The new Florida Slot Car Series had a huge turnout for it's inaugural race event at Bill Pinch's track (TheRaceway.biz) in Melbourne, Florida. We had 65 total entries in 3 car classes. This car count was way up from 2016 (46 entries) and 2015 (39 entries). Great start to the new year!
Group 2 JK Indy Cars & 4" NASCAR:
The Group 2 racers started the day off by running on the short oval with their JK Indy Cars and 4" NASCARs. For the JK Indy Cars, three local racers took the podium with the fastest being David Frerichs with 398 laps. David was followed by Bob Rondinone and Steve Bowman.
Left to right: Bob Rondinone, David Frerichs, Steve Bowman
For the 4" NASCAR class, Rollin Isbell must have decided to use some muscle and powered his way to victory lane. Rollin was followed by Bob Rondinone and Jack Latulip. I think that this is Jack's first appearance on the podium at Bill's track. Congrats to all who braved the short oval.
Left to right:
Bob Rondinone, Rollin Isbell, Jack Latulip
Group 1 JK Indy Cars:
The rest of the racing for the day was conducted on Bill's 145 ft hillclimb. This is a great track and is very fast but also a little tricky. The car count for this group was high enough to run 2 mains and combine the lap totals after both races are completed. Jay Guard showed everybody that he can handle the pressure of the fastest home track racers to win this race by 2 laps. Congrats Jay. In second place was Ken Green and 3rd was local hot shoe Dennis Demole.
On the podium, left to right: Ken Green, Jay Guard, Dennis Demole
Group 1 4" NASCAR:
For this car class, we had 15 total entries, so once again the field was randomly split into two mains. This was a close race right up to the last few seconds with Doc Dougherty winning by 1 1/2 laps over Dennis Demole. Marcus Ramos completed the podium.
Left to right: Dennis Demole, Doc Dougherty, Marcus Ramos
Group 2 JK LMP:
Rollin Isbell made it two victories in row by claiming the JK LMP race. I think that Rollin had a wire to wire victory, winning by 6 laps. Steve Bowman got another podium finish, as well as, Jack Latulip. I think that this was the first time that Jack raced on this hillclimb. Well done Jack and congrats to everybody.
On the podium: Steve Bowman, Rollin Isbell, Jack Latulip.
Group 1 JK LMP:
The final race of the day was the JK LMP race for Group 1 drivers. We had 13 entrants here. So we broke this car class into two mains.
After combining the two race results, Dennis Demole was the overall winner with 229 laps. 3 laps back was Brian Ambrose. Nathan Pickett rounded out the podium. Nathan just wanted to get his picture taken. 
On the podium, left to right: Brian Ambrose, Dennis Demole, Nathan Pickett
Overall, it was a great day of racing. We had great participation from all 3 tracks that are involved in this years series. I want to thank everybody for coming and I hope to see you all next month at P1 Raceway.
