September 26, 2005 by Larry MacMillan No matter what you were looking for in short track racing your need for excitement would have been fulfilled Saturday night at Citrus County Speedway. With a variety of super high speed with the TBARA Winged Sprints, Open Wheel Lites and Pro Challenge Series, a mandatory impound of the top ten Hobby Stocks, some really frightening accidents and some solid wheel to wheel racing as the point season winds down to its finale Nov 12th. Twenty two TBARA Winged Sprints took on the 3/8ths mile and the majority of the high speed pros ran in the low 12 second bracket. Bo Hartley, Keith Butler and Dude Teate showed the rest of the field who were going to be the ones to beat in their 30 lap main with heat wins. When the green flew Keith Butler took command of the point and held off John Gilbert Jr., Mark Gimmler, Ray Bragg and Gary Gimmler for the first half of the race. Meanwhile Dude Teate was turning 12 second laps on the outside groove coming through traffic from his 12th starting spot. It was a scary moment when Larry Brazil Jr. lost a right front wheel that went over the pit wheel fence into the pit area moving at high speed bouncing off the roof the rest room. Fortunately no one was injured but certainly brought attention to safety factors that can not be foreseen. On the restart Dude Teate made short work of the rest of the field and went on to check out running, 12 second laps to the checkered flag for his first series win for 2005. Rounding out the top five were Keith Butler, Stan Butler, Jim Alvis and Gary Gimmler. Bo Hartley finished third but was D.Q.’d in Tech. TBARA will return to Citrus on November 5th to close out their season. A full field of Modifieds ran a super fast race that saw clean driving and all 16 starters finishing in the lead lap when the checkers flew in their 30 lap feature. Ronny Cambell doubled up with a heat win and then launched his race car from sixth to Victory Lane for his first win of the season. Mike Bell led the first 18 laps before the caution came out and on the restart he couldn’t hold off Cambell but held on for a second place finish. Billy Bechtelheimer came from 9th to third followed by Kyle Bookmiller and Tommy Schnader who also picked up the win in the second heat. The Mini Stocks started 14 cars and produced a first time winner when Johnny Siner took his first win. The race saw a major wreck when Mike Curry lost control coming off turn four, making contact with Chris Hooker. Hooker literally exploded when he hit the front stretch wall and fortunately was able to walk away without injury but his race car is junk. Rick Litka chased Siner to the checkered flag followed by Jay McKenzie, Michael Lawhorn and Mark Sowell. Heat wins went to Siner and Litka. Hobby Stocks experienced the first ever impound at Citrus. After the driver’s meeting promoter Billy Hooker announced that the top 10 in the point’s race would be impounded after the heat races which were won by Mike Wedlick, Tim Alexander and Curtis Flanagan. No adjustments could be made to any of the impounded cars before the green fell for their 20 lap feature that turned out to be a demolition derby in the round. The scheduled 20 lap main ran out of time at 12 laps and that is when the checkers flew with Mike Wedlick taking the win over Curtis Flanagan who was looking for his 8th win of the season. Tim Anderson, early leader Frank Stromquist and George Webb took the balance of the top five spots. The top ten in points were then called to tech for an engine check with only 8 of the top ten making the show. Johnny Zuidema who led the race at one point pulled out and refused to tear down as did Larry Triana and both were D.Q.’d for the night. Eighteen Thunder Stocks ran a pretty smooth race with Louie Coie coming from 13th to take the lead away from Wayne Heater with just 3 laps left in their 20 lap main for his first win of the season. Heater held on for second followed by Glen Colyer, Dennis Sanderson and Gary Johnson. Heater and Mike Loudy Jr. took the heat wins. Brian Gingras was the man to beat in the Open Wheel Lite contest featuring a 12 car field taking both his heat and the feature win going away. It was a wild duel between Rick Lundeen and Ron Towles in the race for second with Lundeen winning out in that one. Rounding out the top five were Phil Krauthoff and Mike Belusar. Added to the program were the Pro Challenge series with a 7 car field that saw Brad Sanders make a late pass on Rod Sanders for the win. J.L. Snowden also took advantage of the early leader for a second place finish. Rod held out for third over Sam White and Willie Lopez. Citrus County Speedway Results 9/24/05 TBARA Sprint Feature – 30 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #91 Dude Teate – Leesburg – 1st 2005 Win 2. #19 Keith Butler – Riverview 3. #118 Stan Butler – Bushnell 4. #29T Jim Alvis – Tampa 5. #29 Gary Gimmler – Palm Beach 6. #66 Ray Bragg Jr. – Tampa 7. #68 Troy DeCaire –Lutz 8. #51 Mark Gimmler – Palm Beach Gardens 9. # 7 John Gilbert Jr. – Tavernier 10.#21 Johnny Gilbertson – Dover 1st Heat Winner - #3x Bo Hartley 2nd Heat Winner - #19 Keith Butler 3rd Heat Winner - #91 Dude Teate Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 16 Cars 1. # 5 Ronny Cambell 2. #17B Mike Bell 3. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 4. #03 Kyle Bookmiller 5. #19 Tommy Schnader 1st Heat Winner - #5 Ronny Cambell 2nd Heat Winner - #19 Tommy Schnader Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #01 Johnny Siner – 1st Feature Win 2. #82 Rick Litka 3. #5x Jay McKenzie 4. #44 Michael Lawhorn 5. # 5 Mark Sowell 1st Heat Winner - #01 Johnny Siner 2nd Heat Winner - #82 Rick Litka Hobby Stock Feature – 12 of 20 Laps Run – 29 Cars 1. #96 Mike Wedlick 2. #3x Curtis Flanagan 3. #11 Tim Anderson 4. #57 Frank Stromquist 5. #40 George Webb 1st Heat Winner – #96 Mike Wedlick 2nd Heat Winner - #63 Tim Alexander 3rd Heat Winner - #3x Curtis Flanagan Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #88x Louie Coie 2. #60x Wayne Heater 3. #44 Glen Colyer 4. #26 Dennis Sanderson 5. #40 Gary Johnson 1st Heat Winner - #60x Wayne Heater 2nd Heat Winner - #80 Mike Loudy Jr. Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 12 Cars 1. #1 Brian Gingras – Winter Haven 2. #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 3. #01 Ron Towles – Jacksonville 4. # 2 Phil Krauthoff – Stuart 5. #82 Mike Belusar – Sarasota 1st Heat Winner - #1 Brian Gingras 2nd Heat Winner - #04 Rick Lundeen Pro Challenge Feature – 20 Laps – 7 Cars 1. #12 Brad Sanders – Lehigh Acres 2. #40 J.L. Snowden – Salt Springs 3. #1 Rod Sanders – Lehigh Acres 4. #7 Sam White – St. Cloud 5. #11 Willie Lopez – Cape Coral Heat Winner #1 – Rod Sanders Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!