(Inverness, FL; 10/21/2000) Another banner night at Citrus County Speedway Saturday with The M. Dominique Limited Sportsman 40 rounding out eight competitive feature races. Jamming the pits were 143 cars, including 19 Mini-Cup cars in their final appearance for the 2000 season.

Rex Struble used the outside groove for the first 20 laps and got shuffled back to seventh from his third starting position before his racer came in for him. At the halfway mark, he used all the horsepower he could muster to make the pass for the lead and his second win of the season in the M. Dominique Limited Sportsman 40. David Dollar, Bill Oestreicher, Mike Veltman and Mark Dominique locked on the leader for the nose-to-tail finish over a 16-car field. Fast qualifier Robbie Yoakam turned a 15.393 second lap and the field was totally inverted. Robbie managed to charge from the rear to fourth before an overheat problem took him out of the action again.

Ricky Carlton took a shot at his own qualifying record, but came up short with a 13.662 run at the clocks. Herb Neumann, Jr. won the poll on the pill draw and set the pace for the 16-car starting field. He led the entire 35 laps that saw just one caution flag. Points champion Mike Bresnahan, Ricky Carlton, and Richard Pratt locked on to the leader, putting the pressure on Neumann to no avail. Danny Johnson and Dale Sanders had a race of their own going for the fifth spot and finished in that order.

Wes Wilson, Otis Hamilton and Mike Holms picked up the Street Stock heats as 27 cars qualified for their 20-lap main event. Harley Wilson, Sr. wasted no time going to the point from his third starting spot and set the pace right to the checkered flag for his fourth win of the season. John LeVecque gave Wilson all he could muster but it wasn't enough. Ernie Reed came through the pack to salvage a third place finish just ahead of point leader Wes Wilson and David Kingsbury.

Point runner-up Mark Sowell became the winningest driver in the Mini- Stock division with number 7 going into the books Saturday night. However, George Neumann locked in the Points Crown with his fourth place finish. Rob Wheatley literally locked on to Sowell's rear bumper for the entire 20 laps while the balance of the 17 car field fought for third fourth and fifth. Frank Coleman held off George Neumann and Mike Moore right to the flag. Don Faunce and Kevin Harrod took the heat wins but both suffered DNFs in the main.

Twenty Hobby Stocks took the green in their 20-lap main. Richie Smith outdueled J.D. Goff for 5 laps before he was able to lock on to the point for his 6th feature win in his rookie year. Goff settled for second and picked up 17 points on leader Chris Hooker, who had transmission problems and finished 8th in the feature run. Roy Perkins outran Art Bruengingsen and Beau Stevenson in the run for third. Heat wins went to Kreg Belcastro and Patrick Lewis. J.D. Goff pulled to within 29 points of snatching the crown away from Chris Hooker and Richie Smith closed to just 36 points out of the running. This is about the only crown that is not locked in for the six regular divisions at the speedway.

Fifteen cars took the green in a wild Figure-8 run that saw Peanut Higgenbotham take his first ever feature race. While the rest of the field was battling Darryl Hage for second place Peanut gained a half lap lead on the rest of the field for his victory. Darryl Hage, J.R. Meyer, Robbie Hage and Tim Henault took the balance of the top five spots.

The Figure-8s will be idle until the final points race of the year on November 11th.

Nineteen Mini-Cup cars made the show for their final appearance of the year Josh Hermann of St. Cloud picked up the win over Tom Clark of Brandon. Winter Havens Terry Lee Tullis salvaged a third place run over Doug Smith of Valrico and Calvin Lewis of Winter Haven.

Rick Badessa was able to keep Shawn Kipp at bay for his first Street Legal Junker win of the season. Roy Blotz came up third after he got his spot back when Eric Sharrone took him out early in the race.

With only three more weeks left in the season, many top ten spots are still up for grabs. Next Saturday night will see the Late Models getting prepared for the November 4th Florida Pro 125 plus the 911 Emergency Racers make their final appearance for the 2000 season. The kids are invited to come out for driver trick or treat and the WRC Costume contest for three age groups to 15 years of age. Limited Sportsman, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Mini-Stocks will be running in heat and feature action with only three more races left on their schedule.

-Larry MacMillan-

Late Model Feature ­ 35 Laps ­ 16 Cars
1. #98 Herb Neumann, Jr. Inverness
2. #31 Mike Bresnahan Lecanto
3. #34 Ricky Carlton Homosassa
4. # 0 Richard Pratt Wesley Chapel
5. #96 Danny Johnson Crystal River
Fast Qualifier - #34 Ricky Carlton ­ Homosassa ­ 13. 662

M. Dominique Mobile Home Restoration Limited Sportsman 40
40 Laps ­ 16 Cars
1. #69 Rex Struble Brooksville
2. #04 David Dollar Hernando
3. # 5 Bill Oestreicher Inverness
4. #55 Mike Veltman Crystal River
5. # 7 Mark Dominique Inverness
Fast Qualifier #44 Robbie Yoakam ­ Hernando ­ 15.339

Street Stock Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 27 Cars
1. #85 Harley Wilson Sr. Floral City
2. # 6 John LeVecque Inverness
3. #55 Ernie Reed JR. Crystal River
4. #20 Wes Wilson Floral City
5. #73 David Kingsbury Brooksville
1st Heat Winner - #20 Wes Wilson ­ Floral City
2nd Heat Winner - #36 Otis Hamilton ­ Brooksville
3rd Heat Winner - #1 Mike Holms ­ Inverness

Mini-Stock Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 17 Cars
1. # 5 Mark Sowell Hernando
2. #88 Rob Wheatley Hernando
3. #20 Frank Coleman Brooksville
4. # 1 George Neumann Inverness
5. #25 Mike Moore Brooksville
1st Heat Winner - # 2 Don Faunce ­ Brooksville
2nd Heat Winner - #34 Kevin Harrod ­ Bushnell

Hobby Stock Feature ­ 20 Laps ­ 20 Cars
1. #42 Richie Smith Hernando
2. #14 J.D. Goff Brooksville
3. #07 Roy Perkins Inverness
4. #35 Art Bruengingsen Spring Hill
5. #80 Beau Stevenson Bushnell
1st Heat Winner - # 3 Kreg Belcastro ­ Inverness
2nd Heat Winner - #46 Patrick Lewis ­ Inverness

Figure 8 Feature,­ 15 Cars ­ 20 Laps
1. # 5 Peanut Higgenbotham Floral City
2. # 8 Darryl Hage St. Petersburg
3. #37 J.R. Meyer St. Petersburg
4. #74 Robbie Hage St. Petersburg
5. #69 Tim Henaucht Pinellas Park

Mini-Cup Feature, ­ 20 Laps - 18 Cars
1. #98 Josh Hermann St. Cloud
2. #20 Tom Clark Brandon
3. #56 Terry Lee Tullis Winter Haven
4. #17 Doug Smith Valrico
5. #21 Calvin Lewis Winter Haven

Street Legal Junker Feature ­ 15 Laps ­ 13 Cars
1. #88 Rick Badessa
2. #18 Shawn Kipp
3. #3 Roy Blotz








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