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Austin Craig Wins the Pure Stock Feature Race at ASA Sanctioned Desoto Super Speedway
By Tom Blakeley
October 31, 2009 Bradenton, Florida. It was a scary night at the South’s Fastest Short Track. In the stands they were lurking everywhere, ghosts, goblins, princesses, devils and angels and one big pink momma “lookin” for her lost puppy. It was a fun night as the kids got to come onto the track and trick or treat with the drivers. Two lucky kids got to go home with new bicycles. Yes, that was correct; two kids not one won bicycles. Service Painting Corporation the proud sponsor of Ken Smith’s Flyin 4 #11 and Richie Shepherd’s Bomber #30; stepped up to the plate and donated the two bicycles. There was one bike for a girl and one bike for a boy. Wow, what a joy that was just watching the kid’s excitement.
The trick or treating went on for quite a while so the Halloweener’s could get as much candy as their bags could hold. The drivers had fun too, getting to meet the fans and pass out candy to the kids.
The smile on Zac Campilonga’s face was something to behold. He was sitting on the hood of his stock car passing out candy to kids his same age..What a terrific kid he is, and a pleasure to be around and we all look forward to be able to watch him grow up.
From the staff of Desoto Super Speedway we would to thank Service Painting, Ken Smith, Richie Shepherd, Chris & Dee Patten for making this a special treat for Halloween. Two very lucky kids will be riding their new bikes tomorrow for sure. It was an awesome night.
Pure Stocks. What a night for young Mr. Austin Craig who won his first Pure Stock feature race. Austin drives the #10 Pure Stock car and he did a fantastic job of driving his way to the Winners Circle. Dave Davis in the #6 car took second place and Darrin Ellis in the #71 car was third. Troy Theim in the #18 car was fourth and Chelsea Lau in the wildly painted #13 car rounded out the top 5 in Pure Stocks. This class is amazing as they are so competitive and really drive their hearts out each week. Earlier, the Pure Stocks ran a 6 lap heat race that was won by Dave Davis in the #6 car.
Flyin 4’s. The Sniper was on the prowl tonight along with the ghosts and goblins. The problem was that the sniper was on the track and not in the stands. Alex “The Sniper” Patten in the #13 car won the 25 lap feature race for the Flyin 4 class tonight. Alex has really been on a roll as of late winning everything in sight. Ken Smith in the 311 car won second place with a great job of driving and taking third was Randy Johnson in the #01 Silver Bullet car. In fourth place was Jessica Ostrovskis in the #91 Pink Bullet car and taking the fifth spot was Dalton Baldwin in the 34 car. There were two 6 lap heat races for the Flyin 4’s tonight with Alex Patten in the #13 car winning the first heat and Ken Smith in the #11 car winning the second heat race. The Flyin 4’s put on a great show as always and had the fans on their feet.
School Bus Figure 8’s. Only the bold and the brave drive these school buses through the figure 8 course with perfection. The drivers for tonight’s race were:
Larry Saffold #88 Robert Latinka #47 Christopher Dodson #21 Eugene Helfrick #44 Craig Jackson #26 Mark Jackson #25 Michael Gamache #0 Ernest Helfrick #4 Peter Bohn #11 Wayne Calkins #14
Winning the 25 lap race was Michael Gamache in the #0 bus. The #14 bus of Wayne Calkins went into the wall on lap 5. The fans loved the race and all the close calls at the intersection. The 10 buses that started the race were still running at the end and this made for a better overall race that when there were more buses but some only making it through 3 or 4 laps. It was a really good quality race and a quality field of buses.
Magic 4’s. This class is for drivers from 12 to 17 years old and they race on the inner circle track. The winner of the 20 lap feature race was Brittany Barr in the #81 car. Dallas Troyer in the #01 Silver Bullet car took second place and Joann Danielson won third place. Zac Campilonga in the #30 car was fourth and Amy Gamache in the red #85 car was fifth. Shanna Clark in the lime bug #44 car took sixth place tonight. The 6 lap heat race was won by Brittany Barr in the #81 car. The Magic 4’s are a close knit group of friends and really cheer each other on to win.
