not look like a tire at the end of the first race.

At the end of the first race it was
High School Class
1st Place Plant City 210 with 102 laps and best lap time of 30.200
2nd Place Mulberry 38 with 72 laps and best lap of 31.109.
3rd Place Plant City 83 with 32 laps and best lap of 32.125.

Open Class
1st Place Tiger 4 with 102 laps and best lap of 30.024.
2nd Place Silver Bullet 94 with 94 laps and best lap of 32.329.
3rd Place Titans 242 with 74 laps and best lap of 37.728.
4th Place HCC 30 with 58 laps and best lap of 43.882.
5th Place Kinetic Industries 919 with 35 laps and best lap of 32.716. Great best lap for a first time car and driver.

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 118 laps and best lap of 26.010. This lap time was the best for the entire race day.
2nd Place Fortuna 444 with 83 laps and best lap of 30.965.
3rd Place Silver Bullet 13 with 76 laps and best lap of 35.115.

As the teams lined up for the second race, you could tell the drivers were having fun at this STEM Electrathon Event.

In the second race the teams continued with the excitement. Kinetic car 919 had his chain come off, Mulberry had a tire issue, Plant City car 83 came around turn four on two wheels and the driver recovered and kept on racing.

HCC Team had to pit for a chain issue, and Pro EV and Plant City 83 bumped each other. Pro EV spun out in turn one and had to take care of a small repair and back into the race he went.

At the end of the second race it was
High School
1st Place Plant City 210 with 97 laps and best lap of 29.707.
2nd Place Mulberry 38 with 62 laps and best lap of 34.637.
3rd Place Plant City 83 with 50 laps and best lap of 33.447.

Open Class
1st Place Tiger 4 with 101 laps and best lap of 31.817.
2nd Place Titans 242 with 99 laps and best lap of 33.086.
3rd Place Silver Bullet 94 with 80 laps and best lap of 32.545.
4th Place HCC 30 with 39 laps and best lap of 41.540.
5th Place Kinetic 919 with 17 laps and best lap of 34.021.

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 98 laps and best lap of 27.494.
2nd Place Fortuna 444 with 89 laps and best lap of 30.539.
3rd Place Silver Bullet 13 with 80 laps and best lap of 32.346.

The overall totals for the race day were calculated and awards were presented to:

High School
1st Place Plant City 210 with 199 laps
2nd Place Mulberry 38 with 134 laps
3rd Place Plant City 83 with 82 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing 4 with 203 Laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet 94 with 174 laps
3rd Place Titans 242 with 173 laps
4th Place HCC 30 with 97 laps
5th Place Kinetic 919 with 52 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 216 laps
2nd Place Fortuna 444 with 172 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet 13 with 156 laps

Please join us for our next race at Plant City High School on October 9, 2021.

On September 11, 2021, Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Electrathon of Florida; will hold the first race of the 2021 – 2022 season. The host will be Hillsborough Community College located at 10451 Nancy Watkins Drive, Tampa, Florida 33619.

Health and safety guidelines will continue this year due to COVID. Masks are expected at this HCC Race Event to meet campus guidelines.

Set up will begin on Friday around 530 p.m. so that safety barriers are in place for the track and course design completed. Final set up of the scoring system and registration area will start at 630 a.m. on Saturday morning.

All parent consent and minor waivers must be turned in at the registration booth when you sign in. Team Sponsors cannot sign these forms for participation.

All drivers will weigh in and must have their long sleeve shirt, long pants, helmet, shoes, gloves, eye protection and required ballast for weigh in so that they are a minimum of 180lbs. Ballasts will be checked when cars line up to race.

All Advanced Battery Division teams will be required to show manufacturer’s specs for the weight of the batteries to comply with Electrathon America and ETO rules for advanced batteries. If a team does not have their manufacturer’s specs sheet, the batteries will need to be weighed at the race.

Car inspections will be performed at each race, roll bars, brake test, and driver exit of vehicle will be key factors this year for the safety of all drivers.

Only team driver’ will be required to attend the Driver Meeting with the Race Steward for information on driving, flags and safety protocols.

The first race lineup is 9:45 A.M. and the green flag will drop to start the race and race season at 10:00 A.M.

The second race lineup is 12:45 P.M. and the green flag will drop to start the race at 1:00 P.M.

Clean up and awards will follow. Hope everyone has their cars ready to go and remember to do all of your safety checks and be knowledgeable and understand the Electrathon America Rules and Guidelines for the car, driver(s) and teams.Yellow – Barrier, Green – Pits, Red – Course, Black – Scoring Tower

On Sunday, July 25th teams were ready for the final race day at Buckingham Field. Today’s race day consisted of two, one hour races. The course was changed and included a center insert which made the course approximately 1.4 miles long.

