On Saturday, March 1st, we held our STEM Electrathon Event in conjunction with the University of South Florida Engineering Expo.

We thank the University of South Florida for including us in this annual event.

We thank Trish for the homemade cookies. Ken for the donuts and coffee. We send our condolences to Mike Frederick and Donna in the loss of a family member.

It was great seeing Jim and Jerry from Silver Bullet Racing, we have missed them. Jim updated the Electrathon car build information, and we will be updating the information on our websites soon.

The teams arrived and got their cars inspected by Mike Ralph.

Teams met with race officials for the drivers meetingWe had 12 cars line up for the first race of the day.The green flag dropped and teams found their path on the course. A few teams had issues with their cars. Pro EV had electrical issues putting them out of the 1st race early. Florida State College/Jacksonville car 32 had their wheel hub motor come loose and that stopped them from racing for the rest of the day. Kirkland Ranch and Plant City cars had some issues, their team sponsor says it was due to the students talking trash the day before with Mulberrys team (wonder if that’s true). Silver Bullet/Jim Robinson had a good bumper car day, hitting Tiger Racing and Kirkland. One of the bumps pushed the nose of his car in a little. Overall, it was a fun and exciting race.

When the checkered flag dropped it was:
High School
1st Place Lyman car 12 with 61 laps (race time of 1.00.10)
2nd Place Mulberry car 38 with 61 laps (race time of 1.00.20)
3rd Place Mulberry car 100 with 49 laps
4th Place Plant City car 210 with 42 laps (race time of 52.45.384)
5th Place Plant City car 83 with 42 laps (race time of (1.00.04)
6th Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 32 laps

Open
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 72 laps
2nd Place Florida State College/Jacksonville car 904 with 66 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 62 laps

Advanced
1st Place University of South Florida car 132 with 78 laps
2nd Place Florida State College/Jacksonville car 32 with 29 laps
3rd Place Pro EV car 39 with 11 laps

Thank you, Cliff, for the first race video
Teams made some adjustments to their cars between races and had lunch.

We had 11 cars line up for the second raceWhen the green flag dropped everyone watched closely as teams that had car issues were determined to come back strong to catch up on lost laps.

University of South Florida hit a curb causing their floor pan to bend down and tap the pavement until they got out their trusty hammer. Lyman was running a strong race until their rear wheel bracket had issues that affected the rear wheel, sending them to the pits. Silver Bullet/Jerry Bristow ran a strong race but had two tires go flat sending him into the pits for quick tire changes.

When the checkered flag dropped it was:
High School
1st Place Mulberry car 38 with 64 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 63 laps
3rd Place Mulberry car 100 with 50 laps
4th Place Plant City car 210 with 48 laps
5th Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 38 laps
6th Place Lyman car 12 with 28 laps

Open
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 69 laps
2nd Place Florida State College/Jacksonville car 904 with 66 laps, great driving Bry, same number of laps as first race
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 40 laps

Advanced
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 80 laps
2nd Place University of South Florida car 132 with 30 laps

Thank you, Cliff, for the second race video
To find the overall winner for the race day, we add the laps from each race together

High School
1st Place Mulberry car 38 with 125 laps2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 105 laps3rd Place Mulberry car 100 with 99 laps4th Place Plant City car 210 with 90 laps5th Place Lyman car 12 with 89 laps6th Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 70 lapsOpen
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 141 laps2nd Place Florida State College/Jacksonville car 904 with 132 laps3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 102 lapsAdvanced
1st Place University of South Florida car 132 with 108 laps2nd Place Pro EV car 39 with 91 laps3rd Place Florida State College/Jacksonville car 32 with 29 lapsThe next STEM Electrathon Event will be held at Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation on March 29th.