IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 21, 2006 Travis Cope folllows Family Tradition at Citrus Goodyear Challenge by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl 5/20/06) Saturday night featured a 17 car Late Model field for the first running of the Goodyear Challenge at Citrus County Speedway. Qualifying saw 16 cars go on the clocks with a frequent visitor Jonny Kay shutting the clocks down at 14.240 seconds followed by Daniel Keene with a 14.326 second run. Kay pulled the 5 pill putting Jeremy Goddard on the pole but he weighed in light due to not refueling before qualifying sending him to the 13th starting spot. Travis Cope inherited the pole for the start and the race was all over but the Victory Lane celebration after the green flag dropped. Dustin DesChamps started on the outside pole and stayed in Cope’s tire tracks for the entire 100 laps followed by Jonny Kay, Daniel Keene Jr. and Columbia Motor Sports Park winner Rich Clouser. This was Cope’s 2nd win in Goodyear Challenge competition. Four local divisions continued their race for the 2006 championship crowns in heat a feature action. Twenty one Limited Sportsman split into two heats chasing D.J. Macklin to the checkers in the first heat and Tom Posavec to the line in the second heat. All 21 cars took the green for their 20 lap main and despite several caution flags for some major wrecks, point leader, Jim Altobelli managed to move from his sixth starting spot and stay out of trouble for his first win of 2006. Despite getting caught up in one of the wrecks Mike Veltman managed to move from 10th to finish on the rear bumper of Altobelli for his best finish of the year. Edward Allen was looking for his second win of the year but had to settle for third over newcomer Matt Blum and another survivor of an earlier wreck Tom Posavec. Hobby Stocks continue to come in great numbers with 32 cars registering Saturday night. The top six finishers made the starting lineup for the feature in the three heats and the 3 top finishers in their feature 2 weeks ago had automatic births in their 20 lap main. Heat winners were John Zuidema III, Bobby Taylor and Sheldon Kinser. Thirteen cars ran a B Main with Don Teague taking the win and the top five qualifying for the feature run from the rear of the pack. John Zuidema came off the pole to lead 18 before the final caution flag came out. On the restart it was a 3 car, 2 lap, shootout with Zuidema going for his first win, Doc James Batson looking for his 4th and Bobby Taylor wanting to make it two wins on the season. It was a side by side finish with Doc Batson winning by a fender length over Zuidema and Taylor settling for a distant 3rd after having run one lap three wide with the front runners. Twenty four of the 25 Thunder Stocks made the feature after Tim Wilson, Louie Cioe and Rick Shahid won the heat races. Megan Spicer came into the night with the point lead and looking for her first win of the season. She got caught up in a major traffic jam early in the race and was put into the new concrete wall on turn one that brought out the red flag and ended her night’s dream. She took quite a hit but was able to walk away from a race car that had major damage on the front end. Megan’s dad was reassured that she was O.K. before the green flag dropped for the restart and he was determined to win this one for Megan but it wasn’t meant to be. He chased Tim Wilson for the balance of the race and had to settle for second. Victor Shahid, Louie Cioe and Jason VanOchten balanced out the top five in the time shortened race due to the ref flag clean up and several more caution flags. Fifteen 4 Cylinder Bombers saw Bobby Riley dominate the field in both his heat and their 15 lap feature run for his first win of the season. Justin Durbin was looking for his fifth win and Riley wasn’t having any of that after Durbin raced him for the final 3 laps without success. Joey Durbin, coming off 2 consecutive wins, chased his brother across the line in the race for third. Peter Nelson fell from 2nd to fourth in the final laps being chased to the line by point leader Kevin Stone. Justin Durbin added his 3rd heat win of the year to his resume. Next Saturday night will feature the Central Florida Sprints coming in to challenge the 3/8ths mile asphalt without wings plus a full schedule of local Figure 8’s, Limited Sportsman, Mini Stock, Hobby Stock, and 4 Cylinder Bombers. It should be a great show with plenty of competition. Citrus County Speedway Results 5/20/06 Goodyear Challenge Late Model Feature – 100 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #26 Travis Cope – Bronson 2. #51 Dustin DesChamps – Brooksville 3. #48 Jonny Kay – Deerfield Beach 4. #16 Daniel Keene Jr. – Land O Lakes 5. # 9 Rich Clouser – Palm Bay 6. #73 Sam Watts – Winter Springs 7. #1X Chuck Burkhalter – Clermont 8. #30 Troy Hall – Coral Springs 9. #88 Justin Larson – Safety Harbor 10.#40 Jeremy Goddard – Naples Fast Qualifier - #48 Jonny Kay – 14.240 Seconds Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 21 Cars 1. #76 Jim Altobelli – 1st Feature Win 2. #77 Mike Veltman 3. #23 Edward Allen 4. # 1 Matt Blum 5. #01 Tom Posavec 1st Heat Winner - #14 D.J. Macklin 2nd Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavec Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 26 Cars (32 Registered) 1. #77 Doc James Batson – 4th Feature Win 2. 47 Johnny Zuidema III 3. #66 Bobby Taylor 4. # 5 Richard Burchett 5. # 4 Jay Witfoth 1st Heat Winner - #47 Johnny Zuidema III 2nd Heat Winner - #66 Bobby Taylor B Main Feature Winner - #2 Don Teague Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 25 Cars 1. #85 Tim Wilson – 2nd Feature Win 2. #98 Randy Spicer 3. # 8 Victor Shahid 4. #88 Louie Cioe (#13 Car) 5. #97 Jason VanOchten 1st Heat Winner - #85 Tim Wilson 2nd Heat Winner - #88 Louie Cioe 3rd Heat Winner - #13 Rick Shahid 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #01 Bobby Riley – 1st Feature Win 2. #12 Justin Durbin 3. #055 Joey Durbin 4. #08 Peter Nelson 5. #98 Kevin Stone 1st Heat Winner - #01 Bobby Riley 2nd Heat Winner - #12 Justin Durbin Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!