We received the email today from Colleen McCann Kettles, Interim Director at the Florida Solar Energy Center that stated “As a result of COVID-19 Energy Whiz 2020 has been cancelled. Thank you for your continued support of our program, and we look forward to next year”.

Electrathon of Tampa Bay / Electrathon of Florida is searching for an alternate venue for our last race of the season and have reached out to four of our high schools to see if the sponsors can arrange for us to still have a race on April 25, 2020. We will advise as soon as possible if this occurs. Please remember that most schools in our area are off for spring break next week which may cause a delay in getting a venue.

Charlie

The race day started out cool and windy at Mulberry High School for our Electrathon races. Mulberry HS Team Sponsor Todd Thuma had his team ready to assist us with setting up the course, the scoring tower and walking the course for safety issues, they even helped Rodney with sweeping areas that had sand in the curves.

As the teams arrived the sun came out but the wind just would not go away, it stayed windy all day which made a challenge for our canopy to stay on the ground.

Our new team from Plant City High School car #21 arrived with a few last minute things to finish on their loaner car (the original long nose car donated to us from the Electrocutioners). They were unable to use any of the ETO sprockets for their wheel motor that we had and after checking with other teams, it was determined their motor shaft was not the normal size that the Etek motors normally have. Rather than leaving because they could not race, the entire team stayed and assisted other teams in the pits and on the track. What a great group of folks.

USF arrived just as the first race was lining up, they got their driver into their car on the line up in time to start the race when the green flag dropped.

Both races went very well with just a few pit stops. Between races there was dancing in the scoring area by Trish to stay warm from the cool breeze. At the end of the race day it was Mulberry HS #38 finishing in 1st Place in the High School Division with 158 laps. Silver Bullet Racing #94 (Jim and Jerry) took 1st place in the Open Division with 186 laps. Tiger Racing #4 finished in 2nd Place with 147 laps. Titans Racing #242 finished in 3rd Place with 103 laps. It was USF #48 that finished in 1st Place in the Advanced Division with 172 laps. USF almost broke the courses fastest lap record the first race. They came out determined in the second race to beat the courses fastest lap record. After pitting towards the end of the second race to tighten some loose spokes, they went for it and broke the fastest course lap of Pro EV #39 25.621 in October 2019 by doing a 25.335 with USF Team Driver Noah.

Our next race will be in conjunction with the Energy Whiz Olympics in Cocoa on April 25, 2020. Hope to see everyone there for another fun filled day of racing and our end of the year awards ceremony.

Charlie

Our next race is going to be at Mulberry High School in Mulberry Fl.
First race will be at 10:00 AM with the second race at 1:00 PM
Go all the way to the end of the road to get into the track area at the back of the school.

This is a short turnaround from our race at USF where Mulberry took top spot in High School.
The race will be on their 1/4 mile track and will be a great opportunity for teams to try out new gear ratios and tactics. It will be easier on equipment and batteries.

This will be a good tune up for our season ending race at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa in April.

Vic

The 11th Annual Electrathon Road Race was one of the coldest races we have ever put on. Temps were in the 40s for the start of the first race. Drivers were briefed on frost bite on the hands. Ha.

Mulberry High School, who was displaying their cars at the Expo Friday helped Charlie set out the stakes we use to put up the caution tape to mark the course. It was WAY to windy to put the tape up and had to wait till Saturday morning.

Around 430 pm on Friday Charlie and a few others started setting out the 300 traffic cones used as barriers and course layout. Saturday at Oh Dark Thirty and 39 degrees, Charlie, Rodney and Vic finished setting out the cones and finished course prep.

We were glad to see an old face return to race with us. Slam (Steve) and his new bride from the Orlando area. They are 1/3 of the Electrocutioners and he drives the 90 car powered by lithium batteries. VERY FAST CAR! He only led both races with 73 laps each and the two fastest laps of the day at 40.912 seconds and 40.738 seconds.

Another new face was the team from Plant City High School. They have been absent from racing for several years but have a new Automotive Instructor (David Kocher) as their team sponsor who is very enthusiastic. They have a great team and raced Brady’s 242 Titan car. They are repairing their loaner car (the old long nose) and building their own car. The 242 car is very fast and has raced in the open and Advanced battery classes. Plant City had two sets of new Optima Yellow Top batteries and had nothing but problems with them. In both races they had a battery go down with a bad cell and finished behind Mulberry in the High School Class. The one thing you CAN NOT change during the race is a battery. What you start with you have to finish with.

