We held the first race in the year 2022 at Plant City High School. We thank PCHS Electrathon Sponsor David Kocher, his team and Administration for hosting our event.
As teams arrived for the fun filled day of STEM Electrathon Racing the final touches were being done to the course. A total of twelve cars arrived for this race day.
Teams lined up for the first racenot all the cars took off when the green flag dropped. A couple cars had to reset their shut off switch and off they went.
The course was challenging for the number of cars we had. We may split up the cars in the future at this venue and run more races safely.
The cars ran well the first race, at the end of the first race:
High School Class
1st Place Plant City car 210 with 83 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 77 laps (faster race time than Mulberry)
3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 77 laps
4th Place Middleton car 80 with 69 laps
5th Place Plant City car 208 with 55 laps
Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 83 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet Racing Car 94 with 81 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Industries car 19 with 73 laps
4th Place Kinetic Industries car 99 with 55 laps (photo from previous race)
Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 105 laps
2nd Place Fortuna car 444 with 80 laps (photo from previous race)
3rd Place Silver Bullet Racing Car 13 with 77 laps
Between races teams made some adjustments to their cars and changed tires. When lineup was called for the second race, all twelve cars were ready to go. There were no issues when the green flag dropped to start the race. During the race, teams had tire issues, chain issue’s, battery issues.
At the end of the second race:
High School Class
1st Place Middleton car 80 with 80 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 60 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 210 with 59 laps
4th Place Plant City car 208 with 48 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 22 laps
Open Class
1st Place Silver Bullet Racing Car 94 with 87 laps
2nd Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 85 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Industries car 19 with 83 laps
4th Kinetic Industries car 99 with 64 laps
Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 99 laps
2nd Place Fortuna car 444 with 83 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet Racing car 13 with 76 laps
The laps were added together for both races to determine the overall results for each class of cars.
High School Class
1st Place Middleton car 80 with 149 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 210 with 142 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 83 with 137 laps
4th Place Plant City car 208 with 103 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 99 laps
Open Class
1st Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 168 laps (total race time combined 2.00.11)
2nd Place Silver Bullet Racing car 94 with 168 laps (total race time combined 2.00.27)
3rd Place Kinetic Industries car 19 with 156 laps
4th Place Kinetic Industries car 99 with 119 laps
Advanced Class
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 204 laps
2nd Place Fortuna car 444 with 163 laps
3rd Place Silver Bullet Racing car 13 with 153 laps
On Saturday, December 11th, we held our STEM Electrathon Rally at Middleton High School in Tampa. We thank Middleton HS Electrathon Sponsor William Knight, his Team and Administration for hosting our event. It has been quite a few years since we held a race at Middleton. They have an awesome parking lot that has turns and some changes in track evaluation. Mulberry Sponsor Todd Thuma brought out his distance measuring wheel and found the track to be 2,075 feet or .393 tenths of a mile.
We had two new cars on the track for this race. Middleton HS brought out their new car that they finished the week of the race.Jim Robinson (Silver Bullet Racing) brought out his new car that was built in the past month to run in the Advanced Battery Class.
We had 11 cars line up for the first race.
Race Steward Mike Frederick waived the green flag, and they were off for the first hour of competition. The first race proved to be challenging for our teams. The Kinetic Industries car 99 had chain and tire issues along with new batteries that developed dead cells. Plant City HS car 208 had the weld on their mirrors let go, dropping them onto the track. Tiger Racing, car 4 experienced more of a draw on one battery. Silver Bullets new car had its fill of chain issue’s. Mulberry car 38 had chain and tire issues. Plant City car 210 had issues with the rear wheel axle.
At the end of the first race:
High School
1st Place Plant City car 210 with 44 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 42 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 208 with 26 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 24 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 15 laps
Open Class
1st Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 51 laps (faster race time)
2nd Tiger Racing car 4 with 51 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 41 laps
4th Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 (919) with 13 laps
Advanced Class
1st Place Fortuna car 444 with 52 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 11 laps
After the first race, teams worked on their cars making adjustments so that they were ready for the second race.
When the teams lined up for the second race, 11 cars were ready to give it another go on this track. The green flag dropped, and the teams took off for another hour of racing. The Fortuna car 444 had their floor pan come loose causing them to head for the pits. Mulberry car 38 continued with issues carried over from the first race, chain and tire issues. The Kinetic Ind. 99 car continued to have battery issues. The new Silver Bullet car 13 once again had issues that sent them to the pits.
