Itšs been a tough month for Shane Leonard. The 37-year-old driver out of Cape Coral had to relinquish his Road Warrior points lead, as a medical condition led to missed races and hence, zero points.
Taking care of No. 1 first, Leonard was healthy and back out on the 3/8-mile paved oval of Charlotte County Motorsports Park Saturday night for the Road Warrior 50-lapper. His No. 18 Oldsmobile was in vintage form, as Leonard worked his way to the front and ended up taking the checkered flag in the eveningšs big event.
Dean Burtrum led the first 32 laps of the race in the orange 32 car. He was protected by Jeff Firestinešs orange 93 for 25 laps, but Leonard got inside Firestine for second on lap 26. From there Leonard, a former points champion , hunted down Burtrum, a DeSoto Speedway hotshoe.
Burtrum took second. Donnie Ollie Jr., who came into action as the points leader, was third. Firestine was fourth.
Terry Price figured to be a major player in the 50-lapper. He had his 3 car in the top five before transmission problems sent him to the pits on lap 17. Another top gun in Road Warrior, Dan Benoit, could not make the race. Jesse Gargus was in the infield by lap 1.
The Figure 8 Boat Race was also a big attraction Saturday night at the Punta Gorda track as a good crowd stuck around until late to catch the action.
Mike Bialecki, who won the May race, was out of the gate fast, but he was forced to exit late in the melee when his boat and trailer turned on him like an alligator in a death roll.
Wally Smith stayed out of trouble and was the last man standing, collecting $1,000. It was Smithšs third Figure 8 Boat Race win this year. He had won the previous two before Bialecki ended his streak. The fans were wowed with some super boat carnage in the dangerous X.
It appeared teenager Codey Benoit had the Super Stock 25-lap feature signed, sealed and delivered. He took the lead from George Richardson on lap 5 and roared to a comfortable advantage. With two laps to go, the effects of a cut tire slowed Benoit so much that Brian Richardson was able to make up a lot of ground. Big Brian passed Benoit on the final lap and grabbed the win in the 56 car. Benoit held on for second ahead of George Richardson.
In the Thunder Trucks 25-lapper, Ray Jayne walked out to a huge lead in the 35 Ford truck. Points leader Randy Kile charged hard late in the race, but couldnšt catch Jayne. Jeff Thurman was third in the slidinš 5 truck.
The USA Sprints were in town, but only four cars were in the feature. Greg Leonard toyed with the field for the win in the 85 car.
Danny Daniels Jr. was a winner in his first time out in Fab 4 racing. Mike McCarson was second. In the Fab 4 makeup, it was McCarson taking checkers.
TQ Midgets also graced CCMP. Ernie Teed Jr. continued his hot streak in Punta Gorda, as he caught Brandon Cagle on lap 17 of their 25-lapper. Super senior Jack Duffy was third.
Fab 4s (make up)
1) 6 - Mike McCarson 2) 8 - Kirk Risner 3) 46 - David Malmberg 4) 13 - Brent Drake 5) 45 - Jeff Malmberg 6) 47 - Dave Malmberg 7) 41x - Mike Graves 8) 2 - Lance Sober
1) 18 - Shane Leonard -Cape Coral (fast time) 2) 32 - Dean Bertrum -Sarasota 3) 09 - Donnie Ollie Jr. -Lehigh 4) 93 - Jeff Firestein -Venice 5) 17 - Danny Scowder -Lehigh 6) 19 - Greg Anderson -Englewood 7) 39 - Blain Baer -Port Charlotte 8) 1x - Terry Collins -North Port 9) 95 - Ernie Sparks -Venice 10) 38 - Dar Houghtaling -North Port 11) 88 - Mark Boxell -Nokomis 12) 99 - Geoff Gulvin -Venice 13) 15 - Jeff Pacheco -Venice 14) 34 - Eddie Morrison - 15) A1 - Jonathan Abraham -Cape Coral 16) 3 - Terry Price -Port Charlotte 17) 17x - Chuck Sweet -Port Charlotte 18) 5 - Donnie Costillo -Lehigh 19) 23x - Kenny Gibson -North Port 20) 30 - Chris Huntoon -Englewood 21) 1 - Jesse Gargus -N. Ft Myers 22) 23 - Jeff Rumbold -North Port
Thunder Trucks
1) 35 - Ray Jayne 2) 21 - Randy Kile (heat winner) 3) 5 - Jeff Thurman 4) 6 - James Wright 5) 20 - Tom Carlough 6) 3 - Robert St. John 7) 34 - Curt Mays 8) 01 - Ray Lange 9) 69 - Tom Pryor 10) 43 - Richard Dupont (Heat Winner)
Fab 4s (6/23/07)
1) 09 - Danny Daniels Jr. (Heat Winner) 2) 45 - Jeff Malmberg 3) 83 - Jason Carter 4) 46 - David Malmberg 5) 4 - Rose Macho 6) 2 - Lance Sober 7) 13 - Brent Drake 8) 38 - Kevin Anderson 9) 41 - Mike Graves 10) 47- Dave Malmberg DNS 11) 6 - Mike McCarson (2nd*DQed) heat winner 12) 8 - Kirk Risner (3rd*DQed)
USA Sprints
1) 85 - Greg Leonard (Heat Winner) 2) J1 - Mike Tharp 3) 6 - Mike Schroder 4) V8 - R.C. Roper 5) 15JR - Geoff Styner DNS
TQ Midgets 1) 2 Brandon Cagle 2) 1 Jack Duffy 3) 26 Ted Durfee 4) 52 Michael Elder 5) 9 Ernie Teed JR (Heat Winner) 6) 3 Geoff Styner 7) 33 8) 6 Fast Freddie Stutz
