Electrathon of Tampa Bay has posted over the years in two areas of our website, the tentative schedule for our season of events. On occasion there are issues with insurance, double booking of a venue or unforeseen circumstances that may force our organization to make a change as soon as we are aware of the situation. Any changes that are made to the posted, tentative schedule are discussed among the Executive Board Members and decisions are made with the best interest of the entire organization in mind. We regret that these changes have to be made from time to time and know that they could affect a team(s) ability to perform at their best. Electrathon of Tampa Bay will continue to do our best to secure locations for our events so that we do not have these types of situations occur.

Hope to see everyone at the upcoming regular race at Mulberry High School on October 12, 2019.

We will be at Mulberry High School in Polk County Florida on March 7, 2020. The school is located at 1 Panther Place, Mulberry Florida 33860.

This is a short turn around from our race at USF but it will be easier than USF and easier on equipment since it will be on their 1/4 mile track. This is a great opportunity to test out new gear ratios. train new drivers, and work on tactics.

TEAMS MUST SUPPLY THEIR OWN POWER FOR CHARGING BATTERIES BETWEEN RACES. PIT AREA DOES NOT HAVE A POWER SOURCE

Reminders:
All minors must have a parent consent / waiver of liability form on file with ETO or bring one to this race to participate.

Everyone must sign in at the registration area to receive their wristband that authorizes them to be in the pit area.

All advanced battery teams will present a copy of the manufacturers spec sheet for the batteries that they are using and the spec sheet should include the weight of the batteries. If a team has a manufacturers spec sheet for the batteries they are using and the weight of the batteries are not listed, the batteries will be weighed at the registration area before the race. If a team does not have on file or present a copy of their manufacturers spec sheet for the batteries they are using as mentioned above, the team will not be allowed to race.

All team drivers will weigh in at the registration area with driving equipment, if the driver is less than 180lbs, ballast must be with the driver to weigh again to put the driver at or over 180lbs.

Red – Track
Yellow – Safety Barrier
Green Area – Pits
Purple – parking / overflow
Blue Line – Tower / Registration

Vic

Good morning Charles

The Four Points Sheraton is being sold. Here are the hotels for the November race at Buckingham Airfield.

I have added the Holiday Inn at the Forum to our website, they lowered their rate to $99 for a QQ room. They are undergoing renovations and hope to have their full breakfast up and running by Halloween, but this is not guaranteed. Until their renovations are finished, they have cold items (cereal, yogurt, breads, etc.).

I have also added the Best Western Inn & Suites. Their rate is $79 for a QQ room with breakfast.

Link is now operational again. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Thank you,
Melanie

The hotel has set aside QQ rooms and a few King only rooms. Teams will need to provide a copy of their state of Florida tax exempt certificate. Parent rooms will pay 11.5% tax.

Electrathon Race, November 9, 2019, at Buckingham Airfield:

HOTEL HOTLINE: Please call Lee County Sports Housing at 1-239-541-1800, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, or submit a reservation request online at:

https://leecountysportshousing.org/event/1405

Reservation requests need to be made before September 26, 2019. On that date, any unclaimed rooms will be released into general inventory and we can no longer guarantee availability or rate.

Thank you for letting Lee County Sports Organizing Committee help you with lodging for your event. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Thank you,
Melanie
Lee County Sports Organizing Committee

On September 21, 2019, Electrathon of Tampa Bay will hold the first race of the 2019 – 2020 season. The host will be Hillsborough Community College located at 10451 Nancy Watkins Drive, Tampa, Florida 33619.

Set up will begin on Friday around 6 p.m. so that safety barriers are in place for the track and course design completed. Final set up of the scoring system and registration area will start at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning.

ALL team members will be required to attend the meeting in the main building at 8 a.m. so that a quiz can be administered and reviewed.

All parent consent and minor waivers must be turned in at the registration booth when you sign in. Team Sponsors cannot sign these forms for participation.

All drivers will weigh in and must have their long sleeve shirt, long pants, helmet, shoes, gloves, eye protection and required ballast for weigh in so that they are a minimum of 180lbs.

All Advanced Battery Division teams will be required to show manufacturer’s specs for the weight of the batteries to comply with Electrathon America and ETO rules for advanced batteries. If a team does not have their manufacturer’s specs sheet, the batteries will need to be weighed at the race.