At the end of the second race:
High School Class
1st Place Plant City car 210 with 50 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 39 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 83 with 28 laps
4th Place Plant City car 208 with 26 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 18 laps
Open Class
1st Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 51 laps
2nd Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 50 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 41 laps
4th Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 7 laps
Advanced Battery Class
1st Place Fortuna car 444 with 42 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 10 laps
The total laps from both races were combined to determine the final results for the day.
High School Class
1st Place Plant City car 210 with 94 laps
2nd Place Middleton car 80 with 81 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 208 with 52 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 52 laps
5th Place Mulberry car 38 with 33 laps
Open Class
1st Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 102 laps
2nd Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 101 laps
3rd Place Kinetic Ind. car 19 with 82 laps
4th Place Kinetic Ind. car 99 with 20 laps
Advanced Battery Class
1st Place Fortuna car 444 with 94 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 21 laps
Our next race will be held at Plant City High School on Saturday, January 8, 2022
Our next race will be held on December 11, 2021 at Middleton High School located at 4801 North 22nd Street in Tampa Florida. This road course is a challenge for teams and cars as it has changes in track elevation along with some turns.
We will do a partial set up on Friday around 430pm and finish the set up of the scoring tower and registration area on Saturday morning at 630am.
We invite everyone to this fun filled FREE day of STEM Electrathon Racing for the entire family and friends, come out and support our high school, college and enthusiast while they compete at this race.
RED – TRACK
YELLOW – SAFETY BARRIER
BLUE – PIT AREA
GREEN – REGISTRATION/SCORING
BLACK – SCORING TOWER
On November 6th we held our Annual STEM Electrathon Dash Race at Plant City High School (PCHS). We thank PCHS Electrathon Sponsors David Kocher, Fernando Guillen, their team and Administration for hosting our races.
We arrived as the rain was coming to an end for the day but the cold breeze continued to keep it cooler than normal. While set up began and our teams arrived, we had to work around the water sprinklers that were soaking the football field and spraying the track and scoring tower.
Our annual STEM dash race allows the driver to race their car at its best performance for 20 minutes on one set of batteries (most laps wins). This time we divided up the cars by class and ran a total of seven races.
In the first race, we had four high school cars, Mulberry car 38 and Plant City cars 83, 208 and 210. The cars performed very well with only a few minor issues towards the end of the race. The receivers on our scoring tower did not do as well with the sprinklers pounding water into them before we could get it stopped. Our race lap totals were done the old way, pen and paper.
When the checkered flag dropped ending the high schools first race it was:
1st Place Mulberry car 38 with 34 laps
2nd Place was a tie between Plant City car 208 and 210 with 26 laps
4th Place Plant City car 83 with 24 laps
In the second race of the day we had four Open Class cars, Kinetic Industries cars 19 and 919, Silver Bullet car 94 and Tiger Racing car 4. The Silver Bullet car 94 and Kinetic car 919 kept the pace and tied for 1st Place.
When the checkered flag dropped ending the Open Class first race it was:
1st Place Silver Bullet car 94 and Kinetic Industries car 919 tied with 35 laps
3rd Place Tiger Racing with 32 laps
4th Place Kinetic car 19 with 27 laps
The third race of the day had four Advanced Battery Class cars, University of South Florida car 48, Pro EV car 39, Silver Bullet car 13 and Fortuna car 444. The Fortuna car had a returning driver, Lizzy Bailey from the Middleton HS team a few years ago, she shared driving with Victoria Hobbs.
Lizzy Bailey and Josh Ridout were both drivers for the Middleton HS Team until they graduated (maybe we can get Josh back in the drivers seat for a team).
The advanced cars performed well and the drivers did not push their cars on the still wet track putting safety first.
The checkered flag dropped with:
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 42 laps
2nd Place Fortuna car 444 and University of South Florida car 48 tied with 40 laps
4th Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 35 laps
We had our special dash race where Team Sponsors, Principals and Executive Board Members (not the regular driver) got into cars and raced for 20 minutes. Mulberry HS Sponsor Todd Thuma drove car 38, Silver Bullet Sponsor, Jim Robinson drove car 94 and Plant City HS Sponsor David Kocher drove car 210. All the cars and drivers did well. Todd did not have a fresh set of batteries as he saved the charged set for his students second race. We tried to get Todd to go faster with a bribe of a donut that would be waiting for him.
