Twenty six of Florida’s best Late Model pilots made the show at Citrus County Speedway for the 2nd leg of the 2003 Triple Crown Series. Twenty five cars took on the 3/8ths mile circuit in time trials and Mike Bresnahan took his new ride to a new track record of 13.415 or just over 100 miles an hour. James Powell III picked up second fast qualifier money followed by former Late Model Champion Herb Neumann Jr., Wayne Anderson and Jay Middleton rounding out the top five and all running at 13.575 seconds or better.
The top seven qualifiers were inverted with Hubert Simmons picking up the pole for the start of the 125 lap run. Last week’s winner Patrick Williams won the outside pole and immediately took the point when the green flag dropped. Wayne Anderson jumped from the outside of row two and locked on to William’s rear bumper for the first 30 laps that ran pretty smoothly before the first caution flag came out. When the green flag dropped for the restart Wayne Anderson made his move on Williams and took the point. Despite several more caution flags, with laps run under caution, Anderson was able to pull away from the field at will and he led for the balance of the race. It was the first win that Anderson was able to pull off at his home race track in quite a number of years and it certainly capped his Sun Belt Championship series win for 2003.
Patrick Williams held off the rest of the field to follow up his Bronson win for a second place finish over James Powell III whose last win at Citrus County Speedway was the Powell Memorial race second leg. Herb Neumann Jr. held off Fain Skinner who matched his Bronson performance and took the top rookie of the race $100 bonus. Rounding out the top ten were Jay Middleton, Jimmy Cope, Mac Johnson, Rich Pratt and Aric Almirola. The series moves to New Smyrna Speedway for the final run for the Governors Cup next Saturday.
Sixteen Mini Stocks also took on the clocks in qualifying for their 50 lap season finale. Rick Sirmons turned fast time at 15.064 seconds over 2003 point champion Chris Hooker whose time was disallowed because he went straight to the pits rather than to the infield as directed. 2003 Point runner up Chris Thornton picked up second fast time followed by Robbie Yoakam. The top seven qualifiers were inverted putting Tom Jones on the pole and Clint Foley on the outside. Jones took the point from the get go and held off numerous challenges from Rob Wheatley, George Neumann, Chris Thornton and Chris Hooker. Seventh starter Rick Sirmons charged to the front by the halfway point in the race and took over the lead for his second win in two weeks to close out the 2003 Mini Stock season. Chris Thornton see sawed with Chris Hooker who came from the rear of the pack for seven laps before Hookers tires started going away on him and Thornton held out for a second place finish. Hooker settled for third over Don Faunce and Rob Wheatley who recovered from and early race spin when he was going for the lead. Tom Jones also lost traction and was hung out to dry after losing the early lead but held out for a sixth place finish.
In other action, “Doc” James Batson held off an 18 car Hobby Stock field for his second win over the past two weeks in two different divisions. Ocala’s Doug Webster followed in Batson’s tire tracks for the entire 25 laps and settled for second. Sport Wilson and Richie Smith had a ten lap side by side see saw battle going right to the checkered flag with Wilson coming out the winner in the race for third. David Chastain came in a distant fifth ahead of Krystal Batson.
Fourteen Super Street Stocks went head to head in their 25 lap main and pole sitter “Doc” James Batson going for his second consecutive win got taken out in turn three before the completion of the first lap. Batson was done for the evening. On the restart 2003 Sportsman Champion Michael Bell won the match race for the point over Ocala visitor Arthur Conquest. Conquest followed in Bell’s tire tracks for the first few laps before he flexed his horsepower and took over the lead going on to win his first ever race at Citrus County Speedway. 2003 Street Stock Champion Ernie Reed held out over Frank Buchanan and Charles Hornbeak to round out the top five.
Twenty one Thunder Stocks ended their season in a 25 lap feature race that had the winner decided in the post tech inspection. Apparent winner Clint Simmons dominated the race but was wearing the wrong tires when he was checked out after the race and Steven Stinedurf inherited the win. Stinedurf was the only driver that was able to give Simmons a run for his money at the final five laps with Jerry Hoover closing in the final laps settling for third. Tim Wilson came on strong in the early going but fell back to a fourth place finish over Wayne Heater when the checkers flew.
The 4 Cylinder Stocks showed up a little stronger that they did last week with 8 cars making the show. When the checkers flew on their 15 lap main Justin Durbin, Rick Fort, Rick Kuhn, Tomm Fralish and Harold Panp took the top five spots.
Next Race will be the first leg of Winter Spectacular III featuring the Super Late Models and a full card.
Citrus County Speedway Results 11/08/03
Super Late Model 125 2nd Leg 2003 Triple Crown – 26 Cars
1. #84 Wayne Anderson Wildwood
2. #57 Patrick Williams Archer
3. #37 James Powell Astor
4. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. Inverness
5. # 1 Fain Skinner Live Oak
6. #74J Jay Middleton Lake City
7. #61 Jimmy Cope St. Petersburg
8. # 6 Mac Johnson Gainesville
9. # 0 Rich Pratt Anthony
10.#14 Aric Almirola Tampa
11.#23 Scotty Crockett Land O’ Lakes
12.#88 Brock Oglesby Ocala
13.#64 Bobby Coyle Ft. Lauderdale
14.#5K Daniel Keene Jr. Tampa
15.#47 Chris Fontaine Lakeland
16.#47X Keith Zavrel Brooksbille
17.#90 Jimmy Thompson Pinellas Park
18.#22 Herb Hoefler Floral City
19.#77 Mike Bresnahan Homosassa
20.#28 Phillip Rook Ocala
21.#74 Barry Willoughby Port St. Lucie
22.# 7 Hubert Simmons Brooksville
23.#28B Billy Bigley Jr. Naples
24.#96 Dan Johnson Crystal River
25.#26 Jeremy Fehrenbach Ocala
26.#68 Perry Lovelady Lakeland
Fast Qualifier - #77 Mike Bresnahan – 13.415 Sec. New Track Record
