Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! Glad that your CEO worked his magic in a way that kept everyone safe! No spectators is tough, especially for the students, but IMO it's the prudent answer for now. Congratulations!

No pictures huh?? Well. I guess you did have a great excuse! Congrats on the win and glad to hear someone is getting to have some fun!

So ya did great !!! High five,love it when a plan comes to gether. Go Jim !!!!
I guess Rodney never did race the car he got from Rex,Lance an I , a few years back,
" Rolling Thunder",so he used it for parts,or sold it,or maybe let it rot, if left out side much? I had sold him the outer aero body drawings an plans n parts also,that we never did complet, put on. Was a lot EZer to work on with out a aero body in the way,an at the time ,seem'd none of the tracks we ran on were high enough speed to get a big gain from that.

Hi Bat!
Yes, Rodney has run the "leaner car" several times. He brought it up here after he got it and we updated the roll cage to get it "legal" again (rules had changed a bit since you built it). He removed the derailleur to simplify the drive train and modified the motor mount to accept an Etek motor. He took it to Pensacola and up to the big race in Alabama a couple times and had a couple of decent results. He is still tinkering and experimenting with it, but it's one of six Electrathon cars he has, so he spreads his time around on all of them.

Thanks,was woundering what happened. Interesting about removing gearing advantages,an calling it"Simplify" LOL.
Newer Etek,vs that old Scott was likely good too do,that Scott was one you had used some years before,you were very kind too pitch it in to our pile of parts to build a racer with back then<Always a thank you there.
I looked back too last years pic's to see new roll bar added hoop rule idea you said. Looks pretty good idea.

Hot rod wise,my old 1928A is showing age on Ford V8 Y-block 292. I should of bored it,an new pistons,last time, 10+years ago. Just didn't have the $,an now I've had to replace rings in two cyl.. What I need is to find a fair running Y-292,even if only to use,as I rebuild the used up one in my hot rod. Still same old low $ prob. That last time out was March 8/2020,been just leaking oil on garage floor ever since.

I've been lax in my reporting; sorry for the delay... We had our second race of the season on October 3rd. We were back at Hillsborough Community College again and running the same course as the previous race (Sept 19 - see above). This time the finishing results were reversed between me and Rodney Schreck - he won and I finished second. At the September race Rodney had a battery beginning to fail (dead cell) and dropping voltage. This time, with a new pair of batteries, he was able to fend off my attacks and he beat me by 3 laps on the day.

My and Rodney's cars are very similar (I built both) and we have identical motors and batteries. Whichever one of us beats the other is mostly dependent on traffic and who drives with the most finesse. Since the Covid pandemic is keeping the car count down, traffic was not an issue at either of the races so far. This time Rodney "out-finessed" me. (He's also 40 pounds lighter than me, so that could be a factor...) Anyway, I have attached a pic from the second race of the day. Rodney had just passed me to put me a lap down.

Congrats on another great run Jim, and thanks for the update!

November 7th we ran our third race of the season at Plant City High School in Plant City, Florida (near Tampa). It's been several years since we ran there (2011), so it was like running at a new venue. The parking lot is long and narrow, so the course is similar to a paper clip - long straights with a tight turn at either end. The race organizers put a double chicane on the back stretch just to make it more challenging. The asphalt is old and hasn't been sealed since it was laid, so it's abrasive and very hard on tires.