Jim Robinson of Silver Bullet Racing out of Titusville Florida had a good day right behind the Electrocutioners. He ran the first race with advanced batteries and the second with standard batteries. Jim had a problems with his lithium ion battery pack and switched to standard batteries for the second race. He had the same lap count, 70 laps, with both types of batteries.

Jim Robinson is a Master Builder of many things, from Electrathon cars to hot rods. Many of his Electrathon cars can be found at any of our races and even up North. In order to spread his knowledge of Electrathon car building we now have two copies of his JIGS that are used to lay out the frames for welding that we will use to help teams build their cars.

Rodney with Tiger Racing had a good day in the Open Class. He was experimenting with gear ratios and had a very MINOR problem in the second race when his drive wheel, that he didn’t tighten properly between races, came loose and was rubbing on the frame. A quick pitstop and he was back on the track and still finished first in the Open Class.
That OOOOPS allowed the top High School team, Mulberry High School, to beat him by one lap on total laps for the day.

Mulberry High School car 38 is in the High School Division and occasionally gives the top Open Class cars a run for their money. One thing that Mulberry High School team does, is change drivers on a pit stop half way thru the race. This give more students a chance to drive and gives them a very good core of drivers and pit crews.

The home team, USF College of Engineering, was fielding a new team for the first time this season since Sai graduated. They had problems and only made the second race. The car performed well and they should be a contender in the Advanced Battery Class soon.

Most of the HCC team appeared to be new members for this race day. They were late starting the first race but had a good showing overall with their older design car. We will be working with them on using one of the JIGS to build a new car for their team.

A big Shout Out to all the teams who helped with turning the track back into a LARGE parking lot. The races were over at 2:00 P.M. and we were ready to hand out trophies at 2:35.

We had many new drivers for the races and some started out faster than others but by the midway point all were zipping around the track. No wrecks and no trading paint. Other than the CCOOOOOOOLD for Florida start of the day it was a very good day. Course Marshals and Flag People had a VERY uneventful day which is how we like it.

Next race will be March 7th at Mulberry High School on their track. Aprils race will be at the Florida Solar Energy Center on the 25th and will be our final race for the year. Charlie already has most of the schedule for next year firmed up and we are looking at a 2 day, 4 race event in the Fort Myers area on December 4th and 5th 2020. There are still out of area races at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Chambers County Alabama, and Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds Alabama before the end of the school year for any teams that wish to compete out of our area.

Vic

Electrathon of Tampa Bay / Electrathon of Florida had a “JIGGY” weekend build. Todd, Rodney, Jim and Charlie built two Electrathon frame jigs, one for ETO and the other for Rodney. This makes two frame jigs that ETO has for our training of team sponsors on how to construct an Electrathon.We also constructed additional jigs for making other components that attach to the frame. We hope that our next team sponsor training will allow us to build three Electrathon frames for teams to purchase and complete.Todd Thuma of Mulberry High School used one of our sprocket jigs to weld his two front wheel assemblies for the new car that they are building at their school.

We want to thank the Best Western in Titusville for all of their support and room accommodation’s when we conduct our trainings in their area. Great hotel and wonderful staff.

We hope to see everyone at our next event, February 21st, we will have our cars on display at the USF Engineering Expo in Tampa and then we take over their parking lot on Saturday, February 22nd for our two Electrathon Races. Our first race starts at 10am, and our second race starts at 1pm. Bring the entire family for this FREE, FUN FILLED EVENT

Our next event will be held in conjunction with the University of South Florida IEEE Engineering Expo located at 3824 USF Alumni Drive, Tampa FL 33620.

On Friday, February 21, 2020, we will have our Electrathon cars on display at the Engineering Expo to show students from various counties and answer any questions they may have concerning the design, build and components of an Electrathon car. This Expo draws a large number of students each year to show new ideas. For more information go to: expo.eng.usf.edu

On Saturday, February 22, 2020, Electrathon Cars hit the parking lot for two 1 hour races. This is one of our original venues for Electrathon Racing in Tampa Bay. The road course is very challenging for drivers and their team cars. The first race starts at 10am and the second race starts at 1pm.

