Archive for Dude Teate
Oct
16
Some quick notes on the TBARA 5 Flags action Friday night.
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The car of Dude Teate came home victorious at Five Flags.
When it was all said and done the man that has been muscling his way toward the sharp end of the field at just about every TBARA race as of late, Dude Teate, stood head and shoulders above them all and picking up the win (and a few points on series points leader Shane Butler) at 5 Flags Friday night.
The question of could anything stop Dave Steele got answered Friday night. The answer? A rear axle failure. And the wall. Add those together and throw in a red flag for Steele’s destroyed Diablo and you get the gravity of his wreck. Thankfully Dave jumped out and waved to the crowd, but he did have to pack up and head home today.
Some other notes:
- 21 cars showed up to do battle at 5 Flags.
- “The Smooth Operator” Mickey Kempgens did pick up a ride (the 5w) and put it to good use as he picked up a heat win and a well deserved fourth place in the feature. Mickey is certainly on top of his game at the moment.
- “The Legend” Stan Butler jumped in the Johnny Gilbertson #21 for the evening. At Mobile it will be piloted by Ben Fritz, because…
- Ben Fritz done blowed up early on in the evening, but thanks to the team of Skeeter “Scooter” Faulconer, Fritz jumped in the #61 for the feature, proving dyslexia of car numbers sure does come in handy.
- Qualifying was in place and Dave Steele scorched the track for the pole position. Give a shout to Bobby Rose who clocked in seventh quick.
- So who finished second? That would be Todd Fayard. Who you say? Todd is a dirt shoe up in those parts, most widely known for his exploits in Cajun Sprint and ASCS action. Not too shabby coming home second…
- Bo Hartley looked like he might be bringing home the bacon until his motor went dead on him late in the game.
- DJ Hoelzle had a short night, sidelined early with motor issues.
- Shane Miller marked his TBARA return with a drama-free feature, bringing home a nice sixth place finish.
- Lots of cautions…
Thanks to Butler Motorsports for feeding us some information and also some photography.
Oct
04
TBARA Race Report – New Smyrna Speedway. 10.02.10
Posted by: | CommentsDATE: October 2, 2010
SERIES: T.B.A.R.A.
ADMISSION PRICE: $25 Pit Pass and $20 for the grandstand.
FOOD ORDERED: Hot Dog.
FOOD GRADE: C. When you are hungry as I was, you’ll eat anything. Including a racetrack hot dog at New Smyrna…
DRINKS ORDERED: Water.
DRINKS GRADE: N/A. I’ts water. How do you mess that up?
CROWD GRADE: C-. The weatherman threatened rain in the area so that may have hurt things. And the front gate ticket price may have kept some people away.
NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 25.
WHO WON: Dave Steele
FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: Much like my Webmaster friend, my pick may not be favorable to some, but I’m going with the guy who took the challenge and started in the rear to win – His Holiness Dave Steele. He even pulled into victory lane with a flat left rear tire. He said he had felt a bad vibration the last three laps and thought maybe a shock went bad. Honorable mentions to Shane Butler for a strong second place run and Dude Teate for his rallying back to a third place finish after the left rear tire went down while leading.
FSCF.COM HARD LUCK AWARD: You never want to win this award and unfortunately it goes to Keith Butler. Keith was a rocket ship and lead the first half of the race. However, due to a number of parade & caution laps he ran out of fuel. Honorable mention goes to Troy DeCcaire and Sonny Hartley both involved in hard impacts with the wall. Both were able to walk away from the accidents under their own power.
SERIES GRADE: A.
TRACK GRADE: B+. The track surface is still very fast, as evidenced by Troy DeCaire‘s three wide move into one at the start of the feature…
REST OF THE RACING GRADE: N/A. I’m going to be real honest and say I didn’t watch. I do know Mike Pletka finished third in the Sportsman race. I got to see his son Joey and my old high school teammate in the pits and do a little catching up.
OTHER NOTES:
* Heat race wins went to Matt Mercer, Shane Butler and Troy DeCaire.
* It was good to see Keith Butler, Matt Mercer, Brian Gingras and Jimmy Alvis all fast. More importantly it was good to see them back with the T.B.A.R.A. And I hope they continue to run the rest of the season.
* Speaking of Keith Butler...after watching him Saturday night and a few weeks back at East Bay, I have to say he is one of Florida’s most talented shoes and wrenches.
* I love this points battle. It’s not as tight as the Top Gun Series but its getting there. Dude Teate, Bo Hartley and Larry Brazil all had solid points nights as well. However, Shane Butler had a great run. After the two previous visits to NSS, the Butler Motorsports team flexed a little muscle.
* Dude Teate made a great save of the race car when his left rear when flat coming out of turn four at full song. The caution flew and he pulled the car to pit lane where a couple of different teams helped replace the tire. Dude rejoined the field and charged back to a third place finish. I did not count the number of caution laps given to the team to change the tire. The reason I say this is because a couple of teams ran out of fuel before or at the end of the race. And a couple of team members made mention of it…
* Another tip of the cap to Shane Miller for offering up the cash challenge to Dave Steele. Shane, we miss seeing a Miller Motorsports car at the track, but thanks for still being a sprint car supporter!
RACER REPORTER: “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose.
And a special thanks to friend of the website Gary “Walk Quietly But Carry a Big” Johnson for walking the pits and taking pictures for us. Gary lives over by Tampa way and drove all the way over to New Smyrna to take in the race. Now that’s a sprint car fan!
Thanks again Gary!
Oct
01
This weekend’s sprint car races – 10.01.10.
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"The Commando" Brian Gingras is in the TBARA house this weekend.
Last time out at the Central Florida Wingless Sprints race at Citrus County one of our decals was spotted in the wild on the car of “The Commando” Brian Gingras. We’d like to think it helped him come through the pack (and also contributed to our webmaster’s son yelling “not nice!” at Dave Slawiak after they got together early on in the race) but more importantly this weekend “The Commando” is back for some TBARA action.
If you venture out to see the TBARA this weekend at Orlando Speed World or New Smyrna Speedway, you will also see the welcome return of the Alvis family as both Big Jimmy and Lil’ Jimmy Alvis, or Jimmy Sr. and Jimmy Jr. if you like, to TBARA competition.
Want more? Keith “I’m No One’s” Butler will also be in the house with a big honkin’ motor under the hood, so definitely keep your eye on him.
More you say? Fine, Hustlin’ Steve Heisler will be piloting the R&D car owned by His Holiness Dave Steele, who is also threatening to come out and run the #91 this weekend as well.
Want someone to fly in from Indiana to run this weekend? Got that too, as Travelin’ Troy DeCaire is on his way to pilot the George Rudolph #68 this weekend.
Want someone to keep Troy honest in the Rudolph camp? Throw in the hottest wingless driver in the state this year “The Smooth Operator” Mickey Kempgens in the Rudolph Hurricane while Travelin’ Troy pilots the Diablo.
Throw all of this on top of a charging Dude Teate who is gunning full force at Shane Butler in the race to win the TBARA championship. You can also throw a blanket over the guys behind them (Ben Fritz, Larry Brazil, Jr., Bo Hartley) who are in a dogfight to settle the rest of the top five.
If those cars are a tad too big for you, the FMARA will be making a rare appearance outside of the greater Punta Gorda area and you can catch them at Citrus County. We don’t need to go into great detail about our love affair with Citrus County, but if you’re in the area, check the TQs out.
In lieu of video, here’s another link (right click and save if you want to download it and listen to it on your way to the races) to the brand new podcast featuring TBARA driver Ben Fritz.
Hit play and enjoy!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download