IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 1, 2005 FSCR It was the Night the Lights Went Out at Citrus by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 4/30/05) Variety continues to draw the fans to Citrus County Speedway’s 50th Anniversary season. Despite the prediction of severe weather in the area 101 race cars came from all over Florida to race in 7 divisions Saturday night that had an unprecedented ending to the night of action. Three traveling series joined four regular divisions on the race card to make for some very close finishes that had the fans on their feet for just about every finish. Twelve USA Winged Sprint Cars took the green flag for their 25 lap feature event that saw Scott Adema out of Ft. Myers take the Cool Aid Air sprinter to the front in 5 laps before he checked out on the rest of the field for the division’s first race at Citrus. Sanford’s Dennis Misuraca had the early lead but had to give it up and battle Tampa’s Tim Holsten to the flag for his second place finish. Tim George out of Venice and R.C. Roper of Ft. Myers had a match race to the line in the race for fourth, finishing in that order. Heat Winners were Rod Sanders from Lehigh Acres and Scotty Adema. The Florida Open Wheel Lites brought in a 16 car contingency for their 25 lap main. Rick Lundeen launched off the pole position to set the early pace only to lose it to Ron Towles after a few laps and then regain the spot when Towles lost it off turn three. Lundeen looked like he had the win until the final two laps when Phil Krauthoff moved from his ninth starting spot to put a run on Lundeen that gave Phil the win with Rick having to settle for second. Kevin Baxter recovered from an early mishap to come back through the entire field to take a third place finish over Sonny O’Sullivan and Mike Belusar who also had to recover from a back of the pack restart late in the race. Heat winners were Lundeen and Ron Towles. A late addition to the race card was the Pro Challenge racers who run motorcycle engine driven 5/8 scale race cars and trucks with more updated body styles than the Open Wheel Lite cars. Rod Sanders out of LaBelle started in the scratch position and worked his way through all the traffic for the trip to Victory Lane in a tight finish with J.L. Snowden out of Salt Springs in their 20 lap main event. Tim Hart out dueled Brad Sanders and Bobby Roblaird to round out the top five. The heat win went to Snowden. Sixteen Super Stocks made the show of the night that saw Dusty Bouchard come off a 5th place finish in the heat to find more horsepower before the 20 lap feature for his first win of the season. Tom Posavic parlayed a 1st heat win into a side by side second place finish over Richie Smith giving it all he had at the line. Bobby Taylor was right on their rear bumper followed by Ernie Reed in a nose to tail finish. Reed had to recover from an early race encounter with Stephen Anderson that ended Anderson’s night and caused cosmetic damage to the right side of Reed’s car. Richie Smith took the win in the second heat. James Pate made for another close finish with Donald Guy in the 4 Cylinder Bomber 15 lap main. Pate logged a heat win and followed it up with his second feature win of the season over Donny Guy. Pole sitter Roger Blevins outran 9th starter Norman Dismuke and Kevin Stone in their race for third. Dismuke took the win in the second heat. Late Models came on to the track 18 strong and had trouble getting things going for the long haul. After five restarts in 9 laps, Herb Neumann Jr. was setting the pace after passing pole sitter Dale Sanders who was being challenged by Mike Bell, Chris Hooker, Gary Grubbs and Jim Smith when the lights literally went out at Citrus County Speedway during lap 12. Fortunately no crashes took place in the darkness but it put a stop to the action for the night due to an accident on the highway that affected power in the entire area. There just wasn’t any fixing the problem so the race will pick up where it left off with 11 laps complete in two weeks when the Late Models return. They will complete this race and then go into regular race night mode on May 14th. Heat winners were Sanders and Grubbs. Thunder Stocks will run a double feature next Saturday night to make up for the lost race Saturday night. They will be joined by the Sportsmen in a 50 lap feature event with time trials for qualification. The rest of the race card will include the Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Another big field for the 50th Anniversary Season at Citrus County Speedway averaging 130 racers per week over 9 weeks of the 36 race schedule. Citrus County Speedway Results 4/30/-5 Late Model Feature – 30 Laps – 18 Cars Race stopped after 11 laps due to power outage Race will be completed on May 14th 1st Heat Winner - #1 Dale Sanders 2nd Heat Winner - #10 Gary Grubbs USA Sprints – 25 Laps – 12 Cars 1. #67 Scott Adema – Ft. Myers 2. # 3 Dennis Misuraca – Sanford 3. #51 Tim Holsten – Tampa 4. # 1 Tim George – Venice 5. #92 R.C. Roper – Ft. Myers 1st Heat Winner - #2 Rod Sanders – Lehigh Acres 2nd Heat Winner - #67 Scott Adema – Ft. Myers Open Wheel Lite Feature – 25 Laps – 16 Cars 1. # 2 Phil Krauthoff – Stuart 2. #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 3. #69 Kevin Baxter – Winter Haven 4. # 0 Sonny O’Sullivan – Edgewater 5. #82 Mike Belusar – Naples 1st Heat Winner - #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 2nd Heat Winner - #01 Ron Towles – Jacksonville Pro Challenge Feature – 20 Laps – 9 Cars 1. # 1 Rod Sanders – LaBelle 2. #40 J.L. Snowden – Salt Springs 3. #10 Tim Hart – St. Cloud 4. #12 Brad Sanders – Ft. Myers 5. # 6 Bobby Roblaird - Oviedo Heat Winner – J.L. Snowden – Salt Springs Super Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #74 Dusty Bouchard 2. #01 Tom Posavic 3. #41 Richie Smith 4. #66 Bobby Taylor 5. #55 Ernie Reed 1st Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavic 2nd Heat Winner - #41 Richie Smith 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 10 Cars 1. #55 James Pate 2. #33 Donald Guy 3. # 1 Roger Blevins 4. #11 Norman Dismuke 5. #98 Kevin Stone 1st Heat Winner - #55 James Pate 2nd Heat Winner - #11 Norman Dismuke Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 20 Cars Delay due to power outage – Will run Double Feature May 7th 1st Heat Winner - #97 Jason VanOchten 2nd Heat Winner - #77 Ted Taylor Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!