IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 31, 2004 FSCR Mason Love does Double Duty and Wins Trick or Treat Enduro 150 by Larry MacMillan A full pit, a full moon and all the spooks and goblins were out to celebrate the Halloween Trick or Treat Special. Mason Love served double duty in the highlight of the night after running third in the Modified 30, he took his specially prepared Enduro Race Car through the three phase Enduro 150. The 28 entrants had no idea how the race would be run until the first green flag had them starting in a clock wise (reverse oval) making right turns for the first 75 laps. The red flag came out and they took the restart in an all left turn (counter clockwise) direction. The Billy Hooker curve came at lap 134 of the 150 lap race when he threw in the infamous chicane requiring left to right and back to left turns through the infield figure 8 criss cross. It was a three man race from the original green flag with pole sitter Jerome “Remax” Wetland, Herb Neumann Jr. and Dan Partelo swapping the lead numerous times. Partelo began to fade at about lap 75 moving Mason Love into contention for the top three positions for the second half of the race. Wetland, Neumann and Love swapped the lead position on several occasion before a red flag came out in lap 134 for a car fire on turn one. On the restart the chicane was thrown in for the final 16 laps of racing. In lap 147 it was Wetland’s undoing when he lost it in the chicane that ended his night three laps short of the possible $5,000 win. Mason Love led the final 16 laps and came across the start finish line two car lengths ahead of Herb Neumann Jr. and Michael Gamache who inherited third, one lap down. All top three made it through tech with no problem Seventeen Modifieds took the green in their final 30 lap local points race and Steve Perez took the win with point leader Billy Bechtelheimer coming from his 7th starting spot to nail down the point’s championship in the division for 2004. Mason Love won his heat race and then added $405 to his $5,000 Enduro win for a very profitable night at Citrus County Speedway. Harold Cannon and Jimmy Wagner finished fourth and fifth respectively with Tommy Schnader taking the win in the second heat. Bob Mascarelli was top Super Stock on the clocks turning the 3/8ths mile at 14.935 seconds followed by Robbie Yoakam and Travis Nichols for the top three spots and inverting the top ten for the start. Due to a time problem because of a wreck that took a great deal of time to clean up in another division the scheduled 50 lap feature was cut to 30 laps. The 8th starting position turned out to be the key to Travis Nichols taking the lead away from outside pole sitter Tom Martone at the halfway point and the win for the final point’s race of 2004. Steve Olone moved from 5th to third at the checkers followed by Jo Jo Viverito who may have wrapped up the championship without a feature win for the season. Richie Smith also went winless and Ernie Reed is still in the running with a sixth place finish. After dropping the two worst finishes for the season they could take the crown away from Viverito. That calculation will be made by Wednesday. Rookie Jim Curry wrapped up his Mini Stock Championship rookie season with his second feature win of the year. He celebrated the win and championship with a memorial victory lap for his uncle John Henderson who drove the #45x and his parent’s 39th wedding anniversary. Jay McKenzie, Chad Johnson, Chris Hooker and Lee Davis took the balance of the top five spots over the 13 car field. The Hobby Stock Championship will have to wait for the final points calculation after dropping the worst two races of the season despite Bobby Taylor’s third place finish behind Curtis Neumann and winner Alvin Williamson. Tim Whitehead and Dean Lawyer rounded out the top five with Tommy Smith finishing 20th which could be deducted from his total points as one of his worst finishes and alter the winner of the championship. Gary Budek wrapped up his Thunder Stock rookie season with his second win of the year in a heated battle with Wayne Heater for the final five laps. Points champion Jerry Hoover came back strong after his season ending accident the year before last to finish a solid third on their final night of point races. Fred Henick and Steven Steindurf took the balance of the top five positions. Steindurf had a shot at Hoover for the crown but possibly fell short with Saturday night’s results. Justin Durbin made it two in a row after a 2 month layoff in the 4 Cylinder Bomber Division. Rick Fort, Harold Barup, Division Champion Clark Pittsley and Tim Herrington locked up the top five spots at the checkers. Mini Cup Cars saw a surprise ending to their final 20 lap show at Citrus with a five car wreck on lap 19 that ended the race on the way they were running before the wreck. Ed Mackenzie led the way into the final turn when runner up Wendy Kash, Rick Aureimma, Nando Pinto and Rick Blair all got together ending their run and the race. Over 500 kids filled up on Trick or Treat candy from all the drivers at intermission. Next Saturday the 2nd Leg of the Triple Crown 125 comes to Citrus County Speedway in quest of the Governor’s Cup race to be run at New Smyrna Speedway. The best in Super Late Model racing will be doing their best to add to their overall point accumulation for this coveted award. Added to the program will be the Mini Stock 50, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results – 10/30/04 Trick or Treat Enduro 150 – 150 Laps – 28 Cars 1. #05 Mason Love – Started 11th – 150 Laps - $5,000 2. # 8 Herb Neumann Jr. – Started 5th 150 Laps 3. #85 Michael Gamache – Starter 7th 149 Laps Super Stock Feature – 30 Laps – 28 Cars 1. # 2 Travis Nichols – 1st Feature Win 2. #98 Tom Martone 3. #20 Steve Olone 4. #72 Joe Viverito 5. #15X Richie Smith Fast Qualifier – 72X Bob Masciarelli Modified Feature – 25 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #92 Steve Perez – 1 Feature Win 2. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 3. # 0 Mason Love 4. # 3 Harold Cannon 5. #17 Jimmy Wagner Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #20 Jim Curry – 2nd Feature Win 2. #5X Jay McKenzie 3. #94 Chad Johnson 4. #1X Chris Hooker 5. #9x Lee Davis Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 25 Cars 1. #09 Alvin Williamson – 4th Feature Win 2. #01 Curtis Neumann 3. #66 Bobby Taylor 4. #35 Tim Whitehead 5. #19 Dean Lawyer Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 20 Cars 1. #05 Gary Budek – 2 Feature Wins 2. #71 Wayne Heater 3. #30 Jerry Hoover 4. #60 Fred Henick 5. #0X Steven Stinedurf 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 8 Cars 1. #33 Donnie Guy – Modified Local Drivers 1. #79 Justin Durbin – 7th Feature Win 2. # 2 Rick Fort 3. # 3 Harold Barup 4. #64 Clark Pittsley – Division Champion 5. #82 Tim Herrington Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!