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| ONE WEEK LEFT IN SHORT SEASON AT CHARLOTTE COUNTY SPEEDWAY | By Claude Lewis
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (June 19) With its "Short Season" rapidly winding down, most of the points chases for regular divisions at Charlotte County Speedway have been decided.
John Garrett of North Fort Myers has a commanding lead in Thunder Trucks. Chris Huntoon of Englewood is in charge in Road Warriors. John Hanuschik of Fort Myers will be the Super Stock champ. Walter Forbes of Punta Gorda rules in 4-Cylinders.
The only close race is Sportsman, where Dale Dean III, James DuBose and Garrett are all very close. Any of the three could win.
There is only one more Saturday night June 26 on the 2004 Short Season schedule.
Garrett settled for second place in Saturday night's 25-lap Thunder Truck feature, but the points title is his nonetheless. Richard Martin of North Port was the race winner. Mike Bialecki built a huge lead, but a caution on lap 20 tightened the field. Bialecki of Fort Ogden lost the lead and limped home third.
Huntoon clinched the Road Warrior crown with a victory in the 30-lap feature. Dan Benoit of Fort Myers was second and Shane Leonard of Cape Coral third. In the B main, Mike Montano Jr. of Englewood made his debut a memorable one, as he started pole and hung on for checkers. He didn't fare as well in the 30-lapper, finishing 14th.
Hanuschik locked up Super Stock with a second-place finish in Saturday's 25-lap feature. Mike LeBeau of Port Charlotte was bad fast and won the race in the sleek No. 42 Camaro.
Forbes, the Sponge Bob man, all but clinched 4-Cylinders with a victory in Saturday's. He originally crossed the stripe second, but was awarded the win when Michele Riley's No. 31 car was disqualified in post-race technical inspection. Robert Benning of Punta Gorda moved up for second while Shawn Bates of Fort Ogden took third.
Sportsman didn't race Saturday night.
All regular divisions plus a 100-lapper by the Limited Late Models are on this coming Saturday night's schedule. There will also be a Blues Brothers thrill show and a gold rush for the kids.
The 2004 Short Season ran from late winter up to the first weekend of summer this coming Saturday, June 26.
Charlotte County Speedway will open a new points season in September. The season will run up through November. There will be a holiday break and racing will resume in January and run up to June 26.
Charlotte County Speedway had its largest school bus count of the year Saturday night for its 25-lap Figure 8 race. Sixteen buses started the race.
There was also the first flip of a school bus, thanks to Robert "Mango Man" Hendry, who flopped his bus sideways on lap 4. It took out a big chunk of asphalt just past the X.
Only five buses finished.
As usual, it was the experienced St. Pete gang finishing up front. Ray Holtorf of Dunedin took the checkered. It was his first win in a year. Brian "Pork Fat" Hayn was second.
Charlotte County Speedway has added on a program for Saturday, July 24. It will not involve any of the regular divisions.
The Mini Stock Challenge Series will make its first stop of the year at CCS> Also coming will be the Florida Sportsman Series. Fastrucks and Fastkids round out the schedule.
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