courtesy Dave Shotsberger

TBARA Results from Citrus County Speedway, Inverness, FL 6-28-08

INVERNESS, Fla. - The thunder and lightning in the sky nearby was no match for the ground pounding TBARA sprint cars Saturday night at Citrus County Speedway as veteran Joey Aguilar out ran a 21 car field to score a popular victory in the 30 lap main event. An infrequent competitor this season, Augilar had his Doro Racing 52 working to perfection this night as he started fifth and quickly made his presence known as young Dakotah Stephens easily set the early pace in his Ford powered mount. The yellow waved for a spin by Dude Teate on lap four but it was back to green with Stephens leading Todd Schmidt, Brad Davis and Aguilar as everyone jockeyed for position. With a dozen laps down it was Davis looping his mount to bring out the second yellow of the event. Yellow fever hit again as Mark Gimmler lost the handle and spun on lap 17 to keep the field closed up tight on the 3/8 mile oval. Second running Aguilar continued to track Stephens but on lap 25 the youngster had fuel problems and Aguilar took the top spot and it was an apparent dash to checkers, but with two laps remaining the potent Ford of Michael Smith lost an oil filter and the red flag waved for track clean up. It was all Aguilar on the restart as he hustled to the checkers ahead of Shane Butler, point leader Troy DeCaire, Bo Hartley and Dude Teate.

First heat (8 laps) - Todd Schmidt, Joey Aguilar, Tommy Nichols, Shane Butler, David Retzlaff, Bobby Rose, Curtis Sutton, Bo Hartley.

Second heat (8 laps) - Dakotah Stephens, Larry Brazil, Dude Teate, Wendy Mathis, Mickey Kempgens, Brian Maddox.

Third heat (8 laps) - Brad Davis, Michael Smith, Sonny Hartley, D.J. Hoelzle, Troy DeCaire, Mark Gimmler, Steve Hiesler.

Feature (30 laps) 1. Joey Aguilar, 2. Shane Butler, 3. Troy DeCaire, 4. Bo Hartley, 5. Dude Teate, 6. Larry Brazil, 7. Dakotah Stephens, 8. Todd Schmidt, 9. Mickey Kempgens, 10. Mark Gimmler, 11. Wendy Mathis, 12. Sonny Hartley, 13. David Retzlaff, 14. Steve Hiesler, 15. D.J. Hoelzle, 16. Michael Smith, 17. Brad Davis, 18. Tommy Nichols, 19. Bobby Rose, 20. Curtis Sutton, 21. Brian Maddox.

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REUTIMANN DOMINATES TBARA SPEEDWORLD MAIN

Wayne Reutimann Sr. jumped to an immediate lead from his front row starting position and led flag to flag in the 30 lap TBARA Florida Sprint Car Series event at Orlando Speedworld Friday June 6.

20 cars made the Friday night journey to Orlando for the first of two nights in the weekend doubleheader series at Orlando Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway. The main event grid found the senior Reutimann on the pole position which enable the veteran driver to take command of the race at the first crossing of the stripe. Although he remained in front through the entire 30 laps, it was not a complete run away as he had to survive three restarts.

With Reutimann in command, D.J. Hoelzle moved from his 6th starting position to second but could not reel in Reutimann. The first yellow was brought out at lap 10 due to the car of Mark Gimmler losing oil. The restart line up showed 2007 TBARA Champion and current points leader Troy DeCaire still bottled up in traffic at 13th position. Hoelzle was unable to capitalize on the restart and Reutimann remained firmly in the lead. The yellow waived again at lap 15 to remove a stalled car from the track. Again Hoelzle charged after Ruetimann but was once again thwarted.

When the yellow waived for the final time on lap 25, DeCaire had finally broken free of traffic and worked his way up to 6th. On the restart with 5 laps to go DeCaire put on a major charge to the front moving to 3rd and challenging Hoelzle for 2nd at the stripe. Rounding out the top five were Steve Heisler and Brian Maddox.

Heat race wins were captured by Hoelzle, Maddox and Dakotah Stephens.

The Main Event Finish:

Reutimann Sr., Hoelzle, DeCaire, Heisler, Maddox, Joey Aguilar, Dude Teate, Larry Brazil Jr., Mickey Kempgins, Dakotah Stephens, Wayne Reutimann Jr., Wendy Mathis, David Retzlaff, Shane Butler, Tommy Nichols, Mark Gimmler, Bobby Rose, Nick Manikiks, Stan Butler, Todd Schmidt

 

DUDE TEATE COMMANDS NEW SMYRNA TBARA FIELD

Dude Teate put on an impressive run to the front from his 11th starting position in the TBARA Florida Sprint Car Series main event at the lightening fast New Smyrna Speedway high banks on Saturday June 7th. Teate was aided by a late race technical problem on Troy DeCaire’s car which gave Teate the lead and win in this second night of the double header weekend at Orlando Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway.

