It was a cool night and with so many “super” drivers showing up to race, the fans showed how Saturday Night short track racing is alive and well at the Punta Gorda Speedway. After getting all the race cars parked in every space they could find, and fans finally settled in and it was time for some of the best racing action in the state.

Features were underway and it was the Fab 4 class up first on the schedule and it took two bad starts till the flagman put the front two drivers to the back and third time was the charm. With Phil Ellis Sr. on the pole and Zac Campilonga outside the green was out, Ellis had a bad start and Campilonga took off to a good lead. In this caution free race it did not take the 61 of Paul Richards Jr.of Naples long to get to the front and take over the lead and go onto win, making this his fourth in a row. Arron Hardgrove would come in second and the thirty two of Karl Garrard third.

Champ Karts came out for a great battle that saw the 8 of Rance Williams bring home the win, 31 of Rusty Chancy second and Wesley Walker third.

Dwarf cars saw some returning drivers out to try to break the winning streak of track announcer Rob Kohler and that they did. With a strong run start to finish it was the 4 of Andy Pryor of Bonita Springs holding off a hard charging 14 of Bo Bass till Bass broke at the halfway mark. It was son Andy and father Tom in the one two spots till Rob Kohler passed Pryor to come home in second, John Bailey would finish third.

Sportsman class had the top drivers in points finishing out the season with a great race of side by side, bumper to bumper racing action. Donnie Ollie Jr. of Lehigh sat on the pole and was scored the leader for the first half of the race till the one and only caution came out on lap sixteen. Greg Krom was as patient as any driver could be as he tried the outside and then the inside and gave a bump to Ollie as if to say “pick a lane” while Krom was getting pressure from the guys behind him. The caution came out and it was called on the 09 of Ollie, the field was set with Krom on the pole and Bill Vandevender outside as the green flew. Those top six cars were side by side, what great talent these sportsman drivers have as it could be anyone as the winner. It took Vandevender two laps to get by Krom and sailed to a first place finish making this four in a row wins, Krom second and Gary McFall brought it home in third.

The race that everyone was waiting for was the Super Late models that pulled onto the track for introductions and then batted signed beach balls over the fence for some lucky fans to win prizes. Keith Lilly set fast time of 14.828 but would start third row back and L.B. Skaggs and Jeff Schofield would make up the front row as drivers buckled in. With fans on their feet waving as the field was shown one to go their was an unwelcome guest “glaring” over the field and that was a huge full moon that usually means this race is not going to be pretty. The green was out, the cars were tight and charging down the front, side by side, bumper to bumper, someone either got loose or touched and cars all piled up in turn one. Five cars would have to go into the pits and Wayne Anderson and Kevin Macy were not able to make it back out and the field would be relined and give it another go. L.B. Skaggs jumped out to the lead and Dustin Dunn came by on the inside of Schofield to take over second and lap three Dunn took over the lead. Fast qualifier Liley was in second and on Dunn’s bumper by lap four and the race was on as it appeared the drivers had settled down until lap thirty six when Lilley got into Dunn and was sent to the rear. When the leader gets spun you know there is going to be some cars that just cant escape some damage and there would be six cautions flags waved before they could turn the scoreboard to lap thirty seven and eight cars in and out of the pits. Finally back under way, Skaggs gets by Dunn bringing Daryl Shelnut and returning driver Scott Walters with him. Skaggs did what he could to keep a fast Shelnut from getting by for twenty five laps as they come to lap seventy one i heard it called as

“ a veteran move” that Shelnut put on Skaggs to take over the lead. Skaggs now had Walters trying to do the same as they come up to a lap car and Walters took that as a chance to move up into second. With a wore out skaggs, Billy Bigley Jr and Jeff Schofield were able to pass for the third and fourth spot. When the checkers came out it would be Daryl Shelnut from Lake City bringing home the win, Scott Walters from Naples second and Billy Bigley Jr. of Naples third Jeff Schofield from Plant City fourth and L.B. Skaggs of Ft Myers hung on to fifth.

Eighteen Road Warriors that are called the Thundering Heard, to do battle for twenty five laps, a full moon glares over head and the crowd was excited. Another race that was filled with cautions that had spins, wrecks and a tire that went airborne, but it was all Johnny Allen that ran start to finish way in front of the heard. When the smoke clear and the checkers flew it was Allen in first with Derrick Horton second and Randy Kile third.

Pro 4 came out for a shortened twenty lap feature that ran caution free as the clock was ticking on the eleven thirty curfew. Ryan Collver was back at it as he broke the winning streak of Dylan Bigley and ran start to finish as the leader with brother Dan Collver in second and Paul Richards Sr. third.

Cowboy Cadilacs were the last race of the night and the last seven in a row races were won by James Dellea who was a no show, as the new owner of the truck Stuart Vandevender would be sporting a 36 on the old 77 truck. Stuart Vandevender is the proud owner of the new 36 truck as Dellea took ownership of the thirty six sportsman. With Dellea out of the picture it was a chance for Terry Price of Port Charlotte to finally get a win but the new 36 truck lived up to its reputation and Stuart Vandevender found himself in victory lane as the winner of the race. Price again would have to settle for second while Les Couch battled to bring it home in third.

