PGS Media

The weather was cold but the action was red hot at Punta Gorda Speedway for the finale’ of the inaugural season of the newly remodeled track. With three championship length feature events, the fans were rewarded with non-stop, thrilling door to door racing.

The guest of honor in attendance was Craftsman Camping World Truck Series professional race driver, Johnny Jackson (aka “Action Jackson”) a former driver at PGS.

The racing action was exciting from the very first race. In the Bandolero class there were only three starters but the action was highly competitive. Johnny Holmes made a quick move on pole-sitter Mark Hooven in the first turn and jumped out to a large lead. Taylor McFadden also got around Hooven and then gunned down Holmes until he took the lead on lap 5. McFadden looked like he would carry the race until Hooven seemed to find his groove. On lap 10 Hooven passed McFadden and he was not to be denied. On the last turn of the race McFadden’s car failed and Holmes caught him at the line to come in second behind Hooven. McFadden finished third.

In the Rookie Truck class there was a strong start to the 15 lap feature. Chad Chastain and Kelli Burns battled in a hard fought race where the lead changed several times. After Randy Leonard brought out a caution flag on lap 4, Chastain jumped out to the lead. At times, Chastain built a substantial lead but Burns fought back mid race to pressure Chastain for the lead. Finally, Chastain pulled away to a 5 second lead to win the event. Burns finished second and James Bullard came in third.

The Pro 4 class was a battle of endurance as well as skill. There were 7 cautions in the 20 lap race but the brother team of Dan and Ryan Collver fought each other and Wally Smith in an exciting, hard fought race. At one point the Collver’s spun each other out but at the end Dan Collver was able to pass Wally Smith on the final turn of the final lap to win the contest.

In the Road Warriors class there were really two races, the one for the lead and the one for the championship. Up front in the night’s race was a battle between Randy Kile, Nic Ortega, and Richard Nelson. Kile led most of the race with Ortega chasing him. Nelson worked hard to pass Chris Scott for third but was disqualified. In the race for the championship Rick Reed had a three point lead over Derrick Horton. Tonight, all Reed needed was to finish in front of Horton which he easily accomplished to win the trophy.

The Mini-stock class showed the crowd a solidly competitive race Ronnie Allen leading the majority of the race but being constantly pressured by Fred Harrison who was never more than a quarter car length behind during the entire race. Nathan Florian made an impressive run near the end of the race coming from sixth place to overtake James Pate on the final lap for third.

The Legend’s finale’s was one of the most exciting races of the season. After a first lap pile up that involved several cars, the race became a real crowd pleaser. This 75 lap feature was a battle between Kory Abbott and Brandon Thompson with the lead passing between them four times during the race. Abbott led for the final 35 laps but Thompson never gave up and passed Abbott on the final turn of the final lap to take the checkered flag. Josh Williams, a local crowd favorite who started mid pack, finished third. It was a battle between Michael Smith and Josh Williams in the Pro Truck class. The race was Smith’s to lose as he stretched his lead most of the race to several car lengths. Each caution provided a brief opportunity for Williams to make a run for the lead, but Smith was too strong. Smith led all but the first two laps of the race to dominate his other competitors. Williams finished second and Gerald Campbell had a strong third place showing.

The 100 lap feature event was in the Super Late Model class. The race was plagued by 8 cautions, the first of which occurred before the first lap was completed. A very hard crash in turn four saw driver Todd Brown temporarily shaken up. The “class of the field” was the top three qualifiers which included Daryl Shelnut, Wayne Anderson, and Richie Anderson. Despite the high number of cautions, Shelnut led from wire to wire while being continually pressured by second place finisher, Wayne Anderson. Richie Anderson spent the entire race in third spot even though he was challenged by a number of other top drivers including Steve Doer and Dustin Dunn. Just over half of the starting lineup completed the race.

The final event of the evening and of the season was the Fab 4 class. Zach Smith fought a large field to win first place followed by Paul Richards Jr. in second and Jarrett Reynolds in third.