Wendy Mathis took the early lead from her pole staring position. She was soon overtaken by Shane Butler and Butler went on to build up a sizeable lead. However the distance was not enough as DeCaire was rapidly moving to the front from his 10th starting position. On lap 10 DeCaire passed Butler and began outdistancing the field. Meanwhile, Teate was also on the move to the front.

Butler was firmly in 2nd when engine woes caused him to slow in turn two on lap 21, which brought out the yellow flag and sent Butler to the pits. The lap 21 restart saw DeCaire still in front followed by Mathis and Teate. DeCaire again began building his impressive lead while Mathis and Teate waged a battle for 2nd. Teate eventually overtook Mathis but DeCaire was long gone and it was highly unlikely Teate could reel him in.

On lap 28 the yellow flew again, this time for DeCaire, who with only two laps to go was assured a victory. Unfortunately, an unusual mechanical problem with the right front hub caused the loss of the right front wheel in turns 1 and 2. DeCaire amazingly kept the car off the wall and the damage was limited to the hub and front axle. The event however resulted in DeCaire’s retirement and Teate inherited the lead. It was an easy 2 lap sprint to the finish for Teate compared to his challenging run through traffic in the previous 28 laps. At the stripe behind Teate were Wayne Reutimann Jr., Mathis, Mark Gimmler and Michael Smith for the top five.

Heat race wins went to Smith, DeCaire and Reutimann Jr.

The Main Event Finish:

Teate, Reutimann Jr., Mathis, Gimmler, Smith, David Retzlaff, DJ Hoelzle, Mickey Kempgins, Bobby Rose, Tommy Nichols, DeCaire, Larry Brazil Jr., Butler, Steve Heisler, Joey Aguilar, Dan Statter, Nick Manikiks, Brian Maddox, Wayne Reutimann Sr., Stan Butler

 

 

BRAZIL JR. SWEEPS IN TBARA DESOTO RUN

Larry Brazil Jr. inherited the lead on a lap 18 red flag and was never headed in the 30 TBARA Florida pavement sprint car series contest at Desoto Superspeedway on May 31. Brazil survived a late race charge by David Steele and was able to distance Steele by several car lengths at the checkers.

29 cars signed in to the pits to provide another full field of cars for the night’s event. At the green for the main event, young Dakotah Stephens took advantage of his outside front row starting position to jump out to an early lead in the 30 lap contest. 10 laps into the main Stephens yielded to pressure from Brian Gingras, putting Gingris solidly in the lead. Meanwhile, the trio of Brazil Jr., Steele and Troy Decaire were working their way forward from their mid grid starting positions. On lap 18 the race was red flagged when Jim Alvis took a very hard hit into the turn one wall. Fortunately Alvis escaped the incident unscathed. During the red Gingras’ car was found to have a leaking radiator, sending him to the pits to effect emergency repairs. This relegated Gingras to the rear of the field and gave Brazil Jr. the lead for the restart. Inside of 10 laps to the finish Steele put on a two lap hard press for the lead but Brazil Jr. never yielded and drove home to victory. Following Brazil Jr. to the finish was Steele, Decaire, Dude Teate and DJ Hoelzle.

In heat race action, Brazil Jr. grabbed race number 1, which combined with his main event win, earned him the Steele Performance of the Night sweep award. Heat race 2 went to Mickey Kempgins with heat race 3 going to young Dakotah Stephens in his first heat race win.

 

STEELE TAKES TBARA DESOTO RUN

Dave Steele in the Gary Green 91 charged to the lead mid point in the 30 lap contest at Desoto Superspeedway and was never headed. This is Steele’s third victory in the 2008 season. A full field of 24 cars took the green for the main event with Tommy Nichols jumping out to an early lead. Michael Smith brought out the yellow on lap 5 with a spin in turn one due to a flat right rear. On the restart lap Brian Gingras spun the 66 car on the front stretch bringing the yellow out again. By this time Steele had worked his way to fourth position from his ninth starting spot. Troy DeCaire was also in the hunt having moved from tenth to fifth. When the race resumed Steele continued his charge to the front, eventually passing Nichols at mid point for the lead. Shane Butler and Blaze Martin also turned in impressive performances with Butler crossing the finish in second and Martin coming home fourth. At the finish it was Steele, Butler, DeCaire, Martin and Nichols in the top five. In heat race action, Sonny Hartley picked up his third heat race win in as many runs at Desoto this year. Tommy Nichols and DJ Hoelzle also picked up heat race wins.

