On August 8, 2016 we held our Annual Team Board Meeting at Cracker Barrel in Seffner Florida. We reached many of our Business Plan Goals for 2015 – 2016 and feel we had a great race season.

As we kick off the race season for 2016 – 2017 our Race Schedule in almost done and looks to be a good one. We are trying to combine our races with other site based events so we attract a larger group of spectators. This year we will have new teams, new cars, new drivers, new safety protocols, team structure suggestions. At our first race of the season ETO will hold a 1 hours (730-830) mandatory orientation for everyone.

This year ETO will assist teams in attending races in Pensacola (Five Flags Speedway), Quitman GA (Run for the Peaches), and Alabama (Barber Motor Sports) by transporting team cars and some equipment in our ETO trailer. This will be done on a first come basis; teams should send a written reservation to Charles Harrison. Our ETO trailer will hold 3 or 4 cars and equipment.

Hope to see everyone at our first race

We will be holding our annual Board Meeting that consists of the Executive Board and representatives from every team (Sponsor/Team Captains/Designee) on August 8, 2016 at the Cracker Barrel located by Lazy Days RV in Seffner Florida. The meeting will start at 430p.m. come early to eat and socialize before the meeting.

Visit the Photo Album for the awards banquet at: (Copy and paste link into Browser) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132647601@N06/sets/72157669368364175

First of all, I want to apologize for the late posting for our end of the year banquet

Charles Harrison, ETO President

We had our banquet on June 4, 2016; the food catered by Whaley’s was amazing. Fredi Beck and her ETO helpers once again hosted an excellent banquet. The guest speaker for the evening was Rodney Schreck of Tiger Racing. Rodney, an Electrathon Racer for over 20 years gave a summary of his 2015 -2016 race season. He attended all nine of our races and then traveled to Electrathon races at Barber Motor Sports in Alabama, Touchstone Energy in Beloit Kansas, Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola Florida, Sunflower Electro Rally in Scott City Kansas and Run for the Peaches in Quitman Georgia. Rodney drove over 2,000 laps this season in his Tiger Racing Electrathon car. Thank you Rodney for the insight on motors, gears and how races are held outside of our area.

Our awards for the 2015 – 2016 Electrathon Race Season

High School Class

1st Place – Simmons Career Center, Car #35

2nd Place – Tampa Bay Tech, Car #242

3rd Place – Middleton, Car #80

Open Class

1st Place – Tiger Racing, Car #4

2nd Place – University of South Florida, Car #132

3rd Place – Robinson Racing, Car #94

Experimental Class

1st Place – Electrocutioners, Car #8

2nd Place – Electrocutioners, Car #72

3rd Place – Pro EV, Car #39

Team Leader Awards

Brandon High School – Hannah Tracy

Middleton High School – Ryan Norden

Simmons Career Center – Jesus Esquivel

Tampa Bay Tech High School – Juan Jimenez

Wharton High School – Erica Winfrey

University of South Florida – Aditya Chelikani

Most Laps

1,160 laps – High School Class – Simmons Career Center, Car #35

1,368 laps – Open Class – Tiger Racing, Car #4

1,194 laps – Experimental Class – Electrocutioners, Car #8

ETO Team Advisor of the Year

Kyle Thompson – Middleton High School

ETO Sponsor of the Year

Bob Clarke, Owner, Clarke Automotive, Brandon Florida

Corporate Sponsor of the Year

Rob Nolen, Store Manager, Lowes #2282 in Valrico Florida

Visit the Photo Album for this event at these two links: (Copy and paste link into Browser) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132647601@N06/albums/72157668752352541 https://www.flickr.com/photos/132647601@N06/sets/72157668167965661

A total of 15 cars registered for the last race of the season at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa on May 14, 2016. The staff at the Florida Solar Energy Center assisted us in getting the track set up and allowed us to secure our ETO trailer on site the night before. A special thank you goes to Ken Fiallos for coming with Charles Harrison on Friday to set all of the stakes for our safety barriers.

