Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida held the end of the year (2022 2023 season) banquet at American Legion Post 4 on Saturday, May 6th.

We thank Mike Frederick and the American Legion Post 4 for hosting our event and serving a fantastic meal consisting of salad, steak, shrimp, baked potato, corn and desserts.We recognized Ken Fiallos, Founder of Electrathon of Tampa Bay and Co-Founder Mike Frederick, Jim Truitt and Vic Nieves were not in attendance.Executive Director, Charles Harrison recognized Trish and Mike Ralph for their dedication and hard work. They remake the fantastic trophies from one’s that were donated to our organization, come to every race, helps from set up to tear down, and more behind the scenes. Thank You Trish and Mike.Mulberry High School Sponsor Todd Thuma recognized the Mulberry HS Student of the Year, Kyle Francis
Kyle has been a member of the Panther Racing Team for three years. He has been a large part of the team serving in all capacities; pit crew and driver. As his coach I have enjoyed watching him grow in both Electrathon and as a student in the engineering program. Kyle is moving on to Florida Polytechnic where I hope to see him racing with the Polytechnic Team.Charles Harrison recognized Middleton High School Sponsor William Knight for graduating from Florida State College with a bachelor’s degree in education science with an emphasis on people with disabilities, that is why he is not in attendance.William did want to recognize Middleton HS Student of the Year Michael Klien.
To say Michael Klein has been an asset to the Middleton Racing Tigers Team would be an understatement. His dedication, leadership and hard work has allowed our team to prosper. Michael has put in countless hours doing everything from training new drivers to welding and repairing cars to making sure we have all necessary equipment loaded up for each race. While we are excited for the next chapter in Michael’s life, he will be greatly missed. Plant City High School Sponsor David Kocher recognized the Plant City HS Student of the Year, Dylan Mitchell. Dylan has been a great team member at every race he and his family have made it to. He has really made it worth keeping the program alive at Plant City High School and I have really enjoyed his participation the past two years. Hopefully he can continue to participate as his loyal fans – his cheering section – would be missed on race day. Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation Sponsor David Kocher recognized the Kirkland Ranch Student of the Year, Jayrell Torres. What makes Jayrell such a standout is how much he gives to the team in his time and focus. He is always willing to spend extra time outside of school to help prepare for race weekends. While he is not one of my Auto program students, he definitely does quite a bit in the shop working on the carts during his class with me. I think he has learned a lot about teamwork during his participation in the races this year. I really appreciate his effort and the support his family has been to our team this year. Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida awarded David Kocher with the Sponsor of the Year Award for his dedication not only to his original school, Plant City HS but his current school Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation. Yes, that is correct, not only is David Teaching his classes at his new high school and heading up their Electrathon Team, but David is still taking care of the Electrathon Team at his original school. This is true dedication and love for his students. We awarded Mulberry High School for the Flat Tire Award. They have become proficient at getting the car(s) tire changed and back into the race. Todd offered to give lessons to other teams on their techniques. We awarded two teams with the “I Broke Mine Award” during a race to S & J Racing (Stephen and John) and Kinetic Industries (Kevin). We are just glad that they were okay and decided to return to the track. Throughout the race season teams acquire season points for each race they participate in. Points are awarded based on the Place that they finished in each race. The points are added up and the top season points winner is awarded at the end of year awards.
High School Season Points 1st Place Winner Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 272 season points
High School 2nd Place Season Points Winner Middleton High School car 133 with 268 season points
High School 3rd Place Season Points Winner Plant City High School car 83 with 241 season points Open Class Season Points Winner is Tiger Racing car 4 with 369 season points
Advanced Class Season Points Winner is Pro EV car 39 with 311 season points (accepting the award is Trish and Charlotte)

We wish everyone a safe and happy summer, see you on August 26th for our fun workday at Middleton High School

We held our last STEM Electrathon Event for the 2022 2023 Season at Mulberry High School on Saturday, May 6th.

We thank Mulberry Sponsor Todd Thuma, his team and MHS Administration for hosting our event.

