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.

Lennard High School tested their new Electrathon today. Team Sponsor Jim Reve and his Electrathon Team are energized and ready for our March 12, 2016 race at Middleton High School. We welcome them to the Electrathon Family.

It was a great day for racing, Sunny, Clear Skies, Cool Temps and a great USF course. This is the 8th time we have raced at USF and it has always been a great event on our most challenging course. Its a great test of teams and equipment.

As the cars lined up for the start of the first race and were checking their transponders for the automatic scoring system, a HITCH struck the 80 car from Middleton High School. As they were pushing the car under the scoring bridge to check the transponder they noticed that one of the front wheels was going straight and the other was in a hard right turn. A catastrophic steering system failure. The team had to carry the car back to the pits to work on it.

The race started on time with the Electrocutioners in the #8 and #90 cars and the Tiger Racing #4 car jumping out to an early lead and stayed there. The #8 car which is one of the faster cars had problems with charging the Lithium Ion batteries and ran low of battery power and had to withdraw late in the race and was not able to start the second race. The 90 car was the class of the field taking both class races and First Overall with 150 laps.

Simmons Career Center showed up with a new car. The #35 car was built by Robinson Racing and was one of the faster cars during the day. They were the first in the High School division first race by one lap over the TBT 242 car. In the second race they got bumped with 10 min, to go and had to pit. That allowed the TBT 242 car to pick up laps and finish first overall in the High School Class by three laps.

Wharton High in the 58 car had a drive wheel eat up the bearings and had to withdraw in the first race.  They were turning some fast laps when it happened.

Now back to the HITCH/disaster with the Middleton 80 car. They pulled off a feat never seen before in an Electrathon race. They first repaired the steering system with the welder they just happened to bring with them. When the repair didn’t work they  fabricated a complete new steering system and had it ready to go for the second race where they put in some fast laps.

We had some Electrathon Alumni stop by.  We want to give a shout out to Ken Nay, a retired instructor from Plant City and his number one driver and builder Zack also from Plant City.  They stopped by to say hello and just like when they were running their cars back in the day they jumped in and helped Middleton with their car.

We have a race scheduled at the Florida Solar Energy Center later this year and representatives from the center came over to check out the Expo and our race. They had many favorable comments on our race, the teams, the pits and the enthusiasm and cooperation exhibited by all.

High School Division:  1st TBT, 2nd Simmons, 3rd Brandon 14, 4th Brandon 09, 5th Middleton, 6th Wharton

Open Class Division: 1st Tiger Racing, 2nd USF, 3rd Robinson Racing

Experimental Battery Division: 1st Electrocutioners 90, 2nd Electrocutioners 08

Next race is on the track at Middleton High School on March 12th.  Hope to see everyone there.

Vic Nieves

Our next race will be held at the University of South Florida Campus located at 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa 33620. The Engineering Expo will have events on Friday, February 19, 2016 of which ETO will have cars on display. Our Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) and Electrathon Races will be Saturday, February 20, 2016. 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.

The results from the Wharton Race have been added into the 2015 – 2016 Season Points Stats.

We want to thank the good folks at Olin Mott Tires (528 West Brandon Blvd) for their use of old tires for our Electrathon Race on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at Wharton High School. Olin Mott and his family has supported ETO for a number of years. Please go by and support Olin Mott in Brandon when you make your next tire purchase.

Once again Rob Nolen and his Team at the Lowes in Valrico (1515 East Brandon Blvd) came through for ETO, donating yellow caution tape and a folding six foot table. Since the start of our race season this Lowes has supported ETO each month with a donation for each race. A special thank you to Rob Nolen and everyone at the Valrico Store. Please support them by driving the extra mile to visit their store to purchase your supplies.

It was a brisk morning when the teams started to arrive at Wharton High School for the fifth race of the season. Team members assisted in the set up of the track, moving cones, placing tires and even walking the track to clear any debris that could cause a safety issue. The new trailer that was donated to us was on display and everyone was asked to send us suggestions on setting it up and what we should place on the outside to promote ETO. As the teams lined up for the first race, Electrocutioners Car #90 was back on the track, the only car that accepted our challenge to teams that were missed and wanted back onto the track.

The green flag dropped for the first race at 10am, 12 cars were now competing for the winners circle. Brandon Car #9 had mechanical issues after fifteen laps and had to retire for the day. Tampa Bay Tech Car #242 had numerous challenges in both races as their car continued to put the pit crew to the test. Simmons Car #60 had two of their three wheels loose spokes causing their race day to end after 61 laps.

When the flag dropped for our second race at 1pm, only nine cars were racing for the checkered flag. USF Car #132 spun out sending the driver into a safe area until the pit crew arrived. Middleton Car #133 went over a curb and landed in the grass causing team members to pick up the car to place it back onto the track.

When the day was over the results were announced.

In our High School Division, Middleton Car #80 took 1st place for the day and had the fastest lap for their division 47.244 seconds. Coming in 2nd was Brandon Car #14 and 3rd place was Simmons Career Center.

In our Open Division, Tiger Racing Car #4 driven by Rodney Schreck took 1st place with the fastest lap for the division 47.171 seconds and 2nd place was Team USF in Car #132.

In our Experimental Battery Division, the three Electrocutioner Cars raced hard against one another with only one lap separating them after the first race. Car #72 did not return to the track for the second race as charging issues occurred and the batteries were not ready for the second race. First place was taken by Car #90 with the fastest lap for their division 36.965 seconds beating Pony in Car #8 by two laps for first place.

The results from the Simmons Race have been added into the 2015 – 2016 Season Points Stats.