May 4, 2004 Gulf Coast Modified Rookie of the Year Battle Heats up at Charlotte County Speedway By Rick Warren With 2 races down and 6 to go, the Chase for the Rookie of the Year honors in the Corteco Gaskets/Gulf Coast Modifieds will start to heat up at Charlotte County Speedway, this Saturday May 8. With 11 Drivers eligible for the title of Rookie of the Year, the competition has been tight and will get tighter this weekend. Mike Hinegardner, winner of the last Gulf Coast Race at Sunshine Speedway, currently leads the point chase. Close behind Hinegardner, Danny Partelo and Chris Escott are looking to improve their standing this week with good runs at Charlotte County. Charlotte County’s own Kevin Brickley is in the chase as well, and is looking to use his home track advantage to make some big gains in the rookie point standings. Along with the exciting rookie battle, all the Racers are chasing the overall point championship, which will have a very nice payout at the end of the season. The top 10 in overall points are listed as follows : 1. 6 Dwayne Dempsey 345 2. 89 Lee Collins 325 3. 1H Mike Hinegardner (R) 320 4. 9 Danny Partelo (R) 291 5. 8 Chris Escott (R) 290 6. 1X John Anderson 290 7. 71X L.B. Skaggs 240 8. 51 Tommy Bower (R) 228 9. 56X Kevin Durden 221 10. 2 Ralph Bowman (R) 220 With 5 of the top 10 in overall points also being in the rookie chase, look for some hard charging action this Saturday night at Charlotte County Speedway, as these drivers continue their “ Chase for the Championship” Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!