IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

July 12, 2009 Curtis Neumann Shines over 46 Car Modified Field by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 7/11/09) After a one week hiatus for the 4th of July weekend, race car drivers and fans were ready to get back to business at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night and that they did with 9 divisions on the race card and 126 drivers registered to take on whatever the competition had to offer as the entered the mid season for 2009. Open Wheel Modifieds took the spotlight with 26 cars in the pits testing and tuning for the setup that would best serve them in the 3 heat races and their 40 lap main event that saw 23 cars surviving the heats to take the green in the feature race. Jeff Sloan won the pole starting position on the pill draw after finishing third in the 1st heat. Robbie Cooper came into the 5th week of their Citrus season point race in third and managed a second place finish in the second heat and started on the outside pole. When the green flag fell he jumped to the point and looked like the man to beat until about the halfway point in the 40 lap run when he appeared to lose power taking him out of the top five after 20 laps of racing. Meantime 11th starter Curtis Neumann used the outside land to take advantage of some extra power and a setup that loves that second and third groove at the track to motor past all the ten front runners to take the point before the final 10 laps giving him his 2nd feature win and 2nd heat win of the season putting him on top of the points after 6 weeks of racing. Keith Lilly started 7th to follow Neumann across the finish line at the checkered flag. Billy Bechtelheimer took the win in the second heat started 5th in the feature held out for a third place finish followed by 4th starter Tommy Schnader while Eric Rudd stayed in the top five throughout the race locking in a fifth place finish. Bobby Blake took the win in the 1st heat but ran into trouble during the feature bending a nurfbar that rubbed on a tire that caused a lot of smoke on the track but he was able to make a quick trip to the pits for a fix of the problem but had to settle for a 19th place finish after going several laps down while in the pits. Eleven Sportsman came into their 9th week of the season point race taking the green flag with Ernie Reed on the pole and Tom Posavec. In their race for the lead they got together in turn one early in the race with both cars into the turn one wall sending both to the pits for repairs. Mike Veltman set the pace after the restart but he also ran into trouble early which opened the door for Joey Catterelli to take the point and set the pace to the checkered flag for his second win of the season and he now leads in the point chase over Bobby Ervien who came into the point lead Saturday and had troubles early in the race with a flat right front tire that sent him to the pits for a wheel change that put him at the back of the field. New comer L.J. Grimm seemed to be the only driver that had anything for Catterelli in the run for the checkers but had to settle for a second place finish in front of Mike Veltman who recovered from his earlier problems. T.J. Chambers and David White finish in 4th and 5th respectively. Heat wins went to Catterelli and Ron Heard. Despite running into problems in the second heat, Point Leader Clint Foley continued to be the man to beat, winning the pole position for their 20 lap feature. It was catch me if you can from the green flag to the checkers and no one could as Foley logged his 6th win of the season and put some more cushion in his point lead over outside pole sitter Mike Lawhorn who had to settle for a 6th place finish. Johnathan Camp started third and chased Foley all the way to the checkers for a 2nd place finish followed by James Ellis who had an early lead that faded early in the race. Brandon McSwain came off the win two weeks ago and had to settle for 4th from his 4th starting position. Rounding out the top five was 14th starter Travis Hoefler who had to be the hard charger of the evening. McSwain and Camp took the heat wins. Tommy Smith continued his dominance in the Pure Stock division starting the evening off with a heat win and then working his way from 6th to Victory lane for his 7th feature win of the season. Wes Filyaw had the early lead but had to settle for a second place finish at the checkered flag. Drew Matissek started 15th and drove through the 18 car field to finish third and holds second in the point’s race. Former point champion Steven Stinedurf survived a lot of bumping and shoving for a 4th place finish followed by Victor Shahid. Smith and Tim Alexander logged the heat wins. Richard Kuhn motored from dead last through the 16 car field in pursuit of defending his 2008 championship and outran Wayne Heater who was driving his daughter’s car after her accident several weeks ago that took her out or the driver’s seat of the #71. When the dust settled in the Mike Scott Plumbing 4 Cylinder Stock 20 lap main, Kuhn logged his 6th win of the season being chased across the line by Heater, Phil Edwards, Tim Scalise and Chris Snow. Heater and Bryson Ward took the heat wins. New comer Greg Valdez crossed the line in second place in the feature but was D.Q.’d for illegal tires in post race inspection. Brothers Neil Herne and Charles Herne headed up the 13 car Figure 8 Feature for the first few laps before a multi car crash brought out the first caution and on the restart Wayne Calkins took charge of the point and Clifford Rousseau, Bobby Towe, John Baranauskas and Charlie Meyer chased Calkins to the checkered flag for the balance of the race with a couple more cautions coming out for minor accidents. That’s the way they finished taking the race card to the 11 o’clock curfew which postponed the V8 Thunder Stock feature until another night. They will run double features in their next race on the schedule which will be next Saturday night. The new race start time of 6:30 p.m. will be officially in effect next week July 18th and it will be $1.00 beer night for the grandstand side. The race card will feature a 50 lap Truck Race, NAPA Auto Parts Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks, the Mike Scott Plumbing 4 Cylinder Stocks, the Florida Open Wheel Lites and the Mini Cup Cars are back. Citrus County Speedway Results 7/11/09 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 4 Laps -26 Cars 1. #01 Curtis Neumann – Inverness – 2nd Season Win 2. #87 Keith Lilly - ? 3. #6 Billy Bechtelheimer – Dover 4. #19 Tommy Schnader – Largo 5. #112 Eric Rudd - ? 1st Heat Winner – 75 Bobby Blake – Grand Isle 2nd Heat Winner - #6 Billy Bechtelheimer 3rd Heat Winner - #01 Curtis Neumann Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 11 Cars 1. #15 Joey Catterelli – Largo – 2nd Season Win 2. #725 L.J. Grimm – Seffner 3. # 5 Mike Veltman – Crystal River 4. #57 T.J. Chambers – Brooksville 5. # 6 David White – Spring Hill 1st Heat Winner - #100 Ron Heard 2nd Heat Winner – Joey Catterelli Curry Roofing Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon – 6th Season Win 2. #13 Johnathon Camp – Beverly Hills 3. #98 James Ellis – Brooksville 4. #37 Brandon McSwain – Auburndale 5. #20 Travis Hoefler – Floral City 1st Heat Winner - #37 Brandon McSwain 2nd Heat Winner - #13 Johnathon Camp Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps - 18 Cars 1. #24 Tommy Smith – 7th Season Win – Hernando 2. #39 Wes Filyaw – Brooksville 3. #68 Drew Matissek – New Port Richey 4. # 0 Steven Stinedurf – Brooksville 5. #7 Chuck Franklin – Hernando 1st Heat Winner - #24 Tommy Smith 2nd Heat Winner - #75 Tim Alexander – Brooksville Mike Scott Plumbing 4 Cylinder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #47 Richard Kuhn – Ocala – 6th Season Win 2. #71 Wayne Heater – Homosassa 3. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River 4. #48 Tim Scalise – Zephyrhills 5. #29 Chris Snow – Dunnellon 1st Heat Winner - #71 Wayne Heater 2nd Heat Winner - #4 Bryson Ward – Crystal River Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1, #14 Wayne Calkins – St. Petersburg – 1st Season Win 2. # 3 Cliff Rousseau – St. Petersburg 3. #65 Bobby Towe – Pinellas Park 4. #39 Robby Hage – St. Petersburg 5. #94 Charlie Meyer – St. Petersburg Have an opinion on this story? 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