Sands takes wild Outlaw Modified Race at Charlotte County Speedway
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (May 3) ‹ Randy Sands, who hails from Islamadora in the Keys, was the winner in an entertaining Outlaw Modified scramble that saw three competitors trade the lead.
It was the first victory of the season for Sands, who entered Saturdayıs 25-lap feature 17th in the point standings. Sandsı coral-colored No. 8 car passed the No. 41 driven by Raymond Jones with eight laps to go. He then held off Jones and Lance Hoversen to the checkered.
³Itıs just not my first win, but the first race Iıve finished this year,² said Sands, who has been a perennial force in Outlaw Modifieds ‹ open-wheeled 4-cylinder cars.
Lance Hoversen was spun out by his dad, Ted, on lap 23. Lance got his spot back and finished second. Jones, who hails from Arcadia, took third. He entered the race as the series points leader in the Dave Osteen engineered machine.
The Limited Late Model race had plenty of cars, Chris Libak of Fort Myers showed up to race in his No. 64 H&H Kustom Auto Body car. He passed polesitter John Leonard on lap 14 and stayed in front the rest of the way in the 30-lapper. Steve Arnold followed Libak around Leonard and finished second. Cory Collum of Cape Coral survived a bump from Frank Welch to finish third.
In the Open Wheel Modified 30-lapper, Punta Gordaıs Phil ³The Thrill² Morrison scored his first victory of the season in the No. 63 car. Early leader L.B. Skaggs was black flagged for smoke. Bart Corlieto of Cape Coral finished second, while Kurt Riley of Cape Coral was third.
Another driver black flagged for smoke was Thunder Trucks points leader John Garrett. Mike Bialecki of Port Charlotte was the winner in the 25-lapper, just holding off defending champion Cheryl Weaver of Port Charlotte. Englewoodıs Gene Pack was third.
The Super Stock 25-lapper was a wild and crazy affair. Brian Richardson had the fastest car, but he saw his night ruined when he spun Mike Loney going for the lead. Loney then was black flagged for ramming Richardson under the yellow. That left the race to Danny Caylor, the Lehigh Acres driver who ran away from the crowd. Elbert Butts of Arcadia took second. Englewoodıs Greg Anderson took third.
Jonathan Abraham of Cape Coral was the winner in the 25-lap Road Warrior feature, taking his first feature ever. Larry Rudd of North Port was second and Chris Huntoon of Englewood third. In the eight-lap 4-Cylinder race, Brad Shanaway was the winner followed by Riley Lowe and Brandi Jones.
