Eight Divisions Provide Classic Night at Citrus Speedway
by Larry MacMillan
With just seven weeks left in the season and every point garnered on race night being very important the racing at Citrus County Speedway is seeing some clean runs for championship crowns. Saturday night featured six regular divisions and two visiting series with the Open Wheel Lites and the Florida Pro Series. The fans saw one of the finest nights of racing of the season and the drivers kept it moving right along with very few problems and delays.
Seventeen Late Models continued their points chase for the 2006 crown and chased Scott Grossenbacher from flag to flag in their 35 lap main for his first win of the season. Grossenbacher had Gary Grubbs, in his new Corvette machine, on his rear bumper most of the way. Herb Hoefler diced with the front runners throughout the race for a third place finish while point leader Herb Neumann Jr. worked the outside groove locking down fourth at the flag. Wayne Anderson recovered from a mishap while running third and moved back through traffic to round out the top five. Running second in the point’s race Grossenbacher picked up a few on defending champ Neumann with his win. Heat wins went to Hoefler and Raymond Lovelady.
A.J. Isbister started third in the 21 car Limited Sportsman field and drove away to his 6th win of the season over Edward Allen. Allen, who is running second in the point’s race, broke his racer during practice and took over Chris Cross’ #3 race car and had to make some readjustments to feel comfortable in the car. Tom Posavec drove from 8th to third over Steve Olone and Ernie Reed. Heat winners were A.J. Isbister, Posavec and Rusty Bremer who crashed hard into the turn one wall in the feature ending his night.
Jesse Henley had the comeback of the night when his Mini Stock expired during afternoon practice. They took his broken racer to the garage and brought back his back up car which he launched from third to the point early in the race and took his second trip to Victory Lane for the season. Point leader George Neumann motored from 10th to second in a wild race with Chris Hooker for the flag. Johnny Siner started 16th, survived an early race spin to salvage a fourth place finish over 18th starter Clint Foley. Henley and Mike Curry logged the heat wins.
Twenty eight Hobby Stocks took the green flag for their 20 lap feature and Doc James Batson proved again he is the man to beat for the sixth time this season. Starting 11th he made short work of the racers in front of him and left the rest of the traffic to battle for position behind him. Larry Triana took the early lead from the outside pole and held on for the first 10 laps until Doc Batson made the pass. Triana out ran Don Paugh in the race for second followed by John Zuidema III and Jay Witfoth to round out the top five. Heat wins went to Witfoth, Batson and Curtis Flanagan.
The 4 Cylinder Bomber division continues to hold strong with 16 drivers making the show Saturday night. The end result saw point leader Justin Durbin come from 11th to the point in a match race with Neal Durbin at the halfway point. Durbin went on to win his 12th feature of the year and could probably coast to the Championship this season. Jon Doucette held the lead on two occasions but had to settle for second when the checkers flew followed by Bobby Riley, James Pate and Travis Hoefler. Heat winners were Tim Nocella and Justin Durbin.
A wild and tight Figure 8, 20 lapper had the fans on their feet for most of the race with some very close racing in the intersection. Fifteen cars started with Wayne Calkins setting the pace from the get go. Curtis Youmans moved from fifth to third early and won the side by side race with John Thomas in the race for second. Traffic got spread out with a busy intersection coming from both directions and the front three had to use their timing to make it work out for them. When the checkers flew Calkins took his first trip to the winner’s circle followed by Curtis Youmans, John Thomas, Robbie Hage and Joey Catterelli.
Sixteen Florida Open Wheel Lites took the green for their 20 lap main event and Jacksonville’s Rick Lundeen dominated 18 of the 20 laps but Dennis Diehl managed to move up to second from his 6th starting spot when a caution flag came out tightening up the field for the restart. In the final two laps Diehl from West Palm Beach made the pass for the win followed by Lundeen. Rounding out the top five were Edgewater’s Sonny O’Sullivan, Alan Paradis from Indian Town and “Mad” Max Howe from Kissimmee. Heat wins went to Lundeen, Bill Gise from Lakeland and Roger Wolfe from Sarasota.
No results or names were available for the 10 racer Florida Pro Series who ran heats and a 20 lap main event.
Next Saturday will see two traveling series highlight Citrus County Speedway’s race card. The best of the best in Mini Stocks will be racing in the Mini Stock Challenge Series and the Southern Sportsman Series. The local Open Wheel Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Thunders Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers will be racing in points races. Mini Stocks and Southern Sportsman will time trial for qualification and line up.
Citrus County Speedway Results 9/23/06
Late Model Feature – 35 Laps – 17 Cars
1. #09 Scott Grossenbacher – 1st Season Win
2. #10 Gary Grubbs
3. #22 Herb Hoefler
4. #98 Herb Neumann Jr.
5. #84 Wayne Anderson
1st Heat Winner - #22 Herb Hoefler
2nd Heat Winner - #17 Raymond Lovelady
Limited Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 21 Cars
1. #81 A.J. Isbister
2. #23 Edward Allen – Driving #3
3. #01 Tom Posavec
4. #20 Steve Olone
5. #55 Ernie Reed
1st Heat Winner – #81 A.J. Isbister
2nd Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavec
3rd Heat Winner - #5 Rusty Bremer
Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars
1. #23 Jesse Henley – 2nd Season Win
2. # 1 George Neumann
3. # 6 Chris Hooker
4. #01 Johnny Siner
5. # 7 Clint Foley
1st Heat Winner - #23 Jesse Henley
2nd Heat Winner - # 9 Mike Curry
Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 28 Cars
1. #77 Doc James Batson – 7th Season Win
2. # 1 Larry Triana
3. #15 Don Paugh
4. #74 John Zuidema III
5. # 4 Jay Witfoth
1st Heat Winner - # 4 Jay Witfoth
2nd Heat Winner - #77 James Batson
3rd Heat Winner - #33 Curtis Flanagan
4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars
1. #12 Justin Durbin – 12th Season Win
2. # 5 Jon Doucette
3. #01 Bobby Riley
4. #55 James Pate
5. #20 Travis Hoefler
1st Heat Winner - #16 Tim Nocella
2nd Heat Winner - #12 Justin Durbin
Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars
1. #14 Wayne Calkins – 1st Season Win
2. #37 Curtis Youmans
3. #77 John Thomas
4. #74 Robbie Hage
5. #15 Joey Catterelli
Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars
