IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 23, 2004 FSCR Wolfe, Popkin New Faces in Victory Lane By CLAUDE LEWIS There were some new faces in victory lane in Saturday night racing at Charlotte County Speedway. Take a bow, Roger Wolfe and Rob Popkin. Wolfe is a former DeSoto driver out of Saturday who decided to bring his No. 85 car to the Super Stock wars in Punta Gorda. Wolfe led from coast to coast in the 15-lap feature, holding off points leader John Hanuschik, who finished second, and Clete Trimmer, who was third. Popkin, who hails from Alva, started on the pole in the 25-lap Road Warrior A main. A lot of wild and crazy stuff went on behind him, but he was able to keep his No. 29 car ahead of the pack for the checkered waved by Chuck 'Bad To The' Bone, who was filling in for vacationing flagman Russ Gillet. Jesse Gargus was disqualified for rough driving after creating a colossal wreck on lap 6. Bob Waltz was then DQed for taking a swipe at Gargus through his window net. Jonathan Abraham wreaked havoc by parking his No. 7 car, two blown tires and all, in turn one in front of oncoming traffic. In the end, it was talented hotshoe Chris Huntoon breathing fire on Popkin. Popkin kept his cool and Huntoon at bay. Huntoon was second in his No. 30 car and Bob '8 Ball Junior' Waltz took third. The biggest race of the night lap-wise was the Southern Sportsman Series, a new outfit making its first stop ever at CCS. Since the Southern Sportsman rules dont match up with Charlottes Sportsman rules, only two local drivers joined the fray. Stuart VanDevender of Fort Myers was eighth and Englewoods Huntoon ninth in the 15-car field. The Southern Sportsman put on a good show. The winner after 50 laps was Steve 'All' OLone of Clearwater, who had a healthy advantage over the second-place car driven by David Williamson of Mulberry. Westley Bass of Winter Haven was third. Williamsons son, Aaron, was sixth. Punta Gordas Robert Benning came up short in his bid to win his fourth straight 4-Cylinder Adult feature. Spoiling his effort was the Sponge Bob man himself, Walter Forbes, who is also from Punta Gorda. Shawn Bates of Arcadia was second, while Benning settled for third. Chris Loney of Naples captured the 4-Cylinder Kids race. The song remained the same in Thunder Trucks, as it was John Garrett followed by Cheryl Weaver and Mike Bialecki. The big race this coming Saturday at CCS will be the fifth Limited Late Model 100-lapper of the year. Southern Sportsman Series 1. 20 Steve O'Lone 2. 12 David Williamson 3. 63 Westley Bass 4. 1 Bart Weatherford 5. 6 Ed Kidd 6. 13 Aaron Williamson 7. 23 Edward Allen 8. 83 Stuart VanDevender 9. 30 Chris Huntoon 10. 8 Donald Gatlin 11. 14 Scott Ring 12. 2 Paul Gibbs 13. 99 Jamie Kennedy 14. 2h Bob Hart (Sorry... do not have starting positions for Sportsman Series) Road Warrior A-Main 1. 29 Rob Popkin (1) 2. 30 Chris Huntoon (9) 3. 8 Bob Waltz Jr. (2) 4. 18 Shane Leonard (8) 5. 2f Bobby Fischer (4) 6. 22 Ann Marie Ricardi (12) 7. 40 Don Justice (10) 8. 11 Robert Hendry (3) 9. 88 Larry Rudd (5) 10. 21 Lee Rhodes (15) 11. 13 John Muff (16) 12. 14 Roger Hunt (14) 13. 09 Doug Raastad (6) 14. 7 Jonathan Abraham (13) 5 Bob Waltz Jr. - Disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct (11) 1 Jesse Gargus - Disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct (7) Road Warrior B-Main 1. 4sr Dick Hansborough (5) 2. 23 Jeff Rumbold (6) 3. 38 Don Houghtaling (1) Thunder Trucks 1. 22 John Garrett (7) 2. 37 Cheryl Weaver (5) 3. 8 Mike Bialecki (4) 4. 9 Ray Scott (2) 5. 56 Bob Charette (3) 6. 84 Loren Bishop (8) 7. 24 Robert St. John (6) 6 James Wright - Disqualified for speeding in pits. (1) Super Stock 1. 85 Roger Wolfe (2) 2. 83 John Hanuschik (4) 3. 0 Clete Trimmer (3) 4. 1 Tommy Hill (1) DNS 15 Charles Parsons DNS 49 Joseph Butler 4 Cylinder Kids 1. 33 Chris Loney (4) 2. 12 Paul Smith (2) 3. 8 Ray Lang (3) 4. 82 unknown (1) 4 Cylinder Adults 1. 12 Walter Forbes (4) 2. 6 Shawn Bates (2) 3. 99 Robert Bennng (5) 4. 53 Lee Bates (7) 5. 10 Tim Hendry (1) 6. 23 Raymond Bisbee (3) 7. 1 Darrell Ellison (6) Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!