I have finally returned to Electrathon with some success. The season actually started in September, but I missed the opening race because of a family tragedy. I was completely occupied elsewhere for the month of September. October's race was preempted by Hurricane Milton. So, we finally got to race on November 16th. This was our annual "Dash Races" where the usual 1-hour race format is suspended and we run 20-minute sprints. Instead of driving conservatively to extend battery life, we gear the cars up and run as fast as we dare on the designated track. This track was an oval, set up in the parking lot at Mulberry High School, with long straights and fairly tight (almost hairpin) turns at either end. The overall length was approximately 4/10 mile (.4 mile).

Whenever we do the Dash Races, the High School and Open/Advanced classes are run separately. This limits the number of cars on the track at any one time and it's done for safety. Anyway, my Ol' Purple car performed flawlessly all day. In the first race, my good friend Rodney Schreck and I jumped to the front of the Open class. I passed him on the backstretch and held the lead for several laps. I couldn't see him in my rear-view mirror, so I didn't know where he was. I thought I must have pulled away from him.., but I was wrong. With about 6 minutes to go, I slowed a little in the turns to save my tires. Coming off turn-two, SURPRISE, Rodney blew past me. He had been lurking right behind me the whole time and I never saw him in my mirrors. I chased him the rest of the way, right on his tail, but I didn't have enough left to pass him. We finished that way - he was first and I was second, 1/10th of a second behind.

In the second race, we jumped out front again and pulled away from the rest of the field. I followed Rodney for about 3 laps and then passed him coming off of turn-two. After the first race I was confident in my car's handling, so was hitting the corners a little faster. Ol' Purple stayed under me and I was never seriously challenged. Rodney was there, about 20 feet back where I could see him in my mirrors, and we finished that way. I beat him by about 4/10ths of a second.

So, we both turned 36 laps in each race; he won the first race with me second and I won the next race with him second. When that happens, the car's times are totaled together to see who had the shorter time. I beat Rodney by just under 3/10ths (0.3) of a second. After my fiasco of a performance at Homestead-Miami back in June, it was great for my car and me to redeem ourselves.

I don't have any pics from Saturday, but if somebody posts some, I'll copy them here later.