Archive for Steve Heisler
Aug
25
The TBARA FloriBama Races are starting to seriously heat up.
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That's called truth in advertising.
Remember those pictures we posted at the open testing at Citrus County last week? We told you there was a lot going on in those pictures…
Here is your TBARA FloriBama primer and why you should go if at all possible.
* A gambling man would be wise to bet on the team of George Rudolph. Why? Because this weekend the operation expands to two cars. Travelin’ Troy DeCaire is flying in from Indiana to pilot the Diablo he drove to victory lane at New Smyrna Speedway recently. In the other car, the Hurricane? That would be arguably the state’s hottest driver, “The Smooth Operator” Mickey Kempgens. So George ostensibly has Florida’s hottest driver on the asphalt, and arguably one of the hottest pavement drivers in the country right now in Troy DeCaire as his drivers. Damn.
* Now of course, if you were a team owner you would say to yourself, “Self, I’ve got to do something about that Rudolph operation this weekend…who should I hire?” Well, His Holiness Dave Steele of course. That’s right, The Man of Steele returns to TBARA competition this weekend in the #91. Will he dominate the FloriBama races like he did last year? Who knows, but it’s never wise to bet against His Holiness.
* Speaking of Mr. Steele, he’s also a car owner this weekend as Hustlin’ Steve Heisler slides into a Diablo entered by His Holiness. “The Hustler” had an up and down FloriBama tour last year in the DeCaire Motorsports #41, so he definitely has an opportunity to run up front this weekend.
* So what car did Mr. Heisler vacate for this weekend? That would be the Butler Motorsports #81. So who is in that car you ask? That would be “The Legend” Stan Butler. We last saw Stan’s heroics during qualifying at the Little 500 in Indiana this year. Make no mistake about it, he can still get up on the wheel. We saw it with our own two eyes. Six actually, if you count all three of our then staff.
* Speaking of Butler Motorsports and TBARA points overlord Shane Butler, they are doing a super cool thing for the little ones during the autograph sessions this weekend. The first 50 kids to get to the #18 during the autograph session at both Pensacola and Mobile will receive a custom Butler Motorsports red folder with a pen, pencil, and paper! How unbelievably awesome is that with school just starting up again? We love to see teams making sprint car fans out of the little ones, so props to Katrina Butler for lining this one up for the kiddies to get some school supplies.
* Qualifying returns! Say what you want about this one, but most fans that have never seen sprint cars on asphalt dig this and the times usually get their attention in a major way. We say watch for Larry Brazil Jr. to lay down a flyer as he loves to stand on the gas at 5 Flags, as his completely used up tires from last year can attest to. Don’t overlook DeCaire either as he just ran a sub-10 second lap at Slinger Speedway. Think about that…
* Speaking of fast flyers at 5 Flags, word on the street is fast man from earlier this year “The Commando” Brian Gingras will be in the house. Brian was a rocket earlier this year, and our pick for a championship sleeper this year before he suddenly stopped showing up. Keep an eye on him.
* We’d also like to say don’t count out Ben Fritz in all of this as he’s been putting together some strong runs as of late and his highly waxed car is always a big hit during the autograph sessions.
That’s a lot to digest, and sadly we won’t be there to report live for you like we did last year, so the state troopers that clocked the FSCF.com Ford Edge at almost triple digit velocity last year somewhere around Chipley can rest easy. Sadly our crack staff is either a) flat broke or b) starting a new job that prevents taking time off.
But for the record, the Penrose Racing hauler is carrying Hustlin’ Steve Heisler’s chariot up there, so we’re almost kind of sort of there…
Aug
09
Breaking TBARA Floribama Tour news!
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Hustlin' Steve Heisler and Crew Chief "The Hot Foot" Brian Penrose.
In a surprise move sure to rock the very foundation of all we know to be sacred and true in pavement winged sprint car racing here in Florida, it has come to pass that Hustlin’ Steve Heisler will step out of the Butler Motorsports #81 for the TBARA Floribama Tour and slide on into a car entered by the one and only His Holiness Dave Steele.
So you’ve got two big fast tracks in Five Flags and Mobile International at the end of the month, and the Diablo Chassis seems to gobble up the bigger tracks, and the very mastermind himself behind the Diablo entering a car for Hustlin’ Steve Heisler…could we be smelling upset in the Floribama air…
Jul
18
FMSA Race Report – 07.16.10
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Steve Wheeler knows how to make headlines around this place.
