Previous Races

OUR 2007 POWER OF DC EVENT

See photos from our last year's event here

OUR 2006 POWER OF DC EVENT

We had great weather for the Power of DC race on Sunday in Hagerstown, Maryland with temps in the 80's. The Anti-EV Vortex, which was responsible for the weather that cancelled the NEDRA High Voltage Nationals, somehow thought the event was Saturday and missed us.
So Sunday turned out to be a great day for racing with over 100 people attending the race to watch EVs. We even made enough from the raffle to ante up the pot for the race winners.

But among those not invited was Murphy who apparently got a hold of my racer list and made every attempt he could to keep people from racing. He succeeded in wiping out half the field of racers who had originally planned to race but couldn't because of last minute technical problems. Then he caused as much havoc as he could for those who could make it by tripping Bob Salem on the track after Murphy broke his Rabbit truck, messing with Matt Graham's Nissan and the SEVO bikes in the pits, causing a Destiny 2000 Fiero to collide with it's tow vehicle and causing a wreck in the pits between a gas racer's truck and one of our racers trucks. Practically everyone was affected by Murphy's shenanigans.
But even with Murphy causing trouble we still made two NEDRA records and some very, very close attempts at breaking some current records.
The most chilling part of the day was when Bob Salem was injured while removing his Rabbit truck after it died on the starting line. Apparently he tripped and struck his head on the pavement while pushing the car backwards. The paramedics responded quickly and fortunately Bob was OK, but the Rabbit was out for the day. This was a major bummer because this was the second race in a row Bob attended but couldn't race. Bob's Rabbit is awesome. It's a 14 -15 second racer and a major player at our race. Although Bob didn't race he lucked out in the raffle at the end of the day and kept winning all kinds of great stuff.

Matt Graham and Shawn Wagonner and his family came all the way from Florida and made two runs with his Nissan turning in a best time at 13.779 at 81.58 mph despite having some drivetrain vibration issues. After one race the car stalled at the end of the track but fortunately Shawn and Matt were able to bring it back to the pits and was able to make another run. Matt was driving both the Nissan and the SEVO 72 volt Yellow Jacket bike. He would rush back to the staging lanes to race the bike after racing the car.
We couldn't get many runs in like previous years because there were alot of different groups racing on Sunday including the late model Impala club, a Gamblers race, Jr dragsters and tons of Test and Tuners so the track was really crowded and we only managed to get 4 runs in max. I gave my dual-motor Currie scooter a workout going back and forth from the pits to the staging lanes requesting the staging staff to keep announcing our group.

The Power of DC has been turning out quite a few records for the High Schools and this year was no different. Great Mills High School, a local school in Maryland, brought two EVs - the "Green Hornet" MR2 and their new acquisition, an electric Mustang, nicknamed "Stang", that I recognized from another area high school. Great Mills bought it for $300 and the components alone were worth several times that. But they got some new batteries for it and got it running in time and both cars turned out NEDRA records!!

The Green Hornet set a NEDRA record for HS/E at 19.227 seconds at 66.68 mph which beat out Cinnaminson's long standing record and the "Stang" brought in a HM/E record at 22.503 seconds at 61.11 mph.
I have to tell you, NEDRA races are a great event for high schools to get into. Right now the field is wide open for NEDRA records. Just pick a voltage and go after it. The two dominate schools are Great Mills High School and Miramar High School.

My favorite experience racing that day was when I raced Larry Jarboe. I had my 144 volt Ford Escort and Larry was racing the Great Mills 144-volt "Stang". As we were waiting in the staging lanes he looked over and we decided to have some fun with the spectators standing within earshot.

"What you got?"
"144 volts."
"Me too"
"I'm running Optimas"
"Same here"
"I'm going to kick your but"
"Nope, not with my XP-1227"
"You can't catch me with my FB-4001-A"

We kept bantering back and forth throwing out EV terms that these guys probably never heard. They kept looking at each other with quizzical looks on their faces.

