Fourteen Year Old Wins Fast Late Models At Charlotte
by Dave Westerman
Cody Pitts won the first ever FAST Late Model feature
Fast Media Group was in action Saturday Evening at Charlotte County Speedway with the first point races of the 2006 season for the FASTRUCK and FASTKID divisions along with the debut of the new FAST Late Model Series featuring LM with sealed "crate" engines.
After a full day of practice and qualifying it was time to race with the 35 lap FASTKIDS feature up first. Fast qualifier Josh Williams would have to start the event in 13th position since he (and three other drivers) had not competed in the FASTKID series before. Per Series rules, the youngsters have to compete twice before being allowed to start a race in their qualified position.
This race would be a wacky one from start to finish with Anthony Campi jumping out to the lead at the start and leading every lap in a race that saw an unbelievable 12 caution flags before CCS promoter Leroy Davidson cut the race short at lap 28.
Campi would earn the win but it was Williams who earned the applause from the fans as he worked his way from the back of the 16 truck field to third spot at the finish, dodging many wrecks and spins in front of him.
Brian Blum got shuffled back at the start of the race as far back as sixth from the outside pole, but got his NAPA Chevy running well on the bottom and was challenging Campi for the lead when the race was brought to its abrupt halt. Dustin Dunn would end up in the fourth spot ahead of John Kidwell.
The FAST Late Models were up next. Just 11 cars showed up for this first race of the Series but they put on quite a show for 100 laps. Actually, the drivers had been given a choice to cut the distance in half for a smaller purse, but opted to go with the original number of laps. In retrospect, Spencer Taylor probably wished they had run only 50 laps.
The 14 year old driver had clearly the fastest car in time trials and pulled away quickly from the remainder of the field. The race ran with only a couple of minor spins until lap 73 when Michael Seeright, Tim Garrod and John Garrett crashed hard right at the flag stand. All three cars were eliminated but the drivers were thankfully OK. After the lengthy clean-up, Taylor's car began to go away as something was amiss on the right front although the tire seemed to have plenty of air. Cody Pitts sped by for the lead on lap 95 and opened the flood gates as Taylor was shuffled back to fifth at the finish.
Pitts, yet another 14 year old phenom, took the win ahead of "veteran" 17 year old Sean Bass and Brock Burns while Steve Smith and a disappointed Taylor completed the top five as the only cars on the lead lap.
FASTRUCKS rounded out the evening with fast qualifier Brandon Johnson on the pole. Despite 28 trucks starting the event, the was a relatively tame race for 75 laps with most of the eight cautions for minor spins or stalled trucks.
Johnson led the opening 36 laps but could not hold off a determined Jimmy Gill who sped by and led the remainder of the way although he could never shake Johnson. Johnson was actually making a good run at Gill with two laps to go when a lapped truck spun in front of the leaders. Gill avoided the spinner but Johnson slid into the stalled truck. Johnson again restarted second but could not catch Gill this time.
Travis Roland did a great job of holding off J.R. Garcia for third in what was a great race over many laps while Gary Foxworth came home fifth.
Complete official race results were not available at press time. The TQ Midgets were also on hand for their first outing of the year at CCS. Heat winner Jay McKinney led the opening lap but it was Ernie Teed, Jr. who led the remaining 24 to take the feature win over ageless Jack Duffy, McKinney, Allen Eash and Paul Huffstutler. "Fast" Freddie Stutz was unhurt after bouncing off the backstretch wall and flipping into the infield midway through the race. The FASTRUCKS and FASTKIDS return to Charlotte County Speedway in two weeks on March 25th.
FASTKIDS at Charlotte County Speedway 03/11/2006
1. 81 Anthony Campi 2. 31 Brian Blum 3. 59 Dustin Dunn 4. 6 Josh Williams 5. 7 John Kidwell(7ny) 6. 17 Michael Pilla(24) 7. 36 Ross Chastain 8. 2 T J Duke 9. 46 Matt Cohen 10. 95 Matt McGillivray 11. 91 Michael Cenzi(92) 12. 33 Casey Caudill 13. 96 Austin Howe 14. 39 Codey Benoit 15. 87 Westley Hopper 16. 34 Jessica Green
FASTLATES at Charlotte County Speedway 03/11/2006
1. 1 Cody Pitts 2. 20 Sean Bass 3. 40 Brock Burns 4. 28 Steve Smith 5. 46 Spencer Taylor 6. 11 Donnie Williams(111) 7. 74 John Garrett 8. 18 Michael Seeright 9. 99 Jason Kuykendall(00) 10. 16 Timothy Garrod 11. 3 Earl Beckner 12. 01 Bobby Spaeth
FASTRUCKS at Charlotte County Speedway 03/11/2006
1. 5 Jimmy Gill 2. 41 Brandon Johnson 3. R Travis Rolland(ran 01x) 4. 36 J R Garcia 5. 25 Gary Foxworth 6. 14 Travis Hansen(ran 141) 7. 56 James Wright III 8. 9 Levi Hobbs 9. 97 Patrick Staropoli 10.50 Danny Anderson 11.94 Any Megronigle 12.03 Charlie Worth 13. 2 Joe Coulter 14.02 David Hartin 15.05 Mike Powers 16.83 Tom North 17. 4 Al Neumann 18.99 Jason Deaton 19.26 Glenn Bidwell 20.13 Rich Pellerito 21.78 Austin Hopper 22.07 Kyle Musselman 23.84 Pat Mahoney 24.15 Jerry Maxson 25.38 Ralph Chastain 26. 7 Alex Petrone 27.91 Larry Chumney 28.01 Billy Barstow