In the first race I started outside second row (4th). As usual, I took a pretty conservative pace for the first few laps then picked up to a comfortable speed. I usually do that to conserve my batteries for late in a race when I run my fastest laps. Newcomers tend to run fast at first and burn down their batteries, so late in the race I lap them repeatedly. Todd Thuma #38 took the early lead and lapped me within the first 7 minutes. About 10 minutes later he passed me again. I figured he was using his power early and I would get him at the end. Meantime, he and I had both lapped Rodney Schreck at least three times. I didn't see Todd for several laps and then I noticed he was behind me again. I thought he was trying to lap me a third time, but he just stayed there letting me set the pace. (See pic) We cruised that way for quite a while. Then, with 18 minutes left on the clock, it's "time to rock & roll" and I picked up the pace. Soon, Todd was no longer in my mirrors - I was pulling away. A few minutes into my run for the finish, I came off turn four and saw Todd ahead of me, limping to the pits with a flat rear tire. Fourteen minutes remaining... I noticed my left front tire was showing a gray streak in the center of the tread - that means it's worn through the rubber tread and is running on the cord. I slowed my pace hoping to make that tire survive the few remaining minutes. It worked and I won the first race of the day by 4 laps over the #242 car and 5 laps over Rodney Schreck #4.

The second race would not go as well. After leading the Open Class for several laps, one of the rookie drivers crowded me into a traffic cone in turn 3. I came to a stop next to the front stretch curb and had the cone removed from under my right front axle. No damage and only a few seconds lost, I took off now in second place. Two laps later something on the track (rock? twig?) got tangled in my chain and locked up the idler sprocket. I unstrapped and pushed my car to the pits. Whatever it was must have fallen out because I could find nothing wrong. After a short test in the pits I climbed back in the car and got back in the race. Seven laps later the chain jumped off and my day was done. There were four cars in the Open Class and I got 4th place.

Today (Tuesday) I inspected and serviced the car (as I always do after a race) and discovered a mark on the side of the rear tire where something had gotten jammed into the chain idler. It had stretched the spring that tensions the idler and the sudden extreme chain tension also sprung the motor mount slightly, causing sprocket misalignment and the later thrown chain. I repaired all that today and replaced the chain in case it's damaged. It's good to go again. I guess I'll never know what got tangled in the chain; that is a freakish occurrence.

It sounds like you're doing pretty well. Could you make a guard to keep debris from getting at your chain again?

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Sounds like a good outing to me! Congrats Mike!

Just one of those "racing incidents" I guess.. rubbing is racing may apply ?
Oh well, better luck next time, thanks for the update too.

Yes, I probably could make some sort of chain enclosure, but it may make servicing the chain a problem. Funny thing is, I've been racing in Electrathon for 18 years and I've never had it happen before and never heard of anyone else having this particular problem either. We race only on asphalt and the courses are always pretty clean of any debris. It was really a freak incident.

I've had worse days at the track, so I can't complain too much. At least the damage was easily repaired and only cost me a little time and a chain, which I already had.

I've been really lax in my reporting this season. After the November race I sort of "fell out" for a while. I didn't go to the December race in Lee County. It's a two-day event that is 5 hours from home and requires a two-night stay in a motel. I do this for fun and I just can't justify the expense and time for a race where I don't particularly like the course. I also skipped the January race at Wharton high School because it was unusually cold that weekend and I was encountering some health issues. Finally, I got back in action on February 20 as a "team owner". That is, I took my car to the race at Plant City High School, but I didn't drive it. My old friend, Jerry Bristow, was here for his annual winter visit and I let him drive both races. He started mid-pack both times and was leading within a few laps. He won both races, so he was credited with finishing first overall and first in our class (Open Standard Battery). He turned 177 laps total. Jerry is the 3rd car back in the left row (pic below). 2nd pic is us with our trophy (Yes, we are required to wear masks when not driving.)

The March 6th race was cancelled because of rain and rescheduled for April 10th. It's our annual "Dash Races" where the races are shortened to 20 minutes instead of one hour each. In lieu of babying our batteries to make them last an hour, we get to run as fast as we dare - FUN TIMES! Also, I'm building a new car that I hope to have done in time for this event. More on that later...

Glad to see you post, Jim! I was about to text you to be sure you were alive & kicking on your Birthday!

Thanks for your update Jim. Sounds like that last race was a blast for you guys! No so much for the others... LOL

Is that your custom Tee Shirt?