We thank the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Explorers for their support and assistance again this year. The LCSO provided Explorers all three days for our event, they were an asset at the entry gate directing those arriving to their designated areas. The Explorers were fantastic with the tear down of the venue at the end of the third day.

As teams lined up for the green flag we had to change the classes as we obtained advanced team Pro EV car 39 and lost open team Tiger car 4 (due to his pit malfunction on Saturday). This gave us two cars in high school, one in open (Archer 321) and three in advanced. Our open car had to run in the advanced class for the day giving us four in the advanced class.

As the green flag dropped and cars took off, you could tell the teams were going to push their cars to optimal performance. Pro EV provided us with video of their last lap in race 1, Thank you Cliff and James.

Fortuna car experienced a transponder issue believed to be heat or battery related causing three laps not to register.

When the checkered flag dropped it was:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 16 laps and best lap of 214.557
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 12 laps and best lap of 178.624

Advanced
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 24 laps and best lap of 140.515
2nd Place Archer 321 (open car) with 21 laps and best lap of 168.151
3rd Place Archer 0 with 19 laps and best lap of 165.568
4th Place Fortuna 444 with 18 laps and best lap of 168.748

Between races teams made some adjustments to their cars, charged batteries and drank fluids to stay hydrated.

The last race of the three day rally brought challenges to some teams. Fortuna 444 was not able to race due to battery issues. When asked about it at the end of the race, Mike was speechless. Archer 0 broke a sprocket. The Mulberry 242 returned to the pits after the race with a blown front tire and another showing its threads. Pro EV 39 blew a tire and caused them to spin out, thank you for the video from the race.

At the end of the second race , it was:
High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 17 laps and best lap of 172.918
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with13 laps and best lap of 221.889

Advanced
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 20 laps and best lap of 144.772
2nd Place Archer 321 with 19 laps and best lap of 163.745
3rd Place Archer 0 with 16 laps and best lap of 158.552

The overall totals for the race day were calculated and awards were presented to:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 33 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 13 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Advanced
1st Place Pro EV 39 with 44 laps received $100 and a trophy
2nd Place Archer 321 with 40 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy
3rd Place Archer 0 with 35 laps received two Bosch baseball caps and a trophy
4th Place Fortuna 444 with 18 laps received two Bosch baseball Caps

We presented Lee County Parks and Recreation a trophy of appreciation for their continued STEM Electrathon Racing support.

We thank all of the teams, parents, spectators that came out to our first three day event in Lee County,

On Saturday, July 24th teams were ready for another race day at Buckingham Field. Today’s race day consisted of two, one hour races. The course today is the same as the dash race held on Friday, approximately 1.1 miles.

Teams made some adjustments to their cars before the race.

As teams lined up for the green flag we had two cars in each class (high school, open, advanced).

The race went very well:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 20 laps and best lap of 161.588
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 17 laps and best lap of 167.278

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 29 laps and best lap of 124.510
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 23 laps and best lap of 144.360

Advanced
1st Place Archer 0 with 25 laps and best lap of 123.775
2nd Place Fortuna 444 with 22 laps and best lap of 116.256

Teams worked on their cars between the races making adjustments to improve their performance in the next race. Most teams were already getting their dose of vitamin D from the sun, even through the sun screen. We encouraged everyone to consume water to stay hydrated.

Tiger Racing had a system malfunction while working on their car and it took off out of the pit area with driver attached to its side. Driver is okay but received some road rash, bruises and sore muscles.

Teams lined up for the second race of the day. The race went well:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 22 laps and best lap of 157.977
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 13 laps and best lap of 157.328

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 31 laps and best lap of 115.565
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 23 laps and best lap of 132.538

Advanced
1st Place Archer 0 with 26 laps and best lap of 115.063
2nd Place Fortuna 444 with 17 laps and best lap of 105.434

The overall totals for the race day were calculated and awards were presented to:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 42 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 30 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 60 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 46 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Advanced
1st Place Archer 0 with 51 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Fortune 444 with 38 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Teams met later that evening at Beef O Brady’s for food, fun and relaxation

On Thursday, July 22nd, teams began to arrive for the three days of STEM Electrathon Racing at Buckingham Field in Lehigh Acres, Florida.

Most of us stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites 1320 Business Way in Lehigh Acres, thank you for the great rates and service.

On Friday, July 23rd we arrived at the track around 9am to begin the venue set-up.

We send a huge THANK YOU to Lee County Mosquito Control for allowing us to use their facilities and Lee County Parks and Recreation for all of their support in planning our event.

Thank you Nic and his crew from Lee County Parks and Recreation for having all the items delivered for our event. Nic’s crew along with ETO, Mike, Trish, Jim, Ambur and Charlie got the track ready as some teams were arriving early to charge up batteries and do last minute adjustments to their cars.

Setting up the track took the steam out of all of us.

