Bradenton, FL – On a night that the Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series presented by BG Products and TrueFuel honored one of Florida’s late sprint car racing legends, it seemed fitting that another legend would finish the night on top of the podium. Dave Steele, a two-time Little 500 champion who has several championships on his resume, rocketed from the back of the field and crushed the competition on his way to a victory in Saturday night’s Larry Brazil Memorial at Desoto Speedway.

After winning the first heat race of the evening, Steele took the BG Challenge and started at the rear of the 17-car field. He passed 11 cars in the first three laps, passed Johnny Gilbertson for third on the sixth lap and just passed Troy DeCaire for the second spot when the red flag flew for a hard crash by Jeff Firestine just prior to the halfway point. Steele blasted by Jason Kimball on the restart and immediately set sail from the rest of the field. Not even the lapped traffic would slow down Steele, who was clocking laps in the 108 MPH range in the final half of the race. He would beat DeCaire by nearly half a lap at the checkered flag.

“This is a great honor,” Steele said in victory lane. “Larry Brazil was definitely a hero of mine on the local scene growing up here. It’s tough outrunning these guys.” (more…)

Scott Lookwood – When the Sunoco Challenge Super Series Late Models last raced at Desoto Speedway earlier this summer, Bradenton’s Jesse Dutilly led the final 89 laps of the 100-lap main event on his way to a victory. He one-upped that feat in Saturday night’s return engagement, rocketing up from his fourth starting spot and leading the final 90 laps on his way to another victory against the largest Late Model field of the season on his home track.

Dutilly and early leader George Gorham were battling for the lead when a caution flew for a spin involving Michael Atwell and Billy Bigley just seven laps into the event. On the restart. Dutilly and Gorham spent a couple of laps battling side-by-side for the lead after the restart. Dutilly led at the line at lap 10, cleared Gorham on a lap later and set sail from the rest of the field. Gorham, Winchell, Chris Fontaine and Devin McLeod staged a tight battle for the top five spots while Dutilly built up a three-second lead over the next 40 laps.

As Dutilly continued pulling away, Gorham settled comfortably in second half while Winchell, Fontaine and McLeod continued their fight toward the front of the pack. Anthony Sergi and Nick Neri were also in a position battle, with Sergi coming out with sixth place just prior to the halfway point. (more…)

SCOTT LOCKWOOD – Kenny Gibson and Sean Bass outlasted the competition – and the sweltering heat – to take victories in the main events on an action-packed night at Desoto Speedway on Saturday.

Gibson and Jeff Firestine, who set the third and fastest times in qualifying respectively, started 10th and 12th in the 21-car field after a 12-car inversion. The pair wasted no time charging to the front of the field and were both in the top five by the time the caution flew for Joe Gerard’s fire on lap seven. After a rash of caution flags and a restart on lap 17, Firestine went from fifth to first by passing Gibson and then with a dramatic three-wide pass of early leader Travis Barfield and Mike Rowland. He was pulling away from the field when a debris caution flew on lap 24.

James Nanney used a series of cautions and restarts to work his way up to second place. He spent several laps on Firestine’s rear bumper before losing a little ground to the leader. Firestine was starting to catch the back of the field when a rear tire flew off Danny Daniels’ car right in front of the leaders to bring out another caution. Nanney was in position to challenge Firestine for the lead in the final laps before nearly spinning off turn four. Nanney’s misfortune moved Gibson up to second behind Firestine, who crossed the line first for an apparent victory. However, Firestine’s car failed post-race technical inspection, which handed the victory to Gibson – his first win of the season in the Street Stocks. (more…)