IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 2, 2004 FSCR Morris Cops Limited Late 100 at Charlotte County Speedway PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (Feb. 28) Everything was hooked up for Wayne Morris Saturday night, as he first recorded fast time and then backed it up with a victory in the 100-lapper for Limited Late Models at Charlotte County Speedway Morris claimed $2,000 for his victory in the No. 56 Chevrolet. It was the first Saturday night of the new racing season at CCS. Morris circled the 3/8-mile track in 15.30 seconds in qualifying and started on the pole. The big man from Mulberry led the whole way in a caution-filled race. "I was fast tonight", he said. "I was able to pull away when we stayed green for six or eight laps, but there were so many cautions. They would tighten up the field". Ray Lovelady of Lakeland ran second for most of the race, but his No. 17 car broke on lap 97. Joe Winchell was there to grab second. Another Lauderdale area driver, Bobby Beauchemin, was right behind him for third. Joe Sumasky of Lehigh Acres was strong in his own No. 2 car, finishing fourth. Charlie Coyle was fifth. Morris has a for sale sign on his car, but it won't come cheap. "The car is a proven winner. I want to build a super late model and I want to use the money from this car", he said. The FASTRUCK Series visited Charlotte County Speedway for winter series races. The 50-lap FASTRUCK feature was shortened to 46 laps because of the curfew. Tim Shaffner of Fort Lauderdale grabbed the checkered ahead of Riverviews Jimmy Gill (brother of short track veteran Bobby Gill) and third place George Morales. Venice's Jeff Firestine was 10th. There was also a FASTKIDS division race for youngsters ages 12-16. Winning that 25-lap feature was Dave Pollen Jr. of Tampa. Matt Martin, the 12-year-old son of NASCAR veteran Mark Martin, took second. Martin was at the track and made a brief appearance in the winners circle with his son. Dalton Zehr of Daytona was third. Josh Crenshaw, a 14-year-old nephew of Joe Nemechek, was fourth. Charlotte County Speedway ran its own Thunder Trucks feature. John Garrett was the winner ahead of Port Charlottes Cheryl Weaver and Mike Bialecki. In the Road Warrior 25-lapper, Jesse James Gargus was first, Del Beckner second and Bob Waltz third. The 4-Cylinder winners were Naples Chris Loney in the kids and Punta Gordas Walter Forbes in the adults. Sportsman didnt get in its feature because of the curfew. A 50-lapper is scheduled for Saturday, March 6. The racing results from Charlotte County Speedway for February 28, 2004 are as follows: Fast Truck Kids 1. 88 David Pollen Jr. 2. 66 Matt Martin 3. 6 Dalton Zehr 4. 07 Josh Crenshaw 5. 2 Mitchell Webb 6. 5 Spencer Taylor 7. 4k Amanda Gogel Fast Trucks 1. 29 Timm Shaffner 2. 5 Jimmy Gill 3. 96 George Morales 4. 20 Sean Bass 5. 88 David Pollen Jr. 6. 83 Tom North 7. 22 Travis Nichols 8. 9 Marty Wolff 9. 51 Stuart Robertson 10. 93 Jeff Firestine 11. 46 Brandon Anderson 12. 97 Curt Heywood 13. 8 14. 50 Danny Anderson 15. 33 Kelly Coudill 16. 22x Scott Ingold 17. 12 Tony Barreca 18. 2 Danny Glover Jr. Limited Late Model - 100 Laps\ 1. 56 Wayne Morris 2. 57 Joe Winchell 3. 29 Bobby Beauchemin 4. 2s Joe Sumansky 5. 1 Charlie Coyle 6. 64 Chris Libak 7. 40 Jeremy Goddard 8. 26s Bobby Shelton 9. 29g Joe Gentry 10. 99 Jason Kuykendall 11. 62 Buzz Martin 12. 12 Mike Franklin Jr. 13. 88 Randy Fox 14. 23 Corey Collum 15. 17 Raymond Lovelady 16. 36f Al Fradette 17. 96 Frank Welch 18. 36p Gary Padula 19. 39 Phillip Johnson 20. 07 Troy McNabb 21. 16 Eddie King 22. 48 Ritchie Holt 23. 2m Kevin Murphy 24. 77 Perry Lovelady 4 Cylinder Kids 1. 33 Chris Loney 2. 39 Codey Benoit 3. 9 Danny Benoit 4. 28 Chris Libak Jr 5. 53 Lee Bates 6. 24 4 Cylinder Adults 1. 15 Walter Forbes 2. 13 Jay McGonnell 3. 32 Jason Wilburn DNS 53 Road Warrior 1. 1 Jesse Gargus 2. 73 Del Beckner 3. 5 Bob Waltz 4. 2 Bobby Fischer 5. 88 Larry Rudd 6. 19 Brandon Anderson 7. 8 Bob Waltz Jr. 8. 11 Robert Hendry 9. 98 Rob St. John 10. 7 Jonathon Abraham 11. 21 Lee Rhodes 12. 14 Roger Hunt 13. 6 Chris Ferguson 14. 22 Ann Marie Richardi 15. 18 Shane Leonard 16. 29 Rob Popkin 17. 40 Don Justice DNS 09 Doug Raastad 30 Disqualified Chris Huntoon Thunder Trucks 1. 22 John Garrett 2. 37 Cheryl Weaver 3. 8 Mike Bialecki 4. 56 Bob Charette 5. 9 Ray Scott 6. 70 Bob Maine DNS 08 Richard Dupont Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!