IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 20, 2004 FSCR Keith Butler Wins over 25 TBARA Sprinters at Citrus by Larry MacMillan The rocket fast TBARA Sprint cars put on quite show at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night with 25 of the super fast winged race cars making the show. Three qualifying heats set up the 25 car starting field for their 25 lap main with Dude Teate, David Steele and Ray Bragg taking the wins in the 8 lap events. David Steele set an unofficial fast time ever in his heat win with a stop watch run of 11.84 and 11.93 seconds on his final two laps. This is the first time any race car has broken into the eleven second bracket in the 49 year history of this 3/8ths mile bull ring. Several cautions and one red flag slowed the overall pace of the race. Keith Butler moved from fourth to the point by lap five and Steele rocketed from his 7th starting spot to second by lap six. Butler held off Steele’s multiple attempts to make the pass for 14 laps before the red flag came out for a three car crash in turn 3 and 4 that tightened up the whole field for the final 5 lap shoot out. Butler seemed to be saving the best for last as he was able to pull away from the pack when the green fell and went on to win his first TBARA race in 2004. Steele held out for a second place finish over 10th starter Doug Heveron. Wayne Reutimann Sr. moved from his 14th starting spot to finish fourth just ahead of 12th starter Sport Allen. Another hard charger, 16 year old Lance Taylor took over the driving chores for Jimmy Alvis for his first ride in a Sprint Car and moved from 23rd to finish 11th. The only other time Lance had been in a sprint car was during Thursday’s practice where he proved to Alvis that he can drive despite his inexperience, turning laps in the low 13 second bracket. Lance started out his racing career winning a number of Go-Kart championships at Dirt Devil in his early driving years and then moved up to Mini Stocks right here at Citrus County speedway. His dad recently put him into a Late Model that will be his primary ride and he tested the car for the first time during the Thursday night practice. Alvis had planned to give Lance his first opportunity to drive next week when the sprinters move to Ocala and it was a late afternoon decision to put the kid through his paces at Citrus. Five other divisions spiced up the Saturday night Action Attraction with 83 race cars participating in heat and feature action. Sixteen Super Stocks took the green in their 20 lap main event which saw multiple lead changes. When the dust settled and only 10 cars finishing it was 13th starter Steve Olone taking the win over new comer Edward Allen, Frank Buchanan, Bob Masciaretti and pole sitter Brett Flagg. Heat wins went to Mascaiareti and Tommy Brakeman. It was another come from the back of a 14 car Mini Stock field for Robbie Yoakam who powered his way to the checkered flag for the second win in a row and logging his 4th win of the season. George Neumann took the win in the first heat and was able to move from 8th to take the lead early in the race but had to settle for second in their 20 lap main event. New daddy Chris Hooker ran a solid third possibly taking back the point lead in the division. Chris Thornton and Jeff Barnes battled to the flag in the race for fourth and fifth respectively. Rick Sirmons won the second heat. It was a 23 car starting field in the Hobby Stock 20 lap feature that saw numerous lead changes before Dean Lawyer moved to the point and captured his third feature win of the season. Rookie Bob Becker had his best run of the season with a solid run in second followed by Neil Herne Jr., Todd Downs and Tim Alexander. Heat wins went to Bobby Taylor, Alvin Williamson and Tommy Smith. Williamson was leading the race when he suffered a flat tire on a caution flag that sent him to the pits and the rear of the pack for the restart. Point leader Tommy Smith suffered his first DNF of the season late in the feature with a damaged right front wheel that ended his night on lap 15 and his point lead may be in jeopardy. Another rookie went to Victory Lane for the first time in his short Thunder Stock career. Gary Budek started his racing career sponsoring a Hobby Stock but got the bug and built a Thunder Stock. He has learned a lot in a short time, winning his first heat race last week and then coming back to win the feature Saturday night over a 24 car field. Fred Henick held out for a hard fought second followed by John Sullivan who was D.Q.’d in tech for running a 350 illegal motor. Rex Mullis inherited third over Louie Coie and last week’s winner Rick Badessa. Budek, Wayne Heater and Jerry Hoover took the heat wins. Rick Fort won his first 4 Cylinder Bomber feature of the year over the six car field. Harold Barup took second but was disqualified in tech giving the spot to Justin Durbin. Point leader Clark Pittsley coasted to an easy third followed by Michael Spencer and Rusty Adams. Pittsley inherited the heat win after Barup’s D.Q. Rumors are that management is talking to the Late Model drivers to see if they will support a twice a month race. The fans have missed the high dollar race cars with limited regular Late Model races on the schedule this season. Next Saturday will see the return of the Open Wheel Lites, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers making up a 7 division race card. Citrus County Speedway Results 6/19/04 TBARA Sprint Car Feature – 25 Laps – 25 Cars 1. #19 Keith Butler 2. #91 David Steel 3. #22 Doug Heveron 4. #68 Dude Teate 5. #99 Wayne Reutimann Sr. 6. # 96 Sport Allen 7. #10 Matt Mercer 8. #79 David Slawiak 9. #66 Ray Bragg 10.#47 Richard Waddell 11.#21 Lance Taylor – 16 yr. Old Rookie 1st Race 12.#29 Gary Gimmler 13.#6F Skeeter Faulconer 14.# 1 Steve Bradley 15.# 7 John Gilbert JR. 16.# 3 Daryl Smith – 24 laps 17.#2c Curtis Carter – 24 laps 18.#8 Nick Manikis – 22 laps 19.#33C John Sambor – 20 laps 20.#118 Stan Butler – 12 laps 21.#16 Ben Fritz – 10 laps 22.#44 Bill Pettijohn – 9 laps 23.#80 Wendy Mathis – 8 laps 24.# 6 Troy Decaire – 2 laps 25.#3X BoHartley – 1 lap 1st Heat Winner - #68 Dude Teate 2nd Heat Winner - #91 David Steele 3rd Heat Winner – #66 Ray Bragg Super Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #20 Steve Olone – 2nd Feature Win 2. #23 Edward Allen 3. #07 Frank Buchanan 4. #72x Bob Masciaretti 5. #59 Brett Flagg 1st Heat Winner - #72x Bob Masciaretti 2nd Heat Winner - #50 Tommy Brakeman Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. # 8 Robbie Yoakam – 4th Feature Win 2. # 1 George Neumann 3. #1x Chris Hooker 4. #24 Chris Thornton 5. #15 Jeff Barnes 1st Heat Winner - #1 George Neumann 2nd Heat Winner - #05 Rick Sirmons Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #19 Dean Lawyer – 3rd Feature Win 2. #17 Bob Becker 3. #13 Neil Herne Jr. 4. #00 Todd Downs 5. #41 Tim Alexander 1st Heat Winner – #66 Bobby Taylor 2nd Heat Winner - #09 Alvin Williamson 3rd Heat Winner - #42 Tommy Smith Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars 1. #05 Gary Budek – 1st Feature Win 2. #60 Fred Henick 3. #13 Rex Mullis 4. #88x Louie Coie 5. #88 Rick Badessa 1st Heat Winner - #05 Gary Budek 2nd Heat Winner – #71 Wayne Heater 3rd Heat Winner - #30 Jerry Hoover 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 6 Cars 1. #43 Rick Fort 2. # 2 Justin Durbin 3. #64 Clark Pittsley – Heat Winner 4. # 7 Michael Spencer 5. #67 Rusty Adams Have an opinion on this story? 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