This Saturday Brad will certainly have to deal with current Limited Late Model points leader Mike Greenwell, a former star of Major League Baseball. And of course his nemesis from last year, Stuart VanDevender will be there gunning to be the first at the checkered flag.
Brad Barkis ran his first race in stock cars at the end of the 1996 season in Charlotte’s Limited Late Models. He was 13 years old at the time. The following year he ran the whole season and was in contention for the championship, but mechanical problems and racing incidents dashed hopes for the rookie in the final race of the year. 1998 was a different story however, when on November 28 he outdueled VanDevender in the final race of the season to gain the title of Charlotte County Speedway Limited Late Model Champion. In the Speedweeks Limited Late Model racing series at New Smyrna Speedway in February, Barkis showed people in from around the United States he was for real. Driving his by now familiar number 10, the youngster from Ft. Myers racked up four victories and easily won the championship. Barkis started as many young talents of today have done. Racing go-karts from the age of nine, winning championships, and gaining fans attention. When asked about making the change from karts to the more serious stock cars, Brad said “it wasn’t that hard”.
Brad turned to the USAR Hooters ProCup series this year, running the number 90 Monte Carlo. He started 23rd and finished 26th in the highly competitive Hooters series. Brad and his racing team are looking for sponsorship backing to expand their Hooters schedule, and will be running all the ProCup races in Florida meantime. But this Saturday night it will Limited warfare on the flat 3/8 mile at Charlotte County. The action will get underway between 6 and 6:30 PM, with a huge crowd expected to see not only the 100 lap Limited late Model event, but also the very exciting Q-Auto Accident Attorney’s American Race Trucks, along with the Big Wheels Mini Stocks and and the final 40 laps of the Palm Chevrolet Road Warrior Hole Shot 50. Charlotte County Speedway is located in Punta Gorda near the airport just off I-75. Bring the kids, come early for a good seat, and get ready for some down home old fashioned Saturday night short track action. |