When the checkered flag dropped it was:
1st Place Plant City HS car 210 with 39 laps
2nd Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 34 laps
3rd Place Mulberry car 38 with 33 laps
As the high school teams lined up for their second race of the day, the excitement filled the air as the teams were all so close on lap counts that anyone could take the gold for the race day. The drivers did well and the cars performed without major issues.
At the end of the race it was:
1st Place Mulberry car 38 with 38 laps
2nd Place Plant City car 83 with 34 laps
3rd Place Plant City car 210 with 33 laps
4th Place Plant City car 208 with 28 laps
The second race for our Open Class went well, Caleb in the Kinetic Industries car 19 found a line on the track and stayed steady the entire race.
When the checkered flag dropped it was:
1st Place Silver Bullet car 94 with 39 laps
2nd Place Tiger Racing car 4 with 36 laps (Rodney said he hit 40 mph during the race)
3rd Place Kinetic Industries car 919 with 32 laps
4th Place Kinetic Industries car 19 with 25 laps
The last race of the day found the advanced cars running on a dry track. Pro EV car 39 and University of South Florida car 48 ran strong races finishing with just one lap difference. The Pro EV car could be heard when Cliff accelerated on the straight away (awesome sound). We had to really pay attention when the Fortuna car 444 came around the track as it is so quite you would never know it was going by.
Pro EV shared the video from the 2nd race before the checkered flag dropped. He also shared the entire video for the 2nd race
When the checkered flag dropped it was:
1st Place Pro EV car 39 with 44 laps
2nd Place University of South Florida car 48 with 43 laps
3rd Place Fortuna car 444 with 29 laps
4th Place Silver Bullet car 13 with 12 laps (did not race the entire time as something came loose in one of the wheels)
The totals from both races were combined for the overall winners for the day.
In the High School Class it was:
Gold Metal (1st Place) Mulberry car 38 with 72 laps
Silver Metal (2nd Place) Plant City car 210 with 59 laps
Bronze Metal (3rd Place) Plant City car 83 with 58 laps
Plant City car 208 with 54 laps received an honorable mention (4th Place)
Our High School Winners
In the Open Class it was:
Gold Metal (1st Place) Silver Bullet car 94 with 74 laps
Silver Metal (2nd Place) Tiger Racing car 4 with 68 laps
Bronze Metal (3rd Place) Kinetic Industries car 919 with 67 laps
Kinetic Industries car 19 received an honorable mention (4th Place) with 52 laps
In the Advanced Battery Class it was:
Gold Metal (1st Place) Pro EV car 39 with 86 laps
Silver Metal (2nd Place) University of South Florida car 48 with 83 laps
Bronze Metal (3rd Place) Fortuna car 444 with 69 laps
Silver Bullet car 13 with 47 laps received an honorable mention (4th Place)
Our next race will be held on December 11th at Middleton High School.
On November 6, 2021, Electrathon of Tampa Bay/Florida; will hold the third race of the 2021–2022 season. The host will be Plant City High School located at 1 Raider Place, Plant City, Florida. The races will be held on the football field’s track.
This race is our “DASH” STEM Electrathon Rally. Teams will drive their cars at the safest optimal performance for 20 minutes, most laps wins.
We will also have our “Sponsor/Board Members Dash Race.” Team Sponsors and Executive Board Members will drive a car (non-advanced battery) for 20 minutes.
Health and safety guidelines will continue due to COVID. Masks are expected at this Plant City High School sponsored event.
All parent consent and minor waivers must be turned in at the registration booth when you sign in. Team Sponsors cannot sign these forms for participation.
All drivers will weigh in and must have their long sleeve shirt, long pants, helmet, shoes, gloves, eye protection and required ballast for weigh in so that they are a minimum of 180lbs. Ballasts will be checked when cars line up to race.
All Advanced Battery Division teams will be required to provide a copy of the manufacturer’s specs for the weight of the batteries to comply with Electrathon America and ETO rules for advanced batteries. If a team does not have their manufacturer’s specs sheet, the batteries will need to be weighed at the race.
Car inspections will be performed at each race, roll bars, brake test, and driver exit of vehicle will be key factors this year for the safety of all drivers.
Anyone planning on driving a car in these races will be required to attend the Driver Meeting with the Race Steward for information on driving, flags and safety protocols.
