Team Aruba finishes 2018 with strong appearance at PDRA World Finals

Championships are on the line. Weather is typically some of the best the series sees all year, leading to record breaking numbers. And this is every racer’s last chance to make an impact on the season. 

Team Aruba has enjoyed a series of highs since debuting their new 2018 Aruba.com Mustang in September. Their standout performance continued for this final event of the year, despite team changes and adverse weather conditions.

The regular driver of the Aruba.com Mustang, Trevor Eman, stayed home in Aruba, awaiting the arrival of his second child. John Bartunek was tapped to fill his seat and adjusted to the car quickly, taking Team Aruba to a number 3 qualifying spot with a 4.048 effort. He then beat John Pluchino first round with an impressive 4.022 pass. At that point, the race was postponed due to unsafe conditions. 

“This turned out to be a race with more competition from the weather than from our loyal competitors,” joked team owner, Ven Eman. “We had a very impressive field of Mountain Motor Pro Stocks with 17 cars, but Mother Nature was not on our side during this race. We had one day great weather, then lots and lots of rain and to top it off freezing low 30 degree weather.”

Unfortunately, Team Aruba’s race efforts were cut short. Team members had commitments on Monday and could not stay for the remainder of the postponed event. 

“We hated to leave Virginia with a 4.02 on the table. Driver John Bartunek did a great job, which made it a more difficult decision to head home. We were also shorthanded during this race, but the guys did a tremendous job. Doug, John Peterson and John Bartunek - thank you for the good work on behalf of the people of Aruba. 

“Although we didn’t get to see how well we could finish at our final event of the season, we know this team has what it takes to run at the top. We’re extremely excited for the 2019 season!”