The new Team from Palm Bay Magnet High School arrived and finished getting their car ready to race for the first time. University of Central Florida and Seminole State College had challenges with their new cars preventing the cars from making the race. The green flag for our first race dropped at 10 am with 13 cars ready to race. The Palm Bay Magnet High School Team met challenges as their car tested their team member’s ability to stay in the race. The team met the challenges and would not give up; great team work and determination to stay in the race. A new team and car coming to their first race always meet challenges with their car as a race is the test for the team to perform at a higher level in this sport. The first race went well, 1^st Place in HS – Simmons Car 35, 1^st Place in Open – Robinson and Son Car 94 matching their lap count to their car number, 1^st Place in Experimental Battery – Electrocutioners Car 8.

As the flagged dropped for the second race at 1 pm, all 13 cars were back on the track ready to race. Once again our new team from Palm Bay Magnet High School met challenges with their car, the great team and sponsor decided to call it a day. We know that they will be back for our new season and have the challenges conquered. The second race also went well, 1^st Place in HS – Middleton Car 80, 1^st Place in Open – Robinson and Son Car 94 once again matching their lap count to their car number, 1^st Place in Experimental Battery – Electrocutioners Car 8.

When the race day ended and our canopies came down it hit us that this race season was over and the time we spend every month with our ETO friends and families will be put on hold until the new race season begins in September.

Please have a safe and enjoyable summer.

Final  official stats for the year will be available at the end of the year banquet.  Stats for 2015-2016 After 9 Races. Final Stats

The 2015 – 2016 Electrathon and Junior Solar Sprint Race Season is over; we held nine races at various locations and had a great time. We want to thank everyone that sponsored a race at their location; the site was opened for us to have a Saturday full of fun and camaraderie among our teams.

The ETO Banquet (barbecue) and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at the HCPS Instructional Services Center, 2920 N. 40^th Street, Tampa Florida 33605. The cost is $10.00 adults/$6.00 kids under 12. Please RSVP the number in your party to fredi.beck@sdhc.k12.fl.us.We want to thank our 2015 – 2016 sponsors and supporters for this race season:

• Rob Nolen, Manager of the Valrico Lowes
• Bob Clarke, Owner of Clarke Automotive in Brandon
• Parrot Signs
• Debbie Dixon, Great Florida Insurance, Lakeland Florida
• Dan McFarland, Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Larry Plank, Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Cliff Rassweiler, Team Pro EV
• Rodney Schreck, Team Tiger Racing
• Vic Nieves, Retiree Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Jim Robinson, Team Robinson and Son
• Laura and Richard Epperson, Friends of ETO
• Numerous individuals that made cash donations to support Electrathon of Tampa Bay

UPDATE

On 4/21/16 we met with the staff at the Florida Solar Energy Center to plan the course for our race (1062′). TEAMS MUST PRE-REGISTER USING THE LINK BELOW.

Our next race (last one of the season) will be on May 14, 2016 at the Florida Solar Energy Center located at 1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, Florida. We will be meeting soon to plan the course.

The Florida Solar Energy Center’s Energy Whiz is all about clean energy and creative kids. Once a year hundreds of students converge at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Florida to participate in renewable energy competitions. Created by the Florida Solar Energy Center in 1999, the Energy Whiz is a forum for students to demonstrate their science, technology, engineering, artistic and mathematics (STEAM) knowledge and skills, as they relate to energy topics such as solar thermal, photovoltaic’s (PV) and hydrogen technologies. Competitions include: Junior Solar Sprint, Critter Comfort Cottage, Energy Transfer Machine, Solar Energy Cook-off, Energy Innovations, Hydrogen Challenge, and of course, the Energy Whiz EVTC Electrathon race.

For more information about the Energy Whiz Olympics, you may download their brochure at http://www.energywhiz.com/energywhiz/EWO-brochure_EW-10.pdf.

ATTENTION: TEAMS

If you intend to participate in the Electrathon race held at the Florida Solar Energy Center during the Energy Whiz Olympics on May 14, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER. TO REGISTER, click on this link, complete the form, and click the “submit” button at the end of the registration page.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/98GZ8C6

Our last local race of the season set two records with our largest fields and our longest course. With over a third mile course and 15 cars it made for an eventful weekend. The number and quality of the cars is getting better each race. New cars and teams are coming to the front and all the teams will have to work to keep up. The High School Class is now on a par with the Open Class for lap count and speed.