All Advanced Battery Division teams will have installed in their Electrathon car, a kWh meter. At the end every race, an inspection of the kWh meter will be done by the ETO Inspection Team to verify the number of kWh used during the race to comply with Electrathon America and ETO rules. Any team’s car meter that is not functioning or reads more than 1 kWh (1,000 watts) the team will be disqualified for that race.

Teams will be required to attend the Driver Meeting with the Race Steward for information on driving, flags and safety protocols.

The first race lineup is 9:45 A.M. and the green flag will drop to start the race and race season at 10:00 A.M.

The second race lineup is 12:45 P.M. and the green flag will drop to start the race at 1:00 P.M.

Clean up and awards will follow. Hope everyone has their cars ready to go and remember to do all of your safety checks and be knowledgeable and understand the Electrathon America Rules and Guidelines for the car, driver(s) and teams.

Yellow – Barrier, Green – Pits, Red – Course, Black – Scoring Tower

Charlie

On September 12, 2019, we will hold our All Team Board Meeting at the Cracker Barrel by Lazy Days RV in Seffner Florida. Arrive at 6 p.m. for dinner, the meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Every team should send a representative (sponsor, team captain, etc.) to this meeting to obtain the student waivers that parents and students must sign giving consent to participate at our events. These forms will be completed and turned in at the registration table at the first race to participate in our events. Team sponsors can not sign for the parent(s) or student.

At the meeting we will discuss what has taken place over the summer break and ask teams how they are preparing for this years race season.

Please text Charlie to let him know if your team will or will not be at the meeting and how many members are attending for seating purposes.

Thanks

Hello Racers!

With the Great American Celebration of Speed at Daytona approaching we need to start getting a count of what teams will be going. Below is a link to fill out for your team.

https://forms.gle/2W4i9Nq8RVGKKu7w9

This event will be 3 days long, October 11-13 where Electrathon will hold time trials, each team will be given 3 attempts each day to set the fastest time on Daytona’s 1 mile infield track where the fastest lap time wins. Electrathon of Tampa Bay will also have a booth set up to teach visitors all about Electrathon.

Ryan, Todd, Jim

We have had a break in our normal routine, there were changes in our organization, our team sponsors, some of us had health issues, and we all experienced the loss when Fredi and Tom moved to Indiana, but it is time to pick up the pieces and get ready for the 2019 – 2020 Race Season. This year we will have events at Hillsborough Community College, Daytona International Speedway, Lee County Mosquito Control (a runway – check your email for hotel information to reserve your rooms), University of South Florida, University of Central Florida (Energy Whiz Olympics) to name a few. Our 2019 – 2020 Race Schedule is posted on our website, a few races are pending final approval.

Over the summer we had our very first Electrathon Build Training with Instructor Jim Robinson (Co-Instructor Rodney Schreck) in Titusville thanks to one of our sponsors providing the funding to make it happen. In two days, the jig for building a car was constructed and a frame was formed, welded to include battery boxes, rear wheel mounting sprocket and front wheel steering and wheel assembly. The first class trained (Ambur, Charles, Kevin, Todd, Victoria, William) provided feedback for future trainings. We are hoping to have other sponsors of ours donate the funds for additional training in the future.

We want to thank Polk County Public Schools, Jessica Hall (Senior Analyst, Media Productions), Heaven Keller and her team that attended our races last year to make the documentary on Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Mulberry High School Team and Sponsor Todd Thuma. Please go to either one of our Electrathon of Tampa Bay Facebook Pages to see the documentary and share with everyone.

Our Executive Board will be meeting this week and our ALL TEAMS MEETING (Sponsor/Captain, etc.) will be in September and notices will be sent to all teams after the Executive Board Meeting.

Keep checking our website for updates.

Charlie

On May 4, 2019 in Cocoa Florida another year of Electrathon Racing was completed. After our last race of the season in Cocoa Florida we held our end of the year awards ceremony.

2018 – 2019 Executive Board Member of the Year – Fredi Beck
This award went to a very special lady that has been with Electrathon of Tampa Bay for a number of years. Fredi has been the right hand for Ken Fiallos and Charles Harrison until she recently moved to Indiana after retiring from Hillsborough County Public Schools. Fredi is still our ETO Treasurer and Publicist from far away until we find those folks that can take over her duties. Fredi we love and miss you.

