It was a great day for racing, Sunny, Clear Skies, Cool Temps and a great USF\u00a0course.\u00a0This is the 8th time we have raced at USF and it has always been\u00a0a great event on our most challenging course.\u00a0Its a great test of teams and equipment.<\/p>\n
As the cars lined up for the start of the first race\u00a0and were checking their transponders for the automatic scoring system, a HITCH\u00a0struck the 80 car from Middleton High School.\u00a0As 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.\u00a0A catastrophic steering system\u00a0failure. The team had to carry the car back to the pits to work on it.<\/p>\n
The race started on time with the Electrocutioners in the #8 and #90 cars and the\u00a0Tiger Racing #4 car jumping out to an early lead and stayed there.\u00a0The #8 car which is one of the faster cars had problems with charging the Lithium Ion batteries and\u00a0ran\u00a0low of battery power\u00a0and had to withdraw late in the race and was not able to start the second race.\u00a0The 90 car was the class of the field taking both class races and\u00a0First Overall with 150 laps.<\/p>\n
Simmons Career Center showed up with a new car.\u00a0The #35 car was built by Robinson Racing and was one of the faster cars during the day.\u00a0They were the first in the High School division first race by one lap over the TBT 242 car.\u00a0In the second race they got bumped with 10 min, to go and had to pit.\u00a0That allowed the TBT 242 car to pick up laps and finish first overall in the High School Class\u00a0by three laps.<\/p>\n
Wharton High in\u00a0the 58 car had a drive wheel eat up the bearings and had to withdraw in the first race.\u00a0 They were turning some fast laps\u00a0when it happened.<\/p>\n
Now back\u00a0to the HITCH\/disaster with the\u00a0Middleton 80 car.\u00a0They pulled off a feat never seen before in an Electrathon race.\u00a0They first repaired the steering system with\u00a0the welder they just happened to bring with them.\u00a0When the\u00a0repair didn’t work\u00a0they\u00a0 fabricated a complete new steering system and had it ready to go for the second race where they put in some fast laps.<\/p>\n
We had some Electrathon Alumni stop by.\u00a0 We want to give a shout out to Ken Nay, a retired instructor from Plant City and\u00a0his number one driver and builder\u00a0Zack also from\u00a0Plant City.\u00a0 They\u00a0stopped by to say hello and just like when they were running their cars back\u00a0in\u00a0the day they jumped in and helped Middleton with their car.<\/p>\n
We have a race scheduled at the Florida Solar Energy Center later this year and representatives from\u00a0the center\u00a0came over to check out the Expo and our race.\u00a0They had many favorable comments on our race, the teams, the pits and the enthusiasm and cooperation exhibited by all.<\/p>\n
High School Division:\u00a0 1st TBT, 2nd Simmons, 3rd Brandon 14,\u00a04th Brandon 09,\u00a05th Middleton, 6th Wharton<\/p>\n
Open Class Division:\u00a01st Tiger Racing,\u00a02nd USF,\u00a03rd Robinson Racing<\/p>\n
Experimental Battery\u00a0Division:\u00a01st Electrocutioners\u00a090,\u00a02nd Electrocutioners 08<\/p>\n
Next race is on the track\u00a0at Middleton High School on March 12th.\u00a0\u00a0Hope to see everyone there.<\/p>\n
Vic Nieves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a great day for racing, Sunny, Clear Skies, Cool Temps and a great USF\u00a0course.\u00a0This is the 8th time we have raced at USF and it has always been\u00a0a great event on our most challenging course.\u00a0Its a great test of teams and equipment. As the cars lined up for the start of the first … Continue reading 8Th Annual USF Electrathon Comes Off Without a Hitch – Almost<\/span> ![\"2-20-16](\"http:\/\/electrathonoftampabay.org\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2-20-16-USF.jpg\")
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