Then I proceeded to smoke the "Stang".
We had several bikes racing too including Darin Gilbert's 48-volt Pirahna who has been to every one of our Power of DC races. He was all so close to catching his standing eighth-mile 9.513 MT/I record with a run of 9.648. Doc Kennedy brought his new 48-volt drag bike "Black Hawk" with Jason Carroll piloting the bike. Doc has come along way since coming to the Power of DC and this time has built a really cool drag bike from the ground up including the frame. The bike turned in a respectable 12.938 in the eighth mile. Doc could actually do well in the Gambler races because the bike had the most consistent times of the day turning in a 12.963, 12.938 and a 12.959. Incredible!! And the SEVO guys, Matt and Shawn brought the 24-volt Orange Crush 72 volt Yellow Jacket Pocket bikes. Murphy had his eye on Orange Crush which had some technical problems but Yellow Jacket turned in a respectable 9.922 seconds at 68.61. Just half a second shy of the current record.
Our long distance racer was Bryan Murtha. Bryan lives in Southern Maryland and towed his Ford Ranger Pickup EV with his RAV-4 EV 107 miles to Hagerstown to the race! I believe he switched the vehicles at some point so one wasn't doing all the towing. But he got up to the race and managed to race the Ranger Pickup at 19.779 seconds at 64.43. Not bad for a production EV that towed another one part way to the track.

Last but not least was the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC 72-volt Solar Racer, "Aztec". The Aztec is a three-wheel carbon fiber car with solar panels covering the body and gull wing doors. The car belonged to MIT and they needed more space so EVA/DC bought it for a token $1.00. It was in pieces and took 2 years to put back together. But it made it out to the track, passed inspection and raced. I know Joe Reyes, who used to be a mechanic for the Ferrari racing team and is one of the principle mechanics on the project, wants to crank this baby up to go faster. But for its first time out it held together and did well.
I actually didn't get to see much of the race or take pictures since my wife Monica pretty much insisted that if she was going to help out again this year I would have to stay at our Headquarters tent to run the race. So hopefully someone can send pictures so I can update the websites.
Alot of out-of-towners came out including James from Toronto who was also at the cancelled NEDRA event in Joliet. Bob Rice, who is a fixture at the Power of DC came down again this year. Unfortunatly, Bob was one of Murphy's recent victims and couldn't bring the Rabbit. My good friend Dave Stensland, from New York and who runs Megawatt Motorworks visited and quite a few folks from Pennsylvannia and Ohio.
After the race we had the awards ceremony and raffle. My kids Jenny and Jake handed out the trophies and winnings. SEVO donated a motor and controller for the raffle and Jim Husted built a beautiful 6" motor we raffled off. Quick Cable donated tools for the winners and Otmar donated a couple shirts that people loved.

OUR 2005 POWER OF DC EVENT

Competitors came from across the United States to compete including Brigham Young University with their ultra-capacitor powered GM EV-1. Vehicles were powered strictly by electricity supplied by on-board batteries, ultra-capacitors or fuel cells. The Power of DC is sanctioned by the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) and organized by volunteers of the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC (EVA/DC).

Many of those that competed this year are seasoned veterans of the Power of DC including NEDRA record breaker Darin Gilbert with his 48-volt motorcycle named Pirahna. Also returning will be Shawn Lawless with the awesome Orange Juice dragster, Robert Salem from Ohio with one of the quickest VW trucks on the street, and the Central Shenandoah Valley Regional Governor's School from Virginia with their student built 240-Z.

New competitors this year included West Virginia University with their electric Formula Lightning, Suncoast Electric Vehicle Outfitters from Florida with their electric pocket bike, TB Woods Inc. with thier German production EV, the GM EV-1 from BYU and Shawn Lawless brought a newly converted 120-volt Nash Metropolitan.

High School teams from across the East Coast competed including Central Shenandoah, Great Mills High School with their "Hornet" Toyota MR-2 and Topsail High School from North Carolina with their Toyota Paseo.

And of course our local EVA/DC members raced as well including Bryan Murtha who will be driving his electric Toyota RAV-4 from Southern Maryland to race. Charlie Garlow brought his electric Chevy S-10 and Valerie Myers raced her Corbin Sparrow.

For entertainment, the rock group Wolfspider performed on stage at the event. For the kids, Solar Slot Car Racing will be available in the pit area.

The Power of DC would not be possible without our 2005 sponsors. Stop by their websites for more information on their information, products and services.

The Power of DC was featured on the Discovery Channel on the Daily Planet in 2005. Check out the "Electric Dragster" link.
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=9/19/2005

OUR 2004 POWER OF DC EVENT

Sparks were flying and records falling as nine vehicles from across the East Coast competed in the 2004 NEDRA Power of DC drag race. This was our fourth year at the Mason Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown, Maryland. Although the day started out overcast, the clouds gave way to bright sunshine and four racers took home new NEDRA Records. See the Results and Records page for a listing of the racer's best times.

See the 2004 Photo Gallery for the pics of the day's event.

