Electrathon of Tampa Bay will have High School and Open Division teams represent our group at this out of state race in Alabama. Our teams have been working on their cars so that they can compete and bring home an out of state trophy. ETO will hand out flyers to others teams at this race to attract interest in our website and races. This is a great opportunity for our High School and Open Division teams to show others what Electrathon of Tampa Bay is all about.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/te76oy6dgwp5233/AAD0ByD_YqczQUmVTjZhq33ya?dl=0

We arrived in the dark at Brandon High School to start our day of racing. Sponsor Mark Knowlton got all of us awake when he turned on the stadium lights to get the set up for our event completed on time. A big thank you goes out to everyone for all their assistance in setting up. Planning the event we missed one small detail, how was our Race Steward getting from the scoring area inside the fenced area onto the track. Mike did a lot of extra walking during the day (we will try to keep that in mind for our future events) thanks Mike for not being too upset. We missed our Executive Board Member (Vic) due to his love for competition shooting. The excitement throughout the pits and spectators was great. We hold one speed race each season to allow our teams to show their driving skills and cars safe limits.

Our first 20 minute speed race of the day was our College, Open and Experimental Battery Divisions. The Electrocutioners car #8 was driven by Middleton’s Sponsor Kyle Thompson as Pony was not able to make it to this race (missed you Pony). We missed University of Central Florida, Seminole State College and the Titans, hope to see you soon at upcoming races. Throughout the race it was Cliff in the Pro EV car 39 and Steve and Andrew in the Electrocutioners cars 72 and 90. They were the ones to keep an eye on. Cliff with the fastest lap (24.608) on the quarter mile track for the Experimental Division ran into chain issues and had to leave the race early. In our Open/College Division the fastest lap (27.395) was completed by Rodney of Tiger Racing in Car 4. USF #132 ran strong but took it easy as they are still doing the final touches on their new car. At the end of the race all of the cars were still running strong.

Experimental Division – 1^st Place Electrocutioners #90, 2^nd Place Electrocutioners #72, 3^rd Place USF #132

College and Open Division – 1^st Place Tiger Racing #4, 2^nd Place Robinson #94, 3^rd Place HCC #13

Our second 20 minute speed race was our High School Division. We only had two high schools with a total of five cars. Our teams from Lennard, Strawberry Crest, Wharton, Simmons, Plant and Palm Bay Magnet were missed as the race would have been our largest ever. Throughout the race it was one lap that divided all of the cars. Brandon #9 and Middleton’s #80 started having their batteries go down towards the end of the race. Brandon #14 with the fastest lap (26.857) on the quarter mile track.

1^st Place Brandon #14, 2^nd Place Middleton #365, 3^rd Place Middleton #133

Our third race was a 15 minute speed race for our Team Sponsors and our Executive Board Members. We had a total of seven cars, thank you Electrocutioners, Robinson Racing, Middleton HS, and USF for the use of your cars for our drivers. We had an oldie return to the track (the original King High School box car) after the dust and dirt was cleaned off of it. The cars ran on a variety of batteries (lithium ion, two yellow top, or 48 volt – 4 batteries). Our Race Steward, Mike had the fastest lap (27.115) in the Robinson car #94. This race will become an annual event each season in conjunction with our annual speed race.

1^st Place Sponsor Mark Knowlton of Brandon HS in Electrocutioners #72 (32 laps)

2^nd Place Race Steward Mike Fredericks in Robinson #94 (31 laps, time 15.05)

3^rd Place Sponsor Kyle Thompson of Middleton HS in Electrocutioners #90 (31 laps, time 15.26)

4^th Place Executive Board Intern Nicodemus Brothers in Electrocutioners #8 (29 laps)

5^th Place Sponsor Robin Rutzke of Middleton HS in Middleton’s #80 (27 laps)

6^th Place Executive Board Member Charles Harrison in original King HS car #60 (21 laps)

Brandon High School had the grill fired up for lunch and their team fundraiser. They provided awesome hamburgers, cheeseburgers and in my opinion the best tasting hot dogs. Fredi tried her first boiled peanut and had to have Tom buy more.

As the afternoon races grew closer the sun became hotter and the wind began to give us a slight breeze.

The fourth 20 minute race of the day was our High School Divisions second race of the day. Once again the Brandon team and the Middleton team raced competitively. The Brandon car #14 obtained damage during an incident on the course and was not able to finish the race (investigation pending). Middleton #365 and Brandon’s #14 had the fastest laps, Middleton with 26.041 and Brandon with 29.026.

