TEAM ARUBA HAS GREAT FIRST OUTING

By Tristan Ralston on 13th March, 2013

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. March 13, 2013: For a team that is familiar with struggle, Trevor Eman and Team Aruba were delighted to start the 2013 season off with a very respectable semi-final finish.

“It was certainly great to start the season making it to the semi-finals with this Aruba.com/Alltel Wireless Team,” told Eman. “For the past two years the seasons never started the way we needed them to. Hopefully we keep the momentum going and win some races this year.

“Our weekend started with a successful car display for Alltel Wireless in Rockingham on Wednesday. The great folks from Alltel Wireless also joined us on Saturday and Sunday at the track, setting up their customer service table to be able to attend to all the race fans and Alltel Wireless customers. We love having the Alltel team join us for these events.”

Between weather conditions and traveling the distances between Aruba and the team’s shop in South Carolina, there was no time for off season testing until the days leading up to the ADRL Dragpalooza IX. The team was still working out the right combination during qualifying, but managed a 4.103 which put them in the number 10 spot. During eliminations, Eman was definitely on his driving game. Although taking on the higher qualified Richard Penland in round one, Eman’s .008 light and 4.05 elapsed time was no match for Penland’s .083 and 4.31. In round two, the Aruba.com laid down another 4.05, but it was Eman’s .013 that put him ahead of Pete Berner’s 4.04 at the finish line for a hole shot win. For the semi finals Eman was up against number one qualifier, John Deflorian. Knowing that they would have to pull out all the stops to win this round, Eman went for his best light and came up .001 red. Still, the Aruba.com Mustang ran another great number, 4.06. Deflorian proved to be tough to beat with a .005 light and 4.05 elapsed time.

“We made some changes for this race and we certainly saw the results of that,” continued Eman. “We spent two days testing prior to the race and that didn’t go quite the way we wanted, but we got things turned around just in time to perform well in eliminations. The car and motor performed flawlessly during eliminations. We had a tough draw in the semi finals in the number one qualifier, but we still ran a very competitive race. Our team can be very proud of what we’ve accomplished here. Also, congratulations to John Deflorian on winning the event!

“Beating my competitors off the starting line was what helped get us through rounds one and two. Unfortunately it also proved to be my nemesis in the semis. However, we still ran great numbers and had close races all day long to make a good show for the fans. John Deflorian laid down a run that would have been incredibly hard to beat no matter what. Hopefully, our motor program keeps coming around to the point where our combination of good lights and horsepower will be tough on all the competition.”

Many racers were very pleased with the Dragpalooza crowd, which was impressive on both days of the event.

“It was also very motivating to race in front of the big crowd that came out for the event,” told Eman. “Plenty of people came by our pit area to get autographs and take pictures of the car. It’s nice to have such great fan support.

“The Traction Twins did a great job as well. It’s great to have them with the ADRL again this year,” Eman added, alluding to the changes in leadership that the ADRL underwent in the off season. “Our hats go off to everybody responsible for a great race weekend in Rockingham.

“Our own team also did an awesome job this weekend. Everybody was on their game and determined to do well. As we keep this going, I think we can certainly expect to do even better in Valdosta!”