The drivers meeting went well and the track was opened for teams to test their cars for 30 minutes. Archer Racing took their new car out to see how it would do, first time on the track, and it was ready to race.

As the teams lined up for the first of two, 20 minute dash races it was first come for lineup position. The track was approximately 1.1 miles long.

We had two cars in each class (high school, open, advanced) lined up when the green flag was dropped. When the 20 minute Dash ended it was:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 38 with 8 laps and best lap of 144.833
2nd Place Mulberry 242 with 6 laps and best lap of 172.418

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 12 laps and best lap of 98.922
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 11 laps and best lap of 101.254

Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 11 laps and best lap of 104.517
2nd Place Archer 0 with 9 laps and best lap of 119.800

Teams made adjustments to their cars, drank more fluids and charged batteries.

All six cars lined up for the second race, as the green flag dropped, teams took their line on the track and put the power to their motors. Mulberry 38 blew the chain on its first lap and it was done for the day.

When the race ended it was:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 242 with 7 laps and best lap of 155.600
2nd Place Mulberry 38 no laps due to popped chain

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 13 laps and best lap of 93.910
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 11 laps and best lap of 101.578

Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 11 laps and best lap of 102.344
2nd Place Archer 0 with 10 laps and best lap of 117.203

The overall totals for the race day were calculated and awards were presented to:

High School
1st Place Mulberry 242 with 13 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Mulberry 38 with 8 laps received a Bosch charger and trophy

Open
1st Place Archer 321 with 25 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Tiger 4 with 22 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Advanced
1st Place Fortuna 444 with 22 laps received $50 and a trophy
2nd Place Archer 0 with 10 laps received a Bosch charger and a trophy

Teams went back to their hotels and then we all met at Rib City for some food, fun and relaxation.

On Friday, July 23rd, for our special sponsor race, all team cars are eligible to race no matter the type of batteries (any registered driver) as long as entry fee for special race is paid and we have three cars in a class (High School Class, Open Class, Advanced Class). This will allow those attending to participate in all the races on Friday. Awards will be same for each class.
See prior post for full details on special race.

REMINDER
Teams only have until July 3rd to get the group hotel rates for our Buckingham Field STEM Electrathon three day event.

See race and hotel information on our website or earlier posts here.

Electrathon Teams, if your not able to attend all three race days in July you can still come out for one or two days. We have adjusted the race fees for any team that wants to attend but can’t be there all three days.

Two days of racing, one car $55.00, a second team car for both days $20.00.

One day of racing, one car $40.00, a second team car for the one day $10.00.

The Friday, Special Race fee $10.00 per car.

Great News
Trish was able to block 10 rooms at Quality Inn. Rooms are 2 queen beds for 67.99 a night plus tax, it has a pool and breakfast. They are under Patricia Parsons (Trish) and Electrathon of Florida. Hotel Phone Number 1 239 369 2121. If more rooms are needed as the 10 have been taken, contact Patricia (Trish) or Charlie so we can ask for more rooms to be blocked for our event.

Reserve your room by July 3rd to receive these rates.

The 1st Annual Buckingham STEM Electrathon Rally will be held on July 23rd, 24th, 25th, 2021 at Buckingham Field in Lehigh Acres, Florida. Bring the entire family for a mini vacation filled with Electrathon racing, beaches, movie theatres, hotel swimming pool and other fun activities in the area.

The three days of racing will be on Buckingham Field (airstrip) that allows us to have Course Layout A (not to scale), approximately 1.09 miles long
Course Layout B (not to scale), approximately 1.748 miles long

We have scheduled the race days so that families can spend some time together after each race day.
Event schedule: 2021 Summer Schedule

Prize money and awards are based on a minimum of three cars in each class (high school, open, advanced battery) per race day. The total laps (most overall laps) for the race day will determine the place winners. We will give trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each class, each day. Each 1st place winner will also receive $100 cash each day in each class (high school, open, advanced battery). Each 2nd place winner will receive a Bosch Charger each day in each class (high school, open, advanced battery). Each 3rd place winner will receive a Bosch cap each day in each class (high school, open advanced battery).

On Friday, July 23rd, there will be a special race, a 20 minute Dash Race for Team Sponsors, Principals, and Electrathon Board Members, regular drivers for a team are not eligible to race. This race gives those that are normally on the side lines the opportunity to experience the Electrathon fever that each driver has during the races. *NOTE* Cars cannot have lithium batteries for this race. Prizes for this race, 1st Place $75, 2nd place $50, 3rd Place $25, no trophies.

All three days of STEM Electrathon Racing for only $70
A second team car for all 3 days of racing $30
Special Dash Race fee $10 per car

We are still working with other hotels in the area for group rates; currently this is what Lee County has provided at this time.
https://groups.reservetravel.com/group.aspx?id=49542