But the best blows of the night were landed in the tech inspection area, which -- unfortunately for the fans -- was out of sight. Oh yeah, the last one running in the $1,000-to-win race was No. 3X Craig Pollett.

Now, on to the real action.

The kettle began to boil during the Outlaw Late Model feature. Ed Kidd, No. 6 of Pinellas Park, took the lead on Lap 11 from No. 85 Jim Billera of St. Petersburg. Shortly after, No. 56 Robbie McAuliffe of Pinellas Park and No. 1 Scott Holley of Dunedin made their way around Billera as well.

By the time McAuliffe and Holley got free, Kidd had established a lead equal to about a third of the track, and they couldn't close the gap.

Shortly after in the tech area, McAuliffe said there was a reason.

Holley "kept hitting me in the (rear end), and I couldn't get any speed up," McAuliffe said as he stood next to his car near the back gate of tech.

Before McAuliffe could finish his explanation, the No. 1 rolled off the scales in preparation for parking next to McAuliffe's car and pulling whatever part tech inspectors wanted to see. As Holley slowly rolled by him, McAuliffe decided to verbally express his displeasure to the other driver in a loud and aggressive manner. As the car continued to roll forward, McAuliffe followed and continued to elaborate on his evaluation of Holley's driving, among other things. It was not positive criticism.

McAuliffe was maintaining a distance of about three feet from Holley's window, until the No. 1 stopped about 15 feet farther.

There, McAuliffe -- about 5-foot-6 -- found his view blocked by Holley's father, who track officials identified as Laurie. McAuliffe attempted without success to continue his one-sided conversation with the driver, but the older Holley was taller and McAuliffe was unable to make his point from either side or over the top.

What happened next was like some of those summer storms we get -- a few clouds form and, wham, the next thing you know lightning flashes, the wind whips and it rains so hard you'd better not look up for fear of drowning.

It was quick, and you can't be sure what happened.

Suddenly, the narrow space between the two cars became mobbed with pit crew members from both sides. As the tempo increased, Holley managed to climb out of his car and stood behind his dad. As the bodies crunched into the small space, pushing gave way to punches.

It's hard to say who pushed first or who threw the first punch. The older Holley pushed McAuliffe. A tall blond male, who later was identified as No. 56 car owner John Bonin, threw a punch and hit the younger Holley. There was lots of punching after that. Holley's father landed a couple on McAuliffe's head, which is like trying to use a feather to break rocks. McAuliffe swung back several times, but may not have hit anyone.

Bonin and the younger Holley began to wrestle, and Bonin used a headlock to slam Holley to the ground. All of that occurred in less than a minute, before track officials ran over to break up the fight.

"The suspects I'm looking at are all of the people with both cars," promoter and general manager Frank Hill said Monday. "Fines and suspensions are possible."

Hill allowed the race results to stand, so McAuliffe was second and Holley third.

"I hate to see that happen," Kidd, the winner and points leader, said of speculation that both drivers would be disqualified and probably suspended. "I don't want to win points that way. I'd like to outrun (McAuliffe, second in points)."

In a sport of tough guys, Kidd admitted, "I'm one of the nicest guys out here to race against."

Known to help his closest competitors, Kidd said, "And, I won't get into a fist fight."

At least for the time being, one nice guy did finish first. That, too, is a nice change.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

The division is new and, so far, only 13 cars are registered. In addition, the most that have raced on any single night this season is 11. By Aug. 25, when the championship event has been rescheduled, more of the drivers who have their cars under construction should be ready to run. Next week, the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association's Winged Sprints are the featured attraction at Sunshine. It will be the Sprints' second visit to the track this year. The first event, on March 31, was rained out and rescheduled.

With no local racing, it is a good time to take a look at season points, which are beginning to shape up at the half-way mark.

Starting with the top dogs, the Open Wheel Modifieds, No. 80 Jimmy Houle of Pinellas Park has earned the largest points lead of anyone in any class at Sunshine.

Houle's 46-point advantage is the equivalent of winning a feature, 40 points, and coming in first in a heat race, six points.

Houle could miss an entire night of competition and do no worse than be tied with No. 56 Allyn Summers of Odessa. Summers has a handy 506-472 lead over No. 66 John Moore of Lutz. After that, the spread widens.

