IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 5, 2004 FSCR Stickman wins wild and crazy School Bus Figure 8 By CLAUDE LEWIS Mango Man overheated. Mr. Bill ran out of gas. Leapin' LeRoy ran into a pile of tires. And the Stickman once again prevailed. No, it's not a cartoon or an episode of Most Extreme Eliminations. We're talking about the School Bus Figure 8 race Saturday night at Charlotte County Speedway, Mike "Stickman" Gamache of Palm Harbor was the winner of the 20-lap race, taking home $1,000. He passed Dan Benoit of Fort Myers on lap 3 for the lead. Al "Tiger" Fradette of Fort Lauderdale was second. Bill Cicerello of Fort Myers finished third in the nine-bus field. Charlotte County Speedway has now run three School Bus Figure 8 races. Gamache has won the last two. Attrition took its toll on the rest of the field. Robert "Mango Man" Hendry, who won the last Road Warrior Figure 8 race at CCS, had his bus overheat early in the race. "Mr." Bill Lyonnais ran out of gas with two laps to go but still finished fourth. Leapin' Leroy is none other than CCS owner LeRoy Davidson, who climbed behind the wheel of a bus and raced hard. He was trying to pass for third on lap 6 when he ran aground on some big tractor tires. His bus stalled and the battery in the bus was disconnected by the impact. There were seven other divisions running Saturday night. Jeremy Goddard has a Limited Late Model, but he is finding it hard to let go of his Sportsman car. Who can blame him? Goddard was the winner of Saturday's 50-lap feature. Punta Gorda's own Jerry Bryant took second. John Casady of Arcadia was third. There were 12 cars in the race. George Tanner of North Fort Myers captured the 25-lap Super Stock feature. Clete Trimmer of Fort Myers was second Elbert Butts of Arcadia placed third. Post-race technical inspection took its toll on Road Warriors for the second straight week. This week, the second (Chris Huntoon), third (Bob Waltz Jr.) and fourth-place (Bobby Fisher) cars were DQed in tech. Jesse Gargus fought of Huntoon for the checkered. Jonathan Abraham bounced up for second. Rob Popkin was third. It was all John Garrett in Thunder Trucks, as the blue No. 22 dominated. Mike Bialecki of Port Charlotte got second ahead of North Port's Richard Martin in the 37x truck. Cheryl Weaver battled Bialecki hard for second but got caught for a bump. Front Wheel Drive 4-Cylinders had races for kids and adults. Chris Loney of Naples won the kids 10-lapper. Ray Lang of Lehigh Acres was second. Danny Benoit took third. In adults, Michele Riley was dominant in her new shiny red No. 31. Jason Wilburn of Punta Gorda was second. Robert Benning of Punta Gorda took third. The Outlaw Modifieds returned to the Punta Gorda paved oval for a 25-lap feature. Randy Sands of the Keys took the checkered ahead of Arcadia's Ray Jones and Lance Hoversen, also from the Keys. Seventeen cars took the green. This coming Saturday's race program at Charlotte County Speedway will be highlighted by the first appearance of the year by the Florida Pro Super Late Models. Road Warrior 1. 1 Jesse Gargus 2. 7 Jonathon Abraham 3. 29 Rob Popkin 4. 21 Lee Rhodes 5. 22 Ann Marie Ricardi 6. 23 Jeff Rumbold 7. 11 Robert Hendry 8. 5 Bob Waltz 9. 88 Larry Rudd 10. 73b Del Beckner 11. 19 Brandon Anderson 12. 18 Shane Leonard DNS 66 Nelson Tuya 30 Chris Huntoon Disqualified in Tech 8 Bob Waltz Jr. Disqualified in Tech 2f David Fischer Disqualified in Tech Thunder Truck 1. 22 John Garrett 2. 8 Mike Bialecki 3. 37m Richard Martin 4. 37 Cheryl Weaver 5. 13 Jay Bryant 6. 9 Ray Scott 7. 44 Raymond Tucker 8. 56 Bob Charette Super Stock 1. 8 George Tanner 2. 0 Clete Trimmer 3. 31x Elbert Butts 4. 4w Wayne Wilson 5. 24 Aaron Zartman 6. 83 John Hanuschik 7. 10 Eric Smith Sportsman 1. 40 Jeremy Goddard 2. 9 Jerry Bryant 3. 3 Johnny Casady 4. 67 James Dubose 5. 98 Chuck Wolfe 6. 19d Dale Dean 7. 46 Buck Wilson 8. 24 Justin Bryant 9. 74 John Garrett 10. 72 Raymond Jones 11. 20 George Ellsworth 12. 5 Chad Rutherford 4 Cylinder Kids 1. 33 Chris Loney 2. 8 Ray Lang 3. 9 Danny Benoit 39 Danny Benoit Disqualified in Tech 4 Cylinder Adults 1. 31 Michelle Riley 2. 32 Jason Wilburn 3. 99 Robert Benn8ing 4. 13 Jay McGonnell 5. 12 Walter Forbes 19 Brandon Anderson Disqualified Outlaw Modified 1. 8 Randy Sands 2. 41 Raymond Jones 3. 55 Lance Hoverson 4. 15 Doug Hopper 5. 87 SC Klinger 6. 11 Billy Campbell 7. 56 Robbie Bean 8. 10 Robert Campbell 9. 28 Rob Bean 10. 17 Gary Boals 11. 7 Phillip Brigham 12. 29 Michael Endee 13. 00 Destiny Swanson 14. 71 Patrick Brigham 15. 16 Don Peacock 16. 5 Ted Hoverson 17. 51 Mark Patten School Bus Figure 8 Winner - Mike Gamache Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!