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