April 23rd the fans and kids were treated to great racing, an Easter egg hunt, a visit from the Easter Bunny, over a hundred Easter baskets donated from the drivers for the kids along with a fund raiser for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition “Racing to End Hunger”.
The night started out very busy for all while the stream of drivers were dropping off baskets to be given away through out the night to the hundreds of kids that showed up for the nights activities.
The features started off with the Bandoleros for fifteen laps who saw the 14H of Shawn Hooven make it to the winners circle first with Tevor Taylor second, Johnny Holmes third and heat winner Tyler Clem would settle for fourth.
Pro 4 class took to the track next with North Ports Phillip Ellis jumping to the lead and running strong till a caution came out on lap nine which sent Ellis to the pits with a flat tire and giving the lead over to the 98 of Cody Allen. Allen was challenged by the 04 of Ryan Collver for ten laps until Collver made the pass for the lead with five laps to go and held on for the win with Allen in second and Dylan Bigley third while Phil Ellis made it up through the field to finish fourth.
The Rookie Trucks class that is made up of young beginner drivers came out for fifteen laps saw the 99 truck of Codey Martell who also won the heat race, come on strong for the feature by leading the half of the feature till a caution came out sending Martell to the rear. Brad Bowman of Clear water would restart and finish the race as the leader while points leader Michael Atwell came in second and Kelli Burns third Chad Chastain fourth.
Outlaw Modified ran a 25 lap feature with Mike Endee first Doug Hooper second and Tom Myers third.
Legend cars saw four different leaders until fast qualifier, Ryan Shattuck of Islamorada took over the lead at the halfway mark and would come home in first followed by Jordan Black and Donovan Ponder.
Next up on the schedule is what all the kids were waiting for, intermission and the Easter Egg Hunt. While hundreds of candy filled plastic Easter eggs were scattered throughout the infield it was time to turn loose the large amount of kids and the hunt was on.
The kids were also treated to Easter Baskets brought in from the drivers that were handed out all night to children that had the number called for baskets of all kind. Whitney Poole, driver of the 00 Pro Truck from Vero Beach bought in fifty Easter buckets for girls and boys filled with toys, candy and school supplies that were a big hit with the kids.
The Charlotte County Homeless Coalition had many activities for the kids that included face painting and pictures with the Easter Bunny. Also on hand for the night was an autograph session with Bubba the Love Sponge.
After everyone settled back into their seats it was time to restart the racing action with the Pro Truck 35 lap feature were a lot of fans came out to watch Bubba the Love Sponge race.
Whitney Poole would have to make a trip to the pits for repairs before the first lap was in the books. When the race got underway the 41 truck of Steven Darvalics of Venice took the early lead and lead the entire race. Josh Williams of Port Charlotte was the only challenge for Davalics coming in second Mark Hooven was third.
Then the race that everyone was waiting for, the 100 lap Super Late Model Six Pack which was rained out back in March, were twenty four cars showed up to be the winner of the the big payout and trophy.
Veteran driver Dave Pletcher would set the pace of the race with the pole starting position while fast qualifier David King was starting right behind him. Pletcher had his hands full from the start trying to hold off King but it only took King twelve laps to move by and take over the lead. King started lapping cars on lap 16 as they were coming up to lap 25 when the hard charging Dustin Dunn got tangled up with a lap car and retiring him to the pits for the night.
The next seventy laps saw Wayne Anderson trying what he could to get around King knowing that he did not want to bring out a caution because it was a long way back through the field.
Pletcher was in the third spot doing whatever he could to keep that spot and not let the hard charging Steve Gill get by him. After several attempts, Gill finally made a clean pass and took over the third spot and when the checkers flew on lap 100 it was King, Anderson, Gill, Billy Bigley Jr and Pletcher hung on for fifth.
The last feature of the night was the Fab 4 who waited patiently all night for their race, knowing that the points leader, Dave Patterson of Port Charlotte was out for the night. The twenty five laps was a caution free race with Zac Compilonga leading the first half till Aaron Hardgrove passed him at the half way mark. Hardgrove would go to win the feature with Campilonga in second and Paul Richards Jr third.
That is why Punta Gorda Speedway is the place to be on Saturday Night.
