IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 12, 2004 FSCR The 22 Sweeps Second Night of Racing for the TBARA Winged Sprint Series By Curtis Whalin Sunday, Feb 8 found the TBARA Winged Sprint Cars at New Smyrna Speedway, one of the fastest tracks on the TBARA circuit. 28 cars made the journey from Inverness and the previous night's race across the state to New Smyrna to provide the fans with 3 8-lap heat races and a 25-lap feature event. Scott Adema in the number 2 car had the pole for the start of the first heat, with Doug Heveron in the 22 alongside in the number two spot. Doug Heveron took an early lead in the heat. On lap 4, the 33C car of John Sambor, who had started the heat in third place, blew the motor on the front straightaway, but managed to coast into the pits. The heat race continued with Doug Heveron as the heat winner and David Steele in the number 91 taking second place. The pole starter for the second heat was set to Richard Waddell in the 47, but after he pulled off into the pits during the hot laps, third place starter Joe Rebman in the 77 car found himself on the front row with the 29 of Gary Gimmler beside him. Mat Mercer in the 10 car opted to start the race at the back of the pack, and ultimately retired from the heat race on lap 4 along with Skeeter Faulconer in his 6F machine. Joe Rebman (#77) led the race from start to finish with Doug Berryman in the 1R bringing home second place. In heat number three, Mark Gimmler in the 51 who was due to start in third place gained a pole seat after Frank Scimeca in the 98 who was scheduled to start on the pole choose to drop to the back of the field. John Gilbert Jr started the heat in the other front row position. The 51 took an early lead and led for the first 4 laps of the race when he was passed by the 96 driven by Joey Aguilar who went on to win the heat, the 51 claiming second place. Scott Adema lined up for his second pole position starting slot of the night when the 25 lap feature event got underway. Mark Gimmler in the 51 started in the second position slot. The first start was a little untidy, so flagman Wild Child brought the field around for a second start. Mark Gimmler again took an early lead with a little bit of bumping going on in the rest of the field. On the second lap, the 80 car of Wendy Mathis hit the wall hard at turn one. The race was red flagged, and the medics were called to her car. It was later established that she had broken her thumb on the steering wheel of the car due to the force of the impact. Once Wendy and her car had been cleared from the track and racing got back underway with Mark Gimmler in the 51 car still in the lead, the number 10 of Matt Mercer retired to the pits on lap 2 and was soon followed by the 47 car of Richard Waddell on the same lap. On lap 4, Nick Manikis in the number 8 car also retired to the pits, and lap 7 provided a change in the lead car when Joey Aguilar in the 96 cars passed the then race leader Mark Gimmler. Lap 9 saw a tangle of cars on the back straightaway coming in to turn 3 that left Gary Gimmler in the 29 car, Scott Adema in the 2 car and Tommy Nichols in the 03 car all on the back of wrecker vehicles being towed off the track, and that brought out the second red flag of the evening. Once all of the cars had been cleared, the racing got back underway with the 96 driven by Joey Aguilar still in the lead with Doug Heveron in the 22 close behind in second position. On lap 10, the 96 began to smoke and as the smoking got worse, the officials decided to call the car off the track to assess the cause of the smoking, but Joey pulled the car into the pits on lap 11 and it was retired from the race. This gave the lead to Doug Heveron in the 22. The 6F of Skeeter Faulconer was retired on lap 15 after going 3 laps down to the race leader, whilst Frank Scimeca in the 98 and Wayne Reutimann Jr in the 00 car both retired from the race on lap 17 with mechanical problems. Doug Heveron in the 22 went on to win the race, and a Barfield Clean Sweep Award for winning both his heat and the feature race. David Steele in the 91 car came in second, followed by Dude Teate in the 68 car in third, Ray Bragg in the 66 took fourth and Wayne Reutimann Sr in the 99 car brought home fifth place. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!