(Inverness, FL; 8/26/2000) A full field of 24 Mini-Stocks crowded the grid to compete for the nearly $3000 purse that was up for grabs Saturday night in the J.D. Smith Pest Control Mini Stock 40 at Citrus County Speedway.

Frank Coleman won the fast qualifier money clocking a 16.031 lap followed by Mark Sowell at 16.235 seconds. Eighth fast qualifier, Tom Zimmerman, pulled the lucky #1 pill to start on the pole and set the early pace before losing the point to hard charging Billy Smith. The second caution came out in lap 30 of the 40-lap main event and on the restart, Smith failed to fire on the green flag and lost it in turn four, bringing out another caution.

Division point leader, George Neumann inherited the lead on the restart and went on to win the $500 win purse in a nose-to-tail finish with Frank Coleman, Rob Wheatley, John Coleman and Zimmerman.

Danny Johnson picked up his third Late Model win and closed the point gap in pursuit of his second consecutive crown. Mike Bresnahan won his heat but connected with Forrest Goff on turn one and two that ended his night with a 10th place finish. Tate Pierce chased Johnson for the entire 30 laps but couldnt make the pass with Perry Lovelady finishing third followed by Al Lawrence and Herb Neumann. Neumann won the first heat and elected to go for the start from the rear bonus.

Bill Oestricher made it two in a row in the Limited Sportsman feature and will be going for the three in a row bonus next week. George Neumann locked on to Oestricher after Travis Nichols was retired from the race in lap 10 due to mechanical problems. Robert Pilkinton finished third followed by first heat winner Rex Struble and Mike Veltman. Jim Smith took the win in the second heat.

Ernie Reed Jr. locked onto the point when the green flew and never looked back for his second Street Stock win of the season. W.R.C. Hard Charger Award winner, Victor Stanley, chased Scott Hendrickson to the line. Wes Wilson was denied his third attempt for a three in a row bonus and had to settle for a 4th place finish. Heat winners were Wayne Lewis and Sport Wilson who both suffered DNFs in the main event.

J.D. Goff picked up 25 points on Hobby Stock point leader Chris Hooker and matched Chris 6 wins for the season Saturday night. Jodie Daniels is the designated driver for Hooker and was running fifth when a tire went down on him having to settle for a 12th place finish. Roy Perkins led the early part of the race but had to settle for a second place finish followed by Kreg Belcastro, Richie Smith and Jeff Sharp. Heat winners were James Teague and Sharp.

Shawn Kipp, Ted Sharrone and Tim Hundley took the top three spots in the 16-car Street Legal Junker mayhem. Roy Blotz and Doug Jensen teamed up to win the WRC Bag Race.

Eleven 911 Emergency Racers went on a 20-lap hot pursuit run in their second visit to Citrus and Rick Penton of the Hollywood Florida Police Department showed them how it is done. Bob Hart of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department was second followed by Steve Wagner, also of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department. Citrus County Sheriff's Dept. representative, Joe Gill, finished fourth and St. Pete Beach Police Department officer Phil Riles rounded out the top five. Wagner and Penton took the heat wins.

A sad note on the evening was the announcement that former track promoter Dan Jones passed away Saturday morning in St. Petersburg. Jones was voted S.E. Promoter of the year in 1980 while at Sunshine Speedway in St. Petersburg and was the promoter there until 1987.

He took on the Citrus County Speedway promotion in 1983 and due to illness gave it up in 1995. Funeral services will be held at McQueen Anderson Funeral Home in St. Petersburg on Tuesday evening at 6: 30 p.m.

Next Saturday, it's the rained out Demo Derby, plus Figure 8's and a full race card.

-Larry MacMillan-

Citrus County Speedway Results for 8/26/00
J.D. Smith Mini-Stock 40 laps ­ 24 cars
1. # 1 George Neumann Inverness
2. #20 Frank Coleman Brooksville
3. #88 Rob Wheatley Hernando
4. #21 John Coleman Brooksville
5. #55 Tom Zimmerman Plant City

Fast Qualifier - #20 Frank Coleman - 16.031 Secs.

Late Model Feature ­ 30 Laps ­ 12 Cars
1. #96 Danny Johnson Crystal River
2. #81 Tate Pierce Wesley Chapel
3. #68 Perry Lovelady Lakeland
4. #90 Al Lawrence Spring Hill
5. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. Inverness
1st Heat Winner - #98 Herb Neumann Jr. ­ Inverness
2nd Heat Winner - #31 Mike Bresnahan ­ Lecanto

Limited Sportsman Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 12 Cars
1. # 5 Bill Oestreicher Ridge Manor
2. # 1 George Neumann Inverness
3. #0x Robert Pilkinton Webster
4. #69 Rex Struble Homosassa
5. #55 Mike Veltman Crystal River
1st Heat Winner - #69 Rex Struble ­ Homosassa
2nd Heat Winner - #32 Jim Smith ­ Inverness

Street Stock Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 18 Cars
1. #55 Ernie Reed Jr. Inverness
2. # 7 Scott Hendrickson Inverness
3. #26 Victor Stanley Brooksville
4. #20 Wes Wilson Floral City
5. #01 Danny Cretty Dunnellon
1st Heat Winner ­ #28 Wayne Lewis - Zephyrhills
2nd Heat Winner - #94 Sport Wilson - Floral City

Hobby Stock Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 19 Cars
1. #14 J.D. Goff Brooksville
2. #07 Roy Perkins Inverness
3. # 3 Kreg Belcastro
4. #42 Richie Smith Hernando
5. #48 Jeff Sharp
1st Heat Winner - #05 James Teague ­ Inverness
2nd Heat Winner - #48 Jeff Sharp

Street Legal Junker Feature ­ 15 Laps ­ 16 Cars
1. #18 Shawn Kipp 2. #36 Ted Sharrone 3. #38 Tim Hundley

WRC Bag Race Winner ­ Roy Blotz and Doug Jensen







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