IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 10, 2005 FSCR David Slawiak tops TBARA at Desoto By Curtis Whalin The TBARA pavement pounders were at Desoto Speedway on April 9 for their 9th race of the 2005 season. The 68 car driven by David Slawiak had the pole for the start of the first heat race with Bo Hartley in the 3X alongside. The 3X made the better start to take the race lead and held on to the lead to take the win with fourth place starter David Steele in the 91 car taking second. Pole starter David Slawiak finished the heat in fourth place. Gary Gimmler in his number 29 car had the pole for the start of the second heat. Lee Cipray in the 33 car was alongside in second. The 29 car took the race lead going into the first turn. On lap 4, the 75 car driven by Curtis Sutton spun at turn 3 on it’s own, bringing out the caution flag. The field lined back up behind race leader Gary Gimmler and the track went back to green. On race lap 7 the 33 retired to the infield with a broken rear end that ended his nights racing. The 75 pulled off on the last lap and the heat winner was Gary Gimmler. Shane Butler in the 18 car took second place after starting the heat in the fourth place position. The 29 car of Gary Gimmler was again on the pole for the start of the 30-lap feature race, with the 68 driven by David Slawiak alongside on the front row. David Slawiak made a good start and took the race lead at turn 2. On lap 3, the 18 car of Shane Butler spun between turns one and two bringing out the caution flag. He was pushed back off and joined the back of the field for the restart, with the 68 still in the lead. It was a fast paced race with the back markers being caught and passed as early as lap 7. On race lap 16, Curtis Sutton retired the number 75 car to the infield and was followed by David Retzlaff in the number 90 on race lap 19. On lap 26 and with just five laps to go, the number 18 car stopped on the track between turns 3 and 4 due to the car overheating, bringing out the second and final caution of the race. He was pushed off the track, the cars were lined back up and the track went back to green. With the leaders all together it was a close final 5 laps, but the feature winner was David Slawiak in the 68 car who led the race from start to finish. Second place went to Bo Hartley in the 3X and David Steele in the 91 car took third. The fourth place car was the 66 driven by Ray Bragg, but during the post race tech inspection the car was found to have an illegal wheel alignment and the car was disqualified from the feature handing fourth place to Troy DeCaire in the 118 car and fifth place was then awarded to last week’s winner Gary Gimmler in the 29 car. The TBARA will hit the track again next week, April 16, at Bronson Motor Speedway. Thanks for your support and we hope you can make it to the races. TBARA Desoto Speedway, April 9, 2005 HEAT 1 1) 3X Bo Hartley 2) 91 David Steele 3) 118 Troy DeCaire 4) 68 David Slawiak 5) 51 Mark Gimmler 6) 44 Bill Pettijohn 7) 5W Randy Woodall (DNS) HEAT 2 1) 29 Gary Gimmler 2) 18 Shane Butler 3) 66 Ray Bragg 4) 19 Keith Butler 5) 90 David Retzlaff 6) 75 Curtis Sutton 7) 33 Lee Cipray FEATURE 1) 68 David Slawiak; 2) 3X Bo Hartley; 3) 91 David Steele; 4) 118 Troy DeCaire; 5) 29 Gary Gimmler; 6) 19 Keith Butler; 7) 51 Mark Gimmler; 8) 18 Shane Butler (DNF); 9) 90 David Retzlaff (DNF); 10) 75 Curtis Sutton (DNF) The 5W did not take the green flag because it lost oil pressure. The 44 did not take the green flag because the car shut off. The 66 car finished in 4th position but was later disqualified for failing tech inspection with a wheel alignment infraction. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!