IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 11, 2004 FSCR Collins takes Gulfcoast Gold At Charlotte County Speedway By Rick Warren The Corteco Gaskets/Gulfcoast Modified Series rolled into Charlotte County Speedway Saturday night for 50 laps of Open Wheel Action. As Qualifying began, and times were being posted, it was looking like a very fast field of cars would be lining up for the feature event. Dwayne Dempsey was fastest in qualifying with a time of 15.198 seconds, followed closely by Lee Collins at 15.211 seconds. After the pill was drawn for inversion and redraw, the 2 fastest qualifiers wound up on the front row. After qualifying, the 1x car of John Anderson discovered problems with his engine, and his entry was scratched. As Anderson is in the hunt for the championship, fellow racer John Godwin was kind enough to loan his racer to Anderson for this race. This act of sportsmanship speaks highly of John Godwin, and will surely come back to him in a positive way. The field was set with Dempsey on the pole position, with Lee Collins beside him. The second row consisted of Ralph Bowman and Chris Escott, followed by Teddy Nelson and Dan Partelo. When the green flag waved to start the race, Dempsey rocketed to the lead, with Bowman tied to his bumper. Collins fell into line in third, followed by Nelson, Escott and Partelo. As the second lap began, the 71 car of L.B. Skaggs had a major engine problem on the back straight and went up in flames. As the driver tried to slow the burning car, oil was dumping on the track behind him, creating big problems for those racers following him. Skaggs got the car stopped in the third turn, and the CCS fire crew was immediately on the scene. Skaggs was able to exit the car unharmed. The oil on the track caused the bad luck of Herman Brame to continue, as he got into the wall, and severely damaged the right front of his racer, ending his race for the night. The 23 car of Butch Bassett was also involved, but was able to continue. The race restarted with Dempsey leading the pack, and a furious battle for second behind him. The Caution flag was displayed again on lap 7 as the #10 car of Clint Wasteny and the #51 car of Tommy Bowers made contact in turn 2 and spun. The race restarted with Bowers returned to his position and Wasteny restarting on the rear. Cautions are contagious, and lap 8 had the field slowed by the caution flag again, as the #31 of Kurt Riley made contact with the 19 of Doug Moff, causing a spin. Moff was returned to his position and Riley restarted from the rear. The race restarted with the front runners in the same order, and looking for some green flag laps to make some moves for position. Unfortunately, this was not the time for it, as the caution flag came out again on lap ten for a spin in turn 4. It was beginning to look like this may turn out to be survival of the fittest, and the caution flag waved again on lap 11, as the 19 of Moff and the 56 of Robbie McCauliffe got together in turn 4. The race restarted, and 2 laps later, McCauliffe was forced to retire because of damage to the right front sustained in the lap 11 incident. As the leaders raced thru this short green flag run, Collins drove to the outside of Bowman, and passed for second spot. Caution again was on the track on lap 14 as the cars of Moff and Riley made contact in turn 1, causing a spin. The Race restarted with Dempsey still showing the way, and Collins shadowing his every move. Lap 17 action saw Chris Escott making contact with Teddy Nelson causing both to spin in turn 2 as they battled for third spot. The race restarted with Nelson in third and Escott at the end of the laed lap. On lap 19, Dempsey had Collins right behind his racer, when Dempsey slowed coming off turn 4 and pulled into the infield with mechanical problems, allowing Collins to inherit the lead. Lap 20 had another caution period for a spin by Jack Arnold III. The race restarted with Collins out front, followed by Bowman, Nelson, Partelo, Mike Hinegardner, and J.R. Wade. The race stayed green until lap 32, when the cars of Moff and Wasteny made contact and caused a spin in turn 2. The race restarted with Collins and Bowman out front, with Nelson, Partelo, and Hinegardner battling for position. It appeared as if Bowman was finally going to shake the bad luck that had plagued him lately, and was in the hunt with a really good run, when fate reared its head, and Bowman slowed with engine problems, and was done for the evening. This moved Nelson to second, with Partelo dogging his every move. Lap 43 had the caution flag out once again, as the 112 of Corky Craver was racing with a pack of cars, and in the third turn after another car made contact with him, hit the outside wall very hard. Fortunately, Craver was not injured, other than some bumps and bruises. The race restarted with Collins out front, and running hard for the win. The checkered flag waved, and Collins collected the well deserved win. Teddy Nelson was able to leave his bad luck behind and run a strong, consistent race to finish second. Dan Partelo had another good run, and finished third, followed by Mike Hinegardner, J.R. Wade, and Chris Robbins. During post-race inspections, the 29 car of Wade did not meet the minimum weight requirement, and was disqualified, moving Chriss Robbins into the top 5. Gulf Coast Modified Photo Gallery The Hard Charger Award went to Tommy Bowers. Final Results: Corteco Gaskets / GulfCoast Modifieds Race #3 Charlotte County Speedway 1. #89 Lee Collins 2. #34 Teddy Nelson 3. # 9 Dan Partelo 4. # 1 Mike Hinegardner 5. #88 Chris Robbins 6. #51 Tommy Bowers 7. # 8 Chris Escott 8. #11 Doug Spitzer 9. #19 Doug Moff 10. #10 Clint Wasteny 11. #84 Jack Arnold III 12 #80 James Houle 13. #22 John Anderson 14. #2B Kevin Brickley 15. #112 Corky Craver 16. # 2 Ralph Bowman 17. #23 Butch Bassett 18. #31 Kurt Riley 19. # 6 Dwayne Dempsey 20. #56 Robbie McCauliffe 21. #71 L.B. Skaggs 22. #55 Herman Brame Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!