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2001
NEWS ARCHIVE
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| Bresnahan Breezes to Third Big Money Win at Citrus | By Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl 7/27/02) Billed as a preparation race for the second leg of the Triple Crown Series, 18 drivers went into time trials to qualify for the, all green 100 lap Late Model Crystal Motor Car Co. Show Down.
Rex Struble nosed out Mike Bresnahan by 0.163 of a second for fast qualifier money with Scott Grossenbacher just 0.113 seconds off Bresnahans pace. The pill draw inverted the front five with Jonny Kay taking the pole and Rich Pratt picking up the outside pole.
When the green fell, Kay took the point and set the early pace while Pratt fell into second and Bresnahan followed for the first 15 laps before taking the lead and never looked back.
Despite five caution flags Bresnahan dominated his home racetrack taking his third big money race since the first Winter Spectacular in December 2001 and pocketed $3,100 for his win and second fast qualifying time.
Grossenbacher ran a solid second just ahead of pole sitter Jonny Kay with Rich Pratt holding out for fourth and 9th starter Herb Neumann Jr. taking fifth at the checkered flag.
Fast Qualifier Rex Struble lost third spot in the final 25 laps and came back to salvage 6th place over Danny Johnson and Brock Oglesby who was down one lap finishing 8th and the last of the 18 starters to finish.
Jim Smith and Tim Sharrone held out until the final ten laps of the race before falling out of the race and finished 9th and 10th.
Six other divisions also ran in the all feature program. The rained out Sportsman Citrus Truck Accessories 40 featured fifteen starters going for $1,000 to win and double points. The magic number was #40 as Buddy Kessler took his #40 to his first feature win of the season from his sixth starting spot. Kessler held off the charges of point leader Mike Veltman for the final 20 laps while Bill Ostreicher worked his way from his 8th starting spot to a third place finish. First time at Citrus saw Bill Loomis get really competitive and a fourth place finish followed by Terry Cater who got sent to the rear on restarts on two different occasions.
Travis Nichols moved back into the point lead with a double point feature win in Street Stocks. Corky Miley wasted little time moving from his 10th starting spot to put a challenge on in the final laps of the 25-lap event. Scott Hendrickson salvaged a third place finish from the pole with Ernie Reed advancing from his 8th starting spot to finish fourth over Mike Bell who, slipped from the point lead he held coming into the race.
Robbie Yoakam put some heavy cushion on his Mini Stock point lead and became one of two drivers of the night to join the 8 win club for the season. Yoakam waited to make his move in the final 5 laps of the 25-lap event snatching the lead away from Jay McKenzie who led most of the way. Tom Giddings won a hard fought battle with Rob Wheatley to hold on to a third place finish. Max Seaman came from the back of the 19-car field to finish fifth in the double points race.
Tommy Smith became the third driver of the season and was the second driver of the night to join the 8 Win club as he continued to hold the top spot in the Hobby Stock division. Brother Richie continues to be his biggest competition with another second place run and was the first member of the 8 win club. Dustin Aaron took the early point and had to relinquish the lead and second to the Smith brothers when the checkers came out in their 25-lap feature race. Mark Wilkins out ran substitute driver for Daniel Webster, John Eliason in the race for fourth.
Peanut Higginbotham put the hammer down when the green flew in the first Figure 8 race since March and he was setting a hot pace when his night came to an end when Glen Fleming nailed him hard in the intersection at the halfway point of the 30-lap event. Both drivers walked away from the wreck but Peanuts car looked totaled. Robert Aaron moved to the point on the restart and out ran Steve Thomas, Ron Schreifels, Mark Wilkins and Ken Crews to the checkered flag.
Thirty-two Thunder Stocks ended the evening of double point racing for all but the Late Models. Young Michael Wilson started tenth and was the man to beat when it got down to the final 10 laps of the first feature with fifteen starters. Point leader Josh Teague started just in front of Wilson and had to settle for second place. Rick Badessa, William Patz Jr. and Robert Jordan round out the top five. Jeff Teague and Lee Keller had a demolition derby going in the infield early in the race. Neither driver finished the race although Lee Keller would have gotten his spot back if he had come back on the track.
The second 20-lap feature was not decided until around 1:30 A.M. when apparent winner Tim Wilson and 3rd place finisher Stuart Madison were both found illegal. Dale Shelton inherited the win followed by new driver Jason White who was out for his first night of racing at Citrus. Rex Mullis, Todd Back and Cale Heitt had their best finish of the season picking up third, fourth and fifth in that order.
Next Saturday night will be another big 125 lap Late Model race for $5,000 to win as Citrus County Speedway will host the second leg of the Triple Crown Race for the Sunbelt Series. Thirty to thirty-five cars are expected to go for qualifying time trials and win one of the 26 starting positions. Added to the program will be the Sportsman, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Thunder Stocks
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