Rockem Sockem Bombers. The Rockem-Sockem Boys fit right in with the crowd tonight. Along with the ghosts and goblins were The Punisher, The Hammer, The Bad Boy, The Rebel, The General just to name a few. Randy “The General”Spicer won the 25 lap feature Bomber race. Taking a tough second spot was Jody “The Bad Boy” Collins in the #32C car while Clint “The Dodger” Roberts in the yellow #95 MoPar car won third place. Dennis “The Wizard” Wilson in the #4X car was fourth and Steve “The Hammer” Elder in the #42 car was fifth. For 15 laps Michael “The Punisher” Crooks and Steve Elder were side by side and put on quite a show. The showdown for first place was also a nail biter as Spicer and Collins really got after each other. It was a sweet night for the Rockem-Sockem Boys sharing lots of paint and love.
American Mini Cup. Winning the feature 25 lap race was Rick Cline Jr. in the #37 car. Carlie Lewis in the #99 car was second and Brittini Huntington in the #57 car was third. The little NASCAR looking car flew around the oval tonight and put on quite a show for the fans.
Outlaw Modified’s The Outlaw Modified class ran a great race tonight with 6 different lead changes in the first 6 laps. In the end the three time Champion Doug Hopper had it won and went to victory circle in his #15 car. Running a great race and taking second place was Kevin Campbell in the #19 car and his brother Billy Campbell in the #11 car won third place.
Join us next Saturday for the Pro Truck 50 lap feature. We are located just 9 short miles East of I-75 on SR #64 in Bradenton, Florida. The entire staff of Desoto Super Speedway will do everything possible to make your night at the track a fun and safe one. Check us out at www.desotosuperspeedway.com or give us a call at 941-748-3171.
BOMBERS - BOMB 20L Pos Driver Car # 1 RANDY SPICER 83 2 JODY COLLINS 32C 3 CLINT ROBERTS 95 4 DENNIS WILSON 4X 5 STEVE ELDER 42 6 MICHAEL CROOKS 33 7 TOM BLAKELEY 96 8 NEAL MARTIN 144
BOMBERS - HEAT 1 Pos Driver Car # 1 CLINT ROBERTS 95 2 MICHAEL CROOKS 33 3 TOM BLAKELEY 96 4 DENNIS WILSON 4X
BOMBERS - HEAT 2 Pos Driver Car # 1 JODY COLLINS 32C 2 RANDY SPICER 83 3 STEVE ELDER 42 4 NEAL MARTIN 144
FAST MINI CUP - FEATURE Pos Driver Car # 1 . AMERICAN MINI CUPS 0
FLYIN 4s - FEATURE Pos Driver Car # 1 ALEX PATTEN 13 2 KEN (PAUL) SMITH 11X 3 RANDY JOHNSON 01 4 JESSICA OSTROVSKIS 91 5 DALTON BALDWIN 4 6 ARTHUR DANIELSON 38 7 AUSTIN CAVEY 20X 8 MICHAEL GAMACHE 85 9 CRAIG JACKSON 53 10 CHELSEA LAU 44X
FLYIN 4s - HEAT 1 Pos Driver Car # 1 ALEX PATTEN 13 2 RANDY JOHNSON 01 3 DALTON BALDWIN 4 4 MICHAEL GAMACHE 85 5 CRAIG JACKSON 53
FLYIN 4s - HEAT 2 Pos Driver Car # 1 KEN (PAUL) SMITH 11X 2 JESSICA OSTROVSKIS 91 3 ARTHUR DANIELSON 38 4 AUSTIN CAVEY 20X 5 CHELSEA LAU 44X
OUTLAW MOD - OUTLAW MODS25 Pos Driver Car # 1 . OUTLAW MODIFIED RACING SERIES 0
PURE STOCKS - HEAT Pos Driver Car # 1 DAVID DAVIS 6 2 TROY THIEM 18 3 DARRIN ELLIS 71 4 AUSTIN CRAIG 10 5 CHELSEA LAU 13 6 ANDREW MOON 31 7 MIKE FANNIN 00
PURE STOCKS - PS 20L 19 OR LESS Pos Driver Car # 1 AUSTIN CRAIG 10 2 DAVID DAVIS 6 3 DARRIN ELLIS 71 4 TROY THIEM 18 5 CHELSEA LAU 13 6 MIKE FANNIN 00 7 ANDREW MOON 31
SCHOOL BUS FIGURE 8 - SB FIGURE 8 Pos Driver Car # 1 MICHAEL GAMACHE 0 2 ERNEST HELFRICK 4 3 MARK JACKSON 25 4 PETER BOHN 11 5 EUGENE HELFRICK 44 6 CRAIG JACKSON 26 7 CHRISTOPHER DODSON 21 8 LARRY SAFFOLD 88 9 ROBERT LATINKA 47 10 WAYNE CALKINS 14