Spring has sprung and it’s that time of year! That’s right, Kentucky Student Technology Leadership Program’s State Championships are in full bloom! And Racing to the Future™ is ready for the big wave of competition that is getting ready to hit Rupp Arena. This is our first year with the new Viper Scale Racing track. The surface is smooth and ready to see some action as students from all over the Commonwealth of Kentucky have come here to do some serious racing! Let’s see the Student Racer’s Entries…
Elementary School – Grades K-5 Student Racers
Fernando Hislop (Left) – Finn Kenny (Center) – Sydney Shelby (Right)
Macie Hazelrigg(Left) – Josh Baker (Center) – Brennan Lewis (Right)
Taylor Ballard (Left) – Andrew Cornwell (Center) – Ezra Pitcock (Right)
Bryce Warren (Left) – Bradley Marshall (Center) – Gavin Fulton (Right)
Joseph Hazlett (Left) – Landon Scilley (Center) – Audreanna Rice (Right)
Ryan Barrett (Left) – Gavin McCord (Center) – Jaxon Arms (Right)
Aliyah Ward (Left) – Jack Tinelli (Center) – Sawyer Tillett (Right)
Katie Wright (Left) – Logan Evans (Center) – Katelyn Kerzan (Right)
Zack Leonard (Left) – Clay McDonald (Center) – Foster Banks (Right)
Brylee Barrett (Left) – Cameron Biggs (Center) – Kaleen Walls (Right)
Samuel Cambron (Left) – Jill Kaminski (Center) – Logan Bales (Right)
Talan Moody (Center)
Middle School – Grades 6-8 Student Racers
CoraBeth Collins (Left) – Kamron Hilen (Center) – Alijah Hume (Right)
Nita Kiem (Left) – Hailey Costanzo (Center) – Kobe Annis (Right)
Shelton Cansler (Left) – Aaron Ziobro (Center) – Jathan Briscoe (Right)
Rhyan Moseley (Left) – Lydiah Meade (Center) – Brayden Like (Right)
Alisa Barzilova (Left) – Macie Chappell (Center) – Kendall Lilly (Right)
Landen York (Left) – Jonah Ford (Center) – Emmanuel Kalles-Gonzales (Right)
Logan Sanders (Left) – Alex Boggs (Center) – Hunter Martin (Right)
Cole Murray (Left) – Will Prater (Center) – Maleah Hendrix (Right)
Blake McKibben (Left) – Tyler Rieck (Right)
High School – Grades 9-12 Student Racers
Jacob Able (Left) – Jared Hunt (Center) – William Sutkowski (Right)
Trevor Rieck (Left) – Derek Eick (Center) – Chase Cooper (Right)
Tyler Roy (Left) – Alayna Collins (Right)
Hope Rowlett (Left) – Stan Shelby Jr (Right)
The Design Competition
The Design Competition comprises the talent and skill of the Student Racer in the building and design of their car, for appearance and performance. The entries are judged by age group and based on several aspects of the design and build, including the documentation (Design Sheet) created by the Student Racer. The Design Sheet describes in detail, what the Student Racer has done to improve the performance of their entry. The entries are also judged on appearance, race preparation, build and overall impression. Below are the winners from the 2016 Design Competition.
Elementary School – Grades K-5 Design Competition Winners
First Place: Sydney Shelby
Second Place: Brylee Barrett
Middle School – Grades 6-8 Design Competition Winners
First Place: Blake McKibben
Second Place: Cora Beth Collins
High School – Grades 9-12 Design Competition Winners
First Place: Stan Shelby Jr
Second Place: William Sutkowski
Some of the judges looking over the field of entries.
The Racing Competition
As the Racing to the Future™ program continues to grow each year, we work to improve the program and the facilities and methods used to promote the racing and competition. This year we improved our racing surface by adding a custom track by Viper Scale Racing. The new track has 7 sections of a solid PVC surface(the old one had 34 sections) and each section has their own power connection for guarnateed full strength the length of the track. The 1:64th scale quarter mile is 20 fett 7 inches with a 10 foot braking area. The sensor system is built by Speed Inc and uses light sensors for the foul lights and finish line and operates like the Auto World system used in past events. We used the same round-robin racing format, where each student races all the other students in their age group. The Student Racer with the most wins is champion. In the event of a tie, we look to see who won in that match up and the winner is moved to first, the other to second place. All of the action is posted live on the big screen for everyone to keep track of their favorite Student Racer.
Elementary School – Grades K-5 Racing Competition Winners
First Place: Sydney Shelby
Second Place: Gavin McCord
The Elementary School competition was very close with several Student Racers in close competition for first place. Sydney Shelby edged out the field with 30 wins to take first place. Gavin McCord and Ezra Pitcock tied for second with 29 wins each. Since Gavin won the race between he and Ezra, Gavin moved on to second place. There were also three students with 28 wins, so this year’s racing was very close.
Middle School – Grades 6-8 Racing Competition Winners
First Place: Jonah Ford
Second Place: Logan Sanders
So, if you thought the Elementary School competition was tight, the Middle School racing was out of this world! We had a three way tie for first with three student racers scoring 24 wins! Jonah Ford finds his way to first place and this was his three-peat victory. A three way tie for first and he wins his third championship in a row, Wow! what a combination! That left Logan Sanders and Emmanuel Gonzales to race for second place. Logan was the winner in their heat, to take home a hard fought second place.
High School – Grades 9-12 Racing Competition Winners
First Place: STan Shelby Jr
Second Place: Alayna Collins
The High School competition brought out our vetran Student Racers and did they put on a show of speed. It came down to a showdown between Stan Shelby Jr, a previous Racing to the Future™ Champion, against Alayna Collins who was extremely fast all day.
Stan managed to “out cool” Alayna at the starting line and got the jump when the light turned green. Stan Shelby Jr took first place with Alayna Collins taking home second. Somehow I get the feeling this pair will be racing each other again for the championship in the future.
Racing Action
Prizes and Sponsors
We would like to thank our sponsors for the generous prize packages they send each year. Steve Russell at AFX Racemasters, Tom Lowe at Auto World/Round 2, Dan Cronin at Viper Scale Racing, Terry Flynn at Hardin Creek Slot Cars and Andrew at Slots n Stuff. A big thank you to Terry for coming up to Lexington and setting up a clinic to show the Student Racers how to go faster! We can’t do this program without your support and we thank all our sponsors for all they do.
We would also like to thank Rupp Arena for hosting this event and Jeff Sebulsky and David Couch with KY Student Technology Leadership Program for giving us a place to work with the students and run the program.
The Racing to the Future™ Crew
I can’t wait for next year and the STLP Fall Regional Events. See you there!
Paul Shoemaker
Owner/Director: Racing to the Future™