Others in the top 10 in order are: No. 13 Mike "Captain America" Leacock of Seminole, No. 28 Phil Kessler of Brooksville, No. 8 Randy Rhodes of Seminole, No. 00 Pat Grimes of Largo, No. 7 Darren Jackson of Lakeland, No. 09 Steve Harbuck of Largo and No. 55 Herman Brame of Pinellas Park.

Ron "Hollywood" Davis of Pinellas Park, No. 89, probably has set some sort of record for finishing second in points in the Figure 8 division. His biggest problem has been No. 11 Art "The Master" Calkins of St. Petebsburg, who has won the crown more than anyone.

This year, Calkins has become semi-retired and takes time off from racing whenever the need or mood strikes him. Still, even without a serious effort, he is sixth in points.

Davis has a new problem this season -- No. 28 Shane Grigsby of Pinellas Park.

Grigsby won't go away, and Davis can't shake him. Davis leads Grigsby by only 18 points. One misstep, such as an early crash and finishing in the back, and Grigsby will snatch Davis' glory.

Unlike Modifieds, the top 10 in Figure 8s are close. The others are No. 15 Joey Catarelli, No. 21 J.R. Meyer, No. 40 Mark Thomas and No. 31 Donnie Thomas, all of Pinellas Park; No. 59 Jack Boswell of Clearwater, No. 20 Cliff Rousseau and No. 7 Wayne Calkins, both of St. Petersburg.

In Mini Stocks, the top three are close. Tom Zimmerman, No. 55, of Largo has a 19-point lead over No. 70 Marty Neikens of St. Petersburg, who has only a three-point edge over No. 65 Catarelli.

Others in the top 10 are No. 40 Dennis Valdez of Tampa, No. 33 Eric Cuchta of Largo, No. 3 Matt Rotkis of St. Petersburg, No. 10 Mike Birk Jr. of Pinellas Park, No. 32 Troy Meredith of Pinellas Park, No. 41 Mark Moniz of St. Petersburg and No. 16 Glenn Kelley of New Port Richey.

Street Stocks, which were promoted from Enduros last season, has been a see-saw battle, but No. 27 Harold Ashley is at the top of the heap at the moment. The Gulfport driver has a 12-point lead over No. 98 Roger Welch of St. Petersburg.

Just 16 points behind Welch is No. 1 Dan Rieger of St. Petersburg, who was atop the points for much of the season until he failed to qualify on a double-points night. Rieger is only nine ahead of No. 22 Mike Hill of St. Petersburg.

The remaining six in the top 10 have a long way to go to reach the front-runners. They are No. 24 Dave Cleary of St. Petersburg, No. 12 Jay Coleman of Palm Harbor, No. 77 Brian Rogers of Tampa, No. 18 Larry Brannon of Seminole, No. 61 Dave Ochsenwald, another former points leader from St. Petersburg, and No. 82 Jimmy Kruse of St. Petersburg.

Two Pinellas Park drivers are battling for the lead in Outlaws -- No. 6 Ed Kidd and No. 56 Robby McAuliffe. Kidd has only a five-point advantage over McAuliffe, who has only 15 points over No. 77 Rick Haugh of St. Petersburg.

Tim Henault, No. 69, of Safety Harbor is only seven behind Haugh and 30 ahead of No. 2 Robert Crisp of Clearwater -- an early points leader who has been coming back strong and won the feature the previous two weeks.

The other five top-10 Outlaws are No. 1 Scott Holley of Dunedin, No. 20 Steve Lone of Clearwater, No. 7 Troy Johnson of Pinellas Park, No. 85 Jimmy Billera of St. Petersburg and No. 112 Corky Craver of Pinellas Park.

Barring serious injury or illness or a divine intervention, No. 5 Brian Leverock of Seminole or No. 15 Dwayne Dempsey of St. Petersburg will win the Super Late Model Series Championship and the $5,000 bonus. Probably, that is. Nobody else will get anything.

With four of the seven races out of the way, Leverock owns a six-point lead over Dempsey. The last Late Model race of the season, the 100-lap Dayton Andrews Dodge/Leo Musgrave Memorial, will count for double points.

Others in the top 10 are No. 82 Den Neighbor Jr. of Clearwater, No. 22 Sam Coghill of Largo, No. 21 Duane Haines of Seminole, No. 0 Mason Love of Seminole, No. 2 Wayne Bowman of Clearwater, No. 3 Bobby Baldwin of Oldsmar, No. 25 Tom Chambers of Seminole and No. 11 Jimmy Thompson of Pinellas Park.