The speedway will be close November 19th in preparation for the big Thanksgiving Extravaganza weekend that has three big days of racing action you will not want to miss. Check out the speedway website for all the information on the big event at www.puntagordaspeedway.com

Punta Gorda Speedway

Results from   11-12-2011

 

Fab 4     

1. 61 Paul Richards Jr.   Naples

2. 98 Aaron Hardgrove   Lehigh Acres

3. 32 Karl Garrard   Naples

4. 3    Zac Campilonga   Bradenton

5. 29 Phil Ellis Sr.   Venice

6. 87 Skyler Null   N. Ft. Myers

7. 44 Roy Healy

8. 13 Alex Teston   Lehigh

9. 98x Rick Norman

 

Champ Carts

1. 8    Rance Williams

2. 31 Rusty Chancy

3. 47 Wesley Walker

4. 57 Brian Scherrer

5. 33 Mitchell Stevens

6. 68 Chad Dokken

7. 25 Pierce Atkins

8. 77 Phil Harp

9. 98 Scott Haley

10. 66 David Harp

11. 71 Andy Lassera

12. 29 Ron Sanford   D. N. S.

 

 

Dwarf Cars

1. 4    Andy Pryor   Bonita Springs

2. 82 Rob Kohler   Naples

3. 17 John Bailey   Sarasota

4. 33 Roger Richmond    Port Charlotte

5. 56 Larry Hubbard  Jr. Cape Coral

6. 12 Darrell Fischer   Loxahatchie

7. 2    James Wright  Lehigh

8. 77 Larry Hubbard III.   Cape Coral

9. 69 Tom Pryor   Bonita Springs

10. 08 Rebecca George   Venice

11. 14 Bo Bass   Eustis

12. 25 Daren Bass   Clarcona

13. 21 Mike Mancuso   Naples

 

 

Sportsman    

1. 84 Bill Vandevender   N. Ft. Myers

2. 35 Greg Grom   Sarasota

3. 68 Gary McFall   Venice

4. 57 Timmy Lowe   Pinellas Park

5. 67 James Dubose   Arcadia

6. 98 Roger Welch   St. Pete

7. 09 Donnie Ollie Jr.   Lehigh Acres

8. 6   Greg Gorniak   Homestead

 

Super Late Models

1. 7   Daryl Shellnut   Lake City

2. 77 Scott Walters Naples

3. 28 Billy Bigley Jr.   Naples

4. 21 Jeff Scofield   Plant City

5. 71 L. B. Skaggs   N. Ft. Myers

6. 87 Keith Lilley   Lakeland   Fast time 14.828

7. 28B Dylan Bigley   Naples

8. 1   Johnny Jackson   Parrish

9. 8   Bobby Shelton   Delray Beach

10. 6   David Hart   Bartow

11. 02 Mike Finn   Boca Raton

12. 97 Brian Dorer   Winterhaven

13. 123 Barry Bartlett   St. Pete

14. 10 Jason Miller   Lehigh

15. 59 Dustin Dunn   Tallahassee

16. 5   Steve Gill   Sarasota

17. 14 Mario Maresca   Miami

18. 99 Josh Williams   Port Charlotte

19. 84 Randy Anderson   Wildwood

20. 19 Kevin Macy   Bartow

21. 75Wayne Anderson   Wildwood

22. 11 David Weaver   DNS

 

Road Warriors

1. 89 Johnny Allen   Lehigh Acres

2. 27 Derrick Horton   N. Ft. Myers

3. 14 Randy Kile   Lehigh

4. 97 Chris Scott   Nokomis

5. 1   Rick Reed   Arcadia

6. 80 Richard Nelson   Port Charlotte

7. 18 Logan Leonard   Cape Coral

8. 93 Jeff Firestine   Venice

9. 51 Jarrett Cornell   N. Ft Myers

10. 15 Clint Snyder Venice

11. 43 Mark Petty   Venice

12. 8   Jeff Deeble   Port charlotte

13. 10 Jason Miller   Lehigh Acres

14. 99 Jeff Gulvin

15. 5 Jeremy Daring   Lehigh Acres

16. 22 Jeremy Perkins   N. Ft. Myers

17. 33 Chris Loney   Naples

18. 11 Willard Hadden   Naples

 

Pro 4

1. 04 Ryan Collver   Ft. Myers

2. 00 Dan Collver   N. Ft. Myers

3. 61 Paul Richards Sr.   Naples

4. 28 Dylan Bigley    Naples

5. 98 Cody Allen   Lehigh

6. 29 Phil Ellis   North Port

7. 91 Jessica Ostrovskis   St. Pete

8. 32 Corey Bigley   Naples

9. 87 Jeremy Perkins   N. Ft. Myers

10. 13 Justin Teston   Lehigh

11. 63 Kris Bridges Venice

 

Cowboy Cadillac

1. 36 Stuart Vandevender   Cape Coral

2. 35 Terry Price   Port Charlotte

3. 33 Les Couch   Punta Gorda

4. 30 Ken Badali   Port Charlotte

5. 8   Jeff Deeble   Port Charlotte