On Friday, we will do a partial set up of the safety barrier around the course and then around 5pm the cones will be delivered, (Thank You Bob’s Barricades) to set up the actual road course.

It would be nice to see some of our North Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana Electrathon Teams at this race.

On January 24, 25, 2020, six team sponsors worked with instructors the entire weekend to build two Electrathon car frames. When Sunday evening came around, two frames needed some final welding before they were ready for a team. We thank our sponsor for the funds to hold our second training seminar. We will be selling these frames and others we build at future trainings so that the training seminars are self supportive so that we can continue to train others.

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

We hope everyone had a great Holiday and a Safe New Years

Our next race will be held on January 18, 2020 at Wharton High School located at 20150 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, Tampa FL 33647. This will be a road course for our teams and the first race in 2020.

We will do a partial set up on Friday, January 17, 2020 around 4 P.M. and finish the set up the next morning when we arrive around 630 A.M.

Hope to see everyone there to kick off 2020 with a great race.

Charlie

Once again like our Lee County Florida race, the weather could not make up its mind what to do. During the week the rain chances kept changing. When we started arriving on Saturday, December 14th at Brandon High School it was pouring and the winds were kicking up. By 715 the rain let up and things started to look better for our Dash Race Day.

We decided that since the weather was showing more bands of rain, we would not bring out the electronics and scoring system. We reverted back to our old school ways when Ken Fiallos had a line of score keepers marking down each lap that a team made. It was much easier since we only had seven cars confirmed for the day’s event.

Our Dash Race day is held once during our nine month race season. This is the race where teams are permitted to safely drive as fast as their car and driver are comfortable with until their batteries die or the maximum time limit of twenty minutes.

We want to Thank Brandon High School Administration, Team Sponsor Timothy Ruman and his team for allowing us to be at their facilities for our Annual Dash Race. They did a great job getting things organized and made sure the event was successful.

Since we only had seven cars competing in today’s event, we all agreed to adjust the schedule for the day and have everyone on the track at the same time.

Teams lined up at 945 for the first race, our open class teams were challenged in the first race. HCC car 30 had a few last minute things to finish on their car that took longer than expected leaving them in the pits the entire first race. Team Titans car 242 came out strong in the first race but the batteries died after nine laps sending them to the pits until the next race.

High School Class – Mulberry car 38 did well with 34 laps in the twenty minute race followed by Brooks DeBartolo car 55 with 26 laps.

Advanced Battery Class – We had three teams in the advanced battery class; two of them leaving the open class lead acid batteries in the pits. That’s right; Silver Bullet car 94 had a great showing with lithium batteries with 39 laps and Tiger Racing car 4 using lithium had 40 laps. The fast runner in lithium batteries was Pro EV car 39 with 44 laps the first race.

While the teams charged up their batteries and made adjustments to their cars, our team sponsors and board members went at it on the track for twenty minutes. Mulberry High School sponsor Todd Thuma came in 1st Place with 38 laps, Race Steward/Board Member Mike Frederick completed 37 laps for 2nd Place and
HCC Sponsor Alex Ambrioso completed 30 laps for a 3rd Place finish

In the second team race the Advanced Battery Class was screaming around the track as they went past the scoring area. Pro EV car 39 completed 47 laps followed by Silver Bullet car 94 with 42 laps and Tiger Racing car 4 completed 39 laps. In the Open Class HCC car 30 dominated the track with 27 laps over the 1 lap that the Titans car 242 completed. In the High School class Mulberry car 38 completed 33 laps defeating Brooks DeBartolo and car issues with only 1 lap.

At the end of the day, the laps were counted for our overall winners for each class.
Mulberry HS came in 1st Place with 67 laps and Brooks DeBartolo came in 2nd with 27 laps.

Open Class – HCC car 30 completed 27 laps for a 1st Place finish and Titans car 242 finished in 2nd Place with 15 laps.

Advanced Battery Class Pro EV car 39 did a total of 91 laps for a 1st Place finish, Silver Bullet car 94 finished in 2nd Place with 81 laps and Tiger Racing car 4 finished in 3rd Place with 79 laps.

Our next race will be held at Wharton High School on January 18, 2020. Hope to see everyone there for our first race in 2020.