IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 1, 2006 Storer wins Mini Stock Challenge/Richie Smith takes Southern Sportsman Citrus Specials by Larry MacMillan Plenty of sparks were flying at Ciitrus Saturday night. With two traveling series, four local divisions, and 190 laps of feature racing on the race card, Citrus County Speedway’s pit area was packed with 149 racers ready to go to war. The season is winding down and point’s races for the Mini Stock Challenge and Southern Sportsman Series plus local races make it all too important to make every race left on the schedule. Robbie Storer kicked off the night with a fast qualifying time of 15.039 seconds for Mini Stocks on the 3/8ths mile over the 28 racers on the grid and pulled the #2 pill for the outside pole starting spot. It was the key to staying out of trouble with numerous caution flags slowing the pace due to accidents behind him as drivers made bold moves to make it to the front. Pole sitter Kevin Harrod held out for second for 11 laps but apparently ran into mechanical problems on a restart and went to the pits. One of the many cautions is about to happen in this shot. Robbie Yoakam also moved to the front five before he pulled out of the race before the halfway point. Raymond Folwell and Jason Rendell battled each other for second and third for most of the race before Johnathon Camp managed to make the pass on both drivers and was able to pull into shooting distance of Storer in the final few laps but just didn’t have enough to make the run for the win. Storer took the wire to wire win followed by Camp, Folwell, Rendell, Rick Sirmans and 24th starter Phillip Joyner, Jr who should get the Hard Charger award. Hernando’s Richie Smith was fast Sportsman qualifier over the 27 car field on his home track with a quick 14.820 second run on the clocks and pulled the 8 pill for his starting position. Richard Elkins came off the poll and set the pace for another caution flag plagued race with most of the mishaps behind the top ten. Arthur Conquest locked onto Elkins until he ran into trouble and spun out moving 5th starter Aaron Williamson into second being chased by Wayne Jones. Jones’ car faded on him around lap 24 when Craig Robinson moved into the slot and the effort was a bit too much for his race car when his engine just exploded into a ball of fire and he wisely drove into the infield where the fire crew was waiting for him. On the restart, Richie Smith went to work on Williamson and Elkins, going on to win over Williamson, late comer Steve Gainey, Richard Elkins and Craig Cuzzone to round out the top five. The locals saw their share of action as well with lots of contact and numerous caution flags. Butch Bassett set the pace for most of the Modified race with Teddy Nelson making at least five passes on Bassett only to see his lead nullified by caution flags behind him. On the final green flag Nelson made the outside pass again and made it stick for the win over the 21 car field. Modifieds were very exciting as this short clip shows. Curtis made a late run from his 12th starting spot to finish second while Bassett faded to third followed by Kyle Bookmiller celebrating his birthday with a fourth place finish. Rounding out the top five was rookie David J. Davis. Point leader Billy Bechtelheimer literally got run over Stephen Harbuck, destroying the rear end of Billy’s new ride and taking him out for a 17th place finish. Heat wins went to Nelson, Neumann and Adam May. Jason Murphree made several weeks work on his injured race car payoff Saturday night as he spanked the 28 car Hobby Stock field with a heat win and a wire to wire feature win. The Hobby Stocks went 18 laps without a caution and Murphree had a half lap lead on the second runner when the flag came out. On the restart Jason took off with 8th starter Bobby Taylor working his way through traffic to finish a solid second with Curtis Flanagan coming from 17th to finish third. Tim Alexander and Josh Teague locked in the balance of the top five positions. Teague and Richie Smith won the 2nd and 3rd heats. Another crowded Thunder Stock field of 23 cars kept the crashing action going with the front runners able to stay out of trouble. Ninth starter Glen Colyer drove to front early in the race and managed to out drive Jim Kruse for his fourth win of the season. Kruse was chased across the line by Carmine Castoria. Richard Henick managed to hold on for a fourth place finish from the outside pole followed by 22nd starter Randy Spicer. Heat winners were Louie Coie, Colyer and Rick Shahid. -ADVERTISEMENT- With 22, 4 Cylinder Bombers on the grid it was the Durbin brothers dueling for the checkered flag with Justin logging his 13th win over his brother Joey. Terry Dunbar locked on to 3rd when the checkers flew in the 14th lap due to time constraints. Newcomer David Williamson and Jeff Eberly finished 4th and 5th respectively. Heat wins went to Travis Hoefler, Joey Durbin and Justin Durbin. Next Saturday night will be double feature night for the Limited Sportsmen and Thunder Stocks as make ups for their rained out features several weeks ago. Their first features will open the program with a full race card featuring Heat and feature action for the Late Models, Limited Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Hobby Stocks have the night off. Practice will be on Thursday night this week. Citrus County Speedway Results – 9/30/06 Atlantic Building Materials Florida Mini Stock Challenge – 50 Laps – 28 Cars 1. # 9 Robbie Storer – Zephyrhills – Fast Qualifier 15.039 Secs. 2. #13 Johnathon Camp – Beverly Hills 3. #03 Raymond Folwell – St. Petersburg 4. #91 Jason Rendell – Lakeland 5. #05 Rick Sirmans – Pinellas Park 6. #86 Phillip Joyner, Jr. – Brooksville 7. #70 Marty Neikens – Clearwater 8. #98 James Ellis – Brooksville Highland Homes Southern Sportsman Series – 50 Laps – 27 Cars 1. #42 Richie Smith – Hernando – Fast Qualifier 14.820 2. #13 Aaron Williamson – Mulberry 3. #79x Steve Gainey – Bradenton 4. #55 Richard Elkins – Auburndale 5. #97 Craig Cuzzone – Lakeland 6. #00 Ron Heard, Jr. – Seffner 7. #22 Travis Nichols – Brooksville 8. #78 Arthur Conquest – Bronson 9. #72 Tommy Conquest – Bronson 10.#47 Keith Zavrel – Brooksville Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 21 Cars 1. #34 Teddy Nelson – 4th Season Win 2. #01 Curtis Neumann 3. #23x Butch Bassett 4. #03 Kyle Bookmiller 5. #08 David Davis 1st Heat Winner - #34 Teddy Nelson 2nd Heat Winner - #37 Adam May 3rd Heat Winner - #01 Curtis Neumann Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 28 Cars 1. #95 Jason Murphree – 2nd Season Win 2. #66 Bobby Taylor 3. #33 Curtis Flanagan 4. #63 Tim Alexander 5. #20 Josh Teague 1st Heat Winner - #95 Jason Murphree 2nd Heat Winner - #20 Josh Teague 3rd Heat Winner - #51 Richie Smith Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #44 Glen Colyer – 4th Season Win 2. #82 Jim Kruse 3. #24 Carmine Castoria 4. #61 Richard Henick 7. #98 Randy Spicer 1st Heat Winner - #88 Louie Coie 2nd Heat Winner - #44 Glen Colyer 3rd Heat Winner - #13 Rick Shahid 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #12 Justin Durbin – 13th Season Win 2. #055 Joey Durbin 3. #72 Terry Dunbar 4. #84 David Williamson 5. #001 Jeff Eberly 1st Heat Winner - #20 Travis Hoefler 2nd Heat Winner - #055 Joey Durbin 3rd Heat Winner - #12 Justin Durbin Have an opinion on this story? 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