Returning this year was Darin Gilbert's 48-volt Pirahna motorcycle from Detroit. Darin broke not only a NEDRA record but his chain on his record breaking run of 9.513 seconds at 65.513 mph in the 1/8 mile. 65 mph at the 1/8 is fast!! After his run, Darin knew he broke the record and was yelling "Wheeewwww!!" on the way back to the pits. On a previous run Darin had everyone a little worried when his bike started wavering a bit as he was scooting back on his seat to get more aerodynamic. Fortunately, he was able to balance the bike up again.

Shawn Lawless and driver Mark Moore and their families returned again with the 240-volt Orange Juice dragster from Ohio. Mark drove the Orange juice superbly with straight quick runs that left the ICE crowd very impressed with a best time of 11.39 at 112 mph. The Orange Juice has some older batteries and they had some issues with low fluid in the PowerGlide tranny so they couldn't quite beat their best time last year. The Orange Juice put on quite a show during one of its burnouts when sparks began flying from underneath the dragster. Shawn decided to take the dragster out of the run to make sure everything was OK. Something had caused an arc but everything looked OK so they continued racing without any problems. They will be back again next year to take the record.

The Central Shenandoah Regional Governor's School returned with their 120 volt 240-Z called "Sweetheart" to set a new NEDRA record for the MF/F class at 66.33 mph in 18.623 seconds. CSVRG has been with us for 4 years now from the very beginning.

Two high schools made their debut this year. The Great Mills 216 volt MR-2 called the "Green Hornet" broke through the traps at 80.67 mph in 16.665 seconds with a new NEDRA breaking run for the HS/B class. The Green Hornet was a very cool looking car with a hornet painted on the hood. The high school team travelled to the race with about 6 kids and several adults. Leading the team was volunteer Larry Jarboe, an EVA/DC member who donated his time and resources to help the school build the car.

The other high school team that made its debut was Tour De Sol regular, Cinnaminson High School led by Oliver Perry with their 144 volt Ford Escort named "Olymipian". The Olympian came off with a new High School Record for the HS/E class of 24.65 seconds at 55.9 mph.

Another new entry was Valerie Myers and her teal 156 volt Sparrow. Valerie is a Hagerstown local and a new member of EVA/DC. She drove her Sparrow to what we thought was a record for her class but upon further investigation she just missed the record but she had a lot of fun. Her husband and nephews have raced on this track for years and she is starting a new trend by having her family race electric now. Way to go Valerie!!

Our local EVA/DC members also raced including Bryan Murtha and his RAV-4, Charlie Garlow in his truck and Chip Gribben with his bright blue Ford Escort.

Bryan Murtha actually drove his RAV-4 EV 98 miles to the track from his solar powered home in home in Southern Maryland to the drag strip in Western Maryland. Then he raced it several times clearing 20 seconds in the quarter mile then did a quick charge and drove home all in one day. Bryan's trek is actually the longest any EV has driven under its own power to the Power of DC, raced and drove home. This is very commendable feat to say the least. Good going Bryan. Bryan actually came in third place at our race for the 157 volts and up category.

Charlie Garlow brought his GM S-10 OEM conversion for the fourth year in a row. He let people drive it around the pits and race it several times.

At the end of the race we had a raffle and awards ceremony. On hand to give out the door prizes, trophies and awards were my kids Jenny and Jake and their cousin Meredith. Manning the Power of DC tent was my wife Monica who handled race and NEDRA registration and T-shirt sales. Many other EVA/DC members were on hand to help as well including Tom Sigman who handled the generator, Dave Davidson who helped with hauling cars, Mike Shipway who helped with the Solar Slot Car Track for the kids, John Clinton who helped set up and Brian Murtha who brought the food and Charlie Garlow who brought his solar oven to cook hot dogs.

Other EVA/DCer who came out included EVA/DC President Dave Goldstein, Mark Powell, Greg Pokorny who founded the Power of DC, and Jerry Asher.

Many folks from the EVDL and chapters of the EAA came to the race including Mark Farver and Daniel Stewart from the Austin EAA, Bob Rice from the New England EAA, Darin Gilbert from the Motorcity EAA, Matt Graham and Shawn Waggoner from the Florida EAA, Jack Waddell, Joseph Lado, Oliver Perry, and Mike DeLiso from the Eastern Electric Vehicle Association, Jack Waddell, Mike Gollwas, Doc Kennedy, Mark Hanson, Don Berry, Frank McGrath, and Roy Nutter from West Virginia University.

Chip Gribben
Power of DC