IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 10, 2005 FSCR Bontrager tops FASTRUCKS at Charlotte County Speedway By CLAUDE LEWIS Charlotte County Speedway has been holding School Bus Figure 8 races for more than a year now. The Punta Gorda short track has had one every few months, with the exception of last fall when it was closed following the destruction of Hurricane Charley. The best one ever unfolded Saturday night. For one, the bus count was a whopping 15. It takes a lot of buses to make for a good show. Plus, there was a good mix of fast and slower vehicles, making the X a treacherous place. When the smoke cleared, there were two flips and lots of exciting moments that kept a large crowd hanging around late into the night. Art Calkins of St. Petersburg was the winner in his brother Waynes No. 14 bus. Wayne was at a race up at Citrus so he asked me if I would drive it for him, said Art, an eight-time Figure 8 champ himself at Sunshine Speedway. The No. 14 bus started third in the field and wasted little time passing polesitter Randy Kile later Craig Berntsen. The No. 21 bus of Kile wreaked havoc with its herky jerky style around the track. He ended up hitting the No. 42 bus driven by Mr. Bill Lyonais, flipping it over just in back of the front straight. Ronny Barnett, who operates the Race Place parts shop at CCS, also provided oohs and aahs by flipping the 45 bus just outside the X. Scott Brown of Clearwater was second in the 3 bus. Brown won the last time the School Bus Figure 8s raced at CCS. Perhaps the biggest story of the night was LeRoy Davidson, who drove the wheels off the No. 5 bus. Davidson started 11th and earned hard charger award by finishing third. Davidson shook off a bad luck streak that had bugged him in previous Figure 8 races. Former Road Warrior and Thunder Truck racer Richard Martin finished a solid fourth. Tiger Al Fradette was fifth. The next School Bus Figure 8 race is May 29. It will be between owners, promoters and track officials of different race tracks. The winning track will earn a traveling trophy and have bragging rights. In other action Saturday night at CCS, Todd Bontrager of Sarasota made it two straight Fastruck wins in a row at the Punta Gorda paved oval. He also captured a 50-lapper at CCS in March. Tim Shaffner led the first 34 laps Saturday night before he was passed by Bontrager. George Morales No. 96 truck was the first to pressure Shaffners 29, but he was sent to the back for spinning Shaffner. Morales worked his way back up to a seventh-place showing. Twenty five trucks started the race. Brandon Johnson was second and George Gorham third. In Fastkids, 15-year-old Patrick Staropoli of Plantation grabbed his first series victory. It was only his second race in the Fastkids series and first race ever at Charlotte County Speedway. David Wilson of Sarasota was second. Wilson had won the previous two Fastkids races at CCS this year. In regular divisions, Clete Trimmer of Alva passed polesitter Eric Smith and raced to victory in the 25-lap Action Glass Super Stocks feature. Tommy Huffstutler looked like he had a second sewn up until his 55 car smoked late in the race. Chuck Sweet of Port Charlotte took second. Venices Jeff Firestine passed Smith on the final lap for third. In Road Warriors, Englewoods Chris Huntoon passed Shane Leonard on lap 13 and zoomed to victory. Leonard hung on for second. Third-place Bob Waltz Jr. was disqualified in post race tech, leaving that