Texas Speedzone - Barker loses out to Stewart again; TSRS points leader claims 3rd win

(Houston, TX) When all was said-and-done for the TRACKTEK 75 Texas Super Racing Series (TSRS) late model race at Houston Motorsports Park (HMP) Saturday night, overall points leader Heath Stewart had claimed his third victory in the sixth race of the season by beating Robert Barker (Boerne, TX) to the finish line.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 22, 2008 Contact: K-MAC Sports, 512.219.1090 MAN Racing Promotions, 512.844.3582 Barker loses out to Stewart again; TSRS points leader claims 3rd win By Chuck Licata K-MAC Sports (Houston, TX) When all was said-and-done for the TRACKTEK 75 Texas Super Racing Series (TSRS) late model race at Houston Motorsports Park (HMP) Saturday night, overall points leader Heath Stewart had claimed his third victory in the sixth race of the season by beating Robert Barker (Boerne, TX) to the finish line. “It was a pretty good race,” stated Stewart, who expanded his lead to 46 points over Brian Moczygemba (San Antonio), who finished fifth on Saturday. “We felt like we had a really good car and I enjoyed the win because I felt we had the best car. In the other two wins we may not have had the best car, especially the race at Thunderhill Raceway where Robert (Barker) had engine problems.” Stewart was referring to the OI-75 (May 31) at THR when Barker, leading the race at the time, saw his car experience engine problems on the last restart, allowing Stewart to sneak by and grab the checkered flag. In this race, Barker – who afterwards admitted he drove the race with a slight headache – had the lead before getting passed on Lap 53 on the inside of Turn 2 by Stewart. The last caution flag of the night (the fourth of the race) came out two laps later; Stewart then hung on after the restart for his third win of the ‘08 season. Rounding out the Top 5 were Chris Schild (Leander, TX), Jake Kruger (Bastrop, TX) and Brian Moczygemba (San Antonio). Dillon Spreen (Boerne, TX) was sixth, followed by Chad Menard (Castroville, TX), Cody Smith (La Vernia, TX), Mike Williams (Hockley, TX) and Jesse Salazar (San Antonio). Rounding out the field was Deed DuPont (Baytown, TX), who finished 11th; Bobby Teer, Jr. (Comfort, TX) in 12th; Leland Waddell (Austin) in 13th; Todd Farris (College Station, TX) in 14th; and Jason Hollander (Cedar Park, TX) in 15th. “Before the last yellow, I wasn’t much faster than him (Barker) but I felt I could get by him because of the ‘push’ he was having with his car,” Stewart said. “Once I got by him, he hung in there and was really quick. I knew he was still fast enough to pass me if he got the chance. We had to work it the rest of the race to hold him off and get to the finish line first.” “I don’t know what happened with my car (on Lap 53),” Barker explained. “But there was no doubt Heath was better than we were today. That team has it figured out; we can’t take anything away from them. I had a good car but they were just better; everyone’s working towards the goal of beating them.” Stewart and Barker set the pace in a race that started with 14-year-old Jake Kruger on the pole. Stewart continued his season-long run of having the fastest lap in qualifying (14.941 seconds), but it was Kruger who drew the #1 in the post-qualifying drawing for positions among the top six qualifiers. Barker started the race second (outside of Kruger on the front row) while Stewart was third. Barker got a good run on the outside of the start on the 3/8-th mile asphalt oval (“This has always been a good track to run on the outside and do some passing,” Stewart said afterward) and challenged Kruger for the lead. “I finally cleared him out of Turn 4 (on the first lap),” Barker recalled. “I don’t know how I pulled that off; I just stuck it in there.” He continued, “I knew I’d better get down on the bottom line soon after the start, because with Jake, Heath and Chris Schild starting on the inside positions, I knew it could be a while before I saw the inside lane.” Soon after Barker took the lead, Stewart crept up on Kruger and was able to pass the youngster for second place on Lap 4. On that same lap, Schild (the 2005 TSRS champion) got around Spreen (also 14) for fourth place. By Lap 10, the top two (Barker and Stewart) had a three-car-length lead on the field. Two laps later, Kruger and Schild, running 3-4, opened up a five-car lead on Spreen, who was running fifth. The worst of the four cautions came on the last one on Lap 55, when four cars (the #2 of Teer, the #22 of Farris, the #05 of Smith and the #28 of Waddell) all hooked up and ran into each other. Smith and Farris ended up with heavy sheet metal damage while Farris’ car also had a small hole in its radiator. Stewart is sponsored by Southside Wrecker of Austin. His crew includes crew chief J.R. Kremmer, Adam Wilkerson, Curtis Drosche and car owner Bobby Joe New. Information about the series can be found at www.manracingpromotions.com. TSRS results and points are posted on the http://speednetdirect.com web site. - 30 - Texas Super Racing Series 2008 Schedule* Legend of tracks: CCS - Corpus Christi Speedway (Corpus Christi, TX) HMP - Houston Motorsports Park (Houston, TX) RRS - Red River Speedway (Wichita Falls) THR - Thunderhill Raceway (Kyle, TX) Saturday, April 19: THR Race Winner: Heath Stewart, Del Valle (TX) Saturday, April 26: THR Race Winner: Brian Moczygemba, San Antonio (TX) Saturday, May 17: HMP (Insty Prints 75) Race Winner: Jake Kruger, Bastrop (TX) Saturday, May 31: THR (Operation Interdependence 75) Race Winner: Heath Stewart, Del Valle (TX) Saturday, June 7: RRS (Red River Speedway 75) Race Winner: John Heil, Floresville (TX) Saturday, June 21, HMP (TRACKEK 75) Race Winner: Heath Stewart, Del Valle (TX) NEXT TSRS Race: Saturday, July 26: THR Saturday, Aug. 2: RRS Saturday, Aug. 16: HMP Saturday, Aug. 30: THR Saturday, Sept. 13: THR Saturday, Sept. 27: THR *schedule subject to change