IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 30, 2008 Double Duty Pays off for Morris By Melanie Beckner It was another exciting night of racing at Charlotte County Motorsports Park. The stands and pits were full and the fans were treated to some great racing by 6 different divisions. Three classes had to qualify before the racing was to begin, The first to qualify were the Legends with #9H of Kevin Henry pulling off fast time with a 17.257. Next class to qualify was the Sportsman with Wayne Morris capturing fastest time of 16.093. Morris then turned around and strapped into his Late Model and pulled off another fast time for in his Late Model with a time of 14.984, almost breaking the track record. First feature race of the evening was a 25 lap Road Warrier race with 14 cars taking the green with #16 James Buckmaster on the pole. When the green flag waved #95 of Ernie Sparks took the lead and would stay there until lap 3 when #19 Greg "The Spiderman" Ande rson took over the lead. Anderson had a fast car and pulled to a full straightaway lead until the caution cameout on lap 18. The #39 Jerry Teeting had stopped on the top of turn 4, when the caution came out the #97 Chris Scott and #32 Dean Butrum got together in turn 2 battling for 2nd and 3rd. Since that was not the cause of the original caution both cars got there spots back. Dean Butrum was back after his other car was totaled 2 weeks prior with a primer colored car with the #32 and the words " I'm back" sprayed on with orange paint. Scott and Butrum had a good battle going for 2nd for a number of laps, but when the white flag came out Butrum passed Scott for the 2nd postion with Scott having to settle for 3rd. Jesse Dutilly in the 32X took home 4th with the #89 Derrick Gray rounding out the top 5. The Real Racin' USA Thunder Trucks were the next class to run there 25 lap feature with 8 trucks taking the green with Ray Scott in the # 9 truck having the pole. When the green flag came out Darryl Morris in the #24 truck spun out under the flag stand resulting in a complete restart. When the green came back out Ryan Meiser in the 19x immediatly took the lead . Meiser's truck was smoking alot and when the caution came back out for the #24 Darryl Morris spinning again on lap 7 they pulled Meiser over to check to see if anyfluid was leaking. It was determined the 19X was not leaking any fluids and he continued. When the green came back out, going into turn 1 Ray Scott in the #9 truck got into the #34 of Curt Mays causing both trucks to be bumper locked. Once the trucks were pulled apart they were both given there spots back. Green flag went back out Scott got into Mays again going into turn 1 spinning the #34 around again, Scott was sent to the back this time. White flag came out with the #2 of Lance Sober spinning out with the field getting the caution and checkers. Meiser to ok home the win, Chester Lusk #67 finsihed 2nd with the #69 of Tom Pryor completing the top 3. After the race the 19x was disqualified in tech for vacuum and the #20 truck of Tom Carlough was called to tech. Carlough was then disqualified for vacuum as well. The offical results were #67 Chester Lusk determined the winner with Pryor finishing 2nd and Ray Scott in the #9 taking home 3rd. Lance Sober #2 and Darryl Morris in the #24 rounded out your top 5. Nine Legend cars took the green for there 25 lap feature with the #20 of Codey Benoit on the pole. Benoit lead lap 1 but had #9H of Kevin Henry all over his back bumper, Henry took the lead on lap 7. Caution came out on lap 10 with the #39 of Gerald Campbell spinning in turn 2, on the restart #20 of Benoit got into the back of the leader and went flying in to the air. Both cars were ableto continue with Benoit being put to the rear. Kevin Henry won the race with #7 of Mike Verhaugh in 2nd and 55X Doug Hall finishing 3rd. Troy Yates in the #22 and Mitch Verhaugh #9F completed the top 5. The