Team Aruba Goes to Finals at IHRA Texas Nationals
By Tristan Ralston on 7th April, 2016
SAN ANTONIO, Tx. (April 7, 2016): Trevor Eman and Team Aruba scored their first final round of the season in just the second race of the year. Building upon their performance at the season opener, the team qualified second with a 6.23 elapsed time at 224 MPH. This was less than one hundredth of a second behind pole sitter John Konigshofer. The Aruba.com / AAA Mustang advanced through eliminations as the quickest car each round, taking out heavy hitters JR Carr and Matt Bertsch. In the finals Eman had to face Konigshofer, a pairing that would make the match of the day. The final round matchup made for a great side-by-side race from start to finish. Unfortunately for Team Aruba, Konigshofer crossed the finish line first by just .007 of a second.
Although finishing second in such a tight race is an incredible accomplishment, Team Aruba was hoping for more. “We wanted to win this race very badly,” expressed Eman. “We had the car to do it, as we had the most consistent car all weekend. But, the results panned out just like the qualifying did. Konigshofer in first place and us in second.
“Our team did a good job this weekend of being conservative and trying to stay consistent. The results of this effort showed greatly. The team produced a great car this weekend, and Jon Kaase gave us awesome power.
“Even though the IHRA is currently in restructuring, our hats go off to them for putting on a great event this weekend. The racers were given a good race track, and the stands were packed. We sure appreciated the Texan hospitality. All our fans were cheering us on and walking around with the free give away sunglasses, compliments of Aruba Airport Authority N.V. We are always giving away free information and souvenirs, and this time they came up with the idea of giving away sunglasses. That sure was a popular hit.”
The trip to Texas was the longest one the Arubans will have to make all year. The fact that Eman and team could make such an arduous trip and still perform well enough to earn second place is a testament to their perseverance and commitment. After flying in from Aruba, Eman and team drove from South Carolina to Texas on Wednesday before the event, finally arriving to the track Thursday afternoon. They raced Friday and Saturday before repeating the long trip home.
“When the event was over Saturday night, we packed up everything and got a little bit of rest before driving out Sunday morning. Our flights to Aruba were for Tuesday, so we had to make sure we make it back in time. We left Texas at 6 a.m. and drove straight through until we reached Union, South Carolina at 4 a.m. Bruce did an excellent job of driving the great majority of it. We made it to Union in time to get some last minute things done on Monday and got on our plane to Aruba Tuesday. All in all, I’m still trying to figure out if all that effort was worth second place,” Eman joked.
Fortunately, the team will have two months to recuperate and take care of business at home before the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals, June 17-18.
“We made good runs in San Antonio and I’m certain we can keep this momentum going into Budds Creek. These results put us third in points and we have every intention of taking that higher.”