2018 – 2019 Business Sponsor of the Year – Lowes in Valrico Florida Manager Jennifer Tyzenhaus

Special Student Recognition Gifts – each student received a blue tooth speaker
Dillon, a student at Mulberry HS has been with his team ever since it started a few years ago. He is dedicated to his team and sponsor, always willing to do what it takes to get the car ready for the next race or out of the pits and back in the race, always thinking about what the team can do for the next race to perform better.

Nadar and Julie, students at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate HS went beyond anything ever seen at an Electrathon Race. Their driver was having a difficult time driving their team car due to her shoes kept getting in the way of operating the foot pedals. These student took off their shoes and gave them to their team driver so she could drive the car in a safe manner. Not in attendance

Eryk, a student at Brooks DeBartolo always steps up to assist the Simmons Career Center team as a pit crew member or a driver. Not in attendance

2018 – 2019 High School Team Sponsor of the Year – Todd Thuma from Mulberry High School
Todd gives all he has to everything he does at his school for his students. He supports them, guides them, corrects them and leads them. Todd has a huge heart and is dedicated to his profession and students. Todd entertains everyone at the races with his hand gestures to go faster, go slower or just perfect speed. He even gets red faced at time and dances for all of us to watch as he motions to his drivers on their cars progress.

2018 – 2019 High School Team Captain of the Year – Ambur from Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate HS
. This Team Captain is dedicated to her school, team and sponsor. She gets the team members motivated and involved in preparing their car for the races and attending the races. She is self motivated, full of energy and determined to do well

2018 – 2019 They Broke Mine Award USF Aditya Chelikani (Sai)
At the first race of the season the original USF car had an accident while being driven by another USF student. At the Brandon HS race their new car had an accident while being driven by a guest VIP. Both cars were repaired and still run in all of our races.

We gave each of our 2018 – 2019 Season Points Winners in each class a blue tooth speaker. High School Class – Mulberry Car 38 with a total of 359 season points Advanced Battery Class – USF Car 48 Aditya Chelikani (Sai) with a total of 326 season points Open Class – Tiger Racing Car 4 Rodney Schreck with a total of 308 season points Everyone had to wait to open them all at once.

2018 – 2019 Mentor of the Year – Jim Robinson of Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing Jim Robinson is an amazing individual, he has accomplished so many things, to name jut a few, he is a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, designer, builder, welder, electrician, mechanic and most of all, a mentor to all of us. Jim helps to solve car issues at races, fix the oops, assists when a team needs a part that he has (an extra) in his toolbox. Recently one of our teams had an accident with their car, Jim had the team come to his home (aka Jim Robinson Hospital) on a Sunday morning to conduct surgery on the broken car. By nightfall the car was out of surgery and looked great. The car went that week to Chambers Alabama and Barber Motorsport races, taking first place in class and in overall at all the races. A week later the car went to Five Flags Speedway and again took first in class and first overall. Thanks Doc, great job. Jim is always available to give others advise/assistance, and always gives Charlie sound advice without the bologna. Jim Robinson cars are known around the US. In Florida we have put them to the test and they continue to amaze us in every aspect. Jim is the State of Florida Representative for Electrathon America. He has this one saying “I am getting to old for this stuff”, but Jim continues to be there for all of us with love and support. It is an honor to have Jim Robinson as one of our Electrathon Family Members.

2018 – 2019 Most Laps during the Season
Advanced Battery Class – USF Car 48 Aditya Chelikani (Sai) with 1,135 laps driven this season High School Class – Mulberry Car 38 with 1,002 laps driven this season Open Class – Tiger Racing Car 4 Rodney Schreck with 946 laps driven this season

2018 – 2019 Fastest Lap – based on the race with the most teams/cars attending. This year it was the Hillsborough Community College Race in September 2018 Advanced Battery Class – USF Car 48 Aditya Chelikani (Sai) with a lap time of 24.840 High School Class – Mulberry Car 38 with a lap time of 32.573 Open Class – Tiger Racing Car 4 Rodney Schreck with a lap time of 34.297

From our Electrathon Family to your Family, Have a Safe and Wonderful Summer

On May 4, 2019 Electrathon of Tampa Bay (ETO) held their last race of the 2018 – 2019 Race Season at the Energy Whiz Olympics in Cocoa Florida.