The first season of the Punta Gorda Speedway provided a clean and family friendly environment for some of the most exciting racing action in the area. The 2011 racing season will begin on February 26th.

Punta Gorda Speedway Results 12/04/2010

Super Late Model
1. 7 Darrell Shelnut
2. 84 Wayne Anderson
3. 51 Richie Anderson
4. 28B Dylan Bigley
5. 119 Dalton Zehr
6. 31 Brian Blum
7. 22 David King
8. 28 Billy Bigley
9. 8 Dan Scott
10. 10 Steve Doer
11. 77 Tuffy Hester
12. 59 Dustin Dunn
13. 02 Mike Finn
14. 2 Tommy Styer
15. 141 Travis Hanson
16. 14 Mario Maresca
17. 23 Todd Brown

Pro Trucks
1. 23 Michael Smith
2. 6 Josh Williams
3. 2 Gerald Campbell
4. 14 Michael Burns
5. 50 Danny Anderson
6. 24 Bruce Bennett Jr.
7. 10 Ricky Bullard Jr.
8. 21 Martin Maresca
9. 36 Ralph Chastain
10. 47 Travis Gossard
11. 20 Tom Carlough
12. 14S Sam Scott D.N.S.

Road Warriors
1. 14 Randy Kile
2. 9 Nic Ortega
3. 33 Chris Loney
4. 1 Rick Reed
5. 97 Chris Scott
6. 10 Jason Miller
7. 8 Shane Leonard
8. 27 Derrick Horton
9. 32 Dean Butram
10. 17 James Stokes
11. 7 Rick Shellnut
12. 80 Richard Nelson D.Q.

Mini Stock
1. 68 Ronnie Allen
2. 21 Fred Harrison
3. 26 Nathan Florian
4. 55 James Pate
5. 52 Gary Brown
6. 86 John Pummell Jr.
7. 30 Robert Carter
8. 2 Lance Sober
9. 551 Mark Wells
10. 1 Bill Bell

Legends
1. 4R Brandon Tompson
2. 5R Kory Abbott
3. 02 Josh Williams
4. 8 Justin Brown
5. 7 Dakota Baggette
6. 17 Mark Hooven
7. 00 Darin Coker
8. 31 Lynn Wiles
9. 52 Torstein Larsen
10. 1 Zachar Hayward
11. 28 Joey Collins
12. 71 Mason Ketterman
13. 00C Anthony Cataldi
14. 55 Conrad Molter
15. 1xJimmy Norman
16. 5 Kory Abbott
17. 4 Tyler Smith
18. 9 Mitch Verhaugh
19. 59x Rebecca Monopoli

Pro 4
1. 04 Ryan Collver
2. 16 Wally Smith
3. 00 Dan Collver
4. 30 Ken Badali
5. 28 Dylan Bigley
6. 29 Phillip Ellis Jr.
7. 61 Paul Richards
8. 98 Cody Allen
9. 05 Ronald Robinson
10. 63 Matt Fewax
11. 82 Corey Bigley
12. 22 Jeremy Perkins
13. 21x John Balzarano
14. 87 David Doty
15. 3 Nic Ortega
16. 38 Art Danielson

Fab 4
1. 16 Zack Smith
2. 61 Paul Richards Jr.
3. 68 Logan Allen
4. 3 Zac Campilonga
5. 30 Linda Badali
6. 82 Karl Girrard
7. 29 Kris Bridges
9. 2 Jarrett Reynolds
10. 98 Aaron Hardgrove
11. 21x Kyle Rice
12. 63 Zack
13. 3A Alice Espinosa
14. 81 Brittany Barr
15. 33 Kerrington McFadden
16. 22 Tammy Phillips
17. 87 Skyler Null

Rookie Trucks
1. 36 Chad Chastain
2. 4 Kelli Burns
3. 10 James Bullard
4. 21 Randy Leonard

Bandolero
1. 14 Shawn Hooven
2. 60 Johnny Holmes
3. 06 Taylor McFadden
4. 17 Mark Hooven