Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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Another outing and another first place on Saturday (4-6-19)... Ok, that's a little over simplified. This past Saturday was our annual "Speed Event" where the races are shortened to 20 minutes instead of 1 hour. The shortened time allows us to gear the cars up and run much faster because we don't have to conserve battery power. Instead of cruising around watching the ammeter we accelerate off the corners and go as fast as we feel comfortable in the turns. We run this event on a flat quarter-mile oval around a football field. We had a lot of fun, as usual, and I managed to take first place, but it was a close battle. My good friend and unofficial teammate, Rodney Schreck from Miami, was nipping at my tail in both races and finished right behind me both times. When our total laps and race times were added up at the end we both ran 79 laps. I had a total time of 40:00.036, Rodney had a total time of 40:00.040.

The real nerve-rattling episode of the day, however, was during the sponsor's race. Once a year at this event, the event hosts, team sponsors, and mentors borrow cars from different teams and have a race. One of the visiting dignitaries was offered a ride in the USF car which he gladly accepted. The USF car normally runs in the Experimental Battery class, is lithium battery powered, and is one of the two fastest cars in Florida. The new rookie guest driver jumped into the lead at the drop of the green flag and accelerated to what we guess was about 40 mph down the backstretch. He hit turn 3 at full throttle, bicycled up on two wheels, hooked the outside chain-link fence, and did two violent rolls! He came to rest right-side up and was not injured (thankfully!), but the car was severely damaged. I have attached pics below. The first one is the car as I delivered it to the USF team last summer. The next two are as it was brought to me for repair. What a mess..! The good news is the roll cage did its job and kept the driver safe.

Maybe a licensing exam should be a prerequisite.