Moff wins Open Wheel 50 at Punta Gorda Speedway

Punta Gorda, FL -April 16, 2011- With many things to do on a Saturday night, race fans stay loyal to the sport and came out to watch a great night of Stock Car racing at Punta Gorda Speedway. A full moon set the stage for the night as the PGS broom crew and safety team were on the track as much as the race cars were.First feature of the night was the Fab 4 class for twenty laps, as the 4 car of David Patterson who had the outside pole jumped to the lead on the first lap. Lap seven saw Paul Richards Jr. take over the lead from Paterson who would retire to the pits with car problems and only five laps to go. The real battle was between the two young drivers, Brittney Barr and Zac Campilonga who were battling for that third spot the entire race. Barr in her 81 machine kept trying the high side to pass Campilonga in the 3 car when it seemed the same time the 3 car would drift up to the high side making Barr back out of the gas and not complete the pass. White flag was out and Campilonga protecting that outside, drifted a little wide and Barr dove on the inside for the pass to come across the stripe in the second spot.

T.Q Midgets saw the 51 on Chris Gimmler making it to the winners circle with Geoff Styner second and Jack Duffy third.

Cowboy Cadillacs ran for twenty five laps with the sixty three truck of James Wright jumping to the lead for all twenty five laps for his second victory in a row with a hard charging Robert Willms in second and Shane Moore third.

Mini Stock took to the track next with the battle between father and son heated up as Tom Zimmerman in the 01 was able to break the winning streak of his son Chris by staying in front of the 29 car the entire race. Jessica Robbins of plant city who is becoming a fan favorite, was not able to make the feature as car problems in the heat race retired her for the night. Fred Harrison from Polk City would finish the night third with last years points winner John Pummell Jr. fourth.

The class that everyone has been talking about is the Road Warriors that are called the Thundering Heard, and with seventeen cars showing up to do battle and the Full Moon over the speedway, everyone was up on their feet to wave to the drivers as they came around for the green flag. The caution came out before one lap was even completed when the 97 of Chris Scott was running the high side coming out of four and got loose and collected the 86 of new driver David Gray and both came to a stop against the turn one wall. A complete restart of the race saw the 80 car of Richard Nelson jump out to the lead with Brian Harbin of Bartow right behind him to complete the first lap while the big one happened in turn four as they were trying to complete just the second lap. It all happened so quick, as

Harbin was right there with Nelson coming out of four when Nelson and Harbin Spun and the 97 of Cory Scott had no where to go but into them and it was a chain reaction with the 5 of Jeremy Daring being the last car to plow into the wrecked cars. The safety team checked everyone over and no one was hurt, the wreck would retire five cars to the pits including the 65 of Brian Hardin who would have to be given the hard luck award of the night if there was one to give. Brian ran the heat race and with 3 laps to go the hood flipped up and made it impossible to see but Brian somehow ran a hard three laps to finish second as the fans cheered him on but would have to make the long haul back home with a totaled race car. After everything was cleaned up races resumed with Nelson still in the lead for the entire race. Phil Morrison of Punta Gorda had other plans as he made his way up to second and battled with Nelson until he saw one lap to go. Morrison got around Nelson and became the winner of the race with Nelson second and Chris Loney third.

Pro 4 class had the same full moon start of the race when on lap four the 29 car of Phillip Ellis Jr was going for the third spot when Paul Richards Sr tried to stop the move which brought out the caution. Ellis and Richards would have to pit with bent up race cars but the crew of the 29 would send him back out to finish the race. The 98 of Cody Allen had the race from start to finish with Dan Collver second and new to the track coming in third would be Robbie Boos and Ellis would bring it home in fourth.

All that racing action and the main event was still to come, as the Open Wheels took to the track for fifty laps. With two cars already on the trailer from blown motors in practice and some quick repairs to some that got caught up in the wreck from practice it was time to see the open wheels in action. Doug Miller in the 53 car from Largo took the early lead and looked to be a strong running car to beat but fast qualifier Shawn Harper was right behind him. The 19 of Steve Arnold was on a mission and on lap ten had made it up to second and was challenging Miller for the lead when he got called for bringing out the caution and turning Miller. With Miller back in the number one spot for the restart and Arnold in the rear, that gave Doug Moff the outside pole and when the green was out Moff knew it was his chance and took the lead and never looked back. Millers car was not the same after the spin as he slipped back and Harper ran in the second spot trying to run down Moff but Arnold would make it back up to bring home the third place trophy.

Punta Gorda Speedway will be hosting a night you do not want to miss on April 23^rd with “Racing to end Hunger” brought to you by the C.C. Homeless Coalition.

There will be Easter fun for the kids with face painting and a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Racing will be the Good Year Late Model 6 pack series for 100 laps, Pro Trucks, Rookies Trucks, Legends, Bandolero, Outlaw Modified, Pro 4 and Fab 4.

It is a night you do not want to miss.Front gates open at 5:00pm with racing to start at 6:00 PM.