#94 Charley Meyer leads the Figure Eight pack through the 'X'
Citrus County Speedway ended the month of April with 8 divisions, 132 racers and the most action packed night of the season. If you missed this one you regrettably missed some of the most competitive features of the year in just about every division. The fans definitely got their money’s worth.
Apparently Bobby Taylor’s pre-race work under the hood of his Pure Stock has paid off. Racing in two divisions on any given Saturday night he works on both cars from the time he arrives to feature time.
He definitely has them dialed into the Citrus 3/8ths mile outside groove and in each of his first four races in the Pure Stock Division he has charged from the back to the front of the pack in short order. This week he started 18th and locked onto his fourth consecutive feature win. Rick Shahid came out of 12th to finish second after giving up the lead to Taylor.
Eddie Davis started 14th, crossed the start finish line in third but lost the spot in post race tech inspection. Pole sitter and early leader Louie Coie held out for third after the DQ followed by Ricky Henick and Mike Walsh. Coie and Shahid took the heat wins.
The Open Wheel Modifieds saw 14 cars take the green flag and when all was said and done it was a match race to the checkers between pole sitter Teddy Nelson and 5th starter Curtis Neumann. Neumann caught Nelson early in the 30 lap main event and waited for the final 10 laps to make numerous attempts to move under Nelson.
Curtis Neumann gets first Feature Modified Win
Patience paid off for Neumann when Nelson slipped on turn four and Curtis was able to run down the front straight side by side with Nelson before taking the point on turn two in lap 26. Teddy stayed with Curtis right to the flag but had to settle for a hard fought second. Starting third Jimmy Houle held on for a third place finish followed by defending champion Kyle Bookmiller and Adam May who moved from 10th to finish fifth after winning the first heat. Bookmiller took the win in the second heat.
Maloy Kelly took the green flag from the pole in the 20 car, 20 lap Sportsman main and held the early lead until 8th starter Richie Smith made his way through traffic using that outside groove to take the point and his first win of the season in the division.
Richie Smith
Maloy held on for a second place finish with 15th starter Bobby Taylor right on his rear bumper again using that outside groove setup that worked so well for him in the Pure Stock feature. Tom Posavec held out for a 4th place finish over Clint Foley. Heat wins went to Fred Tuski, Posavec and Smith. A large field is expected for next week’s 50 lap non points special for a big purse.
The Mini Stock 20 lap main had a short field but plenty of action as Clint Foley drove from fourth to the front early and fought off the late charges of point leader Steve Griffin who started 8th. Foley logged his third win of the season while Griffin had to settle for a second place finish.
Young Mark Powers continues to show promise driving from his 9th starting spot to finish third for his fourth top five finish of the season. George Neumann challenged the front runners early in the race but slipped back to fourth at the finish line over Mike Lawhorn. Lawhorn and Powers took the heat wins. Mini Stocks are scheduled to go in a 50 lap special on May 19th.
Street Stocks saw 24 cars take the green flag and the run for the point had all the fans on their feet when Tony Trancucci, Mike Loudy and Artie Hewitt came off turn four, all fighting for the same real estate. Hewitt got caught up in the middle and was turned into the front straight wall, hitting hard, moving the wall back towards the guard rail and then got hit from behind by Mike Loudy.
The crash brought out the red flag while Artie shook off the hard impact and was able to walk away from his battered racer. Some minor repairs were made to the wall after the wreck but the race took the green flag with a new front three going up on the score board. When the checkers flew 14th starter Curtis Flanagan took his second consecutive win followed closely by Jay Witfoth, Richie Smith, Tim Alexander and Todd Downs. Heat winners were Wayne Heater, Tim Quick and Richie Smith.
Figure 8’s were put on the schedule before the intermission and 18 cars really made for heavy traffic in the intersection in what turned out to be a one stop 20 lap main event. Charlie Meyer took the early lead and set the pace from his outside pole position for the first 10 laps before he was turned around on turn 2.
He regained his lead but that was short lived as the field got really serious on their run for the flag that saw 12th starter Wayne Calkins come up with the win being chased by 8th starter Clifford Rousseau and 16th starter Joey Catterelli rounding out the top three. Meyer held out for a fourth place finish over Curtis Youmans. They were put on the schedule early so most of them could make the trip to Bronson Motor Speedway to put on another show up there.
Four Cylinder Bombers saw 16 cars make the start for their 20 lap main event and again the three racing grooves came into play as 12th starter Brandon Elwood made his way through traffic to come up with his first win at Citrus.
John DeGeorge took off from the outside pole and led the race for 18 laps before knuckling under the pressure from Elwood to hold onto second with last week’s winner Travis Hoefler right on his heels. Jon Doucette and Jeff Eberly rounded out the top five with Anthony LaPoint and DeGeorge taking the heat wins.
A short field of V8 Thunder Rookies saw John Drye put the 9 starters to sleep with his second consecutive win, a little over a half lap ahead of runner up Chad Markland, Chad Fairbanks, Ricky Shahid and John Brown.
Next Saturday’s May Day schedule will highlight the Sportsman in a 50 lap special plus the Super Late Models, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. It was also announced that Doug Rose and the Green Mamba Jet Car will be coming to Citrus County Speedway on Saturday night, May 26th. You don’t want to miss that show.