Current race results pending investigation outcome:

1^st Place Middleton #365, 2^nd Place Brandon #14, 3^rd Place Middleton #80

The fifth and final 20 minute race of the day was our College, Open and Experimental Battery Divisions. The Electrocutioners car #8 was once again driven by Middleton’s Sponsor Kyle Thompson. Pro EV #39 had issues with their car and had to leave the race track for the day. Our wishes go out to Pro EV teammate James, on his eye. The Robinson #94 car left the race after 7 laps. Once again the cars had plenty of battery to complete the race as strong as they started. The fastest lap (24.308) for the Experimental Divisions race was completed once again by Cliff in Pro EV car 39. In the Open/College Division, once again Rodney in Tiger Racing #4 had the fastest lap of 27.607.

Experimental Division

1^st Place Electrocutioners #90, 2^nd Place Electrocutioners #72, 3^rd Place Electrocutioners #8

College and Open Division

1^st Place Tiger Racing #4, 2^nd Place HCC #13, 3^rd Place Robinson #94

ETO‘s next race will be at Middleton High School on April 8, 2017.

Okay Folks, Maybe I can Finally get it Right, My Apologies for the Confusion, Posted the Wrong Schedule

HERE IT IS, THE ACTUAL SCHEDULE FOR THE RACE ON THE 25TH

 ATTENTION:

We have heard from our open and experimental class in reference to the race day schedule. At our last race it was established that our open and experimental battery class would start the race day. This will allow our high school teams to watch our open and experimental drivers to pick up on driving techniques and how to maneuver the course, possibly beating the fastest lap and most laps of our open and experimental teams for the day. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

THE CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ISSUED TO THE DIVISIONS

845 a.m. to 915 a.m. – The course will be open to all teams for practice laps (ONLY PRACTICE LAP TIME)

925 a.m. – Drivers meeting with race steward at scoring tower

945 a.m. – Line up for the Open and Experimental Divisions first 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 10 a.m. race ends at 1020 a.m.

1025 a.m. – Line up for the High School and College Divisions first 20minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1040 a.m. race ends at 1100 a.m.

1130 a.m. – Line up for our Sponsor and Board Members 15 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1145a.m. race ends at 12/noon.

1245 p.m. – Line up for the High School and College Divisions second 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1 p.m. race ends at 120 p.m.

125 p.m. – Line up for the Open and Experimental Divisions second 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 140 p.m. race ends at 2 p.m.

Awards ceremony will be held after the event clean up

This is the first information for the hotels at the Energy Whiz Olympics in Cocoa the weekend of May 13th. I would suggest reserving NOW if you know you are going – you can always cancel closer to the date of the race if need be, but the rooms go FAST!!

This is always so much fun to end the season with and the more the merrier!!! We will go down on Friday before the event to do the setup and get checked in, and then stay until Sunday, which gives us lots of time for racing and then relaxing! Share this email with others who may be interested.

Hotel: For those who require accommodations Friday night (WE STAY SATURDAY NIGHT; TOO), a block of rooms is available at the Cocoa Beach Days Inn. The Days Inn shares the property with the Best Western which is right on the water (so the Days Inn has easy beach access with no road to cross) and both are next to the Cocoa Beach Pier. Rooms are $84.95 for up to four persons per room, with breakfast included. To obtain this rate, call (321)783-7621 extension 366, and ask for the “Energy Whiz” block of rooms in order to obtain this discounted rate. Rooms must be reserved before April 12th. More information for the hotel can be obtained at  www.daysinncocoabeach.com

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Penny at 321-638-1018 (email penny@fsec.ucf.edu). We are also happy to answer any technical or design questions that you and your students may have….please don’t hesitate to contact us with these types of ‘problems’!

We look forward to seeing you May 13th!!

~Your Energy Whiz Olympics team

Red – Sign In/Scoring

Blue – Pits, DO NOT DRIVE OR PARK ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD 

Purple – Vehicle Parking

Green -Tower

Track is the course

The West Central Florida Energy Whiz Expo will have events at McLane Middle School. The Expo will have Junior Solar Sprint, Solar Cook Off, and Critter Comfort Cottage competitions.

Our Electrathon races will be held at Brandon High School. The campus is located at 1101 Victoria Street, Brandon Florida 33510. This will be our only speed event of the race season. The track at Brandon High School has been resurfaced recently, this will be a factor for our teams and drivers.

REMINDER: ALL DRIVERS TO INCLUDE SPONSORS AND BOARD MEMBERS MUST HAVE ON LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS, PANTS, AND HELMETS – *** PIT LOCATION PENDING ***

845 a.m. to 915 a.m. – The course will be open to all teams for practice laps (ONLY PRACTICE LAP TIME)

925 a.m. – Drivers meeting with race steward at scoring tower

945 a.m. – Line up for the High School Divisions first 20minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 10 a.m. race ends at 1020 a.m.

