| Citrus Winter Spectacular IV Saturday | by Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl. 1/16/04) Citrus County Speedway will turn on their 50th racing season on Saturday, January 22nd with Winter Spectacular IV. The 2005 season Schedule will feature more Late Model, Sportsman and Figure 8 racing than 2004. The schedule also includes more variety than ever before giving the fans every opportunity to get more bang for their buck. And speaking of BANG, look for a possible CRASH-A-RAMA in October of 2005. This has proven to be a very popular among the fans.
Winter Spectacular IV will feature the Modifieds in a 75 lap main event plus the Hobby Stocks will turn it on for their first 50 lap race of the year. Both divisions will go on the clocks to qualify for starting positions. Added to the schedule will be the Sportsman, Thunder Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers and the wild and crazy Figure 8’s.
The Mod Squad will be chasing 2004 champion Billy Bechtelheimer with more talent than ever getting involved with the fast open wheel Modifieds like locals, Richie Smith and Curtis Neumann plus heavy hitters from the Sunshine Speedway regulars coming to make Citrus County Speedway their new home race track. It should be an interesting season for this division that will be running twice a month in 2005.
The Hobby Stock Division will be crowning a new champion in 2005 since Bobby Taylor will be moving up to Super Stocks. This was the most populated division in 2004 and it remains to be seen how many will move up and how many former Thunder Stock drivers will be joining them in the race for the 50th anniversary Hobby Stock crown.
The Figure 8 division will see some growth as well as many of the heavy hitters from the Tampa Bay area may be coming to Citrus with twice a month races on the schedule for the coming year. Ron Schreifels will have his hands full defending his crown. This initial race in Winter Spectacular IV could bring in a field of racers that is reminiscent of the day when there were 25 to 30 cars making passes from all directions through the intersection. That is when it really gets exciting and well worth bringing the family out to see.
The Sportsman division will be going through a revival with 2 races a month on the schedule. Many of the drivers parked their cars due to inactivity last year and now there is a Southern Sportsman Series that will also make an appearance at Citrus on March 5th. There are plenty of them around but they just needed more racing opportunities which they will get at Citrus County Speedway.
Thunder Stock Champ Jerry Hoover is also moving up to Hobby Stocks leaving the door open for new contenders for that crown. They will be racing Saturday in preparation for the points opener on February 12th.
The 4 Cylinder Bomber Division promises to be more exciting this season and they too will be going with the modified rules that allowed for a faster tire that helped the field grow towards the end of last season.
Pit gates open at 2 Saturday afternoon and the grandstand gates open at 4 with time trials starting at 5:30. Racing should get underway at 6. Citrus County Speedway is located 2 miles south of Inverness on U.S. 41 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds right next to the Inverness International Airplane Patch.
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