Racing April 30th Open Wheel Modified and Sportsman are back for 50 laps each along with T.Q. Midgets, Pro 4, Fab 4, and the very popular Road Warriors
Front gates open at 5:00pm with racing to start at 6:00. Admission is $10.00 for Adults $8.00 for seniors, Cchildren 12 and under are FREE
Punta Gorda Speedway is located at 8655 Piper Road Punta Gorda Exit 161 off I-75.
For more info you can call the speedway at 941-575-7223 or you can also find us now on face book just type in Punta Gorda Speedway
4-23 results
Super Late Models
1. 22 David King Alturis
2. 84 Wayne Anderson Wildwood
3. 5x Steve Gill
4. 28 Billy Bigley Jr. Naples
5. 77 Dave Pletcher New Port Richie
6. 51 Richie Anderson N. Fort Myers
7. 4 Randy Anderson Wildwood
8. 141 Travis Hanson Cooper City
9. 4B Alan Bruns Clearmont
10. 26 Jessica Murphy Groveland
11. 8 Dan Scott Naples
12. 14 Mario Maresca Fort Lauderdale
13. 36 Ross Chastain Alva
14. 29 Mallory Harvey Baxley Georgia
15. 7F Amanda Ferguson Claremont
16. 77l Ed Leeke Fort Lauderdale
17. 23 Barry Barlett St. Pete
18. 23b Todd Brown Lake Panasoffkee
19. 71 L. B. Skaggs N. FT. Myers
20. 59 Dustin Dunn Tallahassee
21. 02 Mike Finn Jupiter
22. 7 Darryl Shelnut Lake City
23. 28b Dylan Bigley Naples
24. 19 Kevin Macy Bartow DNS
Pro Trucks
1. 41 Steve Darvalics Venice
2. 6 Josh Williams Port Charlotte
3. 60 Mark Hooven Orlando
4. 24 Bruce Bennett
5. 00 Whitney Poole Vero Beach
6. 14 Michael Burns Port Charlotte
7. 14 Sam Scott Naples
8. 14 Bubba Clem Venice
9. 36 Ross Chastain Alva
Outlaw Modified
1. 26 Mike Endee
2. 15 Doug Hopper
3. 04 Tom Myer
4. 22 Ric Mills
5. 7 Mel Mel Brader
6. 14 Dan Akard
7. 5 Craig Scherer
8. 9 Antonio Gonzalez
PRO 4
1. 04 Ryan Collver Ft. Myers
2. 98 Cody Allen Lee High
3. 28 Dylan Bigley
4. 29 Phillip Ellis Jr. North Port
5. 00 Dan Collver N. Ft. Myers
6. 31 John Balzarano
7. 32 Corey Bigley
8. 61 Paul Richardson Sr. Naples
9. 22 Jeremy Perkins N. Ft. Myers
10. 51 Jerrett Cornell
11. 87 Charles Knull N. Ft. Myers
12. 07 Nathan Holmes D.Q.
13. 55 Mark Davis D.Q.
Fab 4
1. 98 Aaron Hardgrove
2. 3 Zac Campilonga
3. 61 Paul Richards Jr.
4. 30 Linda Badali
5. 68 Logan Allen
6. 67 Mike Simmons
7. 51 Brian Heidigh
8. 87 Skyler Hull
9. 31 Karl Garrard
10. 22 Tammy Phillips
Bandolero
1. 14 Shawn Hooven
2. 7 Trevor Taylor Zellwood
3. X Johnny Holmes Port Charlotte
4. 14 Tyler Clem St. Pete
Rookie Trucks
1. 74 Brad Bowman Clearwater
2. 39 Michael Atwell
3. 4 Kelli Burns
4. 36 Chad Chastain
5. 99 Cody Martell
6. 8 Joseph Mursuli
7. 44 Mathew Greer
Legends
1. 15 Ryan Shattuck Islamorada
2. 14B Jordan Black
3. 8 Donovan Ponder Orlanda
4. 17 Shawn Hooven Orlando
5. 14R Brady Marshall
6. 38 Mike Fazio Davie
7. 48fl Carl Haag Port St. Lucie
8. 7 Mike Verhaagh Fort Myers
9. 9 Mitch Verhaagh Bonita Springs
10. 55 Conrad Molter Naples
11. 26 Joey Langis Coral Springs
12. 54 Tony Steinbuck Tamarac