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LB Skaggs Victorious in Open Wheel Modified 50 at Charlotte County Motorsports Park
By: Melanie Beckner
Punta Gorda, FL...Mother nature was good to CCMP this past Saturday night. There was rain all over the area and for the most part the rain stayed away with a few sprinkles here and there. Nine diffrent divisions took on the 3/8th mile track with three of the divisions running heat races.
The Cars of Yesterday were the first class to come out for their two heat races. Dennis Copenhauer started on the pole for the first eight lap heat race and led until lap five when Tom McDonald challenged for the lead. Copenhauer and McDonald raced door to door until the end of the heat with Tom McDonald edging out Dennis Copenhauer. On the second heat race Bill Sandige started out front, but once the green flag waved it was Tim Brush who took his car to the lead and never looked back to take the win in his heat race.
The next class to run heat races were the Outlaw Modifieds with Antonio Gonzales sitting on the pole for the first eight lap heat race. Ric Mills led the first five laps before Doug Hopper passed Mills for the top spot and went on to take the heat race victory. Johnny Doucette led the field to the green for the second heat race for the Outlaw Modfieds. ZacK Rudd took the lead at the start of the race, but he would only lead until the third lap when Billy Campbell put his car out front and took the second heat race win.
Robin Pope led the karts around for their first six lap heat race. Phil Harp brought out the red flag before the first lap was completed. His kart hit the turn four wall hard but was uninjured, however his kart was done for the evening. Once the race got restarted Robin Pope took the lead for the first three laps then after that three diffrent drivers passed the lead back in forth for the last three laps with Ron Letourneau winning the first heat. Tim Simmons sat on the pole for their second heat and held the lead for the first two laps before Erik McElroy took the lead. On the last lap ROn Letourneau took back the lead and captured the second heat race victory.
The first feature event of the evening was for the Cars of Yesterday with Jerry Mullins on the pole for the fifteen lap race. Mullins led the first five laps before Tom McDonald took over the top spot from Mullins. McDonald would only lead one lap as the faster car of Tim Brush took over the lead on lap seven and stayed their to take the feature win. Gary Gates came in second while Steve Teasdale came in third.
Jason McGonnel was the polesitter for the twenty five lap Fab 4 race. On the start of the race Kenny Gilley got into the side of Ashton Scott sending Scott spinning into turn four. On the restart McGonnel jumped to the lead and stayed out front until lap twelve when Jason Perkins took over the lead.
The first caution came out on lap thirteen when Jason Mcgonnel spun his car out in turn two. Three laps later the caution came out again, this time Jason McGonnel got into the back of Brandon Scott's car and sent him into the spin cycle.
The final caution to wave was for contact from Brent Drake into the back bumper of Ashton Scott on the frontstretch and Scott was sent spinning. Jason Perkins went on to win his third Fab 4 feature race. Since this was his third victory in the class he now has to move up into the Pro 4 division. Jamie Skaggs crossed the line second and Kenny Gilley was third. After post race inspection both Jamie Skaggs and Kenny Gilley were disqualified moving Jeremy Perkins to second and Jason McGonnel to third.
Outlaw Modifieds went at it for their thirty lap feature race with Ric Mills on the pole. Ric Mills took the lead at the start of the race and by lap six Billy Campbell challenged Mills for the lead. Both cars ran side by side for a couple of laps before Campbell was able to clear Mills car. Lap thirteen saw the first caution with Greg Shear spinning his car coming out of turn four. With ten laps to go Zack Rudd and Kevin Campbell were racing each other hard and the two cars made contact going into turn one with both cars spinning out. Billy Campbell went on to claim the victory with Doug Hooper and Ric Mills completing the top three spots.
"The Thundering herd" Desoto Champ Karts were the next class to come out for their twenty lap race and Mitch Stevens led the field to the start of the race. One the start Kelli Burns and Paul Cornelius made contact with one another in turn two with both karts stopping and bring out the caution.