We welcome back the University of South Florida team.

The pit area was full of energy as teams got ready for the last race day of the seasonThe teams met with our Race Steward for instructions, flag identification and safety protocols.

The track opened for 30 minutes so that drivers could run practice laps.

The teams lined up for the first raceThe green flag dropped and off they went.
During the first race Kinetic Industries car 19 had a rear tire issue that sent them to the pits. USF car 48 went in and out of the pits so they could make adjustment. The high school teams ran strong as they worked to end the race season as the season point’s winner. Mulberry car 100 had an issue that sent them to the pits.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 93 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 133 with 75 laps
3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 74 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 63 laps
5th Place Middleton car 80 with 61 laps
Mulberry car 100 completed 7 laps (6.15.023) they did not have a cumulative 10 minutes of racing and did not receive season points for this race.

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 90 laps
2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 80 laps
3rd Place Ryno car 360 with 68 laps
4th Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 66 laps
5th Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 35 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 88 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 60 laps
3rd Place USF car 48 with 48 laps

Between races teams worked on their cars and ate some lunch.

Teams lined up for the second raceThe green flag dropped and the teams found their line on the track. Kinetic car 19 had another rear tire issue, sending them to the pits. Teams went through some tires but got them changed out and back into the race.

When the checkered flag dropped ending the second race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 85 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 83 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 72 laps
4th Place Mulberry car 38 with 67 laps
5th Place Middleton car 133 with 63 laps
6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 43 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 88 laps
2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 82 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 75 laps
4th Place Ryno car 360 with 73 laps
5th Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 16 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 87 laps
2nd Place USF car 48 with 56 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 46 laps

We thank the University of South Florida team for the race video footageTo find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals.

Final results for the race day:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 178 laps2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 146 laps3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 141 laps4th Place Middleton car 133 with 138 laps5th Place Middleton car 80 with 133 laps6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 50 laps
Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 178 laps2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 162 laps3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 141 laps (race times of 1.00.08 & 1.00.24)4th Place Ryno car 360 with 141 laps (race times of 1.00.20 & 1.00.30)5th Place Kinetic Ind. Car 19 with 51 laps
Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 175 laps2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 106 laps3rd Place USF car 48 with 104 laps

The end of Year Banquet will be held at our Race Stewards (Mike Frederick) American Legion Post 4, 1375 Ariana Street, Lakeland, Florida 33803.

Arrive at the banquet (after the May 6th race at Mulberry High School) between 3pm to 330pm, dinner will be served, and awards will start no later than 4pm.

Beverages (non-alcohol and alcohol) will be paid for by the attendee, not ETO

RSVP had to be turned in by April 25th, 2023. No RSVP will be taken after the deadline.

If you have RSVP, make sure that you attend as Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida is paying for the number of RSVP dinners.

Thanks
Charles Harison

Our last STEM Electrathon Event for 2022 – 2023 Season will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Mulberry High School. The address is 1 Panther Place, Mulberry, FLorida 33860.

Red Track
Blue Pits
Purple Team Overflow Parking
White Visitor/Guests Parking
Green Scoring Tower and Registration

The awards for this race will be presented at the End of the Year Banquet.
End of Year Banquet will be held at our Race Stewards (Mike Frederick) American Legion Post 4, 1375 Ariana Street, Lakeland, Florida 33803.
Arrive at the banquet after the race, 3pm to 330pm, dinner will be served, and awards will start no later than 4pm.
If you have RSVP, make sure that you attend as Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida is paying for the number of RSVP dinners.
Thanks

We held our STEM Electrathon Event at Florida Solar Energy Center (UCF Campus) on Saturday, April 22nd in conjunction with Energy Whiz.

We thank Florida Solar Energy Center for inviting us to participate in the 2023 Energy Whiz. We thank Logan for volunteering all day to help us with flagging teams on parts of our track.

We thank the Eastern Florida State College for the use of their parking lot.

