IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 3, 2005 FSCR Citrus County Speedway Re-fires Season with 7 Division Night by Larry MacMillan Breezy, Cold winds didn’t hinder a 143 car pit and a good crowd base to reopen the 50th Anniversary Season at Citrus County Speedway after a three week hiatus for the Citrus County Fair. Seven divisions made up the race card and the time off brought in some sharp looking race cars but made for a lot of contact during the races that brought out more caution flags than we could keep count of. Unfortunately the delays postponed the Thunder Stock Feature until next weekend so they will open and close the show. The PBG INEX Florida Legends Cars were a late addition to the Saturday night race card bringing in 24 drivers from as far away as North Carolina. Just coming off the Winter Nationals at Orlando Speedway former Florida resident 20 year old Jason Reisman matched wits with his 13 year old protégé Jake Crum for the checkered flag and came up the winner in the shortened 35 lap feature due to time constrictions and caution flags. Another youngster, Cory Abbot managed to out run Crum in the race for second after only 22 laps when the checkered flew with the final caution period. Mini Stocks saw Mike Lawhorn take the top spot after a thirty minute delay due to a major accident in the first lap involving William Prevatt and Jay McKenzie. McKenzie was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital after the EMT crew and fire department took the top off his race car to get him out of the car on a back board. After an MRI reports from the hospital were positive but he was experiencing quit a bit of neck and back pain and was released. When the green flag finally flew Mike Lawhorn launched his new race car to the front of the pack and took a flag to flag win with George Neumann threatening at the finish line followed by Chris Hooker who had to come from the back of the pack after a mid race incident. Johnny Siner and Paul Combast rounded out the top five. Hobby Stock Point leader Bill Ryan had a banner night with a heat win and charged from his 18th starting spot for his first feature of the season over a hard charging Don Teague, pole sitter Jay Witfoth, Josh Teague and Curtis Flanagan. The top six out of the three 11 car heat races and the 14 car B Main made up the 24 car starting field. Tim Whitehead and Herb Hoefler won the heats while Ronnie Davis won the B Main. Eighteen Sportsmen took the green flag for their 20 lap main with a final lap mishap between leader Robert Pilkington and runner up Mike Bell tangling turning Pilkington around on turn 2 after 17 laps. Bell took the green flag after the caution but was penalized to the end of the lead lap cars for taking out the leader. Third running Mike Veltman inherited the win followed by John Smith, point leader Rick Kase, Bob Masciarelli and Richie Smith. Heat wins went to Smith and Veltman. With all the delays and numerous caution flags the 23 car Modified field got caught up in the 11 o’clock curfew and was reduced from 30 to 20 laps when the final caution came out after 11. Young Jack Arnold III took a flag to flag win over hard charging Kyle Bookmiller who moved from sixth to second and battled Harold Canon for 10 laps swapping positions at least five times before Canon had to settle for third. Ronny Campbell out ran point leader, 15th starter Billy Bechtelheimer for fourth. Heat wins went to Arnold, Campbell and Kevin Terry. Four Cylinder point leader Donald Guy had his way with the 8 car field in both the heat and their 15 lap feature for his second win of the season. Kevin Stone gave him all he had, finishing second but lost the spot in tech on the scales. Rodger Blevins inherited the runner up spot just ahead of Rusty Adams, James Turgeon and Tim Herrington. With 31 weeks left in the season fans can look for a lot of variety on the schedule with 9 regular divisions plus 10 different traveling series visiting Florida’s most prestigious 3/8th mile during the 50th Anniversary season. There will also be a CRASH A RAMA, ENDURO 150 and a Demolition Derby towards the end of the season. Saturday will feature a double feature for the Thunder Stocks plus the Figures 8’s, Modifieds, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results 4/2/05 Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 22 Run – 23 Cars 1. #84 Jack Arnold III 2. #03 Kyle Bookmiller 3. # 3 Harold Canon 4. #112 Ronny Campbell 5. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 1st Heat Winner - #84 Jack Arnold III 2nd Heat Winner - #112 Ronny Campbell 3rd Heat Winner – Kevin Terry Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Run – 18 Cars 1. #55 Mike Veltman 2. #31 John Smith 3. #35 Rick Kase 4. #72 Bob Masciarelli 5. #41 Richie Smith 1st Heat Winner - #07 Frank Buchanan 2nd Heat Winner - #72 Bob Masciarelli Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #44 Mike Lawhorn 2. # 1 George Neumann 3. #1x Chris Hooker 4. #01 Johnny Siner 5. #90 Paul Combast 1st Heat Winner - #44 Mike Lawhorn 2nd Heat Winner – 1x Chris Hooker Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars (Total 33) 1. #33 Bill Ryan (2nd Feature win) 2. #2x Don Teague 3. # 4 Jay Witfoth 4. #20 Josh Teague 5. #3x Curtis Flanagan 1st Heat Winner - #35 Tim Whitehead 2nd Heat Winner - #22 Herb Hoefler 3rd Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 9 Cars 1. #33 Donald Guy 2. # 1 Rodger Blevins 3. #67 Rusty Adams 4. #18 James Turgeon 5. #82 Tim Herrington Heat Winner - #33 Donald Guy Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars Postponed Due to Curfew – Double Features Next Week 4/9/05 PBG Florida Legends Feature – 35 Laps – 20 Laps Run - 24 Cars 1) Jason Reisman, Concord, NC #25 2) Kory Abbott, Apopka #5 3) Jake Crum, Statesville, NC #1 4) Darin Coker, Palm Beach Gardens #00 5) Jared Cawley, Winter Garden #31 6) Brandon Thomson, St. Cloud #54 7) Mike Verhaagh, Ft. Myers #7 8) Stuart Dutton, Tallahassee #32 9) Chelsea Schillig, Apopka #75 10) Mitch Verhaagh, Bonita Springs #9 Fast Qualifier – Jason Reisman – 15.582 Secs. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!