Punta Gorda Speedway had two 50 lap events on the schedule for the night and Mother Nature had 50% chance of rain but the cars rolled in and once again PGS was spared and it was another great night of racing.
The first feature of the night was the Rookie Truck class that saw points leader Michael Atwel out of Naples on the pole to start the race. Atwell jumped out to the lead and went on to win the feature with Cody Martell second and Kelli Burns third.
Cowboy Cadillacs put on a show with the 4 truck of Andy Vanscyoc running in first with a good lead as the trucks behind him battled it out for position. Points leader Robert Willms got beat around pretty good and had to enter the pits twice with flat tires but battled back for a third place finish and John Brown would come in second with his first visit to the track.
One of the main events of the night was the Road Warrior race for fifty laps that twenty cars qualified for position, Shane Leonard would set fast time with a 18.235. Chris Scott sat on the pole with points leader Richard Nelson outside for the start of the race and dark clouds and lightning were running along the outside of the track who was going to win out. The green flag dropped and Scott was in the lead, this class is called the Thunder Heard and they sure lived up to the name with beating and banging and sometimes three and four wide racing for position. By lap sixteen the fifth caution was thrown and the wall of rain was skirting the track while the fans took cover and the pace car was brought out to pace the cars and see if the night was a washout. Ten minuets later the rains blew by and the track was still dry and it was time to go back to some of the best racing action of the night. While Scott continued to lead the race the battle was going on behind between Nelson and Brian Harbin who pulled all the way from Bartow, Shane Leonard and Jason Miller. Leonard’s car would break at the half way mark and retire him to the pits for the night while more contenders joined the battled for that second and third position. Harbin would try to take the out side lane to pass while Jason Miller, Randy Kile and Rick Reed were driving up the inside shuffling Harbin back to sixth. Drivers were getting impatient with ten laps left and when Kile got sent to the rear on lap 41 and Nelson got tangled up and sent to the rear on lap 43 it was five to go and the battle was on. Brian Harbin would edge Scott for the lead bringing Rick Reed with him and placing Scott in the third spot and that is how it was when the checkers flew. After a long once over in tech of the top five cars the finish would stand and a very happy Brian Harbin was seen track side meeting one of the kids that had his winning car number.
Late Models came out for their fifty laps and it was points leader Tommy Styer out in front with Steve Gill in second trying his best to make a move but with only one caution in the race it was all green flag racing. Gill tried what he could to take the lead from Styer and waited till the last lap when a little bump and run got him to styers door as they crossed the finish line and would have to settle for second while Tommy Styer would win his second feature in a row. Ross Chastain out of Alva would bring home third. David Weaver fourth and Danny Yates returning to racing after a few years would come in fourth.
Legends cars saw a hard fought battle for the lead by the 87 of Austin Blankenship who also set fast time. As they crossed the stripe it would be Austin Blankenship with a nice lead and Jordon Black second Donovan Ponder would round out the top three.
Pro Trucks would be the last feature of the night with Ross Chastain doing double duty and jumping out to the lead with points leader Steve Darvalics in second and in hot pursuit of the lead. Darvalics would get around Chastain at the half way mark with Whitney Poole from Vero beach closing in.
The only caution came out on lap twenty three when the leader broke and had to retire to the pits for the night which gave the lead back over to Chastain and Poole would try to challenge him for the lead. Chastain was the winner with Poole second and Travis Gossard would come home third.
June 4th racing at Punta Gorda Speedway will be the very popular Sportsman, Super Stock, Pro 4,
Late Models
1. 2 Tommy Styer Mirimar
2. 5 Steve Gill Sarasota
3. 36 Ross Chastain Alva
4. 11 David Weaver Plantation
5. 22 Danny Yates Cape Coral
6. 28B Dylan Bigley Naples
7. 10 Jason Miller Lehigh
8. 16k Tommy King Bartow
9. 6 Dave Davis Bradenton
10. 4B Allen Bruns Claremont
11. 8 Dan Scott Naples
12. 14 Jerry Atkins
Pro Trucks
1. 36 Ross Chastain Alva
2. 00 Whitney Poole Vero Beach
3. 47 Travis Gossard Naples
4. 14 Michael Burns Port Charlotte
5. 17 Mark Hooven Orlando
6. 41 Steve Darvalics Venice
7. 14s Sam Scott Naples
Road Warriors
1. 2 Brian Harbin Bartow
2. 1 Rick Reed Arcadia
3. 97 Chris Scott Nokomis
4. 14 Randy Kile Lehigh
5. 10 Jason Miller Arcadia
6. 9 Nic Ortega Naples
7. 27 Derrick Horton N. Fort Myers
8. A1 Jesse Gargus Naples
9. 5 Jeremy Daring Lehigh
10. 43 Mark Petty Venice
11. 2x Pete Youngblood
12. 55 Chris Ferguson Lehigh
13. 80 Richard Nelson Bradenton
14. 33 Chris Loney Naples
15. 8 Shane Leonard Cape Coral
16. 90 Phil Morrison Punta Gorda
17.74 Johnny Allen Lehigh
18. 29 Mark Milthaler North Port
19. 93 Jeff Firestine Venice D.N.S.
20. 15 Clint Snyder DNS
Legends
1. 87 Austin Blankenship High Springs
2. 14B Jorden Black Orlando
3. 8 Donovan Ponder Orlando
4. 94 Matt Blakenship Lake Placid
5. 17 Shawn Hooven Orlando
6. 7 Mike Verhaagh Bonita
7. 26 Joey Langis Coral Springs
8. 48 Carl Haag Pt. St. Lucie
9. 54 Tony Steinbuck Tamarac
10.14 Brady Marshall Sarasota
11. 55 Conrad Molter Naples
Cowboy Cadillacs
1. 4 Andy Vanscyoc Rotonda West
2. 3 John Brown Arcadia
3. 18 Robert Willms Cape Coral
4. 33 Les Couch Punta Gorda
5. 8 Jeff Deeble Port Charlotte
6. 30 Ken Badali Port Charlotte
7. 91/2 Anderson Butler Punta Gurda
8. 88 Brad Wegert Port charlotte
9. 63 James Wright Naples
Rookie Trucks
1. 39 Michael Atwell Naples
2. 99 Cody Martell Arcadia
3. 4 Kelli Burns Port Charlotte
4. 44b Mathew Bruns Orlando
5. 36 Chad Chastain Alva