The course in front of the Special Events Center at the Florida State Fairgrounds was a long rectangle with an S and a 135 and 45 degree turn on the far end. The teams managed to get thru there with only a few bumps and spins but there was a lot of grass torn up over the course of two races. Hope we don’t have to replace the grass.

The High School Class had its biggest field of the year with 9 cars and 6 teams. In the Experimental Battery Class all three of the Electrocutioners were there along with the return of Pro EV. The Open Class was missing the Robinson Racing Team since Jim Robinson sold both of his cars and did not finish a new car in time for this race, so it was left up to USF and Tiger Racing to battle it out.

In the Open Class Tiger Racing and USF traded 1st and 2nd place finishes and the same lap count. Tiger Racing came out on top by 16 seconds over the two hours of racing.

Rumor has it that Jim Robinson will be at the Florida Solar Energy Center race in May. Another rumor has new Open Class cars from the Orland area representing Seminole State College and U.C.F. Both Teams expected to be at the Florida Solar Energy Center race in May. Team members from these colleges were at the Fairgrounds race to check out how its done and are enthusiastic.

There was a little drama before the first race when the Middleton girl’s team had their car and driver there but tools were late arriving, so they had to really hustle to get the car set up for the race.

After the first race, the Brandon team had a problem with their drive wheel on one of their cars and was in danger of missing the start of the second race. ETO had a car on display inside the MakerCon exhibit that wound up missing the drive wheel for part of the day. Brandon somehow was able to start the second race on time with a perfectly good drive wheel.

The only trading paint, that I am aware of, happened in the first race when a high school car ran up on the back end of the Pro EV 39 car going into the turns. The Pro EV car has regenerative braking which helps recharge the batteries during the race. To do this the freewheel on the drive wheel is replaced with a fixed gear that turns the motor into a generator when the driver lets off of the throttle. It automatically slows the car and the trailing car was not expecting that. The 39 car was run into and two trailing cars had to take evasive action resulting in a spin and some torn up grass. The 39 car had to withdraw to check the rear end and drive system.

The Experimental Battery Class was on fire racking up over 30 more laps than the other classes. They are running Lithium Ion batteries which only weigh 15-18 lbs. Teams recharge their batteries between races so they only need one set as opposed to the HS and Open Class with lead acid batteries and 73 lbs.

In the second race the TBT team rolled the dice and tried a 48 volt battery pack. Most of the cars use a 24 volt battery pack. By going to 48 volts, the motor speed is doubled along with a much higher potential for speed. Good idea but the battery pack didn’t last and the team saw their lap count drop dramatically. The Middleton teams are having good success with 48 volts.

Wharton HS was back in action after missing some races and Lennard HS, the new kid on the block was back for their second race. Both teams put up some respectable lap counts and no problems.

In the Experimental Class Drew and Pony continue to cause confusion on who is driving which car by switching drivers from race to race in the 08 and 72 cars. Overall finish was 08 1st, 72 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd with Slam at the wheel and the 39 in 4th.

In the HS Class it was Simmons 35 in 1st, Middleton 80 in 2nd, Middleton Girls 133 in 3rd, Simmons 53 in 4th, Brandon 14 in 5th, Wharton 58 in 6th, Lennard 86 in 7th, TBT 242 in 8th, and Brandon 09 in 9th.

I want to give a shout out to the Florida State Fair Crew for their help with last minute issues to get the  course ready and safe.

A shout out also to Steve Lamson and his friend from Post FX Digital Studios from Orlando. They were busy all day getting interviews, video and stills of the races. Can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Our last race of the season is May 14th at the Florida Solar Energy Center over in Cocoa. Plans are being finalized and we look forward to another great race to end the season.

The end of year banquet and awards are coming up, we will pass on the info as soon as it is finalized.

