It was a great night for racing, if you did not make it out to Punta Gorda Speedway, you missed one of the best Super Late Model races yet. Fans knew it was going to be a great night and started arriving early, the place was packed by the time racing got underway.
With Qualifying and heat races out of the way the Bandoleros came out first for their feature. Keith Sinkula driving the 19 out of Palm City led the entire race and never lifted off the gas, how does he do it, Johnny Holmes of Port Charlotte second and Noah Weaver from Sarasota third.
Pro 4 class came out for their caution free race that saw Paul Richards Sr. chasing the 04 of Ryan Collver for all twenty five laps. With no caution, it was a chase to the end with Ryan Collver first, Paul Richards Sr. second and Dylan Bigley third. A last lap bump and go moved Phil Ellis up to the fourth spot and Dan Collver spun in turn four to drop him back to sixth.
Legend cars came out for a very interesting feature event that brought out eight cautions and pro 4 driver Phil Ellis giving it a try in a Legend Car. It was the 94 of Matt Blankenship who jumped out to the lead but with just three laps in the books got tangled with the 01 of Shawn Hooven and found himself on the hook with a broken axle. With the restart of the race the 14 of Brady Marshall who also set fast time and 14B of Jordan Black were battling for that first place and it appeared that something was wrong with Blacks car as he pulled over in turn two putting him down a lap. The cautions came and went but the battled was between Marshall and the 01 of Hooven and it was Brady Marshall that brought it home first and Shawn Hooven second and Mitch Verhaagh was third.
The thundering heard of Road Warrior drivers were up next and also running caution free but pedal to the metal for twenty five laps. It was all Jason Miller of Lehigh who was on a mission after being spun on the last lap, last week, to bring it home in the winners circle. Miller won but was chased closely by Richard Nelson for second and Chris Scott third while Randy Kile and Rick Reed battled back and fourth the entire race behind him.
The Super Late Model drivers pulled on the track for a meet and greet autograph session.
Jessica Bryant is heading up the PGS Jr Fan club for speedway owner Kevin Williams that wants to get the kids more involved and they have some fun activities planned for the upcoming months. Jessica planned a scavenger hunt for the kids last night who all got a list of the super drivers and once the gate was open, hundreds of kids invaded the track for signatures. The winning boy was Raymond and the winning girl was Jasmine. Keep an eye out for the Jr Fan club and Jessica for lots more fun and games.
Bill Vandevender of Outlaw Signs & Graphics made a Dale Earnhart Jr mail box that was raffled off to some lucky ticket holder.
The time that everyone was waiting for, gentleman start your engines for 100 laps of Super Late Model racing action with Wayne Anderson on the pole and Danny Foster outside. Wayne Anderson jumped to an early lead bringing Daryl Shelnut with him to take over the second spot while fast qualifier Todd Allen was running the outside. Forty three laps in the books with no cautions, just side by side hard racing action all around the track, who to watch, who is going to make the first mistake, fans on the edge of their seats. Something flew off one of a car on lap 43 to bring out the first caution and with the field lined back up everyone’s eyes were on Billy Bigley Jr of Naples who started eighth and was picking them off one by one and lined up behind Anderson for the restart. Shelnut was outside pole for the restart but Bigley had a fast race car and was in second by the time they made it around to be scored. Was Bigley fast enough to get around Anderson as they ran another twenty five more laps, who to watch, the leaders, or the battles going on behind them. One battle was between the young ones of Dylan Bigley and T. J. Duke while the 5 of Steve Gill was working his way to the front. Lap seventy seven, Bigley on the outside of Anderson makes a clean pass to take over the lead and has the fans on their feet, THIS WAS NO FOLLOW THE LEADER RACE by far. Two laps to go Shelnut gets by Anderson and the checkers come out with Bigley taking the checker flag and onto the winners circle. Daryl Shelnut was second, Wayne Anderson third, Steve Gill fourth and Dylan Bigley fifth.
