The first race of the new year got off to a fast start, a few surprises and some of the same o same o.
Since our first race was just after the start of the second semester for our colleges and high schools along with the MLK Holiday Parades we had some no shows but still had a good day of racing.

The races were held along with a Robotics competition hosted by Wharton High School Sponsor Chris Hart. Many of the schools in the competition were impressed and very interested in the Electrathon cars. They gave us their contact information so we can meet with them in the near future.

Plant City High School, the New Old team, was represented by David Kocher, the Auto Tech teacher. He is working on putting together a team using one of our loaner cars. The long nose car donated by the Electrocutioners. He drove the 242 car of the Titan Racing Team. Brady was not able to be at the races but his car was. He assured us it was ready to go but first we had to fix the brakes and work on the batteries. David got some first hand experience in a competitive car right up till the time the batteries died in each race.

In the first race Pro EV car 39 took off like a bat and was leading the field till just before the end of the race when he raced the tires right off of his car. He had a tire shred, losing pieces along the way and he had to withdraw. He still took 1st Place overall in the Advanced Battery Class. Cliffs car uses 16″ tires, the manufacturer has stopped making them so he and the Mulberry team, who also uses 16″ tires, are in a bind to find a new source of 16″ high pressure tires.

Tiger Racing car 4, (Rodney Schreck) in the Open Class was working with a motor he had rebuilt and it looks like he got it right since he took his 1st Place overall in the Open Class.

Mulberry High School car 38 had a good day, taking 1st Place overall in the High School Class. They did have a few pit stops but kept up their usual fast pace. Team Sponsor Todd Thuma and his team had a good day although Todd was way under the weather. Get well soon Todd.

Our next race is a BIG ONE, we have our race in conjunction with the USF Engineering Expo. On February 21, 2020 School District Teams and businesses from all over the State of Florida will display their inventions, works and trinkets in the all day event. On the second day of the USF Engineering Expo (February 22, 2020) we take over the entire parking lot at the College of Engineering. This will be our most challenging course and should have our biggest and most competitive field.

So get those batteries charged up and those tires and wheels ready to go and we will see you there.

Vic