It was a great Day to be outside and Punta Gorda Speedway is the place to be on Saturday nights that is affordable for the entire family. A full night of racing action got underway after all the qualifying was done and the Rookie Trucks took to the track first for their fifteen lap feature. With no heat race for the rookies, they were ready to get after it when the green flag dropped. Thirteen year old Chad Chastain got the jump on Corey Bigley at the start and seem to have things wrapped up until Bigley got settled into the truck. Corey Bigley from Naples was driving the Whitney Poole machine for just the second time and was putting the pressure on Chastain from behind and then taking some moves from his dad and running on the outside of Chastain. One caution on lap seventeen tightened the field back up and put Bigley outside Chastain and Chastain got the lead again. White flag was out, Bigley was outside, turn four, checkers
in the air Bigley held Chastain down a bit that gave Bigley the edge he needed to cross the line first. At the stripe Chastain got loose and spun heading for the front stretch wall and did a good job of keeping it off the wall while Phil Ellis made his debut crossing the line backwards to finish third.
Bandoleros Saw the 14 of Noah Weaver from Sarasota collect the winning points for the night.
Outlaw Modifieds put on a good show for thirty laps and saw two Pro 4 drivers, Paul Richards Sr of Naples and Cody Allen of Lehigh give a try with their first time running in the class. Richards lead ten laps but in the end it was the 26 of Mike Endee that brought home the win with Doug Hooper second.
Pro 4 drivers were not having the young Dellea beat them again this week, Ryan Collver passed Dellea on lap two bringing Paul Richards Jr. with him. The only caution came out on lap eighteen when Dan Collver got by Dellea then Dellea tried to get by Collver which ended the night for Collver with a banged up race car. Paul Richards Jr of Naples made the pass on Ryan Collver with five to go and went on to win with Collver second and Dylan Bigley of Naples third.
Pro Trucks came out for fifty laps and after last race were Kelli Burns put the bump and run for the win, it seemed like the guys were not having it this race especially when Burns set fast time. At times it looked as if the guys were trying to rough up the girls a bit and the girls were giving it back, since Whitney Poole had set second fastest time. Mark Hooven of Orlando busted the rear end in practice and had the truck back together for the first feature were brother Shawn Hooven ran in the Rookies and Mark had the truck up to second with five to go. Whitney Poole busted a rear shock when she got spun which took her out of the running but still managed to finish in sixth. Sam Scott of Naples dominated the race start to finish while Travis Gossard Jr. of Naples muscled his way back to second and Billy Bigley Jr of Naples finished third, Hooven was fourth and Burns bumped back to fifth.
Late Model Sportsman back out for fifty laps had the pits buzzing with this is going to be a crash fest to the end. Fast Qualifier Aaron Willamson sat outside front row with dad David Williamson on the pole, Arron got the lead and David tried for the first twenty laps to keep the cars behind him till the first caution came out. Cars tightened back up, it was Gary McFall who was sporting the new color scheme on the 68 machine that got by for second bringing Bill Vandevender with him for the third spot. With only one other caution in the race, it was good clean racing and McFall was there at times on the bumper of Willamson. With the laps clicking off, it was Aaron Willamson of Lakeland that brought home the win, Gary McFall of Venice second and Bill Vandevender from Cape Coral Third.
Legend cars saw Donovan Ponder of Tamarac on the pole while fast qualifier Brady Marshall of Sarasota second row inside to start the feature. Ponder jumped out to the lead till the caution came out on lap three when Conrad Moltar tangled up with Tony Steinbuck retiring both cars for the night. Lap ten another cation for a spin and Ponder got passed by Mike Verhaagh on the restart bringing Brady Marshall with him. Brady Marshall took the lead on lap fifteen with Verhaagh in second, checkers are out and Ponder makes the last lap pass to bring it home in second while Verhaagh settled for third.
The last race of the night was going to be exciting after an altercation in the heat race when Cody Benoit turned right instead of left and sent the 89 of Phil Morrison into the turn one wall. Both drivers were warned before the feature as Morrison had already made a trip to the shop for another car and the green was out. Richard Nelson of Port Charlotte took the early lead till Derrick Horton of N. Ft. Myers got by on lap four. Which looked to be a caution free race till five to go when the 8 of Shane Leonard blew up bringing out the first caution. Cars lined back up, no one was real sure what happened, Morrison and Jason Miller driving the 10X made some contact and Morrison drilled the side of the 10X sending Morrison to the pits for the night and a DQ on his finish. Horton held on for the win with Rick Reed driving the 10 car for the night second and Chris Scott third.
