IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 10, 2004 FSCR Joey Aguilar In TBARA Winner's Circle at New Smyrna Monday, February 9, 2004 By Curtis Whalin The TBARA pavement pounders were back for their third race of the season and second successive night at New Smyrna Speedway on Monday, Feb 9. The previous two nights racing had whittled the field down to 26 cars, providing the fans with 3 8 lap heat races and a 25 lap feature race. Included in the 25 cars was Wendy Mathis in the 80 car, despite having broken her thumb when her car ran into the wall in the previous nights race. (For those of you who are wondering, the race report for the Sunday night race will be out later in the week) In practice, the motor blew on the 96X car, driven by Bo Hartley, and this car did not make the heat or feature events. The first heat saw John Gilbert Jr in the green number 7 car on the pole with Troy Decaire in the 6 car alongside for the start of the race. A clean 8 laps saw John Gilbert Jr lead the way for the first two laps until he was passed by the 1R of Doug Berryman who went on to win the heat. Joey Aguilar in the 96 car had the pole seat for the second heat with Kevin Feeney in the 98F machine on the outside. The heat got off to a clean start with Joey Aguilar taking the lead, and on lap 3 David Steele pulled the 91 car into the infield and out of the heat race. Richard Waddell in the 47 joined the 91 in the infield on lap 7. Joey went on to take the win for heat two. The number 51 of Mark Gimmler had the pole for the third and final heat of the night, alongside the 37 of Hank Lower. As the heat got underway, Hank Lower in the 37 took the lead, whilst the number 6F make a slow first lap and retired to the infield. Wendy Mathis in the 80 also pulled out of the heat on lap 3. The 37 lead the race from start to finish to take the third heat win. Joey Aguilar in the 96 car got his second pole position start of the evening in the feature race, with the 51 of Mark Gimmler filling the other front row position. On the first lap, an incident on the back straightaway coming in to turn 3 saw the 22 car driven by Doug Heveron spin and resulted in the 22 car being towed into the pits with a damaged rear end from contact with the wall. A complete restart was called and the second start saw Joey Aguilar in the 96 car take the race lead. The 6F of Skeeter Faulconer, who had been having mechanical problems earlier in the night, retired to the pits on lap 3 along with the Stan Butler in the 118. The 47 of Richard Waddell and Wendy Mathis in the 80 both retired on lap 5. On lap 7, the 00 car of Wayne Reutimann Jr ended up against the wall at turn two with driveline problems. The caution flag was thrown while the 00 car was taken from the track on a wrecker. The race got back underway with the 96 still in the lead position. Nick Manikis in the 8 car was retired from the race on lap 15 after going three laps down, and was soon followed on lap 17 by Frank Scimeca in the 98 who was also retired for falling three laps down. The remainder of the laps passed without further incidence and some close racing amongst the front of the pack saw the 96 car driven by Joey Aguilar take the checkered flag for his first win of the TBARA 2004 season. Joey also wins the Barfield Clean Sweep Award for winning both his heat and the feature race. David Slawiak in the 79 took the second place slot, with David Steele in the 91 taking third, Shane Butler in the 18 in fourth and Wayne Reutimann Sr in the 99 rounding out the top 5. The TBARA pavement pounders meet again on Saturday, February 14th at Desoto Speedway. If racing is your first love, this is your valentine! See yall there. New Smyrna Speedway Monday, February 9, 2004 Heat 1 1) 1R Doug Berryman 2) 66 Ray Bragg 3) 00 Wayne Reutimann Jr 4) 68 Dude Teate 5) 7 John Gilbert Jr 6) 6 Troy Decaire 7) 77 Joe Rebman 8) 8 Nick Manikis Heat 2 1) 96 Joey Aguilar 2) 98F Kevin Feeney 3) 18 Shane Butler 4) 22 Doug Heveron 5) 118 Stan Butler 6) 03 Tommy Nichols 7) 98 Frank Scimeca 8) 47 Richard Waddell 9) 91 David Steele Heat 3 1) 37 Hank Lower 2) 79 David Slawiak 3) 51 Mark Gimmler 4) 99 Wayne Reutimann Sr 5) 19 Keith Butler 6) 29 Gary Gimmler 7) 80 Wendy Mathis 8) 6F Skeeter Faulconer Feature: 1) 96 Joey Aguilar; 2) 79 David Slawiak; 3) 91 David Steele; 4) 18 Shane Butler; 5) 99 Wayne Reutimann Sr; 6)37 Hank Lower; 7) 68 Dude Teate; 8) 51 Mark Gimmler; 9) 66 Ray Bragg; 10) 1R Doug Berryman; 11) 19 Keith Butler; 12) 98F Kevin Feeney; 13) 77 Joe Rebman; 14) 6 Troy Decaire; 15) 7 John Gilbert Jr; 16) 29 Gary Gimmler; 17) 03 Tommy Nichols; 18) 98 Frank Scimeca DNF; 19) 8 Nick Manikis DNF; 20) 00 Wayne Reutimann Jr DNF; 21) 80 Wendy Mathis DNF; 22) 47 Richard Waddell DNF; 23) 6F Skeeter Faulconer DNF; 24) 118 Stan Butler DNF; 25) 22 Doug Heveron DNF Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!