big race of the evening the 100 lap Late Model race was next with a 21 car field. Robert Regula #5 was on the pole, fast qualifier Wayne Morris in the # 56 started 10th. When the green flag waved the #100 of Dean Ferri took the lead. Morris obviously had the fastest car and the #56 was up to 3rd by the 10th lap. On lap 15 caution came out with the #77 Ed Leeke spinning out and putting fluid on the track. Third place car Randy Fox in the #4 got into Leeke who was in the middle of turns 3 and 4 and sustained heavy damage to his car. Fox went into the pits to have the damage fixed and the red was brought out to clean up the fluid that was laid down by the #77. Fox would be able to get his car fixed and was back out before the green came back out. When the green did come back out Ferri was still leading with the Morris now up to 2nd hot on his heels. For a few laps the #100 and #56 drove side by side for the lead, lap 24 Morris took over the lead. Lap 51 the #49 Ron Lofquist was running 4th and climbed on the back of the #34 of Blake Koch who was running 3rd. No caution came out as both cars were able to keep going but Lofquist did lose some postions after the contact. Caution came out on lap 58 with the # 8 of Bobby Shelton getting into the back of #100 Dean Ferri, Shelton busted his radiator and had to park his car. Race restarted on lap 61 with Morris still leading, #34 Blake Koch running 3rd and young Ross Chastain in the #36 making it up to the 3rd postion. 3rd place Chastain and 4th place Kevin Macy in the #19 had a good battle going on and on lap 73 the #36 and #19 got together resulting in the 19 spinning in turn 4. Macy was put to the rear with Chastain keeping his position.Green flag came back out on lap 75 Dale Dean in the blue #19 brought out the cat uion on lap 93 by stopping on the back straightaway. When the green came back out, it was a 7 lap shoot out with the # 56 of Wayne Morris still out front. Morris would stay there and claim the Victory at the end of the 100 lap race. Blake Koch #34 came home 2nd and Chastain in the #36 held on for the 3rd spot. Ron Regula in the #10 came in 4th with 100F of Adam Ferri bringing home 5th.After the Late Model race the Pro 4's came out with there 25 lap feature with the #75 of Shal Ritenour leading the field around to the green. Before a lap was complete the 24-7 car of Paul Phillips went high up the track in turns 1 and 2 and lost control of his car in the backstretch collecting the #97 of Randy Kile both cars ended up on the hook. Complete restart with Ritenour in the #75 still on the pole, green flag waves again with Ritenour leading the 1st lap. Wally Smith #16 takes lead from the #75 by lap 2 with 3 wide racing behind them. Michael Ro driguez started last and he came from nowhere to be up to the 2nd spot by lap 2. Smith would continue to lead till lap 5 when Rodriguez took over the spot. The #09 of Danny Daniels Jr and #85 of David Amelotte were coming fast. Rodriguez would stay up front until lap 16 when #09 gets past him for the lead. Daniels Jr would bring home the victory with Rodriguez in 2nd and #85 David Amelotte in 3rd. Chris Lucas in the #00 came in 4th with the #27 of Derrick Horton completing your top 5. The Sportman 50 was a crazy race with 21 cars and your fast qualifier #98 Wayne Morris still fresh from his Late Model win starting on the pole. When the green comes out some cars pile up on the frontstretch bringing out the caution right away causing a complete resart. All cars were able to continue and the green flag waved again with Morris leading the 1st lap.Caution comes back out on lap 9 with the #65 Clayton Williams getting into the back of Steve Je ffries in the #3 and collecting others. While under caution Randy Sober # 2 had a fire under his hood that ended his evening. Morris is still leading on the restart with the # 86 of Billy Vandevender in 2nd, Vandevender is the only car that can