After a rain storm delayed the start of Saturday nights racing at Desoto speedway, the TBARA sprint car racing finally got underway at about 10pm. 19 cars waited out the rain to make for 3 heat races, each with 8 laps. The first heat saw Dude Teate in the 68 car come from a forth place starting position to take the lead on the first lap and go on to win the heat. The second heat was also won the forth place starter, Mark Gimmler in his 51 car, having overtaken the original race leader Wendy Mathis on lap 2. The last heat was won by Doug Heveron in the 22 car after starting in second position and taking the lead on the first lap.
Wendy Mathis in the 80 car took the pole for the 25 lap feature race. She lead the race for the first two laps, at which point she was passed by Ray Bragg in the 66. On lap 11, the 96 car driven by Joey Aguilar got together with Wayne Reutimann Jr in the 00, resulting in both cars spinning at turn 2. Whilst the 96 was able to keep running, the 00 had to be restarted and took his place at the back of the field for the restart. As the cars were given the one lap warning for the restart, an incident in turn 3 caused the 51, 96 and 99 cars to shunt into each other. The caution light was thrown, but by which time the cars had made it to the back straightaway, and when the caution lights came on, the 96 ran into the 51 of Mark Gimmler, causing the 51 car to spin out, and then the 96 spun on to collect the 29 car of Gary Gimmler. The front of the 96 car rode up onto the back of the 29, and both cars slid across the infield at turn 3 and came to a stop between turns 3 and 4. All three cars were too badly damaged to continue in the race, though thankfully none of the drivers were injured. During the caution, the 11 car pulled into the infield and retired from the race. Once the race was restarted, it went to the checkered flag without further incidence, giving Ray Bragg in the 66 car his first TBARA feature win. Dude Teate in the 68 came in second, Doug Heveron in the 22 was third, Keith Butler in the 19 was fourth, and rounding out the top five was Shane Butler in the 18. The TBARA's next scheduled event is at Ocala Speedway on Friday, July 18.
HEAT 1
1) 68 Dude Teate 2) 66 Ray Bragg 3) 96 Joey Aguilar 4) 29 Gary Gimmler 5) 33c John Sambor 6) 11 Tra Pissott 7) 3 Richard Burnett
HEAT 2 1) 51 Mark Gimmler 2) 18 Shane Butler 3) 80 Wendy Mathis 4) 99 Wayne Reutimann Sr 5) 5W Randy Woodall 6) 16 Ben Fritz
HEAT 3 1) 22 Doug Heveron 2) 00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. 3) 19 Keith Butler 4) 44 Chuck Klausing 5) 6 Skeeter Faulconer 6) 6F Frank Scimeca
FEATURE
1) 66 Ray Bragg; 2) 68 Dude Teate; 3) 22 Doug Heveron; 4) 19 Keith Butler; 5) 18 Shane Butler; 6) 80 Wendy Mathis; 7) 99 Wayne Reutimann Sr; 8) 00 Wayne Reutimann Jr; 9) 33c John Sambor; 10) 44 Chuck Klausing; 11) 16 Ben Fritz; 12) 6 Skeeter Faulconer; 13) 5W Randy Woodall; 14) 6F Frank Scimeca; 15) 3 Richard Burnett; 16) 29 Gary Gimmler DNF; 17) 51 Mark Gimmler DNF; 18) 96 Joey Aguilar DNF; 19) 11 Tra Pissott DNF