ETO thanks Susan Schleith of the Florida Solar Energy Center for inviting us again this year to their annual event.

A special thank you goes out to Lillian for everything she does each year for ETO.

Another special thank you goes this year to Kaileen (Susan’s daughter) for taking all of the pictures.

Here are the photos of the Energy Whiz Olympics, Junior Solar Sprint and more:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rO6-lhn4uFLnvBjBBJFQ0VDmdyLylAY5?usp=sharing

What a great day of racing. The open class had a rough day, the three cars in the class all ended their race day before the first race was over. Tiger car 4 (Rodney) never left the pit area after coming off of the truck, possible blown motor controller. ETO Car 60 (Brady) had a rear wheel collapse in one of the turns on lap twelve. Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing car 94 (Jim) had a little scraping noise as he went around the track, a little louder each time until he finally bottomed out due to a grade 8 bolt that sheered off causing the front suspension issue and put the front end on the ground.

At the end of the first race, it was Ryno Racing car 365 (Ryan) beating USF car 48 (Sai) by seconds in the Advanced Battery Class as both cars had 79 laps. USF car 132 (Stephen/John) finished the first race with 53 laps and no broken parts. In the Open Class, that had all the issues, Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing car 94 (Jim) barely beat ETO car 60 (Brady) by 2 laps. In the High School Class, Mulberry car 38 had a 23 lap win over Simmons car 35. Brooks DeBartolo car 55 remained in the pits the entire first race with mechanical issues. But the race day was not over for those teams with running cars.
In the second race, all Open Class cars stayed in the pits.
The Advanced Battery Class was at it again, racing for the win of the day. USF car 48 (Sai) took the win the second race by three laps over Ryno Racing car 365 (Ryan), USF car 132 (John/Stephen) only completed 12 laps as their tires finally said enough, no more racing this season.
In the High School Class, Simmons car 35 met the challenge after their 23 lap loss the first race and beat Mulberry car 38 by 31 laps, Brooks DeBartolo car 55 got on the track and had numerous tire issues, but finished with 26 laps.

At the end of the day, the last race of the 2018 – 2019 ETO Race Season the results were:

Advanced Battery Class – 3rd Place – USF Car 132 John and Stephen with 65 laps. Advanced Battery Class – 2nd Place – Ryno Racing Car 365 (Ryan ) with 160 laps. Advanced Battery Class – 1st Place – USF Car 48 Sai with 163 laps. High School Class – 3rd place – Brooks DeBartolo Car 55 with 26 laps. High School Class – 2nd Place – Mulberry Car 38 with 108 laps. High School Class – 1st Place – Simmons Car 35 with 122 laps. Open Class – 2nd Place – ETO Car 60 Brady Driving with a total of 11 laps, Charlie accepted award for Brady. Open Class – 1st Place – Silver Bullet/Robinson Racing Car 94 with 13 laps.

Electrathon of Tampa Bay will have their 2019 – 2020 Race Season posted soon, there are a few locations still finalizing the details for their race day.

On April 27, 2019 the traveling teams from Electrathon of Tampa Bay landed at Five Flags Speedway. Numerous teams arrived after us as everyone from ETO was excited to be at this race and had to get their early. The ETO trailer was full of cars, first to enter the gates and first to be assigned a pit area. The teams liked that.

Electrathon of Tampa Bay thanks Vaughn Nichol and all of the sponsors for inviting us again this year. As they do every year, they provided a great race day, lunch / drinks for all of the teams. Vaughn retired in December 2018 and is enjoying time with the family.

This year, there was a team from St Paul HS in Covington Louisiana. The students built three cars and they look awesome.




They ran lithium batteries and did real well, at the 30 minute mark of the first race they were ahead of USF car 48 until their floor pan dropped out due to the course being so rough.




At the end of the day USF car 48 (Sai) took first place in the open class and first place overall. Our good friend Steve Archer (Archer Racing) of Milton, Florida took second place in the open class and second place overall. Ryno Racing (Ryan) took third place in the open class and third place overall.Tiger Racing car 4 (Rodney) took fourth place in the open class. USF car 132 (John and Stephen) ran well in both races. ETO car 60 the vintage box car ran in both races and even lasted 59 minutes the second race.