IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 22, 2009 Butler Takes Sprint Opener at Charlotte County By Dave Sully (Punta Gorda, Florida) - Keith Butler from Riverview snatched an unlikely win in the opening race of the season for the Checkered Flag Sprints at Charlotte County Motorsports Park on Saturday, February 21st before a good crowd on a comfortable South Florida evening. Two late cautions in the thirty lap event erased a comfortable lead enjoyed by Mark Gimmler, Allowing Butler, who had been battling Gary Gimmler for second, to make a move under Mark on a lap twenty-five restart and, from there, he was able to hold off Gary, who followed him into second, to claim the win. Mark Gimmler left from the pole and had things well in hand until lap twenty-four, when two cars came together in turn three to bring out the first caution. Butler, in second for the restart, tried a move when the race resumed, but couldn’t make it work. He got a second chance on lap twenty-five when the yellow came out for a spin in turn two. He made the best of it, diving under Mark Gimmler in turn one, with Gary Gimmler right behind him. Gary couldn’t mount a challenge over the final five laps. At the line it was Butler, followed by Gary Gimmler, Mark Gimmler, Scott Adema, and Dustin Henderson to complete the top five. Of the winning move Butler commented, “I had nothing for Mark. I could run with him, but I couldn’t do anything with him. On the first restart I kind of screwed up and after they had that second caution I knew I had only one chance for what I needed to do, and it ended up working out.” Second place finisher Gary Gimmler felt kind of sorry for his brother, noting, “Mark didn’t really need that caution. He pretty much had it handled. When that caution came out, it gave Keith an opportunity. I kind of had to follow him.” A disconsolate Mark Gimmler explained, “He got a run on me and got inside of me there. We didn’t need that last caution. It was getting mighty slick out there.” In the thirty-five lap modified feature, Tony Carreno, from Lutz, withstood a withering attack from Eric Rudd, over the final laps to claim the hard-earned win. There was abundant contact in the late stages from Rudd, who changed his motor earlier in the day after his primary blew in practice, but Carreno kept his car going straight to take the checkered flag. Doug Miller, Tommy Schrader, and Don Skaggs rounded out the top five. In the twenty-five lap Pro Truck event, TJ Duke from Southwest Ranches, led every lap, prevailing over Josh Williams, Ross Chastain, Ricky Partridge, and Chris Huntoon. Alex Kempf, from Vero Beach, held off Josh Williams after taking the lead from Williams on a lap eight restart to take the victory in the twenty-five lap Legends Feature. Williams, Devin McLeod, Cody Benoit, and Mike Verhaagh, completed the top five. In other action, Jason Perkins, from North Ft. Myers, won the Fast Fours Feature, taking the lead from Josh Flesher on lap fifteen of the twenty lap race, while fourteen year old Dylan Bigley, son of popular late model driver, Bill Bigley Jr., captured the Pro Four event. Also, Wayne Morris, from Mulbury, cruised to the twenty-five lap Sportsman race over Dave Williamson; Dan Daniels Jr, from Lehigh, took the Outlaw Street Stock race, in a spirited fifteen lap dash; Mark Hooven, from Orlando edged his brother Shawn to take the fifteen lap Bandolero feature, and finally, second place finisher Richard Dupont, from Ft. Myers, was awarded the win in the Fast Truck race, when the first truck over the line was DQ’d for making an unannounced driver change. The busy card, with ten feature races, ended within sight of the 11:30 curfew, making it a long night for the faithful on hand at the end. Sprint Feature 1) 19 Keith Butler; 2) 50M Gary Gimmler; 3) 51 Mark Gimmler; 4) 67 Scott Adema; 5) 22 Dustin Henderson; 6) 20 Billy Boyd Jr; 7) 5s Stephen Sinwald; 8) 37 Jason Bradford; 9) 21A Amanda Ferguson; 10) 56D Jeff VanDusen Heat #1 1) 51 Mark Gimmler (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) 2) 21A Amanda Ferguson (Montverde, FL) 3) 20 Billy Boyd Jr. (Gibsanton, FL) 4) 5s Stephen Sinwald (Springhill, FL) 5) 37 Jason Bradford (Port Charlotte, FL) The 15JR of Geoff Styner was unable to start the heat race due to an oil leak Heat #2 1) 50M Gary Gimmler (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) 2) 19 Keith Butler (Riverview, FL) 3) 67 Scott Adema (Ft. Myers, FL) 4) 22 Dustin Henderson (St Cloud, FL) 5) 56D Jeff VanDusen (Englewood, FL) Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!