1025 a.m. – Line up for the Open and Experimental Divisions first 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1040 a.m. race ends at 11 a.m.

1130 a.m. – Line up for our Sponsor and Board Members 15 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1145a.m. race ends at 12/noon.

1245 p.m. – Line up for the High School Divisions second 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 1 p.m. race ends at 120 p.m.

125 p.m. – Line up for the Open and Experimental Divisions second 20 minute speed race. The green flag will drop to begin the race at 140 p.m. race ends at 2 p.m.

Awards ceremony will be held after the event clean up

These races will be challenging for our drivers and exciting to watch as a spectator.

Come out for a free day of fun for the entire family

A GREAT DAY FOR A RACE AND A SWIM

The day started off with great weather on the USF course. The weather forecast varied all week from 20-80% chance of rain LATE in the afternoon. Then the radar showed a BIG rain band out in the gulf and that late rain showed up at 1:30 and drowned the place.

We normally start the races at 10am and 1pm, with the radar looking real menacing we started the second race at 12:30. It turned out to be a good idea. The cars can run in the rain but its not a popular choice.  Mike Fredricks, our race steward, waved the checkered flag 1 minute early just as the clouds opened up.  We got the race in but had to take down the course in the rain. Trophy presentations were held under the canopy in the rain.

In the High School Class it was Brandons #14 against the three cars from Middleton. In this race it was Brandon #14 against Middleton #365 with Brandon taking 2nd in both races and Middleton taking 1st in both races.

In the last race it was Brandon #14 and Middleton #80 tied for season points. In this race it was #14 and Middleton #356 with Middleton taking first overall for the day to pull within 2 points of Brandon #14 and the season lead. There are 3 cars within 6 points of each other for the season.

In the Open Class we had Rodney, HCC and the #242 car.  The #242 car was at Tampa Bay Tech but Tech does not have a team this year so BRADY, some other Alumni and current students raced it in the Open Class. The #242 car was and is very fast and it was great to see it on the track again. Brady now has the car with plans to continue racing in the open class as the Titans.

Rodney in the #4 car took both races with HCC and the Titans car both having to withdraw with mechanical problems. They were not able to start the second race. The Titans car had a catastrophic blow out on a front wheel that blew the rim apart. In 10 years of racing we have seen many blow outs, flat tires and wheel collapses but never a rim coming apart like that. Almost half the rim sidewall was left on the track.

In the Experimental Battery Class it was close all day with Drew and Slam battling all day with Slam in the #90 car taking the day with 146 laps.

In the first race the #8 car had electrical problems and had to withdraw. Drew, Slam and USF were within 3 laps with Drew on top with 76 laps, USF with 74 and Slam with 73.

In the second race it was the #90 car and Slam with 73 laps and everyone else way behind. USF and ProEv both had problems and had to withdraw. Drew in the #72 car had problems with his car and it conked out several times and had to be pushed started to get going again. Pony in the #8 car had a wire come out of a connector and killed her throttle. Several members of other teams carried her car off the track and found the errant wire and soldered the pin and got it back on the track. The problems dropped her out of the season lead and put her 4 points behind Drew in the #72 car.

Next race will be on the Track at Brandon High School on March 25th.  We will be doing another speed event. Two twenty minute races going for speed and distance. Between the races there will be an extra special event. Team sponsors and ETO officials will be taking to the track for a short race. If we can manage to get into the cars.

Finish Order:

High School: 1st  Middleton #365, 2nd Brandon #14, 3rd Middleton #80, 4th Middleton #133, 5th Brandon #9.

Open: 1st Tiger Racing #4, 2nd HCC #13, 3rd  Titans #242

Experimental Battery:  1st Electrocutioners #90, 2nd Electrocutioners #72, 3rd USF #132, 4th Electrocutioners #08, 5th ProEv #39

Our next race will be held at the University of South Florida. The campus is located at 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa 33620. The Engineering Expo will have events on Friday, February 17, 2017, ETO will have Electrathon cars on display. Our Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) and Electrathon Races will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2017. The green flag for the first Electrathon race will drop at 10am. Our JSS Races will be between 11am and 1230pm. The green flag for our second Electrathon race will drop at 1pm. The Electrathon course is challenging for our drivers and exciting to watch as a spectator. Come out for a free day of fun for the entire family.

