For a while it looked as though hard charging Brian Gingras #87 or Dennis Misuraca #3 were going to spoil Troy DeCaire's claim to his second Central Florida Wingless Sprint Car Association victory of the season and 3rd overall at Columbia Motorsports Park Sat. April 12th.
But DeCaire in the always potent George Rudolph owned #68 was not to be denied. A first class field of 16 sprints made up the two qualifying heats with DeCaire and Gingras coming away the victors. Billy Riddle, in car #11 experienced mechanical problems during heat #2 and was the only car unable to start the $1000 to win main event.
The 30 lapper got off to a dicey start when David Ratzlaft gave the back stretch wall a quick pop on lap one which yielded a bent rim on his #92. The seriousness of the problem didn't surface until David entered turn 3. The bent rim broke and caused the #92 to slide and make hard contact with the outer wall.
With the field tighly bunched and nowhere to go, Nichols in #55 was gathered up with Ratzlaft, thus ending the 2003 champs night early. After a quick cleanup the race got underway with a complete restart. The #48 of Jimmy Riddle quickly flexed his muscle and jumped out to an early lead but by the end of lap 2, CFWSCA reigning Champion Dennis Misuraca in his own Sparkle Brite Pools #3 became the new leader of the pack.
With the top 10 positions inverted for the field there was side by side and bumper to bumper racing throughout the pack and all around the track. With so many fights for position all around the track, the North Florida fans in the stands found it tough to follow the action.
By lap 10, DeCaire became the point man, followed by Misuraca with Gingras in hot pursuit. With the blistering pace set by the leaders, attrition began to rear it’s ugly head and take its toll. The cars of Mike Koss, Buddy Sizemore and Dakotah Stephens became the victims of mechanical gremlins and were forced to the infield.
By lap 20, Gingras got by Misuraca for second and had DeCaire in his sight. Battling nose to tail and wheel to wheel through lapped traffic for the last 10 laps Gingras tried everything to break DeCaire’s win streak but when the checker flag waved DeCaire was first to the line for his 3rd consecutive CFWSCA victory. Gingras #87 held on for 2nd with Misuraca 3rd. Positions 4th through 15th were Charlie Ladner #39, Jimmy Alvis #48, “Lil” Jimmy Alvis #21, David Retzlaft #92, Darrin Miller #21m, Bryan Riddle #11X, Skippy Bradford #37, Dan Statter #59, Dakotah Stephens #79, Buddy Sizemore #2, Tommy Nichols #55, and Mike Koss #58.
