by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, FL 8/11/01) One hundred twenty three racecars loaded up the pits at Citrus County Speedway and after a four week hiatus due to extremely wet weather they came loaded for bear and ready to race. Three out of six winners were decided in post race tech inspection, changing the outcome in the winners circle. Twenty-one Late Models chased John Chance for all thirty laps in his third win of the season. Chance picked up the win coming off the outside pole using a borrowed motor from Tim Sharrone who was unable to make even the first lap in his racecar. Herb Neumann Jr. locked on to second at the checkered flag, outrunning Billy Bechtelheimer who was going for the three in a row bonus. Tate Pierce salvaged a fourth place finish from his pole starting spot over rookie Jim Smith. Smith won his heat and Bruce Smith took the win in the second heat.
Citrus County Speedway Results Late Model Feature – 30 Laps – 21 Cars 1. #61 John Chance Floral City 2. #38 Herb Neumann Jr. Inverness 3. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer Dover 4. #81 Tate Pierce 5. #2X Jim Smith Inverness 1st Heat Winner – 2X Jim Smith – Inverness 2nd Heat Winner – 54 Kevin Bryant Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #69 Rex Struble Homosassa 2. #55 Mike Veltman Crystal River 3. # 3 Chris Hooker Floral City 4. #36 Johnny Sanders Homosassa 5. #12 Terry Cater Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #36 Johnny Sanders – Homosassa 2nd Heat Winner - #69 Rex Struble – Homosassa Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #35 Victor Stanley Brooksville 2. #54` Dean Lawyer Beverly Hills 3. # 2 Travis Nichols Inverness 4. #53 James Green Jr. Inverness 5. #63 Kathy Ray Floral City 1st Heat Winner - #31 Kevin Roberts – Inverness 2nd Heat Winner - #17 Michael Bell – Brooksville Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #22 Rick Coleman Brooksville 2. #21 John Coleman Brooksville 3. # 5 Mark Sowell Hernando 4. #86 Phillip Joyner Jr. 5. #88 Rob Wheatley Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #22 Rick Coleman – Brooksville 2nd Heat Winner - #21 John Coleman – Brooksville 3rd Heat Winner - #5 Mark Sowell – Hernando Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #36 Eric Sharrone Floral City 2. #21 Tommy Smith Floral City 3. #14 J.D. Goff Brooksville 4. #44 Glen Colyer Sr. Homosassa 5. #07 Roy Perkins Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #44 Glen Colyer Sr. – Homosassa 2nd Heat Winner – #15 Holly Hand – Zephyrhills 3rd Heat Winner - #42 Richie Smith – Hernando Thunder Stock Feature – 15 Laps – 25 Cars 1. #71 Curtis Sandifer 2. #88 Rick Bedessa 3. #47 Pat Quick 4. #01 Joe Rauner 5. # 2 Stuart Madison
Johnny Sanders launched his Sportsman off the outside pole position and held onto the lead for the first 10 laps before Alan Struble locked onto the point. Rex Struble, Mike Veltman and Chris Hooker made the pass on Sanders before the checkered flag came out and the top five finished in that order. The final decision was made in tech with Alan Struble weighing in too light and brother Rex picking up his fourth win of the season on the D.Q. Terry Cater moved up to a fifth place finish. Rex Struble and Johnny Sanders picked up the heat wins.
Rick Coleman launched his Mini Stock to the point in the early laps and set the pace most of the way to the checkered flag for his second win of the season. John Coleman came from his 10th starting spot to ride on his uncles bumper at the finish line. Mark Sowell started 23rd and was going for the win from the rear bonus and had to settle for a solid third place finish. Phillip Joyner had his best finish since buying the former 9X racer outrunning Rob Wheatley in the run for fourth. Mini Stockers will be tuning up for the Lenny Brown/Ed Ironside Perry Memorial 50 which is scheduled to run on Labor Day Weekend, September 1st. A big money purse is being put together for this one that will see time trials for qualifying. Fast qualifier will pick up $100.
Victor Stanley finally picked up his first Street Stock win of the season after apparent winner Scott Guthman weighed too light in their 20 lap main event. Dean Lawyer outran Travis Nichols, James Green Jr. and pole sitter Kathy Ray to round out the top five. Kevin Roberts and Mike Bell nailed down the heat wins.
Graduating from the Street Legal Junkers this year, it was Eric Sharrone topping off the 23 car Hobby Stock field for his first win in the division. Tommy Smith started tenth and chased Sharrone to the line for a solid second place win. J.D. Goff moved from 14th to third over pole sitter Glen Colyer Sr. and Roy Perkins to round out the top five. Heat winners were Glen Colyer, Holly Hand and Richie Smith.
Jeff Teague came on too strong in the final laps of the Thunder Stock 15 lap main event and had the win taken away after being found illegal in post race inspection. Curtis Sandifer picked up his first ever win on the D.Q. Rick Badessa, Pat Quick, Joe Rauner and Stuart Madison took the balance of the top five spots.
Saturday night the Figure 8s will try again to get the Mike Scott Plumbing Figure 8 30 in after being rained out twice. All seven divisions will be running in week 21 of the 2001-racing season at Citrus County Speedway.