Make your plans now for March 24th when the speedway will hold it’s
FIRST ANNUAL ROCKIN COUNTRY BASH
Saturday March 24 th 2012
Punta Gorda Speedway is located just across from the Punta Gorda Airport
The Speedway will offer a full day of FAMILY FUN for all ages.
For the kids there will be a bounce house, large slide, dunk tank and more.
For the rest of us, Great Country Rock with the BUCK SHOT BAND,
TAYZOR BAND AND PUSH,
FEATURING TWO NATIONALLY RECONIZED FORMER MEMBERS
OF THE 80’S BANDS
HEAD EAST AND BULLETBOYS.
Parking $5.00
with a full concession along with soft drinks,
Bud and Miller products.
A FULL DAY OF FUN FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY!!
ADMISSION PRICE $10.00 KIDS 6 AND UNDER FREE
Bring your lawn chairs or sit in the stands,
as you ENJOY CONTINUOUS ROCKIN COUNTRY MUSIC
PRESENTED BY THE PUNTA GORDA SPEEDWAY
AND DANNY YATES LANDSCAPING
vendor space is still available, call the speedway at 941-575-7223
Racing will be back March 31 with race #3 of 12 for the Goodyear Super Late Models for 100 laps
check the web site for all updates at www.puntagordaspeedway.com
PUNTA GORDA SPEEDWAY RESULTS
3/17/12
Late Model Sportsman
1. 13 Aaron Williamson Lakeland Fast Time
2. 68 Gary Mc Fall Venice
3. 84 Bill Vandevender Cape Coral
4. 12 David Williamson Lakeland
5. 56 Brandon Morris Mulberry
6. 7x Johnny Cassidy Arcadia
7. 09 Donnie Ollie Jr. Lehigh
8. 98x Danny Brown Lehigh
9. 8 Dan Scott Naples
10. 98 Roger Welch Pinellas Park
11. 10 Tim Miller Bradenton
12. 7 Kyle Rice LaBelle
13. 93 Shawn Wade
14. 67 James Dubose Arcadia D.N.S.
Pro Trucks
1. 14 Sam Scott Naples
2. 47 Travis Gossard Naples
3. 32 Billy Bigley Jr. Naples
4. 17 Mark Hooven Orlando
5. 4 Kelli Burns Port Charlotte Fast Time
6. 00 Whitney Poole Vero Beach
7. 111 Josh Borem Lakeland
8. 75 Glenn Walker Arcadia
9. 99 Cody Martell Arcadia
10. 99x Rick Penton West Palm Beach
Outlaw Modified
1. 26 Mike Endee
2. 15 Doug Hopper
3. 04
4. 8 Matt Delaney
5. 61 Paul Richards Sr.
6. 6 Cody Allen
7. 22 Ric Mills
8.14 Dan Akand
9. 7 Mel-Mel Braden
10. 19 Kevin Campbell
11. 91 Cliff Willman
12. 9 AntonioGonzalez D.N.S.
13. 28 Raymond Jones
Pro 4
1. 61 Paul Richards Jr. Naples
2. 04 Ryan Collver Ft. Myers
3. 28 Dylan Bigley Naples
4. 77 James Dellea III Port Charlotte
5. 18 Dalelyn Daring Lehigh
6. 21 Skyler Null Fort Myers
7. 00 Dan Collver N. Ft. Myers
8. 32 John Balzarano Naples
9. 30 Stephen Babcock Punta Gorda
Road Warrior
1. 27 Derrick Horton N. Ft. Myers
2. 10 Rick Reed Arcadia
3. 97 Chris Scott Nokomis
4. 33 Chris Loney Naples
5. 80 Richard Nelson Port Charlotte
6. B1 Cody Benoit Buckingham
7. 10x Jason Miller Lehigh Acres
8. 5 Jeremy Daring Lehigh Acres
9. 8 Shane Leonard Cape Coral
10 8up Jeff Deeble Port Charlotte
11. 90 PhiI Morrison Punta Gorda DQ
Rookie Trucks
1.00 Corey Bigley Naples
2. 36 Chad Chastain Alva
3. 32 Phil Ellis Nokomis
4. 17 Shawn Hooven Orlando
Legends
1. 14 Brady Marshall Sarasota Fast Time
2. 8 Donovan Ponder Orlando
3. 7 Mike Vernhaugh
4. 48 Carl Haag Port St. Lucie
5. 54 Tony Steinbuck Tamarac
6. 55 Conrad Molter Naples
7. 26 Joey Langis Coral Springs