(Bradenton, FL; 7/23/2000) In a tough 50-lap race, Lee Collins of Felda went flag-to-flag to win the Callaghan Tire Open-Wheel Modifieds feature event Saturday night at DeSoto Speedway.

"I want to thank Jimmy Cope for giving me a real fast race car," Collins said. "And I want to dedicate this race to the memory of Herman Turner, one of my sponsors who passed away two weeks ago. The car was working real good tonight but it was getting a little slower there at the end."

More than 20 cars lined up to take the green flag with Collins in the pole position and Dewayne Lawhon of Plant City on the outside. Bill Davis of Wauchula started third, Steve Hauser, Jr. of Parrish fourth and Ronnie Skipper of Lakeland fifth. Teddy Nelson of Pinellas Park, who set fast time for the event with 14.61 second (92 mph) lap time, started sixth.

Although Nelson pulled a sixth place start, he had to pit on the first lap after a collision sent the black #17 into the wall. A barrage of 13 cautions flags followed, brought about by leaking fluid, blown motors and spinning car which slowed the action in the high-powered race and had drivers worried about having enough fuel to finish the race.

"I think we went about 240 laps," said Dewayne Lawhon of Plant City who placed second in the race. "My fuel gauge started jumping on the last restart, and I was afraid we'd run out of gas."

Steve Hauser, Jr of Parrish took third place, but admits it was a tough race. "I had a hard time hanging on," Hauser said. "I had a little scrabble at the start that messed it up a little. It's a great race car though. Still it was a fun race. It's good to be back up here."

David Logan of Jupiter recorded his first win in the Southern Comfort Pools Limited Late Models 50-lap feature event. "DeSoto Speedway has a heck of a field of cars," said Logan, who had raced just twice before at DSP in the Limited Late Models. "My goal when I come here was to place in the top five which would've been like a win. Tonight everything went right for me. It's fantastic." Kevin Ingram placed second and Sonny Hughes of Bradenton took third place.

Steve Gainey of Bradenton started 11th and worked his way into the winner's circle in the Selective HR Solutions Sportsman feature event. "I thought I was going to wreck a couple of times coming up through the field," Gainey said. "But they gave me room so I took it. I can do it in traffic and that's where I get a lot of them. Once I got out in front I let it roll. We got new tires and we'll be back next time." Lonny Miller of Bradenton placed second in the feature, and Jimmy Cook of Sarasota took third place.

Doug Carroll of Sarasota went from flag-to-flag in the Express Personnel Service Street Stock for his first feature win in the event. "My first win and the first time I finished the race in this car," Carroll said. "I broke in a heat and a feature. We changed the steering and that straightened it out." Duane Best of Sarasota placed second and Chet Roberts took third place.

Mark Gill of Sarasota took the wheel of #22 and led to the winner's circle in the Contemporary Cabinetry & Closet Concepts Pure Stock feature event. Howard Higgins of Arcadia placed second and Gary Flynn of Palmetto took third place.

"It was fun running against Howard again," Gill said. "He always races clean and good, and I had a good car."

Kenny Hankins of Lakeland took his first win at DeSoto Speedway in the Manatee Lumber Modified Minis feature event. "About a month ago, we hit the wall hard and it bent the car pretty bad," Hankins said. "We got the car back together and we've been winning ever since. I guess when we wrecked, it began to work." Shawn Williams of Kathleen placed second and Fred Paravicini of Bradenton took third place in the event.

In the Pro Figure-8s, Charlie Meyers of Pinellas Park took the win with Steve Black of Sarasota in second place and Don Gibson third.

Note: DeSoto Speedway closed out the first half of the racing season. Racing will return on August 12th with 125 laps of Pro Late Model racing.

-Ken Willis-

*Side note: Over $1400 was collected for injured sprint car driver Shaun Farr; Desoto always digs deep for one of our own. A big thanks to everyone who gave. Rick Anges

TOP TEN RESULTS

LIMITED LATE MODELS
1. #1 DAVID LOGAN, JUPITER
2. #86 KEVIN INGRAM,
3. #45 SONNY HUGHES, BRADENTON
4. #36 TOMMY YOUNKMAN, SARASOTA
5. #71 RICHARD ROGERO, DAVIE
6. #22 SHAWN SHIMKO, ST. PETERSBURG
7. #11 ROSS DARCEY, BRADENTON
8. #32 RONNIE SKIPPER, LAKELAND
9. #79 ALAN MCEWEN, NORTH PORT
10. #42 JEREMY GEIGER, BRADENTON

OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED
1. #89 LEE COLLINS, FELDA
2. #47 DEWAYNE LAWHON, PLANT CITY
3. #52 STEVE HAUSER, JR., PARRISH
4. #17 TEDDY NELSON, PINELLAS PARK
5. #21 JIMMY ALVIS,
6. #11B JAMIE BURROWS, VALRICO
7. #14 ARIC ALMIROLA, TAMPA
8. #80 CHRIS DEAN,
9. #205 RUSTY DIXON, RIVERVIEW
10. #6 KEVIN WILLIAMS,

SPORTSMAN
1. #1 STEVE GAINEY, BRADENTON
2. #98 LONNY MILLER, BRADENTON
3. #89 JIMMY COOK, SARASOTA
4. #21 JAMES CARTER, BRADENTON
5. #97 BRIAN TEETERS, PALMETTO
6. #18A CRAIG AMBOYAN,
7. #22 FRED WAGNER, BRADENTON
8. #3 WAYNE METCALF, MYAKKA CITY
9. #03 BARRY CARLSON, LARGO
10. #75 BILL CLOSE, BRADENTON

STREET STOCK
1. #22 DOUG CARROLL, SARASOTA
2. #3 DUANE BEST, SARASOTA
3. #69 CHET ROBERTS,
4. #12 CASEY HALL, TAMPA
5. #42 DENNIS WILSON, JR., BRADENTON
6. #77 SCOTT WOODLAND, BRADENTON
7. #33 SCOTT FAULKNER, SARASOTA
8. #40 MARK CHAPMAN, SARASOTA
9. #44 JAMIE CASSIDY, SARASOTA
10. #05 BRUCE SHERWOOD, BRADENTON

PURE STOCK
1. #22 MARK GILL,
2. #7 HOWARD HIGGINS, ARCADIA
3. #56 GARY FLYNN, PALMETTO
4. #3 PEGGY HURST, SARASOTA
5. #57 TROY DAVIS, BRADENTON
6. #77 ED KRATZERT, BRADENTON
7. #69 TROY BUCKLES, BRADENTON
8. #00 TODD BECHTEL,
9. #6 DANNY ANDERSON, BRADENTON
10. #68 JEFF FIRESTINE,

MODIFIED MINI
1. #9 KENNY HANKINS, LAKELAND
2. #73 SHAWN WILLIAMS, KATHLEEN
3. #86 FRED PARAVICINI, BRADENTON
4. #3 MATT WATTS, DADE CITY
5. #77 LEE DAVIS, LAKELAND
6. #22 RANDY KOON, LAKELAND
7. #31 GREG LUECKE, ST. PETERSBURG
8. #4 TOMMY HUFFSTUTLER, BRADENTON
9. #71 RON WOODCOCK, RIVERVIEW
10. #7 STEVE MARTIN, PINELLAS PARK




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