Billy Bigley Jr filled the winners circle with family and friends for celebrations after him and a bunch of his guys climbed the front stretch fence in front of the fans. Everyone will be talking about this race for a while, who says it is a one groove race tack, not Billy Bigley Jr, who won passing on the outside, and so much action going on throughout the entire field. Great race by all the drivers who came out to do just that, race and race hard and they put on a heck of a show for all the fans.
After all that excitement there was one more race to run, the Fab 4 class that saw Paul Richards Jr from Naples lead the entire race to finish first. Zac Campilonga was second, Linda Badali was third, Phil Ellis Sr got behind the wheel to bring it home in fourth and Crystal Love rounded out the top five.
Next week Oct 8- Open Wheel Modified Twin 35, Pro 4, Fab 4, Super Stocks, Dwarf Cars, TQ Midgets, Cowboy Cadillac
Punta Gorda Speedway
Results from 10-01-2011
Super Late Model
1. 28 Billy Bigley Naples
2. 7 Daryl Shellnut Lake City
3. 77 Wayne Anderson Wildwood
4. 5X Steve Gill Sarasota
5. 28b Dylan Bigley Naples
6. 55 Todd Allen Debury
7. 87 Danny Foster Sarasota
8. 6 David Hart Bartow
9. 28d T. J. Duke Southwest Ranches
10. 6f Amanda Ferguson Mount Verdie
11. 59 Dustin Dunn Tallahasse
12. 02 Mike Finn Jr. Jupiter
13. 12 Steve Weaver Plantation
14. 99 Danny Poling Sarasota
15. 22 David King Alturas
16. 123 Barry Bartlett St. Pete
17. 13 Mike Knotek Labelle
18. 14 Mario Maresca Southwest Ranches
19. 92 Michael Cenzi Naples
Road Warrior
1. 10 Jason Miller Lehigh Acres
2. 80 Richard Nelson Bradenton
3. 97 Chris Scott Nokomis
4. 1 Rick Reed Arcadia
5. 14 Randy Kile Lehigh
6. 97b Pete Bloodgood Venice
7. 22 Derrick Horton N. Ft. Myers
8. 8 Jeff Deeble
9. 5 Jeremy Daring Lehigh Acres
Legends
1. 14 Brady Marshall Sarasota
2. 01 Shawn Hooven Orlando
3. 9 Mitch Verhaaugh Binita Springs
4. 7 Mike Verhaaugh Fort Myers
5. 48 Carl Haag Port St. Lucie
6. 22 Tyler Audie Orlando
7. 26 Joey Langis Coral Springs
8. 14B Jorden Black Orlando
9. 4 Phil Ellis Rotando
10. 54 Tony Steinbuck Tamarac
11. 55 Conrad Molter Naples
12. 94 Matthew Blakenship Lake Placid
Pro 4
1. 04 Ryan Collver Ft. Myers
2. 61 Paul Richards Sr. Naples
3. 28 Dylan Bigley Naples
4. 29 Phil Ellis North Port
5. 32 Corey Bigley Naples
6. 00 Dan Collver N. Ft. Myers
7. 18 Steve Schroeder
8. 27 Jeremy Perkins N. Ft. Myers
9. 13 Justin Teston
Fab 4
1. 61 Paul Richards Jr. Naples
2. 3 Zac Campillonga Bradenton
3. 30 Linda Badali Port Charlotte
4. 29 Phillip Ellis Sr.
5. 18 Crystal Love
6. 13 Alex Teston
7. 32 Karl Garrard
8. 27 Skyler Null N. Ft. Myers
Bandolero
1. 19 Keith Sinkula Palm City
2. X Johnny Holmes Port Charlotte
3. 14 Noah Weaver Sarasota
4. 7 Reese Chase Miami
5. 2 Cooper Battalia Peach Tree City Ga.
6. 23 A. J. Freitas New Port Richey