Electrathon America Forum

ShannonCloud · Champion

Holding a Race.

electrathon · administrator

Shannon,

The NW races for the springtime are already set this year. I think every weekend is taken after Hood River till Memoriad day weekend. There is a lot of time after that but a lot of the students may not come to a summertime race.

I am not familiar with any of the tracks you listed, but would be leary of the small tracks. It could be rather crowded if 45 cars show up! An 1/8 mile ovel could end up with 250 plus laps, so tracking it is going to be a challange.

But, another race in a new venue would be great!

Aaron

Zaine Stapleton · Senior Member

The David Douglas High School team would be interested in a summer race. We'll have three cars by the Hood River race all ready to go.

Zaine Stapleton

mhodgertt · EA President

Shannon and Aaron,
We actually have an opening on April 10th that could take another race. But the notice would be very short. EA needs at least 4 weeks for our insurance sot that might be out. There is another opening on May 22nd, between Mapleton and PIR, as well. I don't know how many Willamette students would make it since it is Prom day but I'm sure there would be some. Like Aaron I would go for the longer races. Anything less than 1/4 mile is a real pain. I still remember John Day and the 226 laps I made on the 1/10 mile course the last year they had a race. I don't know anything about the courses but the Kent track of a 2.25 mile road course sounds like a blast.

You might want to check on the cost of renting a track. The EA insurance is another $400 for a one day event is the facilities is OK with a one million $$$ coverage. I know that Aaron has to increase his coverage for PIR and the track is expensive.

Good luck and see you on the track
Mike

Kyle Keenan · Veteran Member

Pacific raceways would be very difficult to hold a race at. There is a LOT of elevation change (125ft), and TONS of blind spots. To have eyes all the way around the course would require a minimum of 10 people.

Add to that, the cost of renting Pacific for a day is HIGH, compared to PIR and other tracks in the region. Their karting track, Pacific Grand Prix, would be a much better choice to race at, as it is large enough to drive cars on and should be fine for electrathon.

Jackson Prairie is a dirt track, so that might get components a little dirty, but would be a ton of fun :)

mhodgertt · EA President

Shannon and all,
Go cart tracks are a great way to go. We used to race at one in the McMinville OR, area a few years back. But then they raised the price way out of our reach. That would be a very fun way to go as they are designed for this size of cars. As long as the surface is at least 15' feet wide they would work for us.

I also think that I could bring up several cars from Willamette during the summer if you can not get a race into the spring schedule. I have a couple of trips planned but if there is not a conflict I usually have kids willing to go anywhere for a race.

Mike

Pomodori Corsa · Member

What about a Mega-Church parking lot on a Saturday? This is the Overlake Christian Church Parking lot in Redmond Washington.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=redmond+overlake+christian+church&sll=47.701444,-122.084541&sspn=0.105129,0.307274&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=overlake+christian+church&hnear=Redmond,+WA&ll=47.688821,-122.144172&spn=0.003467,0.009602&t=h&z=17

It doesn't usually have that many cars in it. Picture was probably taken on a Sunday.

-David

-- Edited by Pomodori Corsa on Friday 12th of March 2010 03:54:53 AM

-- Edited by Pomodori Corsa on Friday 12th of March 2010 03:55:44 AM

Zaine Stapleton · Senior Member

That looks like a fun place to drive on!

mhodgertt · EA President

That could be a great parking lot for a race. It is huge, has natural dividers and can have long straits with tight 180 degree corners if wanted.

Mike

electrathon · administrator

Shannon,

If nothing else, there is intrest. this is one of the hotest topics ever on the site.

Aaron

ShannonCloud · Champion

The church parking looks like it would be a great place. I will look into it a bit. I am thrilled that there is interest in this! I will keep looking up information and hopefully something will come together soon. Probably summer at the earlier st, next year for sure though!

Pomodori Corsa · Member

Resurrecting this thread... Have any events occurred in the Seattle area in the last 5 years? How do we get more local people interested in doing this?

Ron · Veteran Member

Love to have another race on the schedule.... I also prefer the longer tracks (Lacey is my second favorite race on the schedule...PIR is first)

taking a year off racing this year (building new cars) but hope to see you at one of the races this year (still planning on helping @ races I can get to)
we could talk (maybe Mike, Aaron, etc. too) about how to make this happen...

I'm trying to talk my Dad into making a permanent track on some land we have in Alvadore OR (west of Eugene) so we could have another race venue available for Electrathon
as well... it would be at least a 1/4 mile road course... if I put enough "switchbacks" in it I might be able to close in on 1/2 mile...

Ron

ShannonCloud · Champion

I've sent out a couple emails, to the Redmond velodrome and the Overlake Church (the parking lot mentioned earlier in the thread). Both are in Redmond, Washington about 25 minutes NE of Seattle. Obviously it would not be for this season, but possibly for 2016 if it fits in somewhere. I will keep things updated as I hear back.

ShannonCloud · Champion

OCC (the church in Redmond) got back to me. It seems like there is a lot of flexibility as far as how much of the parking lot and what days next year they have availability. Are there any particular requests?

mhodgertt · EA President

Just a thought...How about a race there in late September. The HS teams could not cut up last year's cars until then and then we could take some of our new students to help get them excited and so they can see examples of what to build. If you think that is a possibility, I will send it out to the NW teams and see how many are interested. The weather is still good and a good way to start a new school year. Sounds like a good idea to me.