IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 10, 2005 FSCR Modifieds and Sportsman shine at Citrus by Larry MacMillan Car count on the Open Wheel Modifieds and the Sportsman continue to climb now that the schedule has put them on a biweekly opportunity to run and Saturday proved that the drivers and fans love to watch these high speed pilots work Citrus County Speedway’s 3/8ths mile oval. Nineteen heavy hitters from the Mod Squad towed in from all over central Florida to run in their biweekly special and saw Tommy Schnader work his way from 11th to the winner’s circle in his first win of 2005 at Citrus. Ronny Cambell set the pace for the first 20 laps before he lost it momentarily and watched Billy Bechtelheimer and Schnader go by setting up their battle for the checkers. Bechtelheimer had to settle for second followed by Cambell, Mike Bell and Jack Arnold III. Heat wins went to Arnold and Harold Cannon. Sportsman came in 22 cars strong for their 50th Anniversary Special and Magic Mike Veltman reached into his bag of winning tricks to pull off his second win of the season after a one year layoff in the 50 lap main event. After qualifying third fastest Veltman started 7th an took only five laps to take the point and check out on the rest of the field and never looked back. Robbie Cooper qualified fourth fastest time, started 6th and finished second just ahead of Mike Bell, Bobby Taylor and Tom Posavic. Fast qualifier was Bob Mascarelli who unfortunately had a DNF that left him 15th in the field. A 13 car Mini Stock field put on a great show with lots of passing and duels for position throughout their 20 lap main. Don Faunce moved from 9th to snatch the win away from Johnny Siner who led most of the way before he spun late in the race. Mike Lawhorn ran a solid second ahead of George Neumann, Chris Hooker and Jay McKenzie. Heat wins went to McKenzie and Johnny Siner. Curtis Flanagan managed to move from his 20th starting spot to the point of the 29 car starting field in short order and led most of the way before 25th starter Doc James Batson moved in to battle with him for the lead in lap 15. Batson got under Flanagan in turn three and they both got turned around after making contact on the pass. Batson claimed responsibility for the mishap and went to the rear while Flanagan regained his spot and went on to win his second race of the year. Rapid Bill Ryan move from 22nd to 2nd in the race for the flag followed by Todd Downs, Tim Anderson and George Webb. Heat wins went to Downs, Anderson and Flanagan. Ted Taylor had his way with the 24 car starting field in the rainout make up, in the first of two Thunder Stock Features. Mike Loudy Jr. gave him a late run for the flag but had to settle for second followed by Glen Colyer, Steven Stinedurf and Jason VanOchten. D.J. Macklin took home the checkered flag in the second 20 lap main followed by Megan Spicer who was D.Q.’d in post race inspection moving Loudy Jr. into a second place run again. Ted Taylor inherited a third place finish when Andy Taylor was kicked backed to 5th when he was penalized 2 spots at the finish line for passing on the restart to soon. Gary Johnson nursed a sick race car to a fourth place finish. James Pate made it two in a row in the 4 Cylinder Bomber division coming from the back of the pack and flexing his horse power over Donald Guy, Kevin Stone, Will Curry and Rusty Adams. Pate also won the heat race. Saturday night will see the completion of the red flagged Late Model race two weeks ago. The will kick off the full race card with the final 19 laps of their scheduled 30 lap main in the order they were running after 11 laps of racing when the lights went out. Then the race card will go into full racing mode with the Late Models, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and the Wild and Exciting Figure 8’s in a 20 lap feature. Citrus County Speedway Results 5/7/05 Sportsmen Feature – 50 laps – 22 Cars 1. #55 Mike Veltman 2. #98x Robbie Cooper 3. #17 Mike Bell 4. #66 Bobby Taylor 5. #01 Tom Posavic Fast Qualifier - #72 Bob Mascarelli – 14:827 Seconds Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #19 Tommy Schnader 2. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 3. #112 Ronny Cambell 4. #17b Mike Bell 5. #84 Jack Arnold III 1st Heat Winner - #84 Jack Arnold III 2nd Heat Winner - # 3 Harold Cannon Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. # 2 Don Faunce 2. #44 Mike Lawhorn 3. # 1 George Neumann 4. #1x Chris Hooker 5. #5x Jay McKenzie 1st Heat Winner - #01 Johnny Siner 2nd Heat Winner – 5x Jay McKenzie Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 29 Cars 1. # 3 Curtis Flanagan 2. #33 Bill Ryan 3. #00 Todd Downs 4. #11 Tim Anderson 5. #40 George Webb 1st Heat Winner - #00 Todd Downs 2nd Heat Winnr - #11 Tim Anderson 3rd Heat Winner - #3x Curtis Flanagan First Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars 1. #77 Ted Taylor 2. #80 Mike Loudy JR. 3. #44 Glen Colyer 4. #0x Steven Stinedurf 5. #97 Jason VanOchten Second Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps - 25 Cars 1. #14 D.J. Macklin 2. #80 Mike Loudy Jr. 3. #77 Ted Taylor 4. #40 Gary Johnson 5. #63 Andy Taylor 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 8 Cars 1. #55 James Pate 2. #33 Donald Guy 3. #98 Kevin Stone 4. #00 Will Curry 5. #67 Rusty Adams Heat Winner - #55 James Pate Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!