spot to John Garrett in the 74 car. A DQ also kept the longest 2005 winning streak at CCS alive. Mike Bialeckis Chevy took the checkered on the bumper of Rich Duponts Dodge. However, Dupont's car was disqualified for illegal flywheel. That handed Bialecki his sixth straight Thunder Trucks victory. This coming Saturday nights racing card at CCS will be highlighted by 50 lappers for Sportsman and Open Wheel Modified plus the return of the Outlaw Figure 8s. The finishing order from Charlotte County Speedway for April 9, 2005 is as follows: Fastrucks - (Unofficial per Fastruck officials) 1. 8 Todd Bontrager (12) 2. 41 Brandon Johnson (6) 3. 10 George Gorham (10) 4. 20 Sean Bass (11) 5. 29 Tim Shaffner (1) 6. 25 Gary Foxworth (14) 7. 96 George Morales (4) 8. 60 Kevin Williams (7) 9. 05 Mike Powers (18) 10. 83 Tom North (8) 11. 51 Stuart Robertson (5) 12. 4 Al Neumann (9) 13. 12 Tony Barreca (24) 14. 03 Charlie Worth (21) 15. 99 Jason Deaton (22) 16. 01 Billy Barstow (17) 17. 50 Danny Anderson (13) 18. 13 Rich Pellerito (25) 19. 43 Steve Colon (26) 20. 16 Tommy King (20) 21. 7 Alex Petrone (23) 22. 24 Caesar Bacarella (2) 23. 84 Pat Mahoney (15) 24. 97 Curt Haywood (19) 25. 5 Jimmy Gill (3) UNOFFICIAL FASTKIDS: 1. #97 Patrick Staropoli 2. #83 David Wilson 3. # 9 Levi Hobbs 4. #59 Dustin Dunn 5. #94 Andy Megronigle 6. #46 Spencer Taylor 7. #31 Brian Blum 8. # 7 John Kidwell 9. #92 Michael Cenzi Prompt Towing School Bus Figure 8 1. 14 Art Calkins (3) 2. 3 Scott Brown (8) 3. 5d LeRoy Davidson (11) 4. 48 Richard Martin (13) 5. 36 Al Fradette (4) 6. 74 Craig Berntsen (2) 7. 7 Glenn Smith (7) 8. 5 John Mowat (5) 9. 33 Lisa Smith (10) 10. 45 Ronny Barnett (12) 11. 42 Bill Lyonais (14) 12. 10 Bill Cicerello (15) 13. 21 Randy Kile (1) 14. 4 James Moyers (6) 15. 31 Robert Hendry (9) Action Glass Super Stocks 1. 0 Clete Trimmer (1) 2. 3 Chuck Sweet (4) 3. 34 Jeff Firestine (8) 4. 10 Eric Smith (2) 5. 8 Dan Scott (5) 6. 39 Fred Kight (3) 7. 55m Conrad Molter (9) 8. 3x Craig Berntsen (10) 9. 55 Tommy Huffstutler (6) 10. 1 Tommy Hill (7) Road Warrior 1. 40 Chris Huntoon (10) 2. 18 Shane Leonard (9) 3. 74 John Garrett (8) 4. 39 Don Justice (11) 5. 22 Ann Marie Ricardi (2) 6. 11 Robert Hendry (4) 7. 93 Milena Firestine (3) 8. 68 Chet Lusk (14) 9. 74x Chuck Stevens (12) 10. 4 Lonnie Retherford (10) 11. 19 Brandon Anderson (13) 12. 38 Dar Houghtaling (5) 13. 1 Lee Rhodes (1) Disqualified in Tech - 8 Bob Waltz Jr. (6) DNS 29 Rob Popkin Thunder Trucks 1. 8 Mike Bialecki (2) 2. 6 Wally Smith (6) 3. 56 Bob Charette (4) 4. 99 Robert Benning (3) 5. 24 Bradley St. John (5) Disqualified in Tech 08 Richard Dupont (1) TQ Midgets 1. 4 Ted Durfee (1) 2. 3 Brandon Cagle (2) 3. 1 Jack Duffy (3) 4. 68 Greg Dennis (4) 5. 22 Mark Alvarez (9) 6. 25 Allen Eash (5) 7. 6 Freddie Stutz (6) 8. 33 Kenny Busch (8) 9. 26 Paul Huffstutler (7) 4 Cylinder Kids 1. 8 Ray Lang (2) 2. 55 Mark Davis (5) Disqualified in Tech - 33 Chris Loney (1) Disqualified in Tech - 03 Jacob Farrell (3) DNS - 31 Brandon Kolz 4 Cylinder Adults 1. 15 Walter Forbes (2) 2. 17 Kyle Eash (4) 3. 02 Peter Amelotte (6) 4. 21 Randy Kile (8) 5. 22 Justin Girling (10) 6. 31 Michele Riley (12) 7. 13 Jay McGonnell (1) 8. 49 Jon Prescott (7) 9. 1 Skip Slagle (11) 10. 12 Timmy Hendry (3) 11. 31k Brandon Kolz (13) 12. 55 Chuck Flescher (14) 13. 19 Heather Janik (5) 14. 5 Mike Montano (16 DNS - 3 Sean Steen DNS - 99 Mark Harper Have an opinion on this story? 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