The course at the HCC Brandon Campus is a familiar one.  It is the first parking lot you come to, the one by the ball field.  Teams will be in the infield of the track.  ALL others will be in the grass to the west side of the track or in the paved parking lot just to the east of the track.  We are going to cut down on the numbers of vehicles and people in the pits this year.

Teams should arrive early.  Since this is the first race of the season we will be doing an extensive inspection of the cars and drivers.  It will include drivers bailing out and brakes and steering.

Teams should go online to Electrathonamerica to download the Driver and Car Inspection forms and fill them out beforehand to save a lot of time

The track is a 1200′ plus rectangle and one of the smoothest we run on all year.  Just watch out for the water hazard on the north side of the track.

At the start of a new season there are a few questions floating around.

Who will take Bradys place as the lead driver for TBT?  Will Brandon be back as strong as they have been in the past?  Who will be the lead driver for Brandon?  Will the girls from Middleton be as strong as they were at the end of last year?  Who will be the new driver for Foundation Academy?  Will we see Strawberry Crest come back?  How will Wharton do this year?  Whats with the Electrocutioners getting a third car number?  How will the HCC team do on their home track?  Will Rodney be able to repeat?  I hear he has been making modifications to his car.   Will the experimental battery class get bigger this year?

..

Bring your friends and come on out to the races.  No hearing protection required.

Vic Nieves

FAMILY, FRIENDS and RACE FANS JOIN US AT OUR FIRST RACE
Our first race will be held at Hillsborough Community College, located at 10414 East Columbus Drive
Join us for a day full of fun for the entire family, free admission
The flag to start the first race will drop at 10am and the second race will begin at 1pm

Vaughn Nicholas advised us that the date for the Five Flags Race will be either the 2nd or 3rd weekend in April. Five Flags will not set the date until their current race season is over in October.

Don Morgan in Quitman Georgia advised us of their tentative race schedule
Nov 13, 2015 – TSA Fall Leadership Conference @ Jekyll Island
Mar 17?, 2016 – TSA State Conference @ Athens GA
Apr 16, 2016 – Rabun County HS @ Clayton GA
Apr 30, 2016 – Central Forsyth @ Cumming GA
May 7, 2016 – Brooks County @ Quitman GA
They are working on a Southeast Race at Road Atlanta in June 2016. If interested in their June race, contact Don Morgan at DMorgan@brooks.k12.ga.us

We will use the School District of Hillsborough County, Teacher and Student handbooks as a guide for our Code of Conduct for Teachers / Team Sponsors and Students. We will use the College or Universities Code of Conduct for our college teams. We will require Board members and Auxiliary Members to be professional and courteous when they are representing Electrathon of Tampa Bay and / or the School District of Hillsborough County. Parents and guests at our events will conduct themselves in a manner that does not draw negative attention to Electrathon of Tampa Bay and / or the School District of Hillsborough County. Should there be an issue at any of our meetings or events, any member of the Executive Board can be approached and informed of the concern or issue so that it can be handled immediately. We will also require each team to have a Team Sponsor and an alternate (name and title must be on file with ETO before first race of the season) in case the primary sponsor is not available to attend a race with the students. Furthermore for the safety of everyone, the sponsor and team members are the only ones allowed in the pit area during a race. Parents, guests and non-team members will leave the pit area when the call to line up (cars to start line) is announced.

On September 26, 2015 we will hold our first race of the 2015-2016 season at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon Florida. Our Events Committee has worked to get the details and safety measures ready for race day.
On another note, we had a change in the race schedule as Middleton High School (District Administration)changed the date of their open house.

Executive Board Members, along with Board Members representing each team (Sponsor and Student for High Schools) are invited to the Board Meeting to prepare for the new season. Meeting starts at 4pm at the Cracker Barrel by Lazy Days RV in Seffner. The back room has been reserved for ETO Meeting from 330pm to 730pm.

Michael Wilson reported: Our Junior Solar Sprint girls team won 1st place this summer at the Technology Student Association (TSA) National Conference in Texas. Their car ran the fastest time and the display showed the engineering process of making a solar car.

Our Robotics Academy is one of 4 STEM programs that is being considered for national certification. This past school year we were awarded a model program status and will be reviewed by the national committee next spring.

In February 2015, Tiger Racing celebrated its 20th year in the sport. This is the first Electrathon built by Rodney Schreck in 1995.

Electrathonoftampabay.org Season Stats