The final race of the season was held May 21st at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds near Tampa, FL. This course was an oval set up in a large parking lot. It had straightaways that measured approximately 625 feet long. At one end the straights were connected by a simple, sweeping U-turn, but at the other end the turn had a decreasing radius that made it a real challenge. I had repaired and reinforced the front spindles on my car after the previous week's race and changed the gear ratio to the same as I ran at Pensacola. I was ready!

The first race went without a problem. I finished in 2nd place in the Open (adult) Division with my batteries still pulling fairly strong. The second race was not so easy. We were only about 8 minutes into the hour when my right front hub blew apart! Fortunately it happened close to my pit and I managed to limp in under my own power, but the brake caliper was badly damaged. I had a spare wheel with me, but didn't have a tire mounted on it. (Hey, I've never had a problem like this before and didn't expect it.) By the time I got the tire on the wheel, the wheel on the car, and the brake caliper working again I had lost over 20 minutes.

With batteries that are 20 minutes fresher than everyone else's, you can run a car pretty hard - and that's just what I did. Passing other cars inside and outside in the corners, blasting past on the straights, sliding around the short-radius turn 3. Well, I made up a few laps, but there's no way to recoup 20 minutes of time lost in the pits. It sure was fun running without regard for saving the batteries, though. I racked up enough laps in the two races to finish 3rd in the Open Division, so I brought home another trophy.

My white car, now owned by the Foundations Christian Academy, finished 2nd in the Student Division in their first outing with it. Needless to say, they are pleased with their purchase. If I could sell a few more of these I could make this hobby pay for itself...