By Bill Green, Announcer Punta Gorda, FL –
Special 35-Lap events for both Sportsman and Pro Trucks, had lots of fans showing up after the temperatures started to fall from the high of 98 degrees in southern Florida. As racers and crews drank gallons of water to stay hydrated, and fans enjoyed the shade of all the newly installed palm trees, track officials were looking forward to a great night of racing on Florida’s southern most weekly race track.
Heat race action really got everyone’s attention when Kelli Burns, fresh off her 16 th Birthday and racing in her very first Pro Truck event ever, Heat #1, lost control on the back stretch and slammed hard into the outside wall just before the turn 3 entrance to the track. Her green #4 truck came to a stop in turn-3 and pieces of it were strewn for some 150 feet. Kelli complained of neck pain to the first responders on the scene and the call was made for a through check over at hospital for the young driver.
But after leaving in ambulance and still strapped to the backboard, Kelli returned to the track near 10pm, cleared by medical personnel and read to be quiet sore for a few days. “I’ll be back” claimed Kelli, during a brief interview in front of the front stretch fans.
Starting off with the Super Stock class win by Danny Brown f West Palm Beach, over second place running Danny Daniels Jr, whom had to change his transmission after it blew in practice and third place finisher Jimmy Meiser. Rounding out the top-5 were Larry Braswell, 4th and Dick Horton, 5th.
Pro-4’s rolled out as the second feature event in as many weeks with Ryan Collver taking the win. Followed by Wally Smith second, Ken Badali third, John Balzarano fourth and Shane Moore fifth.
Mini Stocks were the third class on the track and Dustin Perez drove the Chad Rose #0 to Victory while the regular driver was away for the night. Shane Yoder of Sarasota finished second, ahead of Mike Kerrivan third, John Pummell Jr., fourth and Emery Murrah, fifth.
Sportsman fans saw lots of action as Aaron Williamson of Lakeland brought the mean green #13 machine home in first. Second went to Venice driver Gary McFall, followed closely by Greg Krom of Sarasota. Completing the multi-city flavor of the top-5 was Brian Richardson of Cape Coral fourth and Pinellas Park’s Timmy Lowe, fifth.
After the excitement of heat racing, from Kelli Burns, the Pro Trucks took to the track for 35-laps and saw local North Port driver Josh Williams celebrate his Great-Grandmother’s 89 Birthday in Victory Lane. Auburndale’s Michael Smith showed the under-funded, Polk County team can still hang with the best of them finishing second over Bradenton’s Andrew Gipson, who settled for third. Fourth went to Phil Morrison from Just down the road in Ponta Gorda, who lead many of the early laps, besting fifth place finisher Whitney Poole, all the way over from Vero Beach.
Chris Scott of Nokomis won the Road Warriors Feature, make that two-in-a-row. Beating Rick Reed of Arcadia for the second time, also. Third went to Blaine Baer of Port Charlotte, for a third time, as well. (I’m beginning to see a pattern here.) They were followed by Don Jericka, Port Charlotte and Jason Miller, Lehigh Acres, fourth and fifth respectively, but NOT for the third time.
Finishing out the evening of seven classes were the younger Fab’s. This time with Jarrett Reynolds taking the win. Second was Kyle Rice, followed by Robert Conant, third, Linda Badali getting another family top-5 in fourth and besting Chrystal Love in fifth.
Next week it’s Checkerd Flag Sprints & TQ Midgets, with Legends, Bandoleros, Dwarf Cars and Road Warriers. The TQ Midgets will battle for the Freddy Stutz Memorial Trophy, so don’t miss this action packed night of open wheeled rockets. Call Ponta Gorda Speedway’s office at 941-575-RACE (7223) for more info on coming weeks or questions about racing at PGS this summer.
We’ll See You At The Races! Punta Gorda Speedway
Results 6/5/2010
Super Stock
1. 98 Danny Brown -W. Palm Beach
2. 09 Danny Daniels -Lehigh Acres
3. 88 Jimmy Meiser -N.Ft. Myers
4. 80 Larry Bransell
5. 27 Derrick Horton
6. 38 Tomas Willis Pro 4
1. 04 Ryan Cullver
2. 63 Wally Smith
3. 30 Ken Badali
4. 88 John Balzarano
5. 24 Shane Moore
6. 21 Jeremy Perkins
7. 82E Phillip Ellis Jr.
8. 05 David Doty
9. 3 Chelsea LaJoie
10. 82 Corey Bigley
11. 1 Thomas Willis
12. 27 Derrick Horton
13. 36v Stuart Vandevender
14. 36x Todd Morey
15. 28 Dylan Bigley
16. 55 Mark Davis
17. 61 Paul Richards Sr.
18. 21x Jason Perkins
Mini Stock
1. 0 Dustin Perez
2. 8 Shane Yoder
3. 29 Mike Kerrivan
4. 86 John Pummell Jr.
5. 7 Emory Murrah
6. 1 Robert Carter Sportsman
1. 13 Aaron William
2. 68 Gary McFall
3. 35 Greg Krum
4. 56 Brian Richardson
5. 57 Timmy Lowe
6. 12 David Williamson
7. 6 Greg Gorniak
8. 09 Donnie Ollie Jr.
9. 73 Mark Peterson
10. 80 Larry Braswell
11. 38 Jason Stifle
12. 5 Jeff Gustafson
13. 86 Bill Vandevender
14. 14 Jerry Adkins (DNS)
Pro Trucks
1. 6 Josh Williams
2. 23 Michael Smith
3. 64 Andrew Gipson
4. 63 Phil Morrison
5. 00 Whitney Poole
6. 2 Gerald Campbell
7. 14 Michael Burns
8. 15 Jeff Dulaney
9. 99 Cody Martell
10. 63x Jeff Dalva
11. 15x Jerry Maxson
12. 98 Cody Allen
13. 4 Kelli Burns
14. 30 Chris Huntoon (DQ)
Road Warriors
1. 97 Chris Scott
2. 1 Rick Reed
3. 7 Blaine Baer
4. 29 Don Jericka
5. 10 Jason Miller
6. 15 Clint Snyder
7. 27 Derrick Horton
8. 93 Jeff Firestine
9. 33 Chris Loney
10. 5 Jeremy Daring
11. 51 Jarrett Cornell
12. 32 Dean Butram
13. 9 Nic Ortega
14. B1 Randy Kile
Fab 4
1. 2 Jarrett Reynolds
2. 7 Kyle Rice
3. 82 Robert Conant
4. 30 Linda Badali
5. 36v Crystal Love
6. 00 Mark Milthaler
7. 24 Nick Callen
8. 1 Jason Wille
9. 63 Matt Fewox
10. 07 Shane Moore Jr.
11. 33 Kerrington McFadden
12. 27 Tammy Phillips
13. 87 Skyler Null
14. 36x Terry Shaver (DNS)
15. 61 Paul Richards Jr. (DNS)
16. 55 Elizabeth Cortes (DNS)