IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

January 28, 2008 McLaughlin Dominates in CCMP Modifieds By CLAUDE LEWIS Although his youthful looks might lead one to believe differently, Sean McLaughlin rates as a short track veteran. The Port Charlotte resident started in Modified Minis in the early 90s and worked his way up to track champion at Charlotte County Speedway. Then came a switch to Open Wheel Modifieds. It took McLaughlin a little while to feel comfortable in the V-8 monsters, but slowly but surely, he now has become a legitimate threat to win anytime he climbs behind the wheel of the black No. 99 King Excavating Modified. McLaughlin made good on that Saturday night, blowing away the 15-car field in the 50-lap feature at Charlotte County Motorsports Park. McLaughlin recorded fast time in qualifying and drew the No. 2 starting pill. He powered his way to the front past polesitter L.B. Watch This Skaggs on lap one and led the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the race was on for second place behind the 71 of Skaggs and the 63 of Phil The Thrill Morrison. Skaggs passed Morrison for second on lap 23, but Morrison returned the favor on lap 26. It stayed that way, as Morrison grabbed second and Skaggs took third, Scotty Kleiber was fourth in the 2 car, just nosing out Eric Rudd, who was fifth. The Legends cars held a non-point 30-lapper that had its thrills. Early leader Josh Williams was bumped off the point on lap 11 by Alex Kempf. A few laps later, Williams spun out the 99 of Kempf. The 22 of Troy Yates got caught up in the mess. Not only did Kempf call it a night, but Yates also had to pit when the crash created an oil leak. The 6 car of Williams was sent to the back on the restart. Kevin Henry, a 17-year-old out of Deland, grabbed the lead and hung on to beat Williams, who charged back up to challenge. Williams, a North Port teen, was second. Mike Fazio of Davie was third in the 38 car. Road Warriors 1) 32- Jeff Firestine 2) 23- Jeff Rumbold 3) 15- Clint Snyder 4) 97- Chris Scott Thunder Trucks 1) 35- Ray Jayne 2) 6- James Wright 3) 14- Randy Kile Sportsman 1) 2- 2) 22- Legends 1) 61- Kevin Henry 2) 6- Josh Williams 3) 38- Mike Fazio 4) 9- Mitch Verhaagh 5) 55- Conrad Molter 6) 99- Alex Kempf 7) 22- Troy Yates 8) 56- Tony Sansom 9) 39- Gerald Campbell Bandoleros 1) 17- Mark Hooven 2) 27- Shaun Hooven Open Wheels 1) 99- Sean McLaughlin 2) 63- Phil Morrison 3) 71- L.B. Skaggs 4) 2- Scott Kleiber 5) 12- Eric Rudd 6) 19- Scott McDaniels 7) 0- Troy Robinson 8) 35- Michael Cherry 9) 6- Jay Winkley 10) 09- Don Skaggs 11) 31- Johnny Newsome 12) 2R- John Rogers 13) 61- Tony Carreno 14) 14- John Garrett Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!