Date: July 16, 2010
Track: Ocala Speedway
Series: Florida Mini Sprint Association
Admission Price: $30 Pit Pass.
# of Sprint Cars: 29
Who Won: Gavin Thomas
Crowd Grade: C. I was kind of let down by the size of the crowd at Ocala. The last couple of sprint car shows I’ve been to at Ocala were pretty darn packed. Perhaps it was the threat of rain that kept people away? One other pundit thought perhaps we lost some of the snowbird crowd that we saw the last time the Top Gunners were in town. It was pretty damn hot out too, but that shouldn’t have hurt the crowd because it’s always hot in the summer. You got me…
Food Ordered: This is Ocala Speedway, chili cheese dog state champ! Did I order the chili cheese dog? You’re damn right I did. Was it the best in the state, for a race track? You’re damn right it is. This thing was such a mess the gentleman working the pits concession pointed me to the forks. I politely declined.
Food Grade: A+. I see no reason to order anything but the chili cheese dog at Ocala.
Drink Ordered: N/A. I got bribed with some Orange Crush down at the Partin Racing hauler, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me for the night.
Track Grade: C-. I’m grading on a scale here for Ocala. During hot laps the track was a mess best described as gumbo. Hot laps were useless. Heat races were a little better. For the feature, the groove wasn’t bad (I’m grading for the mini sprints) but I still think something has to be done in the off season to improve the surface at Ocala.
Series Grade: A. The only thing holding back this grade from an A+ is because this was billed as a Border War between Florida and Georgia. And I guess Georgia either a) didn’t get the memo or b) thought better of it knowing full well we would send them packing, tail between their legs. Hey, if this was supposed to be a war, we can surely insult the enemy by calling them pansies, right? Nonetheless, 29 cars, good field depth and a dog fight at the front in the feature between John Craddock, Gavin Thomas and eventually Brett O’Donnell. If you don’t think this is the best sprint car touring series in the state right now, you’ve got rocks in your head. I don’t care that they are smaller and have motorcycle engines. I want to see good racing and right now nobody is doing it better than the FMSA.
FSCF.com Driver of the Race: He never raced a mini sprint before. Dirt experience? Hardly. Tested much before the race? Not really. That didn’t stop TBARA driver Steve Heisler. Making his FMSA debut in the Penrose Racing #14D (normally driven by our Editor at Speed “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose) Steve put his head down, started 25th in the feature and came home 8th. He was in 7th until the last turn when Steve Crabtree got around him on the outside, but Steve did hold off Tim O’Donnell coming to the stripe – no easy task. Steve made six nice passes for position that I counted and stayed out of trouble all night. He also had a great crew chief helping him out. Now for those of you that know I was working on Steve’s car and want to call BS on me giving this award to Steve, well, the numbers don’t lie, but hey, I’m a sport. If you don’t like my choice, Brett O’Donnell is just as deserving. He too made his way through the pack and challenged for the win, eventually coming home in second.Watching Brett come through the pack was a thing of beauty as well.
Other Notes:
- Rhea Lynn Moss took a tough lick in the feature, due to a broken shock, but was thankfully alright. Rhea Lynn has been the revelation of the season and was sitting third in points, so this was a tough hit all the way around.
- I think I heard Steve Crabtree yell out, “Banzai!” as he made that last lap, last corner pass on Steve Heisler. Holy Guacamole did Steve have a head of steam as he went around the outside of our car. Nice pass.
- Gavin Thomas took it to everyone’s dome in the #7 Jesse James Demolition/Atlantic Powder Coating Special. Gavin has a boatload of talent and we suspect he could get the job done in a full blown sprint car if given half a chance.
- Justin Kolves and Ocala just don’t mix. Justin tore his car up something fierce last time out and came back on the hook again after he got caught up in someone else’s mess, breaking his brake line. It’s been an expensive year for the Kolves family.
- Jody McKenzie had a scary looking fire that brought out the red, just after the yellow had flown.
- Sheldon Kinser made a guest appearance up in the announcing booth. He’s still trying to get a powerplant under him to get back out there.
- John Craddock looked like the man to beat early on until Gavin Thomas got around him. Craddock was strong all night.
- Our Editor at Speed had a tough night. His brand new car drew a small crowd every time it was stationary, but despite the crew’s best efforts, it wouldn’t fire for the feature. Brian would like to send a special thank you to Don Taylor of Taylor’s Garage in Ocklawaha for doing his best to try and fix the motor.
- I wonder if Paul and Dominic Lanza are related to Blackjack Lanza…
Race Reporter: Todd Michaels