The restart was unsuccessful with Brian Scherrer, Kelli Burns and Paul Letourneau all getting together in turn four. The second restart was good with Ron Sanford leading the first couple of laps. Lap three saw the first battle for the lead with Robin Pope Jr taking over the lead from Sanford and Pope would only lead until the tenth lap before Ron Letourneau passed Pope for the lead.
Kelli Burns and Paul Letourneau brought out the first race caution on lap sixteen when the two karts made contact coming out of the fourth turn. On the restart the Burns siblings, Kelli and Mike got together on the backstretch. The last pass for the lead occured on the fifteenth lap, JD Cordon passed Ron Letourneau and went on to capture his seventh victory in the series. Robin Pope Jr came in second while Tim Simmons took home third.
Danny Daniels Jr sat on the pole for the thirty five lap Florida Suncoast Outlaw Street Stock feature. Daniels took the lead at the start of the race and led until lap twenty six. Shane Leonard passed Daniels for the lead on lap twenty seven. With two laps to go Leonard was still leading when his car broke a Tranny line and smoked filled the car. Leonard was able to hold off Daniels for the last tow laps to capture the win. When Leonard pulled into the winner's circle his car caught on fire and Leonard escaped the car unharmed. Danny Daniels Jr had to settle for second with Dave Davis completing the top three.
The Open Wheel Modifieds ran a fifty lap feature with Eric Rudd on the pole position. Rudd had the lead at the start of the race. Only one lap was completed before the first caution came out for Tony Carreno when he spun out in between one and two. They would only get one lap in again before the next caution with LB Skaggs getting into the back of Scott Kleiber's car that sent Kleiber spinning in turn four.
Scott Kleiber took the lead from Eric Rudd on lap nineteen with LB Skaggs and Doug Miller making contact bringing out another caution. The two cars were battling hard for position coming out of turn two and made contact and Jay Winkley climbed Miller's car. Kevin Brickley spun his car out in the backstretch on lap thirty two, Danny Brown then spun his car around to avoid contact with Brickley.
When the leaders got around to the backstretch Johnny Allen did not see Kevin Brickley's stopped at the top of the track and Allen's car plowed through Brickleys car. The collision ended both Allen and Brickley's evening. On lap fourty four Scott kleiber who was still leading fell off the pace and pulled his car into the infield and handing the lead to LB Skaggs. Skaggs had came from all the way from the back of the field from an earlier caution. LB Skaggs went on to capture the win with Jeremy Gerstner taking second and Sean McLaughlin coming in the third spot.
Joshua Carbone led the Mini Stocks to the start of their twenty five lap race. On the start of the race Emory Murrah went headon to the backstretch wall with help from Joshua Carbone. Murrah's car was able to continue. On the restart of the race Joe Rice took the lead from Carbone, however Rice would only lead the first lap before Jesse Dutilly's rocketship passed Rice and put his car out front. John Pummel Jr and Derrick Horton brought out the first race caution when both cars made contact and then went spinning in turn four. Emory Murrah had another headon collison with the backstretch wall on lap seven, however this time his car was not able to continue. Jesse Dutilly took home the victory with Eugene Davidson in the second spot with Joe Rice taking third.
The Sportsman division had a fifty lap feature with Pat Dent sitting on the pole. Brian Richardson jumped to the early lead at the start of th race. Andy Allen and Kenny Abney got together on the frontstretch to bring out the first caution on lap four. The next caution to wave was for Gary McFall spinning car on lap thirteen. The only lead change came on lap twenty nine with Aaron Williamson passing Brian Richardson and never looked back. Aaron Williamson was the winner with Brian Richardson and Pat Dent completing the top three positions.
The last race of the evening was a fifteen lap race for the Pro 4's with Eugene Connell as the polesitter. Blaine Baer spun out on the top of turn four before a lap was even completed. Kevin Underwood spun out in front of the entire field on the restart, collecting Corey Bigley.
The second restart was good with Eugene Connell jumping out front first. By the second lap Codey Benoit took over the lead from Connell. Lap eight seen the only race caution for the bumper coming off of Kevin Underwoods car. Codey Benoit won the race, but was then disqualified which gave the win to Blaine Baer. Kevin Underwood was second and John Pummel finished in third.
