Team Aruba Scores first Final

June 5, 2012   ·   0 Comments

ST. LOUIS, Mo. June 3, 2012: Team Aruba scored their first ever ADRL final round appearance at this past weekend’s Gateway Drags. For this team that is always full of smiling faces, the grins were just a little bigger when racing was complete and celebration was underway:

“We couldn’t be happier,” told driver Trevor Eman. “It was awesome to finally be able to reach a final round. We’ve been working so hard these last couple of years, and to be able to get to this point is just very satisfying. To think that a Pro Stock team from the tiny paradise island of Aruba can make it to the finals between all these tough competitors is just amazing, and to have done it in the tightest qualified field in ADRL Extreme Pro Stock history is even more amazing.”

This underdog team made it to the finals from a number nine qualified position, which they earned with a 4.077, 176MPH pass. The field, which Eman noted was one of the toughest in XPS history, was only separated by less than .08 from number one to number sixteen qualifiers (4.018 to 4.096).

In round one Eman took on past World Champion John Montecalvo. Eman was out of the gate first and when Montecalvo got loose, it was all Aruba for the win (.022, 4.134 at 174.93). Round two paired the Aruba.com, Alltel Wireless Mustang against another heavy hitter, Scot Hintz. Hintz is another XPS driver who can be tough on the startling line. However, Eman’s .006 light put him out front by a couple hundredths. With that he was able to hold off Hintz’s slightly quicker 4.125 with a 4.136 for the hole shot win.

Eman’s day didn’t get any easier as the team progressed through the rounds. The semi finals brought on competitor David Schorr. This time it was the Jon Kaase engine power that scored the win for Aruba, Eman’s 4.121 besting Schorr’s 4.191. With that victory, Team Aruba scored their first ever trip to an ADRL final round, which would prove to be an historic one for XPS, as the other final round contender, Todd Hoerner, became the first ever fuel injected machine to make it to an XPS final round. Hoerner had been tough to beat all day and proved so again against Team Aruba. Eman once again did his driving job with a .018 light to Hoerner’s .046. But by the time the pair reached the 660ft mark, Hoerner was in front by .01. Team Aruba put out their quickest run of the day (4.116), but it was just shy of holding off Hoerner’s 4.072.

“It was such a fun weekend,” told Eman. “We have hoped for this day for a long time. This year got off to a slow start for us. It was discouraging, but this team didn’t give up. They kept working hard and believing that we would see this day. We are happier than words can truly express.

“I know we had everybody at home in Aruba rooting for us,” continued the elated Eman, “and to be able to represent our country with all the support of our fellow Arubans makes us very, very proud. Even though we couldn’t have everybody from Aruba right here by our side, we sure did have all the support from the Broushard and Brawley family, together with many other close friends here in St. Louis. We could not have done this without the support of family and friends and an awesome team that puts a lot of hard work into this effort; and above all we couldn’t do this without the great support we get from the fine people at Alltel Wireless and, of course, our country Aruba.”