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2001
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| Sunday, November 11, 2001 | |
| Anderson Goes Flag To Flag In Triple Crown Win At Charlotte County Speedway | Travis Kittleson Overall Triple Crown Winner
By Rick Anges
(KNS)When qualifying began for the third leg of the Triple Crown at Charlotte County Speedway it was easy to see that this was going to be a tough track to get hold of. Several drivers slipped and lost precious tenths of a second. But experience on the 1/3 mile speedway was the name of the game as young Brad Barkis #75 blew away the rest of the competition with fast time in a borrowed racecar.
The draw of the pill was a different story. The King Dick Anderson who has had a rough last half of the season in the RaceCar Engineering Sunbelt series, ended up on the pole for the 125-lap feature event. Outside of him was veteran Hooters Pro-Cup and Late Model stand out Mario Gosselin in the #10x. Both of these drivers had cut their teeth on the historic flat race surface of Hialeah Speedway giving them an advantage on the slightly banked Charlotte County Speedway.
As the drivers took to the track the nearly packed house of fans rose to their feet and cheered and waved as the racecars came down the front-stretch. When the green dropped it was immediately the #00 of Anderson who jumped out to the lead, but it was the youngster Brad Barkis who made a power move from his fifth starting position and moved into the third spot behind Gosselin.
Anderson, Gosselin and Barkis began pulling away from the field while the rest of the pack was racing hard behind them trying to find a line around the tough slick 3/8 mile racetrack. David Rogers #11 who had won the night before at Orlando Speed world and had high hopes of a repeat this night began fading early getting stuck on the outside while the field stayed low and drove by.
By lap 44 Anderson had caught the tail end of the field lapping the back marker cars. Gosselin meanwhile had his hands full with Barkis as the two also began moving through lapped traffic. As Super Mario dove low Barkis took the high-line and was able to blast by the veteran driver on lap 50. By the half way mark Anderson, who looked like he was on a mission was lapping the tenth place car.
 Barkis began closing on the orange and white #00 and was right on his rear bumper looking to make the move when unexpectedly his car went around bringing out the yellow. After getting his car pointed in the right direction Barkis pulled his ride into the pits with an overheating problem ending his chances for the checkered flag.
In the closing laps it looked like it would be Anderson cruising to an easy victory but former NASCAR Craftsmen Truck series driver Scott Walters #33 had been steadily moving up through the field from his tenth starting position. Walters got a nose under Gosselin and took the second spot with Anderson a straightaway ahead on lap 112.
Walters closed the gap fast and as the white flag flew he was on the bumper of Anderson going into turn three, but the cagey veteran was not to be denied and crossed the stripe ahead of Walters. Gosselin finished in the third spot, Eric Black #10 took fourth and rounding out the top five was the #5 of Mike Franklin Jr.
With the win Anderson was crowned the Sunbelt Super Series Champ, Travis Kittleson took the Triple-Crown title.  Travis Kittleson wrapped up a fine year of racing with the Triple Crown adding to his ASA and Florida Late Model Success.
On a night that Florida racing hasnt sent in quite some time Charlotte County Speedway was put back on the racing world's map. With new owners Chris and Victoria Feldon along with Peter Drinkwater and the GM Jon Hall, the Thunder has returned to the Speedway by the interstate. 
Triple Crown Finish:
#00 Dick Anderson
33 Scott Walters
10x Mario Gosslin
10 Eric Black
5 Mike Franklin Jr.
88 Travis Kittelson (Triple Crown Champion)
7 Johnny Kay
87 Billy Bigley Jr.
89 Lee Collins
11 David Rogers
37 James Powell
74 Barry Willaughby 16 Bruce Morris Sr.
42 Kevin Ingram
75 Brad Barkis
78 B.J. McCleod
2 George Richardson
--Rick Anges
Also see: MATT MERCER MARCHES TO FIRST EVER TBARA WIN AT CHARLOTTE COUNTY SPEEDWAY
Super Show at Charlotte County
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