Main Event Result Steele, Shane Butler, DeCaire, Martin, Nichols, Hartley, Larry Brazil, Mark Gimmler, Dude Teate, Mickey Kempgins, Joe Ligouri, David Retzlaff, Wendy Mathis, Dakotah Stephens, Steve Darvalies, DJ Hoelzle, Johnny Gilbertson, Steve Heisler, Brian Gingras, Nick Manikis, Jim Alvis, Michael Smith, Ben Fritz, Stan Butler Heat 1 Hartley, Gimmler, Ligouri, Martin, Kempgins, Gilbertson, Mathis, Retzlaff Heat 2 Nichols, Shane Butler, Steele, Fritz, Gingras, Teate, Stephens, Manikis Heat 3 Hoelzle, DeCaire, Brazil, Alvis, Smith, Heisler, Darvalies, Stan Butler

 

TBARA 2008 Driver Points as of April 18, 2008

1 Troy DeCaire 243
2 Dave Steele 220
3 Mark Gimmler 205
4 Dude Teate 198
5 Larry Brazil 193
6 Bo Hartley 180
7 Blaze Martin 176
8 Jimmy Alvis 170
9 Ben Fritz 139
10 Joe Ligouri 129

 

TBARA 2008 SCHEDULE

1. Saturday, February 9, 2008 Citrus County
2. Sunday, February 10 New Smyrna
3. Monday, February 11 New Smyrna
4. Saturday, February 16 DeSoto Speedway

5. Saturday, March 22 DeSoto Speedway

6. Saturday, April 5 Desoto

7. Saturday, May 10 DeSoto
8. Saturday, May 31 DeSoto

9. Friday, June 6 Orlando Speedworld
10. Saturday June 7 New Smyrna
11. Saturday, June 21 DeSoto
12. Saturday, June 28 Citrus Couinty

13. Saturday, July 12 DeSoto

14. Saturday, August 2 New Smyrna

15. Friday, September 5 Orlando Speedworld
16. Saturday, September 6 Citrus County
17. Saturday, September 27 DeSoto

18. Saturday, October 4 New Smyrna
19. Saturday, October 25 DeSoto

20. Saturday, November 8 Citrus County

DECAIRE WINS RAIN SHORTENED DICK FRIEDLEY MEMORIAL

Troy DeCaire worked his way from the 10th starting position to the lead just in time before the rain began to fall bringing an early end to the TBARA Dick Friedley 50 Lap Memorial Race.

31 cars signed into pits to provide a full field of racing for the fans at Desoto Superspeedway. With weather forecast to approach later in the evening, the TBARA and Desoto staff did an excellent job of expediting the events to get the show in.

The evening started off under clear blue skies with a full card of heat race action lining up 10 plus cars in each run. Heat race one went to Sonny Hartley in the DJ Racing 27. In heat race two, Billy Riddle, grandson of legendary Frank Riddle, came home the victor. The third and final heat race of the evening saw Tommy Nichols pilot his own 55 to the win.

Larry J. Brazil Jr. was victorious in the special The Job Site Concrete Dash for Cash. This Dash featured the top six drivers in points that were in attendance. Brazil grabbed the early lead and was never headed in the 6 lap event.

The B Main proved to be the most exciting qualifying race of the night with Dude Teate and Wendy Mathis running side by side for several laps late in the race. Mathis jumped out to an early lead at the green while Teate worked his way forward from a rear starting position. At the half way mark Teate caught Mathis which then produced an excellent battle for the lead spot for the next 4 laps. Teate finally bested Mathis and went on for the win.

In the A Main feature Billy Riddle jumped out to an early lead with Larry J. Brazil Jr. in hot pursuit. Brazil passed Riddle twice but multiple yellows on lap 6 recalled Riddle to the lead. Brazil was finally able to work his way around Riddle for the lead while DeCaire worked his way forward from his 10th starting spot. In typical Desoto fashion, the race was fast and furious with challenges for position occurring throughout the pack, sometimes resulting in three wide racing. On lap 26 with Decaire firmly in the lead, Sonny Hartley and Shane Butler got together in turn 4 bringing out the yellow. While Hartley and Butler’s cars were being sorted the rain began to fall and the race was red flagged. With the volume of rain coming down and a look at the radar it was determined that it would be impossible to restart the race. With 26 laps in the books the race was more than half way over and DeCaire declared the winner.

THE FINISH

DeCaire, Brazil, Steele, Gimmler, Teate, Alvis, Anderson, B. Hartley, Beard, Retzlaff, Martin, Riddle, Smith, S. Hartley, S. Butler, Mathis, Heisler, Ladner, Stan Butler, Cipray, Fritz, MacMillian, Nichols, Slawiak, Maddox, Aguilar