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Welcome Executive Board

CONGRATULATIONS

The 2023 election of our Executive Board has been determined and approved at the August 26th meeting by the members that were present.

Executive Director – Charles Harrison
President – Ryan Norden
Vice President – Jim Truitt
Executive Secretary – Trish Ralph
Treasurer – Fredi Beck
Director of Events – Mike Frederick
Director of Registration – Dawn Swanson
Director of Technology/Communications – Nicodemus Brothers
Community Outreach Directors (3) – Todd Thuma, David Kocher, Victoria Hobbs
Florida Power and Light Liaison – Isabella Burkhardt
Ken Fiallos – Advisor

WELCOME NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS

2022 2023 End of Season Banquet

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

Season Ends at Mulberry High School on May 6 2023

We held our last STEM Electrathon Event for the 2022 2023 Season at Mulberry High School on Saturday, May 6th.

We thank Mulberry Sponsor Todd Thuma, his team and MHS Administration for hosting our event.

We welcome back the University of South Florida team.

The pit area was full of energy as teams got ready for the last race day of the seasonThe teams met with our Race Steward for instructions, flag identification and safety protocols.

The track opened for 30 minutes so that drivers could run practice laps.

The teams lined up for the first raceThe green flag dropped and off they went.
During the first race Kinetic Industries car 19 had a rear tire issue that sent them to the pits. USF car 48 went in and out of the pits so they could make adjustment. The high school teams ran strong as they worked to end the race season as the season point’s winner. Mulberry car 100 had an issue that sent them to the pits.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 93 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 133 with 75 laps
3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 74 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 63 laps
5th Place Middleton car 80 with 61 laps
Mulberry car 100 completed 7 laps (6.15.023) they did not have a cumulative 10 minutes of racing and did not receive season points for this race.

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 90 laps
2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 80 laps
3rd Place Ryno car 360 with 68 laps
4th Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 66 laps
5th Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 35 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 88 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 60 laps
3rd Place USF car 48 with 48 laps

Between races teams worked on their cars and ate some lunch.

Teams lined up for the second raceThe green flag dropped and the teams found their line on the track. Kinetic car 19 had another rear tire issue, sending them to the pits. Teams went through some tires but got them changed out and back into the race.

When the checkered flag dropped ending the second race, the results were:
High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 85 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 83 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 72 laps
4th Place Mulberry car 38 with 67 laps
5th Place Middleton car 133 with 63 laps
6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 43 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 88 laps
2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 82 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 75 laps
4th Place Ryno car 360 with 73 laps
5th Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 16 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 87 laps
2nd Place USF car 48 with 56 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 46 laps

We thank the University of South Florida team for the race video footageTo find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals.

Final results for the race day:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 178 laps2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 146 laps3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 141 laps4th Place Middleton car 133 with 138 laps5th Place Middleton car 80 with 133 laps6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 50 laps
Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 178 laps2nd Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 162 laps3rd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 141 laps (race times of 1.00.08 & 1.00.24)4th Place Ryno car 360 with 141 laps (race times of 1.00.20 & 1.00.30)5th Place Kinetic Ind. Car 19 with 51 laps
Advanced Class
1st Place S & J Racing car 256 with 175 laps2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 106 laps3rd Place USF car 48 with 104 laps

2022 2023 End of Year Banquet

The end of Year Banquet will be held at our Race Stewards (Mike Frederick) American Legion Post 4, 1375 Ariana Street, Lakeland, Florida 33803.

Arrive at the banquet (after the May 6th race at Mulberry High School) between 3pm to 330pm, dinner will be served, and awards will start no later than 4pm.

Beverages (non-alcohol and alcohol) will be paid for by the attendee, not ETO

RSVP had to be turned in by April 25th, 2023. No RSVP will be taken after the deadline.

If you have RSVP, make sure that you attend as Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida is paying for the number of RSVP dinners.

Thanks
Charles Harison

Last Race of 2022 2023 Season Mulberry HS May 6 2023

Our last STEM Electrathon Event for 2022 – 2023 Season will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Mulberry High School. The address is 1 Panther Place, Mulberry, FLorida 33860.

Red Track
Blue Pits
Purple Team Overflow Parking
White Visitor/Guests Parking
Green Scoring Tower and Registration

The awards for this race will be presented at the End of the Year Banquet.
End of Year Banquet will be held at our Race Stewards (Mike Frederick) American Legion Post 4, 1375 Ariana Street, Lakeland, Florida 33803.
Arrive at the banquet after the race, 3pm to 330pm, dinner will be served, and awards will start no later than 4pm.
If you have RSVP, make sure that you attend as Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida is paying for the number of RSVP dinners.
Thanks

2023 Energy Whiz at Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa FL

We held our STEM Electrathon Event at Florida Solar Energy Center (UCF Campus) on Saturday, April 22nd in conjunction with Energy Whiz.

We thank Florida Solar Energy Center for inviting us to participate in the 2023 Energy Whiz. We thank Logan for volunteering all day to help us with flagging teams on parts of our track.

We thank the Eastern Florida State College for the use of their parking lot.

We thank Florida Power and Light, Jason Gaschel and his team for coming to our event. They brought their mobile unit and spent the entire day with us. The FPL team learned more about our Electrathon teams and organization. Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida will be there to assist them in their future plans to support students in the State of Florida. We welcome a new team from Florida Atlantic University High School. Allan Phipps and his team brought their car out for its debut. Even though they met challenges with the new car, they did not give up and showed all of us how strong of a team they are. We were honored to have them at our race and hope they come all the time. The pit area was busy before the races as teams made final adjustments to their cars.The teams met with our Race Steward for instructions, flag identification and safety protocols.

The track opened for 30 minutes so that drivers could run practice laps.

We missed our high school, open and advanced class teams that were not able to attend.

The teams lined up for the first race The green flag dropped and off they went.
During the first race Plant City car 208 had controller issues, FAU car 24 had controller and body issues and Pro EV car 39 had chain and rear wheel weld issues ending their race day.

When the checkered flag dropped, ending the first race, the results were:

High School Class
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 67 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 59 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 57 laps
4th Place Middleton car 80 with 56 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 49 laps
6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 45 laps
7th Place Florida Atlantic University High School with 17 laps
8th Place Plant City car 208 with 11 laps

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 69 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 17 laps

Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car39 with 30 laps

Between races teams checked out the solar cooking, junior Solar sprint and food trucks.

We changed the course as one area had issues causing driver pain and car damage. Teams lined up for the second race, the green flag dropped and the race went well. We had a few transponder issues but other than that a great race. When the checkered flag dropped it was
High School Class
Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 80 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 78 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 67 laps
4th Place Middleton car 133 with 62 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 60 laps
6th Place Florida Atlantic car 24 with 36
7th Place Mulberry car 100 with 34 laps
Plant City car 208 was not able to run

Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 83 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 80 laps

Advanced Class
Pro EV car 39 was not able to run

To find our overall race results for the day we add the two race lap totals. Final results for the race day:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 149 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 137 3rd Place Middleton car 80 with 123 4th Place Middleton car 133 with 119 laps 5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 109 laps 6th Place Mulberry car 100 with 76 laps 7th Place Florida Atlantic University High School car 24 with 53 laps 8th Place Plant City car 208 with 11 laps Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 152 laps 2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 97 laps Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 30 laps

Our next race will be held at Mulberry High School on May 6th followed by our end of year banquet at American Legion Post 4. We thank our Race Steward Mike Frederick for getting his Post for our banquet.