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| Mcleod Tops Pro Latemodels | by Ken Willis
Using patience, skill and the results of a Thursday evening practice B.J. Mcleod of Wauchula won the Pro Late Model 125 feature event in style at DeSoto Saturday night.
Three cautions at the start of the race held the field in check but once underway Mcleod, who started sixth in the 18 car field quickly worked his way into fourth place. On lap 13 going into turn one Mcleod bumped Shane Russ of Myakka bringing out another caution. On the restart Mcleod staked a claim on third and began the long run for the checkered flag. Luck favored the young driver when leader Dick Anderson of Wildwood and Jonathan Brown of Palmetto collided between turns three and four. Anderson and Brown both went to the pits, and returned to the rear of the field, which gave Mcleod the lead. He didn't look back. "Pete Orr did one heckuva job on this race car," Mcleod said. "He fine tuned this thing to where it wasn't any problem. It was like riding a roller coaster. It was a very good race car and that's what did it." Mcleod spent Thursday afternoon and evening preparing for the race at DeSoto Speedway's practice session, with Dick Anderson's reign of wins over the last two races in mind. Bryan Mansfield claimed fast time for the race with a 14.49 lap time during the times trials with Anderson two tenth of a second behind. When pills were pulled for the starting lineup Shane Russ of Myakka claimed the pole with Anderson on the inside. Half through the first lap Anderson had taken the lead with Jonathan Brown in second and Mcleod beginning to make his move on the high side toward the front. The collision between Anderson and Brown open the door for Mcleod and he took advantage of the opportunity. "Any place on this race track is the racing groove," Mcleod said. "High groove, low groove or grass. I'll take advantage of any you give me." Ricky Carlton of Homosassa and Shane Sawyer of Royal Palm Beach battled for the second and third place finish with Carlton edging out Sawyer. "Shane drove me clean," Carlton said. "I'd like to race with him all the time. I'd like to congratulate B.J. for a good job and thank the fans for coming out." "We had a pretty good car at the end," said Sawyer, who started tenth and finished third. "Unfortunately we didn't draw too well and had to work our way up the field tonight."
In other races: Mickey Kempgens of Tampa took the checkered flag in the Trucks 25 lap event. "Down the front straight I squeaked in between a couple of truck," Kempgens said. "Once I got by them I just took off. I want to thank everybody, I love all of yall." Kempgens a pair of the hottest driver in the truck series for the win. Todd Bontrager of Sarasota placed second and James Glover of Pinellas Park took third place. Bradenton Attorney Leonard McCue placed fourth, Andy Breedlove of Sarasota fifth and Danny Glover Jr. of Pinellas Park sixth. DeSoto Speedway owner John Sarppraicone, who accept a hard challenge from the truck driver drove #43 to a seventh place finish after experiencing mechanical problems.
Rocco Rannallo of Bradenton blazed to the winners circle in the Callaghan Tire Open Wheel Modifieds with points leader D.J. Hoelzle of Dunedin taking second and Teddy Nelson of Pinellas Park in third place.
Sarasota's hard charger Dan Hall collected the win in the Comcast Street Stock. Bruce Sherwood in the KARNAC.com #05 of Bradenton placed second and Chet Roberts took third place.
Mark Gill of Bradenton won the Pure Stock feature with a familiar face at Desoto Speedway, Bill Osborne of Sarasota, coming back after a layoff to place second.
Troy Davis of Bradenton took third place. Jimmy Warram of Punta Gorda took the win in the Manatee Lumber Modified Minis. Steve Gill of Sarasota placed second and Chip Gaines of Sarasota took third place.
Buddy Traylor of Bradenton returned to the short track after a few years off and collected his first win in his first race in the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Stock Minis. "I have to thanks all the people that helped me get back out here," Traylor said. "I especially want to thank the car owner, Clay Joseph, his wife, my wife and Precision Transmissions. I don't want to forget anyone." Eric Anderson of Bradenton placed second and Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton took third place.
-Ken Willis
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