We held our first STEM Electrathon Event at Hillsborough Community College/Brandon Campus on Saturday, September 16th. We thank HCC, Sami Kadamani and Edwin Kelley for their support of our organization. The set up for our event began before the sun started to rise. We thank those that arrived early to help get things ready. Teams arrived, got signed in and their cars inspected. Our Race Steward Mike Frederick met with everyone for the drivers/teams meeting. The track opened for 30 minutes of practice laps so drivers could get familiar with the course. We had eight cars line up for the first, one hour competition. As the green flag dropped to start the race the cars were slow to get going. The Mulberry 38 car had a wheel weld break before they got to turn one, ending their first race. Just shy of 11 minutes into the race Pro EV car 39 had a motor/sprocket issue sending them to the pits. Mulberry car 100 had their front wheel come apart, the pit crew got a new tire and rim on the car and back into the race they went. Plant City car 83 and Middleton car 80 had battery issues that slowed them down later in the race.
When the checkered flag dropped the standings were:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation car 555 with 95 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 133 with 63 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 83 with 53 laps
4th Place Middleton car 80 with 52 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 100 with 40 laps
Open
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 94 laps
Advanced
1st Place Pro EV with 12 laps
Thank you, Pro EV, Cliff for video clip from the first race.
Between races the teams made adjustments to their cars, ate lunch and checked out each other’s cars. We thank Mike Ralph for welding Mulberry car 38’s rear wheel assembly. The track opened for practice laps and Pro EV car 39 was out there after making the repairs/adjustments that showed up in the first race. We had eight cars line up for the second race of the day. When the green flag dropped the teams seemed determined to do better than the first race. Mulberry car 38 started off the line and threw a chain, they worked to get it lined up and could not get it resolved so they returned to the pits, ending their race day. Kirkland Ranch car 555 had their new driver identifier blocking their transponder signal and had to stop to move its position. Pro EV car 39’s rear wheel issue returned just shy of 12 minutes on the track ending their race day. Mulberry car 100 had chain issues during the race.
When the checkered flag dropped it was:
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 92 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 91 laps
3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 76 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 53 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 100 with 35 laps
Open
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 102 laps
Advanced
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 21 laps
Thank you, Pro EV, Cliff for video clip from the second race.
We add the laps from each race to get our overall race results for the day.
High School
1st Place Kirkland Ranch car 555 with 187 laps 2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 143 laps 3rd Place Middleton car 133 with 139 laps 4th Place Plant City car 83 with 106 laps 5th Place Mulberry car 100 with 75 laps
Open
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 196 laps
Advanced
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 33 laps
The best lap of the day (30.861) was done by Tiger Racing car 4 during the second race.
1st Race of 2023 2024 Season
Our first STEM Electrathon Event for 2023 – 2024 is approaching.
On September 16,2023 we will hold our first event at Hillsborough Community College located at 10451 Nancy Watkins Drive, Tampa FL 3619.
The minor/parental waivers, race day schedule, media release info for minor students have been sent to your email address on file. If you do not receive the email, contact Charles Harrison or Trish Ralph.
Red Track
Yellow Caution Barrier
Green Pits
Black Scoring Tower and Registration
Overflow parking will be in the parking lot EAST of the track.
August 26 2023 Workday at Middleton HS
We had a great workday at Middleton High School on Saturday, August 26, 2023. We thank William Knight, his team and Administration for hosting our all-teams workday and meeting. We thank Trish and Dawn for ordering and doing the prep of the food for this event.
Middleton, Mulberry, J & S, Jane Deere, Lyman (E. Coast) and Florida Power and Light attended.
We provided donuts for a morning snack and had sandwich trays, cookies and drinks for lunch.
Thank you everyone that attended.
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
Race Schedule
We have changed the race location for our November and January Races. Please see the update to the schedule.
Charlie
Congratulations
On behalf of Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida, we congratulate our High School Seniors and those getting their degrees at colleges.
Have a supper summer, stay safe and healthy.
Thank You Cliff for Sharing
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