Bobby Shelton Wins As Winchell, Fox Play Tag At Charlotte
By Claude Lewis
Better late than never.
Charlotte County Motorsports Park's Limited Late Models, scheduled for a 100-lapper Sept. 22 but rained out, finally got out on the 3/8-mile paved oval Saturday night.
A couple of key players couldn't make it this time -- Mike Franklin Jr. and Jonny Kay -- opening the door for others like Bobby Shelton.
Shelton, who always has a fast car but finds wins few and far between in Punta Gorda, took the lead on lap 5 and zoomed his No. 8 car to victory lane in the Precision Plumbing 100.
The 47-year-old East Coaster won by a comfortable margin over runner-up Dustin Dunn, who ran second for most of the race.
The most interesting battle of the night was for third place, as old warriors Joe Winchell and Randy Fox banged and bumped all night for the position.
Both had started at the back of the 18-car field to claim a possible $1,500 bonus.
Neither would collect, although they entertained.
On lap 58, Fox bumped WInchell and zipped past him into third. Winchell, the old Hialeah warhorse, wouldn't forget, working over Fox until he got the position back on lap 78.
Winchell then slowed and made his car to bottle up Fox as the race wound down.
Ross Chastain finished fourth in his first start in a Florida Late Model
Fox was denied at least a fourth on a wreck with one lap to go. Alva 14-year-old Ross Chastain grabbed fourth. Fox slipped all the way back to seventh.
The Sportsman 50-lapper was captured by Dale Dean III, who also recorded fast time in qualifying.
The field was inverted, putting Dean in back to start the race.
Ander Jackson was strong early in the 91 car, passing polesitter Craig Amboyan on lap 4 and keeping the lead until lap 18. Jackson suffered a flat tire and couldn't make it out again before the green dropped.
That left Ricky Bullard Jr. at the point and Dean challenging. The 19 of Dean got around Bullard's 77 on lap 21. From there, Dean checked out time and again.
Bullard appeared to have at least a second nailed down, but he missed a gear on a restart on lap 42, slipping from second to fifth.
Guy Sheets ended up second and John Hanuschik crossed the finish line backwards for third after getting a love tap from Bullard.
Open Wheel Modifieds also visited CCMP for a 35-lap feature. Scott McDaniel was able to hold off Scott Kleiber for the win. Eric Rudd was third.
Port Charlotte's Sean McLaughlin had a night as rough as the Phillies, as he had a flat in the Modified race and antiqued the left side of his new Limited Late.
In the 25-lap Road Warrior feature, Dan Benoit finished just ahead of Shane Leonard at the stripe. Ricky Shelnut was third.
In Thunder Trucks, Punta Gorda's Ray Jayne won by a straightaway over runnerup Randy Kile. Kile raced Mike Bialecki side by side for second before the two got caught together in a backstretch spin. Kile charged back for the second spot. Richard Dupont took third.
Fab 4 saw Christopher Loney outduel Michael Rodriguez and Rose Macho.
In Pro 4s, it was Derek Gray, Danny Daniels and Shane Moore.
Seth Greco captured the Fastkids makeup.
Finishes for 9-29 at Charlotte County Motorsports Park
Late Models 100 1) 8- Bobby Shelton (Lake Worth) 2) 59-Dustin Dunn (Jupiter) 3) 15-Joe Winchell ( started in the rear challenge) (Davie) 4) 8C-Ross Chastain (14 yrs old) (Alva) 5) 99-Rick Denton (Loxahatchee) 6) 10-Ron Regula (Miami) 7) 4-Randy Fox (started in the rear challenge) (Lehigh) 8) 21-Chris Grubb (Cape Coral) 9) 66-Ray Derry 10) 5-Robert Regula (Ft Lauderdale) 11) 00-John Ripley (Sanford) 12) 96-George Morales (started in the rear challenge) (Hialeah) 13) 119-J.R. McMichael (Davie) 14) 82-Danny Maddox (Hialeah) 15) 99M)-Sean McLaughlin (Port Charlotte) 16) 11-David Weaver (Plantation) 17) 51-Chris Turner (Naples) 18) 63-Gary Padulla
Better late than never.