We thank Florida Power and Light, Jason Gaschel and his team for coming to our event. They brought their mobile unit and spent the entire day with us. The FPL team learned more about our Electrathon teams and organization. Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida will be there to assist them in their future plans to support students in the State of Florida. We welcome a new team from Florida Atlantic University High School. Allan Phipps and his team brought their car out for its debut. Even though they met challenges with the new car, they did not give up and showed all of us how strong of a team they are. We were honored to have them at our race and hope they come all the time. The pit area was busy before the races as teams made final adjustments to their cars.The teams met with our Race Steward for instructions, flag identification and safety protocols.

The track opened for 30 minutes so that drivers could run practice laps.

We missed our high school, open and advanced class teams that were not able to attend.

The teams lined up for the first race The green flag dropped and off they went.
During the first race Plant City car 208 had controller issues, FAU car 24 had controller and body issues and Pro EV car 39 had chain and rear wheel weld issues ending their race day.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:

High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 67 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 59 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 57 laps
4th Place Middleton car 80 with 56 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 49 laps
6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 45 laps
7th Place Florida Atlantic University High School with 17 laps
8th Place Plant City car 208 with 11 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 69 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 17 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car39 with 30 laps

Between races teams checked out the solar cooking, junior Solar sprint and food trucks.

We changed the course as one area had issues causing driver pain and car damage. Teams lined up for the second race, the green flag dropped and the race went well. We had a few transponder issues but other than that a great race. When the checkered flag dropped it was
High School Class
Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 80 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 78 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 67 laps
4th Place Middleton car 133 with 62 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 60 laps
6th Place Florida Atlantic car 24 with 36
7th Place Mulberry car 100 with 34 laps
Plant City car 208 was not able to run

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 83 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 80 laps

Advanced Class
Pro EV car 39 was not able to run

To find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals. Final results for the race day:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 149 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 137 3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 123 4th Place Middleton car 133 with 119 laps 5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 109 laps 6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 76 laps 7th Place Florida Atlantic University High School car 24 with 53 laps 8th Place Plant City car 208 with 11 laps Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 152 laps 2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 97 laps Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 30 laps

Our next race will be held at Mulberry High School on May 6th followed by our end of year banquet at American Legion Post 4. We thank our Race Steward Mike Frederick for getting his Post for our banquet.

We want to thank Don Muhleman for his generous donation of NEW Electrathon parts (entire truck bed) to build new cars for new teams to come onboard. We hope to have them built over the summer and ready for new student-based teams for the 2023- 2024 Race Season.

Teams
Please contact Trish with your RSVP by April 25th for the May 6th end of the year awards banquet. Information for RSVP was sent to your email.

Thanks
Charlie

Our next STEM Electrathon Event will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2023, in conjunction with Energy Whiz at Florida Solar Energy Center, 1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa FL 32922.

Some of our teams are staying at the Best Western Space Shuttle Inn, 3455 Cheney Hwy which is approximately 16 miles from the venue. Across the street from the Best Western is a Days Inn by Wyndham 3755 Cheney Hwy.

We could have a group dinner on Friday and/or Saturday (or both) at the Durango Steakhouse and/or Florida Seafood Restaurant. Charlie says he plans to eat at both of them, one on Friday night, the other on Saturday night.

At 930 am, April 22, 2023, the opening ceremony for Energy Whiz will take place. We ask all our teams, board and guests to attend the opening ceremony.

Our track is approximately 1512 ft or .286 of a mile.

ELECTRATHON OF TAMPA BAY/ELECTRATHON OF FLORIDA
RACE DAY SCHEDULE

6:30 – 8:00 Event set up, track safety inspection, teams arriving

6:45 – 8:30 Car inspections completed, registration, driver weigh in, transmitters issued

8:30 Team, Team Sponsors and Drivers meeting with Race Steward

8:45 – 9:15 Practice laps (clockwise)

9:15 Track closed, no cars allowed on the track

9:45 – 10:00 Test of transmitters, lineup for 1st race (clockwise)

10:00 Green flag drops to start 1st race

11:00 Checkered flag drops ending 1st race

11:00 – 11:45 Lunch, cars on display for viewing

11:45 – 12:15 Practice laps (counter clockwise)

12:15 Track closed, no cars allowed on the track

12:45 – 1:00 Test of transmitters, lineup for 2nd race (counterclockwise)

1:00 Green flag drops to start 2nd race

2:00 Checkered flag drops ending 2nd race

2:00 – 2:45 Event clean up, race results recorded

2:45 Awards ceremony, announcements

Red – Track
Blue – Pits
Green – Registration/Scoring
Additional/overflow team parking will be outside of the yellow caution tape, lower left area in picture.

