Monday, September 15, 2008 SMITH AND BIGLEY WIN 4 CYL SWITCH OFF By Linda Jericka The T. Q. Midgets were the first feature of the night at Charlotte County Motorsports Park with the 26 of Ted Durfee coming in first the 30 of Michael Belusar second and Jack Durfee third. Eleven Open Wheel Lites aka Dwarf Cars took the green for a twenty five lap feature with the 14 car of Jeff Ripley out of Kissimmee jumping out in front. Ripley clearly had a fast car as he was leading until lap fourteen when he had to retire to the pits. With Ripley in the pits that moved the 82 of Mike Belasar into the lead and the 4 of Andy Pryor out of Bonita Springs second to battle the last seven laps were Pryor gave it all he had but had to settle for second and the 45 of John Bailey out of Sarasota was third. Mini stock finally got a race in after being rained out last time so when they took the green they were ready to race. The first ten laps was quite a battle for that first spot between the 14 of John Bailey the 54 of Ricky Bullard Jr. and the 97 of Todd Freed when Freed got around Bullard for the lead and went on to win the race. Ricky Bullard seemed to have an ill handling car but hung on for second place and the 14 of John Bailey would come in third. The 4 Cyl switch off race had only ten cars and twenty drivers this time around but with just as much excitement as the last race. After the fan got to meet the drivers and get autographs it was time to buckle up and go racing. Wally Smith out of Naples jumped out in front on the first last lap and lead all twenty five laps that only took fifteen minutes. Corey Bigley driving the 28 car was battling to stay in second until the 85 of Pete Amelotte took over second and Ryan Meiser came in third and Corey was fourth. The drivers pulled over on the front stretch were they got out of the cars and helped there team mates get in and buckled up and had to start the second twenty five laps were there team mates finished. Billy Bigley jr was Wally Smith’s partner so Billy got to start on the pull and David Amelotte now was in his 85 car after dad Pete got him starting in the second spot. It was a fun and exciting race to watch and the drivers seem to have a blast with the whole team mate thing, as you watch them both practicing and working on the cars together and especially when they get out on the track. The second twenty five laps took twenty minutes and everyone raced a hard clean race and here is how it works, the second twenty five laps, car owner and regular driver of the thirty car drove the car into the third finishing spot , but since the team mate Neil Hampton went down a lap in the first twenty five that put the 57 of Logan Leonard finishing overall in the third spot. The win went to Wally Smith and Billy Bigley Jr., second was the 20 driven by Danny Daniels first and Cody Benoit who started the second part in sixth position, and third went to Ryan Meiser and Logan Leonard. We never got a chance to ask Billy what he thought about racing with his two sons as he was off to race in the thunder truck race, if it were not for the biggest rig in the pits, when Billy Bigley jr is at CCMP, he seems to be having just as much fun as his boys and blends in. It is great to see someone with that much success in racing helping out guys in the 4 cyl or being there team mates and driving there thunder trucks, and working on cars and just hanging out and having fun. Thunder Trucks saw Randy Kile back in the winners circle with Billy Bigley second and Tom Pryor third. Road Warriors ran a fifty lap feature with Jessie Dutilly coming in first Jeff Firestine second and the 97 of Chris Scott would have to settle for third. Gary McFall who drives the 38 car and won the last three in a row races had to give up the second spot and retire to the pits when when his transmission gave way on lap twenty two ending his winning streak. The Florida Suncoast Outlaw Street Stocks saw the 18 car of Shane Leonard driving the wheels off his car trying to stay out front of Donnie Ollie Jr who had won the last two races and is the points leader of the class. Donnie Ollie Jr gave it all he had but would have to settle for second place over the winner Shane Leonard. Bobby Mobley driving the 29 car battled all fifty laps with the 30 of Richie Shepard for the third finishing spot. The night ended with the fearless figure 8 race, there were eleven drivers that took the green and six different type of cars which had the fans on the edge of there seats for twenty laps. The race saw new cars and drivers finishing in the top three, the winner was the 34 Outlaw Street Stock car driven by James Crawford out of Pinellas Park, 29X of Chris Zimmerman was second in his Mini Stock and the 12 Road Warrior hung on for third driven by Eddie Lawler out of Fort Lauderdale.