keep up with Morris. At the half way point the #39 Phillip Johnson took 3rd from Brian Teeters in the # 44. On lap 44 caution comes out again with the #17 of David Morr getting into #44 of Teeters, both cars had damage and they both had to take there cars into the pits. Restart comes back out with #98 still out front with #86 in 2nd and the # 22 of Chad Jeffries running 3rd. Caution comes back out on lap 45 by the spinning car of Andy Allen in the #1. It is close to the track curfew time, which results in a green, white and checker finish. On the last lap between turns 3 and 4 the 3rd place car of Chad Jeffries #22 and the 4th place car of Dan Scott in the #8 get together which results in the # 52 of Chris Huntton getting around both for 3rd. Wayne Morris was able to get his 2nd win of the evening, #86 of Billy Vandevender finished 2nd and the #52 of Chris Huntoon gets 3rd. The #8 of Dan Scott finished 4th and the #22 of Chad Jefferies rounds out the top 5. Do to the curfew the Fab 4's were not able to get in there 25 lap feature and will make up that race next Saturday April 5th. Next week will be another exciting night of racing with the Outlaw Street Stock "Twin 50's", Fastruck, Fastkids, Road Warrior, Real Racin' USA Thunder Trucks, Pro4, Fab 4,Modified Mini, Boat Race, Fan Participation and the first "Run what you brung" Figure 8 Race. Also the Fab 4 will have there 25 lap make up race. Charlotte County Motorsports Park Finishes for 3-29 Road Warriors 1) 19- Greg Anderson 2) 32- Dean Butrum 3) 97- Chris Scott 4) 32x- Jesse Dutilly 5) 89- Derrick Gray 6) 95- Ernie Sparks 7) 24- Jeff Pacheco 8) 77- James Dellea 9) 4- Daniel Sweet 10) 1- Jessie Gargus 11) 16- James Buckmaster 12) 22- Ann Marie Ricardi 13) 39- Jerry Teeting 14) 93- Jeff Firestine 15) 37x- Zane Reid- DNS 16) 12- Eddie Lawler- DNS REAL RACIN' USA Thunder Trucks 1) 67- Chester Lusk 2) 69- Tom Pryor 3) 9- Ray Scott 4) 2- Lance Sober 5) 24- Darryl Morris 6) 34- Curt Mays 7) 19- Ryan Meiser- DQ 8) 20- Tom Carlough- DQ 9) 14- Randy Kile-DNS Legends 1) 9- Kevin Henry 2) 7- Mike Verhaagh 3) 55x- Doug Hall 4) 22- Troy Yates 5) 9F- Mitch Verhaagh 6) 20- Codey Benoit 7) 38- Mike Fazio 8) 39- Gerald Campbell 9) 55- Conrad Mol ter Pro 4’s 1) 09- Danny Daniels 2) 15- Michael Rodriguez 3) 85- David Amelotte 4) 00- Chris Lucas 5) 27- Derrick Horton 6) 55- Chuck Flesher 7) 16- Wally Smith 8) 7- Joe Rice 9) 75- Shal Ritenour 10) 11- Paul Graham 11) 90- Jacob Ingram 12) 247- Paul Phillips 13) 97- Randy Kile Late Models 100 Laps 1) 56- Wayne Morris - Mulberry Fast Qualifier 2) 34- Blake Koch- 3) 36C- Ross Chastian - Alva 4) 10- Ron Regula - Palmetto 5) 100F- Adam Ferri - Deerfield 6) 36P- Gary Padulla - Pompano Beach 7) 4- Randy Fox - Lehigh Acers 8) 19- Kevin Macy - Lakeland 9) 07- George Crenshaw - Lakeland 10) 1- Johnny Jackson 11) 58- Chris Huntoon - Port Charlotte 12) 5- Robert Regula - Fort Lauderdale 13) 19D- Dale Dean - N. Fort Myers 14) 29- Cody Pitts 15) 49- Ron LofQuist 16 ) 237- Joe Winchell- 17) 100- Dean Ferri- Deerfield 18) 8- Bobby Shelton - Delray Beach 19) 21- Chris Grubb - Cape Coral 20) 77- Ed Leeke - 21) 99- Rick Penton Loxahathee Sportsman 1) 98- Wayne Morris - Mulberry Fast Qualifier 2) 86- Billy Vandevender - Lehigh Acers 3) 58- Chris Huntoon - Port Charlotte 4) 8- Dan Scott - Naples 5) 22- Chad Jeffries - Lehigh Acers 6) 32- Robert Vaughn 7) 1- Andy Allen - Fort MyersU 8) 44- Brian Teeters - Palmetto 9) 17- David Morr - Arcadia 10) 65- Clayton Williams - Loxahatchee 11) 100- Ron Heard Jr. - Lakeland 12) 39- Phillip Johnson - Naples 13) 3- Steve Jeffries - Fort Myers 14) 11- George Richardson - Fort Myers 15) 29- Rob Popkins - 16) 5- Bob Waltz - Cape Coral 17) 2x- Bobby Fisher - 18) 42- Dennis Wilson - North Fort Myers 19) 14- Jerry Adkins 20) 2-Randy Sober 21) 4-Don Justice Fab 4 will run double features next week Have an opinion on this story? 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