We held our STEM Electrathon Event at Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation in Pasco County on Saturday, March 4th.

Unlike our normal race day of two, sixty-minute races, this was our dash day of racing, four, 20-minute races and a high school/college sponsor 20-minute dash challenge. We found out after the races that our computer set the race time for 19 minutes and not 20. (oops)

We thank Kirkland Ranch Electrathon Sponsor David Kocher, his team and school administration for hosting our event.

We thank Florida Power and Light, Charlie Driver for coming to our event. Charlie spent the entire day with us learning about our teams and organization. Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida will be there to assist them in their future plans to support students in the State of Florida.

The teams met with our Race Steward for instructions, flag identification and safety protocols.

The track opened for 30 minutes so that drivers could run practice laps. Pro EV car 39 ran practice laps and did very well on the course.

We missed our Mulberry High School Sponsor Todd Thuma and his team as they were not able to attend. We thank Mulberry team member Aiden for coming out to assist even though his team was not at the races.

The first race teams lined up. The green flag dropped and off they went. Tiger car 4 ran lithium batteries and had controller and battery issues sending them to the pits. (We should have had him running lead acid during this race) The Kinetic car 99 tires struck the side of Jane Deere car 942 leaving tire rings and a gash in their side panel.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:
Open Class
Jane Deere car 942, 35 laps
Kinetic car 99, 33 laps
Kinetic car 19, 26 laps

Advanced Class
Pro EV car 39, 40 laps
S & J Racing car 256, 34 laps
Tiger car 4, 3 laps

Teams lined up for the second race, the green flag dropped, and the race went well. When the checkered flag dropped, ending the second race, the results were:

High School Class
1st Place Kirkland car 555 with 35 laps (19.02.628)
2nd Place Middleton car 133 with 35 laps (19.10.587
3rd Place Plant City car 83 with 35 laps (19.22.539)
4th Place Middleton car 80 with 22 laps

Open Class
Tiger car 4 with 33 laps

The third race of the day was our High school/College Sponsor Dash Challenge. The three cars lined up with Middleton Sponsor William in car 80, Middleton Sponsor Kenny in car 133 and Kirkland Sponsor David in car 555. The sponsors ran a great race until William drove the wheel off of the 80 car (sending the tire down the course on its own) which caused the car to roll over. William was not hurt but ended the race day for the 80 car.

When the checkered flag dropped it was
1st Place Kirkland (David) car 555 with 37 laps 2nd Place Middleton (Kenny) car 133 with 36 laps 3rd Place Middleton (William) car 80 with 26 laps
Our fourth race of the day lined up. The green flagged dropped and our High School students did exceptionally well.

When the checkered flag dropped it was
1st Place Plant City car 83 with 35 laps
2nd Place Kirkland car 555 with 33 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 12 laps

Open Class
Tiger car 4 with 34 laps

Our fifth and last race of the day lined up. The green flag dropped, and the teams took off. The S & J Racing car 256 came around one turn and over they went causing a red flag. The driver believes that a dip in the course, his speed and the high winds caused the turnover. Stephen is ok but may have a bruised hand. Kinetic car 99 rolled in one of the turns Kevin said he is okay, but we will check on him as his helmet shows signs of impact. Pro EV car 39 spun out and faced oncoming cars in one of the turns.

