(story originally appeared in the Naples Daily News - by Tom Rife)

NAPLES — As a prelude to Sunday’s Spring Classic swamp buggy races at the Florida Sports Park, nearly four hours of preliminary races, practice runs and time trials took place Saturday at the Mile-O-Mud.

Only three buggies ran in the Pro Modified Challenge, with Dan Greenling’s Roll On posting the fastest lap at 53.22 seconds.

In the Jeep final Saturday, the winner was Jeremy White’s orange General Lee. Honors in the V8 Sportsman division went to the Southern Thunder entry driven by Wayne Harris. Air-cooled kudos went to the Sidewinder driven by John Parks.

Sunday’s Budweiser Cup Series points action begins at 12:30 p.m. After two races in the three-race series, Eddie Chesser’s The Rapture holds a six-point advantage over Lorrie Johns’ Lady Liberty. Tyler Johns’ Patriot is 10 points behind frontrunner Chesser, the seven-time Bud Cup champ.