October 17, 2004 Chase For Citrus Division Crowns Heats Up By Larry MacMillan Richie Smith runs four different feature races. (Inverness, Fl. 10/16/04)- Another crowded pit provided race fans with tons of action on the 3/8ths mile asphalt as the final three weeks to the championship race turn up the pressure. One hundred thirty one race cars came to compete in 7 divisions Saturday night plus the annual Dare to Win races gave those drivers without a feature or heat win this season an opportunity to bragging rights in their first trip to Victory Lane. Mini Stocks kicked off the Dare To Win 6 lap races with Chad Johnson blowing away the field. Mike Curry topped the 4 Cylinder Bomber bunch. John Hughes outran the Hobby Stocks to the flag. Steve King was top shoe in the Street Stocks division and Michael Bocija was the big gun in the Thunder Stock run. Richie Smith was the busiest driver at the track Saturday night, racing in four back to back feature races for a total of 140 laps. He started his night qualifying fast time in his #3 Sportsman and backed it up with his fifth win of the season and the 2004 Sportsman Championship crown. Newcomer Robbie Cooper gave him a run for his money, leading the first half of the race and locking on to Ritchies rear bumper right to the checkers. Johnny Sanders, Steve Olone and Rick Kase rounded out the top five. Richie had no time to go through tech after his Sportsman win moving into his Modified for their 30 lap feature run. He managed to pull off a 4th place finish behind 4 time winner Harold Cannon, Jimmy Wagner and Tommy Schnader. Sixteen Cars took the green flag with Curtis Neumann giving Richie a run for his money but having to settle for a fifth place finish. Next up was the Hobby Stock 50 lap run in which Richie qualified 5th fastest behind Curtis Neumann, Bobby Taylor, Tommy Smith and Tim Whitehead. When the green flew on the 30 car field Dean Lawyer took the point in the early going before Richie went under him to the front and led to lap 30 before his brother Tommy took the spot and his 7th win of the season putting him 13 points closer to Bobby Taylor and retaking the lead for the crown. Richie held off the rest of the field for a second place finish over Curtis Neumann, point leader Bobby Taylor and Dean Lawyer. Topping off Ritchies busy night was the 25 lap Super Stock feature and the laps he had already run were beginning to show the wear a tear he had under gone early in the evening. Starting fifth in the 19 car field, he held his position until mid race when he suffered a spin that sent him to the rear of the field for the restart. Meanwhile 8th starter Frank Buchanan worked his way through traffic and held off point leader JoJo Viverito, Bob Masciarelli, Travis Nichols and Rodger Damron to win his second feature of the year. Richie had to settle for a 9th place finish to round out a very successful but tiring night at the races. Changing car numbers seemed to work for relatively new comer Lee Davis in the Mini Stock 25 Lap feature as he launched his 9X race car from sixth to the point for his first win of the season over an 18 car field. Point leader Jim Curry put some more cushion in his run for the crown with a second place finish. Hard charger Dan Smith motored from 14th to third at the flag over 16th starter Clint Foley while George Neumann had to settle for fifth. The Thunder Stocks started 20 cars and had to work the chicane for 25 laps. Due to multiple caution flags and the curfew the race was shortened to 10 laps with Victor Shahid taking a flag to flag win. Mike Autenrieth lost his second place finish in tech on post race inspection. John Donahue inherited second over Steven Stinedurf, Gary Budek and Larry (Van) Ivannisci. The 4 Cylinder Bombers with two divisions in one feature had 14 entries with the modified Auburndale gang dominating their 15 lap feature run. Shane Guy, Donnie Guy, Larry Chumney, Dwayne Guy and James Williams took the top five spots. It was Dan Sanderson locking in his third win in a row over Harold Barup, Tim Herrington, Rusty Adams and Brian Dunlop in the regular division. Next Saturday night the Super Late Models return for another Twin 50. Sharing the race card will be the Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results 10/16/04 Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 16 Cars 1. # 3 Harold Cannon – 4th Feature Win 2. #17 Jimmy Wagner 3. #19 Tommy Schnader 4. #42 Richie Smith 5. #55 Curtis Neumann 6. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 7. #79 Adam May 8. #72 John Grimm 9. #03 Kyle Bookmiller 10.#74 Paul Fletcher Sportsman Feature – 40 Laps – 14 Cars 1. # 3 Richie Smith -5th Feature Win 2. #98X Robbie Cooper 3. #36 Johnny Sanders 4. #20 Steve Olone 5. #35 Rick Kase 6. #8 Joe Rankin 7. #59 Phillip Rook 8. #99X Jim Peters 9. #31 John Smith 10.#98 Maloy Kelly Hobby Stock Feature – 50 Laps – 30 Cars 1. #42 Tommy Smith – 7th Feature Win 2. #142 Richie Smith 3. #01 Curtis Neumann 4. #66 Bobby Taylor 5. #19 Dean Lawyer 6. #33 Bill Ryan 7. #35 Tim Whitehead 8. #09 Alvin Williamson 9. # 9 Artie Hewitt 10.#28 John Hughes Super Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #07 Frank Buchanan- 2nd Feature Win 2. #72 JoJo Viverito 3. #72X Bob Masciarelli 4. # 2 Travis Nichols 5. #76 Rodger Damron 6. #55 Ernie Reed 7. #27 John Makula 8. #47 Dusty Bouchard 9. #15x Richie Smith 10.#X3 James Hendrickson Mini Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #9x Lee Davis – 1st Feature Win 2. #20 Jim Curry 3. #72 Dan Smith 4. #7x Clint Foley 5. # 1 George Neumann Thunder Stock Feature – 25 Laps (reduced to 10) – 20 Cars 1. # 8 Victory Shahid – 1st Feature Win 2. #26 John Donahue 3. #0X Steven Stinedurf 4. #05 Gary Budek 5. # 4 Larry Ivannisci 4 Cylinder Modified Bomber Feature – 15 Laps 7 Cars 1. #32 Shane Guy – 2nd Feature Win 2. #33 Donnie Guy 3. #31 Larry Chumney 4. #96 Dwayne Guy 5. # 2 James Williams 4 Cylinder Bomber Regular Feature – 15 Laps – 7 Cars 1. # 7 Dan Sanderson – 3rd Feature Win 2. # 3 Harold Barup 3. #82 Tim Herrington 4. #67 Rusty Adams 5. #24 Brian Dunlops Have an opinion on this story? 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