Making their first stop in Punta Gorda in nearly two years, the winged sprint cars of the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association sent 26 drivers to the semi-banked paved oval Saturday night at Charlotte County Motorsports Park.
It was obvious since the start that Troy Decaire meant business.
The 20-year-old out of Tampa started way back in the sixth row, but by lap 8 he had the No. 68 George Rudolph sprint up to third place.
By lap 19, Decaire passed the 21 of Jim Alvis for the lead.
From there, there was no denying Decaire of his third TBARA victory of the season.
The 35-lap race was named the Dick Friedley Memorial in honor of the tireless and amiable TBARA public relations man for many moons.
Decaire, the No. 2 man in TBARA points, moved closer to leader Keith Butler, who finished second in the 19.
Decaire finished second in points last year to Bo Hartley.
D.J. Hoelzle led the first 15 laps in the 15 car, but he had a tire go down and ended up wrecking the 9x of Michael Smith.
Alvis led four laps until Decaire caught him. Alvis settled for third.
Decaire was running 13.2 laps throughout the race, making him tough for anyone to deal with.
There were seven cautions, a high number for the sprints.
CCMP promoter Bobby Diehl has added on a return date for the TBARA sprints on June 16.
There was plenty of other action Saturday night in front of a big crowd at the 3/8-mile track.
Creating the biggest hubbub from the crowd was the finale, a 50-lapper for the new Outlaw Street Stocks. Tempers flared after the checkered fell.
The finish was eye-opening, as Bobby Fisher and Terry Price taking turns beating on each other for the lead. When the smoke cleared, Fisher was the winner in the 2 car. He also had fast time in qualifying.
Price led almost the entire race in his No. 3 hot rod Lincoln. He saw a huge lead wiped out by a caution on lap 41. He tried to hold off Fisher, but in the end spun on the final lap.
Jesse Gargus grabbed second and Dan Benoit was third.
In the 25-lap Super Stock feature, points leader Brian Richardson returned to victory lane, leading from lap 6 on. Teenager Codey Benoit was second ahead of Ryan Pancoast.
The Thunder Truck feature saw former champion Mike Bialecki return to action in a new 8 truck. He battled Randy Kile hard, racing side-by-side for five laps. When the checkered flew, points leader Kile won by two truck lengths.
In Junkyard Dogs, Dave Malmberg won for the second straight week. Scott Atkins was second in the 27 car. Jeff Malmberg was third in the 45.
Sarasotas Ernie Teed Jr. won by a comfy margin in the TQ Midgets 25-lap feature, Joey McKinney was second and the seemingly ageless Jack Duffy third.
The Open Wheel Lites (Dwarf) feature went to Billy Gise of Auburndale in the 1 car. He took the lead from Sarasotas John Bailey on lap 19. Bailey took second. Mike Belasar of Bonita Springs was third. Port Charlottes Roger Richmond wrecked on lap 9 and was taken away by ambulance after experiencing back pain. Veteran Dennis Diehl hit the wall hard coming out of turn four but walked away.
This coming Saturday at Charlotte Motorsports Park will be highlighted by twin 50-lap races for the FAST Open Wheel Modifieds.