Stats for 2015-2016 After 8 Races-1
Vic Nieves

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

Our next race will be held on April 9, 2016 at the Florida State Fairgrounds located at 4800 US Hwy 301 in Tampa Florida. Our track is 1710′ long and includes an S curve and a tight turn on the North end of the track. Our first race will be at 10am and our second race will be at 1pm. This race will be part of the 2016 MakerCon Event which will include mechanical, electrical, communications, transportation, hardware and software development, heritage crafts and trades, arts, music, gaming, modeling and simulation, and STEM initiatives.  We will have one of our Electrathon cars (ETO Car 60) on display inside with brochures for guests attending the event.

http://gulfcoastmakers.com/gulf-coast-makercon/

For the first time in Electrathon of Tampa Bay history teams went for speed over endurance but endurance did pop up in the first race. The races were held on the flat 1/4 running track at Middleton High School.

A normal race day has two one hour endurance races. This time around the teams went for speed over a pair of 20 min. races. One third the time of a regular race. With one third the time conventional wisdom would say you would not run out of battery power. Over two races a couple of teams did manage to run low on power.

In the first race of the High School Class the Middleton 80 car with their big gears installed jumped out to a very fast start and a commanding lead. They ran out of power late in the race and finished second to the Middleton Girls Team in the 133 car by one lap. But they also turned in the fastest lap of the day for the High School Class at 26.684 sec. over 1/4 mile for 33.72 mph. The fastest lap of the day was in the Experimental Battery Class by the Electrocutioners in the 90 car at 25.644 sec. for 37.908 mph.

If the Middleton girls could get some new/better batteries I think they could take the boys team on a regular basis. The car is fast enough.

Race day saw some new cars and new faces competing. Simmons Career Center showed up with their second car and a new driver. We want to welcome Lennard High School and their 86 car. For their first ever race day they posted very respectable lap totals. In the spirit of sportsmanship Simmons loaned Lennard a set of batteries for the second race since Lennard only has one set of batteries. As a new team they are still assembling the gear for their team.

In the open class Rodney in the 04 battled USF in the 132 car both races to come out on top.  They were together in the first race till a few min. to go then the 04 took off for a one lap win with 34 total.  In the second race the 04 car picked it up quite a bit and put in 39 laps.

In the Experimental Battery Class it was Drew and Pony and then Pony and Drew trading wins and cars in the two races. In the first race it was Drew in the 90 with 45 laps and Pony in the 72 with 45 laps with Drew by 3 sec. for 1st.

In the second race it was Pony in the 90 car with 45 laps and Drew in the 72 car with 44.

Both races went off without a hitch and the closest we came to an OOOPS was late in the first race when Pony in the 72 car got into the grass coming off of the last turn. She was able to recover with no problem but after race when she was in the pits one of her tires blew out. She literally drove the wheels off of her car.

The High School class is improving and getting bigger all the time. The cars are getting better and the drivers are getting more experienced. There was not a lot of difference between the Open and High School Class with the High School getting closer to the Open Class in overall performance.

Our next race in at the Florida State Fairground. We will NOT be using last years course. We will have a course picked out next week.

Open Class   1st  Tiger Racing 04 car 73 laps, 2nd  USF 132 car 68 laps

Ex. Battery   1st  Electrocutioners 90 car 90 laps, 2nd Electrocutioners 72 car  89 laps

High School  1st Middleton 80 car 74 laps, 2nd Tampa Bay Tech 242, 3rd Middleton 133 car, 4th Simmons 53 car, 5th Simmons 35 car, 6th Brandon 14 car, 7th Lennard 86 car, 8th Brandon 09 car

Stats for 2015-2016 After 7 Races-1

Our next race will be held at Middleton High School, located at 4801 N. 22nd Street, Tampa, FL 33610 on March 12, 2016. This race will be unlike our normal races as our drivers will have only 20 minutes to obtain as many laps as possible. The course will be the oval track at the stadium. In between our Electrathon races, 11am to 1230pm our Junior Solar Sprint Teams will be racing their cars.

Our High School and College Divisions will race at the same time, line up for the first race will be at 945am, green flag racing will be 10am to 1020am. The second race line up will be at 1245pm, green flag racing will be 1pm to 120pm.

Our Open and Experimental Divisions will race at the same time, line up for the first race will be at 1025am, green flag racing will be 1040am to 1100am. The second race line up will be at 125pm, green flag racing will be 140pm to 2pm.