Yellow – Safety Tape

Red – Track/Course

Pink – Scoring Tower

Blue – Pits

Orange – Cones

Visit the Photo Album for Wharton Race at: (Copy and paste link into Browser) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132647601@N06/albums/72157675532300803

What a day and what a race.  The course was one of the best we have been on in a while.  14 cars battled for 2 hours of racing and in the Experimental Battery Class the margin of victory was a whopping 1400ft.

Wharton High School did an outstanding job putting on the races and had their BBQ grill working overtime between the races.

In the High School Class we want to give a shout out to Palm Bay Magnet High School.  They are over on the east coast, south of Cocoa Beach.  They took a third place finish in the second race.  They are still working the bugs out of their car and will be a contender in the near future.

There were some close finishes in the High School class.  In the first race the Middleton High School #80 car and #365 finished 1st and 2nd with the #80 finishing 4 seconds ahead after 1 hour.  In the second race it was the Brandon #14 car beating out the Middleton #80 car by .47 seconds over the one hour.

The Open Class was a lonely place with only the #04 car of Tiger Racing running.  We missed the HCC and Robinson Racing cars this race.

In the Experimental Battery Class it was a tight race all day with Cliff from ProEv taking the day with a total of 159 laps over the Electrocutioners #08 & 72 cars with 158 each.  Cliff has always had a VERY fast car but in the past has been plagued by mechanical problems and wearing out the tires on his car.  Today it all came together and he ran two trouble free races, except for trading paint once during the race.

We were glad to see Slam make it back on the track to round out the three car Electrocutioners team.  Something about he had to work all those past race days.  His new #90 car, which was late starting the first race and was on a shakedown run.  It was very fast and was the best looking of the field.  If he doesn’t have to work next month watch out.

Can’t wait to see what Drew Jet has to show from his fancy drone he was using at the race.  He has the coolest toys.

We hope to see Strawberry Crest, Wharton, Jefferson, Plant, Foundation and our other Open Class cars for the BIG RACE at University of South Florida in February

OVERALL STATS:

OPEN CLASS:  1st Place #04 Tiger Racing 145 laps

EXPERIMENTAL BATTERY CLASS:  1st #39 ProEv with 159 laps,  2nd #08 with 158 laps,  3rd #72 with 158 laps,  4th #90 with 146 laps, 5th #132 with 41 laps.

HIGH SCHOOL CLASS:  1st #80 with 138 laps,  2nd #365 with 130 laps,  3rd #14 with 123 laps,  4th #101 with 97 laps,  5th #133 with 93 laps,  6th #09 with 67 laps,  7th #86 with 39 laps,  8th #30 with 33 laps.

Our biggest race of the year is coming up in Feb. at the U.S.F. Engineering Expo.  We will have a display area on February 17th where teams can show their cars, equipment and answer questions.  The race is on February 18th and has the most challenging course we race on all season.  Wheels and tires take a beating so now is the time to get everything in top shape.  Charge up those batteries and get those tires and wheels ready to go.

More info on U.S.F. Race will be up shortly

Vic

The Electrathon of Tampa Bay trailer picked up a nail in one of the tires during its last venture to our December race, causing us to have it go flat after sitting over the holidays. We want to thank Matt and Bob Clarke at Clarke Automotive located at 131 Central Drive, Brandon, Florida 33510 for repairing the tire. Clarke Automotive is a great supporter of Electrathon of Tampa Bay and continues to be there for our organization. Their support has the trailer ready for its next venture to Wharton High School for our next race on January 14, 2017.

This is Tampa Bay’s oldest and biggest Maker festival celebrating the DIY Inventive Spirit! More than 100 exhibitors, comprising of more than 400 technologists, artists, crafters, mechanical and electrical wizards, costumers and prop makers, robot cists, musical artists, inventors, coders, gamers, electric car races, battle bots, drone racing, and more!

Every spring, Gulf Coast MakerCon holds an annual community festival celebrating the DIY (Do It Yourself) Inventive Spirit! Here’s some of what we have on tap for 2017:

• 40,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space at the Special Events Center at the Florida State Fairgrounds
• Cigar City Multi-motor Drone Race exhibition
• 3rd Annual Southeast Combat Robotics Championship
• 3rd Annual Electrathon Car Races
• Annual Inventors & Entrepreneurs Showcase
• Makers Market
• Young Makers Village
• Workshops & Demos
• Deconstruction Zone
• Gaming Expo
• Heritage Makers
• Transportation Exhibits
• Garden Tech & Sustainability
• 21st Century Tech
• And much more!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4pr8jtqkiti8a72/electrathon.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n1q5f77t0d0xa2x/Gulf%20Coast%20Maker%20Con.mp4?dl=0