TBARA Race Report – 05.15.10

Date: 05/15/2010

Track: Columbia Motorsports Park  ( Lake City, FL )

Series: TBARA

Admission: Pit Pass – $25

# of Sprint Cars: 14

Series Grade: B-. It’s a veerrryyy looonnngg ride to Lake City for most of the teams that call the Tampa area home. But nonetheless, you gotta go where you can get races. It was great to go back to CMP and I hope we can get more races again there soon. It would have been real nice to have a 24 car field to put on a show that the fans deserve.

Who Won:
Heat 1 – Joey “the Ace” Aguilar
Heat 2 – Larry J Brazil, Jr.
Feature: Shane Butler

Track Grade: A-. The grounds at CMP were well manicured, which was really nice to see for a change! But they definitely need to invest in some lights to illuminate the racing surface. This is one of the faster stops on the TBARA tour, and visibility is critical.

Crowd Grade: B. It’s not the best crowd that I’ve seen in years past, but it was a fairly healthy and excited group. They got especially excited with the near wing dance by Shane Butler.

Food Ordered: Chicken fingers, hot dog.

Food Grade: C-. The chicken fingers were over cooked and dry. The hot dog was an average weenie on a bun. No special condiments to dress the weenie (of course by special, we mean chili and cheese) or sauces to wet the chicken with. I was however reminded by Doug Hoelzle that the hot dogs were only $1. That’s a good value anywhere you go.

FSCF.com Driver of the Race: Shane Butler. Butler’s last lap, last corner pass of Brazil, Jr. will be one to talk about around the water cooler on Monday. Other honorable mentions have to be Larry J Brazil, Jr. who looked to be on his way to another victory. And let’s not overlook Ben Fritz who had the field covered before collecting himself in a wreck on lap 17 in the spilled fluid of the 15 car. Fritz was well on his way to claiming his first checkers of 2010.

Other Notes:
– Ben Fritz had arguably one of his best runs of the season going before the incident on lap 17. Fritz had the field at his mercy and was undoubtedly on his way to picking up his first win of the season. Great Job Ben. I’m sure there’s more soon to follow!

- The top 5 cars put on what was one of the best and closest races I’ve seen yet this season. Had there been more cars there for passing opportunities, it would have easily been the most exciting. Great job to all for putting on a spectacular show for the fans at CMP!

- Both heats went green to checkers with no cautions.

- Steve Heisler led his first laps of the season before a vibration put a whoa on his charge.

Race Reporter: Josh “I’m Still the Ladies Choice” Wichers