Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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Well, it may seem I've been remiss in my reporting for a while, but actually I just didn't have much to relate. As I said above, I missed the race in March because I was gone on vacation. The April race was held at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola and I simply chose not to go. It's a 9-hour drive from my home plus a couple of nights in a motel plus meals plus gas for my truck, etc. It's a lot of expense to run two 1-hour races for a chance to win a trophy. Also, the schedule had 3 races on consecutive weekends; Pensacola, FL April 28, Cocoa, FL May 5, Quitman, GA May 12.

The race at Cocoa was hosted by the Florida Solar Energy Center and run in conjunction with their Energy Whiz Olympics. We put our cars on display that morning and in the afternoon we drove the race cars about a half-mile to the Cocoa High School football stadium where we would race on the oval around the football field. A lot of our Electrathon competitors aren't particularly fond of ovals, but as an old stock car racer, it's my "cup of tea". Also, my son and I tried something different this time; bump-drafting! I don't know if anybody else has ever done this in Electrathon, but the idea was intriguing and there is no rule against it, so I equipped our cars with front and rear bumpers to give it a try. I am happy to report that it works!! Even at our modest speeds, two cars slipping through one hole in the air is more efficient than two car running alone. It is typical for our cars to lose a couple of mph near the end of a race as our batteries begin to die. The bump draft allowed us to actually increase our race speed by about 1 mph while decreasing our amp draw. Because of that we were able to maintain constant speed until the end. We finished 2nd and 3rd in the first race. Cliff Rassweiler won with his high-tech 48 volt system.

For the second race, all the high school teams had withdrawn due to mechanical problems. The race organizers suggested (and we all voted unanimously) to run a 25-lap sprint and we were given extra time to change gears. We didn't do any bump-drafting in that race; it was every man for himself. At the drop of the green, my son and I rocketed away from the pack. I had the inside and the lead going into the first turn, but my son, with his slightly higher gear ratio, pulled ahead of me off the second turn. Then Rassweiler's 48 volt system showed its muscle again - he blew our doors off going down the backstretch and ran away with it. Late in the race we were both passed by Rodney Schreck from Miami, so we ended up 3rd and 4th. It took Rassweiler just 11 minutes and 7 seconds to complete the 25 laps. What fun!

The pic below shows us just before I made contact with Jim Jr's rear bumper. I don't have a pic of us actually hooked up.