IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 14, 2004 FSCR Hendry Finds Figure 8s to His Liking at Charlotte County By Claude Lewis Chris Huntoon (left) won the Road Warrior feature but Robert Hendry (right) took the figure 8 win. PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (March 13) - Robert Hendry has been racing in Road Warriors at Charlotte County Speedway for quite some time now. He is still looking for his first victory on the 3/8th-mile paved oval. But put Hendry on the Figure 8 track, and he's a different animal. Hendry won his first Road Warrior Figure 8 race ever at CCS in a special 15-lap Figure feature for that division Saturday night. Hendry, who hails from North Fort Myers, pocketed $300 for his victory. Hendry had to earn the cash, as he held off hard-charging Chris Huntoon to the checkered. Larry Rudd of North Fort Myers was a distant third. Huntoon visited victory lane earlier in the evening in the regular 25-lap Road Warrior feature. The Englewood driver passed Shane Leonard on the next to last lap to grab checkers. Bob Waltz came from the back of the 17-car pack to finish third. The Super Stock 25-lap feature turned into another runaway victory for Brian Richardson of Cape Coral. While the No. 23 Chevy was the class of the field, there were some good battles back in the pack. Eric Smith had a fast car but had trouble keeping it out of other peoples machinery. The previous weeks winner John Hanuschik had no luck and finished eighth. Elbert Butts of Arcadia ended up second best. George Tanner of North Fort Myers was third. Open Wheel Modified went 50 laps. It came down to a battle between three cars. L.B. Skaggs pressure Kurt Riley for most of the race but could never get around him. Doug Spitzer caught a break when Skaggs got Riley out of shape momentarily on lap 3. Spitzer, who was running third, was able to zip by both and into the lead. Bit Spitzers No. 11 spun on its own on lap 41, opening the door for the Riley-Skaggs duel. The top three finishers were Riley, Skaggs and Spitzer. Winning the 12-lap Thunder Trucks feature was John Garrett, who passed Cheryl Weaver late in the race. Mike Bialecki took third. The 4-Cylinder youth and adult divisions combined to make a race. The most exciting moment came on lap 2 when Cody Benoits car took Chris Loneys car up into the wall coming out of four. Loneys night was over. Benoit survived and went on to win. The guest class was the TQ Midgets, who went 25 laps. Dave Pecario was the winner in the No. 3 car. Ted Durfee and Dad Tom prepare for Midget race. Tom Durfee recently retired after 10 years as the Pace Car Driver at Bradenton's Speedway. Thanks to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for sending a photographer out to catch the action. This coming Saturday night, sprint cars will make their first appearance of 2004 at Charlotte County Speedway. The series coming is FastSprint, which involves non-winged beasts. Also on the race card that night are Sportsman, Super Stocks, Road Warriors, Thunder Trucks, Dwarf Cars, Pro Challenge and Front Wheel Drive 4-Cylinders. For fun, there will be a Blindfold Race. It will be Elks Night at the Punta Gorda paved oval. Any person with the first name of Mary will be admitted free. Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for senior citizens and $5 for children ages 6-11. April 1st the Speedway unveils the premiere edition of Thurday Night Thunder, with a Super Late Model show. Eighteen teams have committed to the event at press time. Look for full details this week. Charlotte County Speedway is located off Exit 161 of I-75 on Piper Road in Punta Gorda. For more information, call 575-7223. See the web site at www.charlottecountyspeedway.com. The racing results from Charlotte County Speedway for March 13, 2004 are as follows: Open Wheel Modified 1. 31 Kurt Riley 2. 71 L.B. Skaggs 3. 75 Bruce Riggio 4. 25 Bill Brewer 5. 11 Doug Spitzer 6. 22 John Godwin 7. 2 Kevin Brickley Road Warrior 1. 30 Chris Huntoon 2. 18 Shane Leonard 3. 5 Bob Waltz 4. 8 Bob Waltz Jr. 5. 88 Larry Rudd 6. 2f Bobby Fischer 7. 29 Rob Popkin 8. 22 Ann Marie Ricardi 9. 9 Gary Miller 10. 1 Jesse Gargus 11. 40 Don Justice 12. 11 Robert Hendry 13. 00 Larry Grabowski 14. 73b Del Beckner 15. 19 Brandon Anderson 16. 31 Willard Hedden 17. 14 Roger Hunt DNS 99 Robert Benning DNS 23 Jeff Rumbold DNS 09 Doug Raastad Thunder Truck 1. 22 John Garrett 2. 37 Cheryl Weaver 3. 8 Mike Bialecki 4. 56 Bob Charette DNS 13 Jay Bryant Super Stock 1. 23 Brian Richardson 2. 31x Elbert Butts 3. 8 George Tanner 4. 0 Clete Trimmer 5. 15 Charles Parsons 6. 4w Wayne Wilson 7. 42 Dennis Hale 8. 83 John Hanuschik 9. 10 Eric Smith 4 Cylinder 1. 39 Cody Benoit 2. 32 Jason Wilburn 3. 15 Walter Forbes 4. 33 Chris Loney Road Warrior Figure 8 1. 11 Robert Hendry 2. 30 Chris Huntoon 3. 88 Larry Rudd TQ Midgets 1. 3 Dave Pecario 2. 26 Paul Huffstutler 3. 4 Ted Durfee 4. 1 Jack Duffy 5. 30 Joey McKinney 6. 17 unknown 7. 25 Allen Eash 8. 33 Kenny Busch 9. 18 Jessica Skaare 10. 47 Joe Moncada Have an opinion on this story? 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