IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 25, 2004 FSCR John Chance Wins Citrus 75 after 3 Year Layoff by Larry MacMillan An early addition to the 2004 Late Model schedule at Citrus County Speedway brought an 18 car field to the 3/8ths mile oval with a $2,000 to win purse as an incentive. It brought in some pretty quality racers which saw former track champion Mike Bresnahan turning his home track at 13:472 seconds for fast qualifier honors. On the pill draw, the top nine cars were inverted for the start giving John Chance the pole in his Bill Kart race car. Jim Smith took the outside pole followed Richie Smith and Raymond Lovelady in row two, Ryan Foster and Wayne Anderson in row three, track record holder Scott Grossenbacher and former champion Herb Neumann in row four and Bresnahan teamed up beside Patrick Williams in row five. The balance of the field lined up according to qualifying times. On the initial start, Chance wasted no time taking the point as the rest of the field diced to find a spot in the low groove to settle in for the 75 lap run. The first caution came out in lap 7 when two cars got together on the high side of turn two taking Mike Bresnahan right off the race track trying to avoid the confusion in front of him. That ended the night for the fast qualifier. On the restart single file lineup Chance took the point followed by Jim Smith, Wayne Anderson, Herb Neumann, Scott Grossenbacher, Raymond Lovelady, Patrick Williams, Ryan Foster and Rex Struble to round out the top ten. Five caution flags thinned out the field due to slower traffic and mechanical problems with the most serious coming when Herb Neumann Jr. got together with Russ Shaw that whipped out the right side and the nose of the #98 Mackie’s race machine. Neumann couldn’t get rid of the hanging body part so he shaved them off by scraping the front straight wall. Unfortunately that didn’t help him as the race progressed and he had to retire it for the second time in the last two races. Jim Smith followed John Chance for 50 laps before he had to take it to the pits due to a rear end leak that developed during the race. This moved Wayne Anderson into second, Scott Grossenbacher to third, Rex Struble and Danny Johnson to fourth and fifth respectively. No one had enough to put Chance away for the final 25 laps despite two caution flags for minor spins that wrapped up the first 75 lap Late Model feature of the season. Super Late Models will go at it again on May 8th for the Florida Pro 125. Six other divisions went in 6 lap heats and 20 lap feature races for a complete race show that saw some strange things occur before it was all over. The Florida Open Wheel Lites brought in 12 cars for their first 2004 appearance at Citrus and saw Winter Haven’s Brian Gingras blitzed the entire field followed by Jacksonville’s Rick Lundeen, Ron Towles, Winter Haven’s Kevin Baxter and Green Cove Springs’ Erik Powell. Thirteen Super Stocks took the green flag with a first lap mishap that saw Dusty Bremer eat the pit entrance fence, burying the front end of his racer into the barrier. On the restart it was all over but the post race inspection for Steven Anderson. The race for second featured five cars while Anderson ran away from the rest of the field. Ernie Reed edged Richie Smith out for second and inherited the win after Anderson’s car was D.Q.’d for running an illegal sway bar. The final five put Joe Viverito in third followed by John Makula and Steve King. After a DNF last week, defending Mini Stock Champion Chris Hooker came from the inside of row two to the point in lap two and never looked back, logging his second win of the early season. Steve Griffin spent the final ten laps holding off new comer Chad Johnson to the flag. Mike Lawhorn came off the pole to salvage a fourth place finish over outside pole sitter Jim Curry. It was a 27 car Hobby Stock field that kept the fans on their feet while Ernie Reed went to the front early, avoided problems with slower traffic and made easy work of his first win the season in the division making it a pair of wins for the night. Dean Lawyer locked on to Reed for the entire 20 laps and managed to keep Tommy Smith behind him to the checkers. Bobby Taylor took a fourth place finish away from Jim Nocella who slipped from third to fifth late in the race. Lots of fender bending took place in the Thunder stock feature with 27 cars taking the green flag that ended four laps short of the checkered flag. Glen Colyer had just made a pass on leader Victor Shahid when the two cars made contact turning Colyer around on turn four. Colyer was able to drive away from the accident but was slow and looking for a caution to come out when he got nailed in the rear end of his race car that really rang his bell. The checkers flew after the accident with Lee Keller logging his third feature win in a row followed by Rick Badessa. Despite the accident Colyer did salvage a third place finish with Shahid and Louie Cioe holding out for the top five. For the first time this year the 4 Cylinder Bombers started more that four cars. Justin Durbin made his first appearance of the year pay off with a run away in their 20 lap feature. Rick Foyrt, John DeGeorge, Clark Pittsley and Harold Barup locked in the top five spots. Next Saturday night will feature the monthly Sportsman 40 plus a return of the Modifieds for a 30 lap race and the wild and crazy Figure 8’s doing their intersection action. The regular Mini Stock, Hobby Stock, Thunder Stock and 4 Cylinder Bombers will also be running with the Super Streets taking the night off. Citrus County Speedway Results 4/24/04 Super Late Model Feature – 75 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #61 John Chance 2. #19 Wayne Anderson 3. #09 Scott Grossenbacher 4. #3X Rex Struble 5. #96 Danny Johnson 6. #17 Raymond Lovelady 7. #1X Daniel Webster 8. #10 Ryan Foster 9. #65 Shane Nichols 10.# 9 Ken Steinhorst 11.#32 Jim Smith 12.#98 Herb Neumann Jr. 13.#77 Patrick Williams 14.#68 Russ Shaw 15.#47 Keith Zavrel 16.#42 Richie Smith 17.#57 Mike Bresnahan – Fast Qualifier 18.#30 Cyrus Robinson Super Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #55 Ernie Reed 2. #77 Richie Smith 3. #72 Joe Viverito 4. #27 John Makula 5. #99 Steve King 1st Heat Winner - #72 Joe Viverito 2nd Heat Winner - #55 Ernie Reed Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #1X Chris Hooker 2. # 3 Steve Griffin 3. #94 Chad Johnson 4. #44 Mike Lawhorn 5. #20 Jim Curry 1st Heat Winner - #44 Mike Lawhorn 2nd Heat Winner - #94 Chad Johnson Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 27 Cars 1. #22 Ernie Reed 2. #19 Dean Lawyer 3. #42 Tommy Smith 4. #66 Bobby Taylor 5. #21 Jim Nocella 1st Heat Winner - #37 Rick Selvage 2nd Heat Winner - #42 Tommy Smith 3rd Heat Winner - #22 Ernie Reed Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 27 Cars 1. #21 Lee Keller 2. #88 Rick Badessa 3. #4X Glen Colyer 4. #8 Rick Shahid 5. #88x Louie Cioe 1st Heat Winner - #88 Rick Badessa 2nd Heat Winner – #30 Jerry Hoover 3rd Heat Winner - #0X Steven Steindurf 4 Cylinder Bombers – 20 Laps – 9 Cars 1. # 2 Justin Durbin 2. #43 Rick Foryt 3. #22 John DeGeorge 4. #64 Clark Pittsley 5. # 3 Harold Barup Heat Winner - #2 Justin Durbin Have an opinion on this story? 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