Punta Gorda speedway once again had some great racing action that thrilled the nice crowd that was on hand.  The night started with Noah Weaver winning the Bandolero feature.  The Dwarf cars were on hand and ran twin features that saw Andy Pryor of Bonita dominate the first featured event with John Bailey second and Roger Richmond third. The second feature it was Pryor in the lead but Bailey took the outside and they drove door to door till three to go. Bailey made the move on Pryor and passed on the outside and finished first with Pryor second and Roger Richmond third.

Legend race was up next and it took fast qualifier Matt Blankenship from Lake Placid one lap to get in the lead and dominate while Darin Coker of Palm Beach gardens was chasing him down. Coker was on Blankenships bumper for ten laps trying to make the pass and lap eighteen Coker got along side him to make the pass and Blankenship spun, the call was on Blankenship and he was sent to the rear. It took Blankenship three laps to get back to Cokers bumper but ran out of time to make the pass and it was Darrin Coker first with Matt Blankenship second and Mike Verhaagh third.

Rookie Trucks took to the track and it was Chad Chastain of Alva that went start to finish in the Melon one truck. Chastain is getting the nickname “Jr Melon” since older brother Ross Chastain drives the Melon one truck in the Camping World Truck series. Chad celebrated his victory in the winners circle posing with a slice of watermelon in hand. Coming in a hard fought second place was Corey Bigley of Naples driving the Poole Motorsports 00 truck and Phil Ellis third in the Poole Motorsports 32 truck.

Fan Participation was next and we saw the last two do battle for fifty dollars and it was a smart car up against a big diesel truck. Randy Kile in the truck won the fifty dollars from the speedway owner but the driver of the smart car was found later in the photo shop signing autographs fro the kids.  Two bike were raffled off from Flash Customer Metal Roofing of Port Charlotte and the winners Seth and Paul Scott paid it forward and gave the bikes to Logan Butrum and Nicole Fewox.

Road Warriors ran for thirty five laps and what a race the fans saw as Richard Nelson of Port Charlotte finally saw himself as the leader for all thirty five laps. There was some real “ rubbin is racin” going on but when all the smoke cleared it was Nelson that did donuts on the front stretch after crossing the line first and a hard fought charging Jason Miller second and Chris Scott third.

The last race of the night was the Pro Truck race were Ross Chastain from Alva, driver of the Melon one truck in the Camping World truck series was home for the weekend and found himself in the 41 truck for the race. Chastain dominated the lead spot while being chased by Port Charlotte’s Michael Burns and Whitney Poole was third. This race had the fans on their feet as Chastain and Burns ran nose to tail with a few cautions and restarts that put the two side by side for the restarts. Halfway on another restart Burns jumped to the lead and it was Chastain chasing running on Burns bumper while Poole battled back and fourth with the 47 of Travis Gossard for that third spot. The white was coming out when another caution was thrown before they crossed the line so it would line the cars back up and green, white, checker finish it would be. The green flew and it was on and Whitney Poole in the pink 00 who just celebrated her 21st birthday who had been fighting hard for that third spot and keeping her eyes on the flagman came out of four and some bumping and spinning went on in front of her and she was the one to cross the line first. Poole was the winner of the exciting finish of the thirty five lap feature while Michael Burns was second and Travis Gossard third, Chastain would finish eighth. 

Punta Gorda Speedway May 19th has extended laps in some of the best classes you will not want to miss. Late Model Sportsman for 50 laps along with the Street Stock for 50 Laps and Perfect Pest Control Pro 4 for 40 on the track that is to tough to tame!
May 19th – Late Model Sportsman 50, Street Stock 50, Perfect Pest Control 40, T.Q. Midgets, Road Warriors, and Cowboy Cadillacs

PUNTA GORDA SPEEDWAY RESULTS
5/12/12

Pro Trucks
1. 00 Whitney Poole Vero Beach
2. 14 Michael Burns Port Charlotte
3. 47 Travis Gossard Jr. Naples
4. 4 Kelli Burns Port Charlotte
5. 93 Jeff Firestine Venice
6. 84 Pat Mahoney
7. 32 Dylan Bigley Naples
8. 41 Ross Chastain Alva
9. 20 Tom Carlo Venice
10. 36 Ralph Chastain Alva
11. 77 Bill Vandevender Cape Coral
12. 25 Darin McCurdy
13. 17 Mark Hooven Orlando D.N.S.
14. 14s Sam Scott Naples D.N.S.

Road Warrior
1. 80 Richard Nelson Port Charlotte
2. 10 Jason Miller Lehigh Acres
3. 97 Chris Scott Nokomis
4. 5 Jeremy Daring Lehigh Acres
5. 27 Ann Marie Ricardi Naples
6. 15 Clint Snyder Venice
7. 17 James Stokes
8. 33 Chris Loney Naples
9. 1 Rick Reed Arcadia
10. 8 Jeff Deeble Port Charlotte
11. 7 Cody Allen Lehigh
12. 13 Justin Teston Lehigh
13. 7S Rick Shelnut Lehigh
14. 73 Chad Whittle Lehigh

Legends
1. 00 Darin Coker Palm Beach Gardens
2. 94 Matt Blankenship Lake Placid
3. 7 Mike Verhaagh
4. 48 Carl Haag Port St. Lucie
5. 19 Keith Sinkula Palm City
6. 26 Joey Langis Coral Springs
7. 54 Tony Steinbuck Tamarac
8. 55 Conrad Molter Naples

Rookie Trucks
1. 36 Chad Chastain Alva
2. 00 Corey Bigley Naples
3. 32 Phil Ellis Jr.
4. 77 James Dellea 3 rd .Port Charlotte
Dwarf Cars Feature #1
1. 4 Andy Pryor Naples
2. 17 John Bailey Sarasota
3. 33 Roger Richmond Port Charlotte
4. 77 Larry Hubbard 3 rd . Cape Coral
5. 56 Larry Hubbard Jr. Cape Coral D.N.S.

Dwarf Cars Feature #2
1. 17 John Bailey Sarasota
2. 4 Andy Pryor Naples
3. 33 Roger Richmond Port Charlotte
4. 56 Larry Hubbard Jr. Cape Coral
5. 77 Larry Hubbard 3 rd .

Bandolero’s
1. 14 Noah Weaver Sarasota