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| "Hobo" Hovis Takes LLM Feature at DeSoto | Mike Hovis of N Ft Myers roared to the Pepsi winners circle in the season's inaugural Turner Tree & Landscape Limited Late Models 50 lap feature event at DeSoto Speedway Saturday night. Although Richard Kelly of North Port set fast time at 14.90 seconds (91 mph) Hovis grabbed a quick lead and stayed ahead of spins and collisions that brough seven caution flags to the 35 minute race. "I just held them off," Hovis said. "The car was getting tighter and tighter. I just drove it, kept it on the bottom and ended up in the winner's circle. I really appreciate my crew. I didn't get the motor in the car until nine this morning and they worked really hard all day to get it here." Jason Crossey of Lake Worth challenged Hovis through all 50 laps of the action-filled race but didn't have quite the power to overtake the leader. "There wasn't much I could do," Crossey said. "Mike was just fast enough. He kept getting me on the restarts and I missed a gear too. That's all we could do. I tried to keep it as low as I could and fight a monkey off our back. We haven't had a win yet in this car. A couple of seconds and thirds but no win." Hometown favorite Sonny Hughes of Bradenton took third place. "We didn't do too bad for the first night back," Hughes said. "We were a little loose getting into the corners but we tried to ride everyone pretty equal. I'd like to thank everyone that helped out, we had a lot of work the past couple of days."
Another Bradenton favorite, Pat Nanney, blazed to the winners circle in his Mopar powered Callaghan Tire Open Wheel Modified. The 17 year veteran of the short track pulled off his first win of the season by edging out D.J. Hoelzle of Dunedin. "It's been a while," said Nanney who moved from the Late Models to the Open Wheels. "We got the Open Wheel so we could race here on a weekly basis rather than travel the state. We enjoy it." Hoelzle, who took his third second place in a row, is riding high in the early points but eager for the checkered flag. "It was along race," Hoelzle said. "The 60 car (Nanney) was running good all race long. I just didn't have quite enough for him." Last week's feature winner, Rocco Rannallo of Bradenton, took third place.
In other races: Randy Koon of Lakeland collected the win in the Manatee Lumber Modified Minis. "At first the race was all right," Koon said. "Then someone lost a motor between turns three and four and with the track condition I think I earned it tonight." Chip Gaines of Sarasota placed second and Jeff Guilbault took third place.
Rich Clouser of Grant took the win in the Comcast Street Stock. Dan Hall of Sarasota placed second. Dennis Wilson Jr of Bradenton took third place. Mark Gill of Bradenton took his second win in a row in the Contemporary Cabinetry & Closet Concepts Pure Stock. Randy Radley placed second and Storm Sidcoh took third place.
Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton collected the win in the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Stock Minis. Todd Freed of Bradenton placed second. Greg Krom of Sarasota took third place. Jason Reisman of Leesburg, Fl took the checkered flag in the Legends. Andy Logan of West Palm Beach, Fl placed second. Richard Morlan of Largo, Fl took third place.
LIMITED LATE MODEL: 1. ##29 Mike Hovis, N. Ft. Myers; 2. #17 Jason Crossey, Lake Worth; 3. #45 Sonny Hughes, Bradenton; 4. #34 Jeff Dufresny; 5. #78 Marty Pierce; 6. #07 Edward Howell; 7. #61 Richard Kelley Jr., Gulfport; 8. #71 Richard Rogero, Davie; 9. #32 Ronnie Skipper, Lakeland; 10. #37 John Shields, Bradenton.
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED: 1. #60 Pat Nanney, Bradenton; 2. #8 D.J. Hoelzle, Dunedin; 3. #67 Rocco Rannallo, Bradenton; 4. #2 J.R. Wade; 5. #45 Matt Foy, Bradenton; 6. #3 Barry Carlson, Largo; 7. #34 Teddy Nelson, Pinellas Park.
STREET STOCK: 1. #8 Rich Clouser, Grant; 2. #12 Dan Hall, Sarasota; 3. #42 Dennis Wilson Jr., Bradenton; 4. #38 Wallace Ramsey, Bradenton; 5. #69 Chet Roberts; 6. #8 Sue Purington, Nokomis; 7. #9 Ben Kelly, North Port; 8. #65 Mike Johnson, Sarasota; 9. #40 Mark Chapman, Sarasota; 10. #05 Bruce Sherwood, Bradenton.
COPURE STOCK: 1. #54 Mark Gill, Bradenton; 2. #31 Randy Radley; 3. #9 Storm Sidcoh; 4. #6 Danny Anderson, Bradenton; 5. #4 Bob Petrilli, Sarasota; 6. #17 Brian Ambrose, Bradenton; 7. #68 Stewart Bradshaw; 8. #53 Bob Smith; 9. #16 Jason Esposito; 10. #20 Greg Banach, Bradenton.
MODIFIED MINI: 1. #22 Randy Koon, Lakeland; 2. #72 Chip Gaines, Sarasota; 3. #92 Jeff Guilbault; 4. #70 Todd Freed Jr., Bradenton; 5. #99 Tommy Clark, Brandon; 6. #7 Phil Cruse; 7. #0 Bob King; 8. #1 Billy Carlbert Jr.; 9. #7 Steve Martin, Pinellas Park; 10. #66 Bob Moyer.
MINI STOCK: 1. #30 Jesse Dutilly, Bradenton; 2. #97 Todd Freed, Bradenton; 3. #35 Greg Krom, Sarasota; 4. #12 Corbin Gibbs, Plant City; 5. #70 Tony Elrod Jr., Lakeland; 6. #17x Syndee Brown, Bradenton; 7. #98 Johnny Allen, Lehigh; 8. #74 Tim Huffstutler, Bradenton; 9. #95 Clay Joseph, Bradenton; 10. #9 Jeanne Whitted, Sarasota.
LEGENDS: 1. #25 Jason Reisman, Leesburg; 2. #1 Andy Logan, W. Palm Beach; 3. #68 Richard Morlan, Largo; 4. #00 Scott Seither; 5. #31 Kenny Curley, Homasassa; 6. #19 James Rodriguez, West Palm Beach; 7. #20 Dale Horne; 8. #24 Joey Mckinney, Bradenton; 9. #22 Daniel Hall; 10. #8 Ray Sasser, Lotahatchee.
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