https://www.dropbox.com/sh/knfsv1a091cj8nx/AAAgKYP2gGQZw9VHTPM_Tcvta?dl=0
Electrathon of Tampa Bay’s 10th Birthday Race had cars coming from far and wide for a great day of racing. There were teams from Hialeah FL (Tiger Racing), Davie FL (Pro EV), Titusville FL (Silver Bullet Racing), Longwood FL (Electrocutioners) and Chambers County AL along with all our local teams. Local teams were Brandon High School, Lennard High School, Simmons Career Center, and USF.
The team from Chambers County AL made the trip down for the race bringing 2 cars, a school bus full of students and the biggest trailer you ever saw. It even had a solar array on the roof to power up everything. So of course by the time they got to the pits the only place big enough for their trailer was under a big tree. At least they were out of the hot Florida sun.
The race day started out VERY FOGGY. The fog did not lift until the first race was almost over. After Race Steward Mike Fredric’s drivers meeting there were 18 cars lined up for the start of the first race. The starting grid was lined up back around the turn coming into the finish line. When the green flag dropped it was a mad dash for the first turn and into the straights and 180s. After a good bit of bumping and jockeying, the drivers settled into a pretty fast pace.
The Electrocutioners, Pro EV, Tiger Racing, Robinson Racing and USF quickly made it to the front and kept up a blistering pace. The Chambers County #212 car had a very good start and was doing very well right up till the steering broke and they had to withdraw. Hard to steer when the front wheels want to go in different directions. Their #222 car did much better taking 4th place in overall in the High School Division. The #222 car is a 4 wheel design, the first one we have had at one of our races. The drivers did a good job negotiating all the tight turns on the course. Simmons Career Center now has 3 cars. This was the shakedown run for their 3rd car and it will be competitive after they get the bugs worked out.
The Simmons Career Center Culinary Arts class did a great and much appreciated job of supplying cupcakes with a racing theme for our 10th birthday celebration.
USF had a good outing with their #132 car sporting a new paint job. They also resurrected the OOOOOLD King High School car for one race. It is the one that uses an old aluminum traffic control BOX for a body.
We had a new local team join us for the race. Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School had the #55 car ready to go. The #55 car is an ETO loaner and they made great strides getting it race ready. As with every new team and car on the track, they had their challenges during the race day.
The Electrocutioners continued their winning ways with the #90 car taking both races. The Brandon team took the spill of the day award when they tried to see how far they could get one of their cars to go on its side. They turned it over coming out of one of the tight 180’s and the race had to be red flagged because they were taking up the whole track. They did get it right side up and were able to continue the race. No damage to the driver and only some scratches to the car. Great driver as they remembered to keep their hands inside the car rather than the normal reaction to reach outside. The Lennard #86 car had a great return with a 2nd overall in the High School Division. They have been out for a few races with car problems; The Team Sponsor Jim Reve has his team back on the track at 100% and busted Simmons string of 1st – 2nd finishes. This is a team to be reckoned with.
Between races ETO recognized three of the founding and still active members of Electrathon of Tampa Bay, Mike Fredrick, Jim Truitt and Vic Nieves. Also on hand at the race were Jim Robinson and Rodney Shrek two of the longest running Electrathon competitors. They both got started right after the invention of the electric motor.
A big thanks to everyone who helped tear down the course. It took 4 people over 4 hours to set it up and it was taken down and put away in 30 minutes
Race Results
Open Class 1st place #4 Tiger Racing 2nd place #94 Robinson Racing
Advanced Battery Class 1st place #90 Electrocutioners 2nd place #72 Electrocutioners 3rd Place #132 U.S.F. 4th place #8 Electrocutioners 5th place #39 Pro EV 6th place #60 U.S.F.
High School Class 1st place #35 Simmons 2nd place #86 Lennard 3rd place #53 Simmons 4th place #222 Chamber County AL 5th place #14 Brandon 6th place #353 Simmons 7th place #9 Brandon 8th place # 55 Brooks-DeBartolo 9th place #212 Chambers County AL
Our next race is at St Petersburg College/Seminole Campus on March 24, 2018 in conjunction with Maker Con and Comic Con.
