Archive for TBARA Reports
Aug
01
TBARA Race Report – 07.31.10
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After collecting my seventh consecutive Employee of the Month award, (thanks Josh) this past Friday at the FSCF.com corporate headquarters (a.k.a. Todd’s garage), I was dispatched to the TBARA race Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway. I wasn’t sure if it was a reward or a punishment. I took it as a reward.
DATE: July 31, 2010
SERIES: TBARA
TRACK: New Smyrna Speedway
ADMISSION PRICE: $25 Pit Pass
FOOD ORDERED: Hamburger
FOOD GRADE: A. The actual track hamburger was overpriced and average at best. The reason the food grade is A is one reason. Mrs. Butler’s BBQ sandwich Friday night at Orlando and the meatball sub Saturday at New Smyrna. Thank you Mrs. Butler for keeping me from starving to death. It is much appreciated.
DRINKS ORDERED: N/A I had plenty of water at the Butler hauler due to the extreme heat. Thanks again!
DRINKS GRADE: N/A However, our man John from Red Fox Run did have a sweet tea at the pit concession and said it was acceptable.
CROWD GRADE: C. NSS advertised heavily on Brighthouse Networks. I’ve seen better crowds for a TBARA show at NSS.
NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 17
WHO WON: Dude Teate
FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: I was all ready to give the honor to Shane Butler after the primary car would not crank for hot laps and blowing the engine in the #81 backup car during hot laps. Shane was working his way towards the front during the feature in the #18 car after the crew thrashed to get it to the starting grid. But Shane pulled the #18 car in during the only caution (Bryan Riddle broke a shock and came to rest on the track) for overheating. So with no further adieu, Driver of the Race is race winner Dude Teate. Dude was taken out leading the heat race by a lapped car that pinched him into the wall. The accident sent Teate to the pits with a broken front axle. After the restart for the Riddle caution, Teate brought the crowd to its feet with a high side pass of then leader Troy DeCaire.
SERIES GRADE: C+. This is the premiere asphalt series in Florida and only 17 cars show up. As a fan it was very disappointing to see only 9 cars running at the end of the race. I gave the C+ because the teams that did show made every effort to put all the cars on the track. A tip of the cap to those teams.
TRACK GRADE: B
REST OF THE RACING GRADE: B. The Pro Truck race feature had a dramatic three wide finish at the flagstand. Karnac legend Rex “Boneman” Hollinger competed as well.
OTHER NOTES:
* It was a Diablo kind of night. The Dave Steele built chassis came home 1 & 2 with DeCaire chasing Teate to the finish line. DeCaire led the first half of the race going away until he had what felt like two shocks fail late in the feature. However, he did an outstanding job to hang on and close on Teate (after laying his wing back all the way) in the final couple of laps.
* The Butler crew continued to show why they are having a championship type of season. On a day when the primary car had problems they kept working to get the car on the track.
* Larry Brazil Jr. showed great maturity. After hurting the engine in his primary car, he jumped into the 28B typically run by his father. Noticing the engine had a bit of a miss and was running on the warm side, he stayed out and collected valuable points.
* FSCF.com’s favorite graphics man Mickey Kempgens had a very solid run in the Terry DeCaire owned Dirt Devil’s Speedway #41 car.
* Once again Ben Fritz was fast, but hard luck struck again. Ben was running in the top three during the feature, when the front wing blew off and basically into the cockpit.
RACE REPORTER: “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose
Jun
06
TBARA Race Report – 06.05.10
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After a heated rock, paper, scissors tournament at the worldwide headquarters of FloridaSprintCarFans.com (also known as Todd’s garage) on Friday afternoon, I was given the responsibility for the TBARA race report from New Smyrna. I had no idea it would be so difficult to throw a rock, paper, scissors match with Josh “Roller Derby” Wichers. I guess the Jim Croce song “Roller Derby Queen” playing in the background was throwing him off. Anyway… to the report!
DATE: June 5th, 2010
SERIES: TBARA
ADMISSION PRICE: $25 Pit Pass
FOOD ORDERED: Chicken sandwich & small fries
FOOD GRADE: C. Don’t eat the pit concession at NSS. I think the heat lamp was out when I got my small fries. You are better off eating on the grandstand side or eating before you come to the races.
DRINKS ORDERED: Powerade & Barq’s Root Beer.
DRINKS GRADE: C . Yes, the drink order was messed up too. Only one Powerade flavor and I ordered a Root Beer and somehow got a Coke…
CROWD GRADE: C. NSS advertised heavily on the local radio in Volusia County. I’ve seen better crowds for a TBARA show at NSS. I’m guessing the threat of rain kept many away.
NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 15
WHO WON: Travelin’ Troy DeCaire
FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: It looked like Bo Hartley was going to take the honor until a big puff of smoke came from his racecar. Then it looked like Ben Fritz until a broken right rear shock ended his night. In the end it goes to third place finisher Larry J Brazil. He started deep in the field and stayed out of trouble to have another solid run.
SERIES GRADE: D. This is the premiere asphalt series in Florida and only 15 cars show up. As a fan it was very disappointing to see only 7 cars running at the end of the race.
TRACK GRADE: B+. It would have been an A had my concession experience been better. They kept the show moving nicely with the threat of rain. The surface was racy as usual. The support divisions had horrible car counts, as usual.
REST OF THE RACING GRADE: D. Four and six car features make for a pitiful show.
OTHER NOTES:
* First, congratulations go out to Frank Riddle’s family. Frank is a 2010 Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee this year. It’s long overdue in my opinion. A big thank you to all those people behind the scenes who helped get Frank inducted this year. Now let’s get TBARA Champion & Little 500 winner Jim Childers inducted along with Sam Rodriguez.
* Outstanding effort by the Butler Motorsports crew for getting Shane’s car back together after a hard crash during hot laps. All the hard work paid off as Shane survived the night to come home 7th and save valuable championship points. It was disappointing that more teams didn’t offer help to fix the Butler machine.
* Lap 1 of the feature saw Dude Teate, Joey Aguilar & Ben Fritz get together. Teate lost something in the rearend; Aguilar checked up to miss Teate, but was drilled from behind. Aguilar spun Teate with help and Joey hit the wall. Teate and Aguilar were unable to continue. Fritz re-fired and tagged the tail for the complete restart. Fritz later retired with a broken shock.
* I have to give the teams that are showing up to race credit. It’s the cars that are sitting on the sidelines that are hurting the show for the FANS and tracks. Is the TBARA on its way to self destruction?
* On a side note, the racing community lost a talented driver last week in “The Rocket” Jesse Hockett. It was my pleasure to watch him win the 2009 King of the 360s at East Bay, then have the opportunity to talk to him about it the following week at Volusia Speedway Park. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hockett Family. God speed and rest in peace Jesse.
RACE REPORTER: “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose
Also, friend of the website Gary “Walk Softly But Carry A Big” Johnson was in the house and snapped the following pictures during a pit walk. Thanks Gary!
May
17
TBARA Race Report – 05.15.10
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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