IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 3, 2005 FSCR Jason Reisman scores Sweep in Legends Tour Opener at Citrus County by Dave Westerman The opening race of the 2005 Florida Legends Tour Presented By PBG ended up belonging to a 20 year old driver from North Carolina as the fans braved a cool, breezy night and were treated to some wild action at Citrus County Speedway in Inverness. The Citrus event was also sponsored locally by Eagle Buick/GMC of Hernando. Action started late in the afternoon with time trials for the 24 Legends Cars gathered in the pits. Brandon Thomson set quick time but found that time disallowed in tech when the ride height of his car was found to be a fraction of an inch too low. Thus Jason Reisman's lap of 15.582 seconds was recorded as quick time just ahead of Kory Abbott's lap of 15.665. Reisman who left Concord, NC with fellow NC driver Jake "The Snake" Crum at 2AM Saturday, drew a six pill to invert the top six qualifiers for the 35 lap Tour feature event. Reisman's quick lap earned him the $50 Pleasant Acres Home and Garden Fast Time award. The inversion put Odessa's Paddy Rodenbeck on the pole with Tallahassee driver Stuart Dutton on the outside pole. The green flag had barely been displayed in the main event when the throttle stuck on Brian Silas' car and he sailed off turn one. Normally, that wouldn't present much of a problem as the area off turn one is a big grassy field. However, by coincidence, a track employee was driving a golf cart across the field delivering food to the pit concession stand just as Silas' car went off the track. Silas hit the cart before he could get stopped, tipping the cart on its side. Silas' car was out of the race, but undaunted, the track employee (who was unhurt), righted his cart and continued his delivery. The second attempt to start the race was also for naught as Darin Coker and Jeremy Colangelo spun at opposite ends of the race track. The third try would not be the charm either as Jake Crum looped his car. The race finally got under way with Dutton grabbing the early lead but he held it only for a lap as Crum took over for a lap before Reisman took the lead on lap three bringing Kory Abbott with him. The first of several caution flags came out on lap five as a shock mount broke on Bobby Byars' car and he stalled in turn three. The race went back green for only two laps before Kara Clarke spun her car in turn four. Reisman and Abbott continued to set the pace as caution three flew on lap ten as Mitch Verhaagh spun in turn four. One lap after the restart, Tim Osterlund spun on the back stretch to bring out the yellow again. Abbott seemed to have a faster car than Reisman after a couple of laps under green, but Abbott couldn't get enough consecutive laps under green to show his hand. Caution five came out on lap 14 as Mark Beebo spun in turn four. Under caution, Osterlund and Tom Clarke somehow got together under caution and the damage eliminated both from the event. Only one lap could be made gain before Doc Richardson and Bob Wilson tangled in turn two, then only another lap was in the books before Jeremy Colangelo and Paddy Rodenbeck got together. The race time limit was rapidly evaporating as the race went green for what would be the final time on lap 17. This time it looked like things would settle down as Abbott began to put the pressure on Reisman. On lap 22, Doug Hall spun in turn two setting up a chain reaction. Chelsea Schillig spun to miss the other cars and Doc Richardson rode up over her car and came down hard on all fours. Richardson was extremely groggy and emergency personnel were called to the scene. With the time limit expired, the race was called complete after 22 laps with Reisman the winner. Kory Abbott was second followed by Jake Crum, Darin Coker and Jared Cawley. Brandon Thomson came from 24th on the starting grid to grab sixth while Mike Verhaagh, Stuart Dutton, Chelsea Schillig and Mitch Verhaagh rounded out the top ten. The next race for the 2005 Florida Legends Tour Presented by PBG will be May 7th at Orlando Speedworld. RESULTS - CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY - 4/2/05 (cut to 22 laps by time limit): 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 11) Doc Richardson, Palm Harbor #00FL 12) Chris McDonald, Havana #94 13) Doug Hall, St. Petersburg Beach #55 14) Paddy Rodenbeck, Odessa, #29 15) Bob Wilson, Beverly Hills #27W 16) Jeremy Colangelo, Sanford #05 17) Mark "Beebo", St. Cloud #7X 18) Kyle Dombeck, Palm Bay #20 19) Tom Clarke, Palm Beach Gardens #66 20) Tim Osterlund, Sebring #49 21) Kara Clarke, Palm Beach Gardens #21 22) Wesley McLeod, Altamonte Springs #22 23) Bobby Byars, Palm Bay #12 24) Brian Silas, Lake Worth #57 Lap Leaders: Stuart Dutton - 1 Jake Crum - 2 Jason Reisman 3-22 Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!