When the checkered flag dropped it was
Open Class
Jane Deere car 942 with 26 laps
Kinetic car 99 with 22 laps
Kinetic car 19 with 21 laps

Advanced Class
Pro EV car 39 with 29 laps
Tiger car 4 with 23 laps
S & J car 256 with 2 laps

Due to the fact we had two red flags during the fifth race and time was lost, the time and lap factor for Tiger had to be adjusted by our Race Steward as he ran his lead acid batteries in the high school’s race. In the future teams will not be able to run other than the class they normally run for season points.

To find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals. Final results for the race day:

High School
1st Place Plant City car 83 with 70 laps, best lap of the day 29.609 2nd Place Kirkland car 555 with 68 laps, best lap of the day 29.309 3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 47 laps best lap of the day 29.753 4th Place Middleton car 80 with 22 laps best lap of the day 51.590 Open Class
1st Place Jane Deere car 942 with 61 laps best lap of the day 30.316 2nd Place Tiger car 4 with 58 laps (a nine-lap reduction was made for red flag delays) best lap of the day 32.512 3rd Place Kinetic car 99 with 55 laps best lap of the day 31.188 4th Place Kinetic car 19 with 47 laps best lap of the day 36.469 Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 69 laps best lap of the day 26.064
2nd Place S & J car 256 with 36 laps best lap of the day 30.6123rd Place Tiger car 4 with 26 laps best lap of the day 32.689

Our next race will be held at University of Central Florida in conjunction with the Energy Whiz at Florida Solar Energy Center.

Our next race will be held at Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation, 32555 Innovation Drive, Wesley Chappel, Florida 33545. This will be our Annual Dash and Sponsor Race. Drivers will safely test their cars performance for the most laps in 20 minutes. There will be a total of five races during the day. The course will be on the same parking lot as our last race at Kirkland but changed slightly.
RED – COURSE
BLUE – PITS
WHITE – TOWER
GREEN – REGISTRATION
Click on links for printable version of race day schedule. 2023 Dash Sponsor Event

MARCH 4, 2023, SCHEDULE – 20 MINUTE DASH RACES

0630 – 0800 Event set up, track safety inspection, teams arrive

0645 – 0830 Car inspections completed, registration, driver weigh in, transmitters issued

0830 Team, Team Sponsors, Executive Board and Drivers meeting with Race Steward

0845 – 0915 Practice laps (only practice laps for the entire day/Sponsors & Exec Bd should do)

0915 Track closed, no cars allowed on the track

0945 – 1000 OPEN AND EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS ONLY – 20 MINUTE RACE
Test of transmitters, lineup for 1st race (clockwise)

1000 Green flag drops to start 1st race, OPEN & EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS

1020 Checkered flag drops ending 1st race, OPEN & EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS

1030 – 1045 HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION ONLY – 20 MINUTE RACE
Test of transmitters, lineup for 1st race (clockwise)

1045 Green flag drops to start 1st race, HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

1105 Checkered flag drops ending 1st race, HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

1105 – 1130 Lunch, cars on display for viewing

1130 – 1145 HS/COLLEGE SPONSORS AND EXECUTIVE BOARD ONLY – 20 MINUTE RACE
Test of transmitters, lineup for race (clockwise)

1145 Green flag drops to start race, HS/COLLEGE SPONSOR AND EXECUTIVE BOARD

1205 Checkered flag drops ending race, HS/COLLEGE SPONSOR AND EXECUTIVE BOARD

1205 – 1245 Track closed, no cars allowed on the track
Lunch, cars on display for viewing

1245 – 100 HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION ONLY – 20 MINUTE RACE
Test of transmitters, lineup for 2nd race (counter clockwise)

100 Green flag drops to start 2nd race, HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

120 Checkered flag drops ending 2nd race, HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

130 – 145 OPEN AND EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS ONLY – 20 MINUTE RACE
Test of transmitters, lineup for 2nd race (counter clockwise)

145 Green flag drops to start 2nd race, OPEN & EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS

205 Checkered flag drops ending 2nd race, OPEN & EXPERIMENTAL DIVISIONS

205 – 245 Event clean up, race results recorded

245 Awards ceremony, announcements