Dick Anderson of Wildwood took the checkered flag in the 125-lap Pro Late Model feature event at DeSoto Speedway Saturday night. Anderson's fourth win came in customary style. In the time trial, he logged a 14.54 lap time, 93 miles per hour to lead the top ten qualifiers. With a pill draw to equalize the field, Anderson started fourth behind Travis Kittleson, Jeff Wogoman and John Yurewitch. When the green flag fell a slow start gave Anderson the opportunity he needed. By the second lap he had claimed the lead and led throughout the 50-minute race.

"It wasn't as easy as it looked," Anderson said. "The 88 (Travis Kittleson) was running faster than you'd think. He made me run hard. If I'd eased up he would've been on me. It might have looked like I was Sunday driving but I was running harder than you'd think."

Kittleson's second place held up through most of the race, but a hard charging Jeff Sloan of Beverly Hills took advantage of a slight mistake. "He was running tight all night long," Sloan said. "On the last restart his tires must of drew too much on him. He opened the door for me and I took it."

Lee Collins of Immokalee followed Sloan low to take over third and looked for a shot at second place. "We've got a good car but I haven't quite got it straightened out," Collins said. "I flipped it on it top in Orlando. I had to replace the front suspension, rear suspension.. it wiped out everything. The longer this race went the tighter the car got. I couldn't get the car to turn right in the corners and if you can't do that you can't get under people. "

Kittleson placed fourth and Sammy Coghill of Largo placed fifth.

Scott Faulkner of Sarasota claimed the win in the Express Personnel Service Street Stock feature event. "We've run really hard and put on a good show for the fans," Faulkner said. "This win goes to all the Scotty Faulkner fans out there. We've got some new sponsors and we're going to be up here every week. And I've got to wish a happy birthday to Ed Musse, our secondary crew chief. He helps us out a lot."

Dennis Wilson, Jr. of Bradenton placed second and Mark Chapman of Sarasota took third place.

Howard Higgins of Arcadia roared to the Pepsi winner's circle in the Contemporary Cabinetry & Closet Concepts Pure Stock feature event for his sixth win of the season.

"It wasn't a bad race, a little slippery, but good overall" Higgins said. I saw Sammy coming after me but he didn't get close enough to really bother me. I just bided my time until I took the lead."

Sammy Cressman placed second and Josh Haranda took third.

Randy Koon of Lakeland took the checkered flag in the Manatee Lumber Modified Minis feature event. "We had a little tune up this week," Koon said. "I had a skip the last eight races and found the rotor had an electrode missing. I put two new shocks on front. When the set up is decent I'll take my chances from there. I've had quite a few top three but this is only my second win."

Mike Mitrisin of Brooksville placed second and Matt Watts of Dade City took third place.

Tommy Huffstutler of Bradenton took his fourth win of the season in the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Stock Minis feature event. "I've blown two motors in the last three weeks," he said. "I should have another motor ready for the 50 lapper next week, which is my goal. I can't win the points this year."

Clay Joseph of Bradenton placed second and Tony Elrod, Jr. of Kathleen took third place.

Mark Gimmler of Palm Beach Gardens roared to the win in the DeSoto Speedway TQ Midgets feature event. "I wasn't very fast," Gimmler said. "I had motor problems in the first warm-up and we had to work on it. And I needed a couple of new tires. But it worked out for us."

"Mark is a great driver," said college student, Wendy Mathis of Ocala who placed second in the event. "He's really hard to beat. He's got a lot of motor and a lot of experience. Maybe someday..." Joey McKenn took third place.

-Ken Willis-



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