PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (April 12) Frank Welch of North Fort Myers won his first Late Model race ever Saturday night, taking the checkered in the 50-lap feature.
Welch, who started racing Late Models last year, started on the pole and led all 50 laps, holding off Mark Collins for most of the race.
Collins, who hails from Cape Coral, hung on for second in his dayglo 99 car. Glenn Morris of Pine Island was third in the Cat Country 107 car.
The Sportsman division ran a 30-lap feature. Punta Gorda's Jerry Bryant showed that he still has what it takes, as he motored the No. 9 Bumper to Bumper Auto Supply car past Ralph Goddard on lap 17 and led the rest of the way. Jeremy Goddard of Naples was second and James DuBose of Arcadia third.
A number of the top cars in the Super Stock went out early in the 25-lap feature. Were talking Danny Caylor, Elbert Butts and Mike Loney, to name a few. That left Brian Richardson of Fort Myers the winner by a comfortable margin.
He passed Chuck Sweet on lap 9 and checked out. Sweet, who is from Port Charlotte, was second in the 42 car. The best battle was for third. Ander Jackson of Punta Gorda won out in the 91 car.
Road Warrior action saw Chris Huntoon of Englewood withstand a challenge from points leader Chris Oncken of Fort Myers. Oncken chased Huntoon around the track nose to tail, but raced him clean. Jon Abraham of Cape Coral was third.
In Thunder Trucks, it was all John Garrett, the North Fort Myers driver who won by a country mile. Mike Bialecki, the Port Charlotte resident who borrowed a transmission from Garrett, was able to finish second. Justin Bryant of Arcadia took third in the 24 truck, just nosing out the advances of Cheryl Pearl Weaver.
Race results at Charlotte County Speedway for Saturday, April 12, 2003.
Late Model
1. 96 Frank Welch 2. 99 Mark Collins 3. 107 Glenn Morris 4. 00 Ronnie Heard 5. 62 Buzz Martin 6. 95 Richie Anderson 7. 36 Al Fradette 8. 23 Cory Collum 9. 07 Troy McNabb 10. 13 John Leonard 11. 49 Christine Gibson 12. 64 Chris Libak 13. 19 Steve Arnold 14. 2 Kevin Murphy 15. 88 Randy Fox
Mod Lites (Dwarfs) 1. 00 John Godwin 2. 82 3. 8 Stan Hope 4. 2 Phil Keatoff 5. 22 Mel Godwin 6. 07 Todd Hart 7. 20 Mike Landis 8. 15 Kenny Anderspm 9. 49 Rick McFarland 10. 5 George Landis
Pro Challenge 1. 1 Rod Sanders 2. 2 Kyle Nicholas 3. 12 Brad Sanders 4. 25 Mike Lago 5. 20 Dale Horne 6. 10 Tim Hart 7. 28 Tyler David 8. 56 Howard Brennan 9. 24 Mark David 10. 8 Bill Hornack
Sportsman 1. 9 Jerry Bryant 2. 40 Jeremy Goddard 3. 67 James Dubose 4. 38 Ralph Goddard 5. 20 George Ellsworth 6. 76 Joe Reese 7. 20x Steve O'Lone 8. 46 Buck Wilson 9. 15 Lucky Brown 10. 0 Dick Robinson 11. 71 L. B. Skaggs 12. 36 Steve Leonard 13. 35 Calvin Fillingame
Super Stock 1. 42 Chuck Sweet 2. 91 Ander Jackson 3. 84 Billy Vandevender 4. 10 Eric Smith 5. 33 Mike Loney 6. 56 Walt Korkiner 7. 8 George Tanner 8. 7 Danny Caylor 9. 83 John Hanuschik 10. 31x Elbert Butts 11. 99 Greg Barker 12. 49 Joe Butler 13. 23 Brian Richardson (disqualified)
Road Warrior 1. 30 Chris Huntoon 2. 61 Chris Onken 3. 7 Jonathan Abraham 4. 18 Shane Leonard 5. 9 Gary Miller 6. 88 Larry Rudd 7. 1 Jesse Gargus 8. 77 Dennis Hale 9. 11 Robert Hendry 10. 40 Don Justice 11. 54 Ken Heckert 12. 09 Doug Raastad 13. 6 Chris Ferguson 14. 5 Bob Waltz 15. 25 J.J. Sanford 16. 92 Richard Dupont
Thunder Truck 1. 22 John Garrett 2. 8 Mike Bialecki 3. 24 Justin Bryant 4. 37 Cheryl Weaver 5. 56 Bob Charette 6. 13 Jay Bryant 7. 14 Randy Layman 8. 16 Wally Smith
