Citrus County Speedway wound up their Late Model season with a bang with the Championship shootout going right down to the final checkered flag. The final outcome was a nail bitter right to the finish line. Herb Neumann Jr. led the 55 driver Late Model point’s race from week three of the season.
Coming into the final race Saturday night he had a slim 4 point advantage over Scott Grossenbacher after there was no change in the status when the Twin 50’s took the checkered flag on October 21st.
Neumann was forced to borrow Donnie Parkinson’s car after Herb’s motor went south for the final race. Scott picked up 2 points on Neumann with a heat win in the early going while Herb finished third in his heat. Then the draw for starting positions in the 35 lap feature had Scott starting 4th and Herb starting 9th in the 14 car field. It was a tense moment when the green fell and Herb Hoefler took the point, pole sitter Daniel Webster raced him on the inside lane for 3 laps before slipping back to second and Grossenbacher made his way around Perry Lovelady to lock onto third.
The race only saw one caution flag and Hoefler maintained a steady pace for the win from flag to flag with Webster holding out in second, Grossenbacher crossing the line in third, followed by Gary Grubbs, Perry Lovelady and Herb Neumann Jr. having to settle for 6th. When the points tally was all done, Grossenbacher won the title by 4 points over Neumann who was seeking his third consecutive title at his home race track. It just doesn’t get any closer than that.
Sportsman faced a similar close run for the crown coming into their next to last race of the year showing Tom Posavec and Jim Altobelli tied for the lead and Edward Allen just 2 points behind the leaders. That all changed with 18 cars lining up for a very physical 20 lap feature. Posavec went into the lead with a win in his heat and then really capped it off picking up 16 points in a run from his 10th starting spot to the point and Victory Lane when the checkers flew for his 3rd win of the season. Pole sitter J.T. Renau managed to hold out for second at the finish line followed by Dusty Bremer, Steve Olone and Bobby Taylor rounding out the top five.
Altobelli had to settle for a 9th place finish dropping him back 19 points and Edward Allen got caught up in a wreck late in the race that left him in 11th when it was all over leaving him 27 points off the lead. Limited Sportsman will be back next week to finish off the season and it ain’t over until that checkered flag falls in the season finale.
George Neumann put some cushion in his 4th Mini Stock Championship with his third feature win of the season. Fifteen cars took the green flag and Neumann wasted no time moving from his 12th starting spot to leave the rest of the pack well behind from lap12 to lap 20. Phillip Joyner worked his way through traffic from 9th to finish second over 15th starter Dan Smith, Clint Foley and Jesse Henley.
Johnny Siner was leading the race when he got into the back straight wall hard enough to totally take the body off his car. Fortunately Johnny came out of the wreck O.K. but his car was junk when it went on the trailer. Neumann and Johnathon Camp took the heat wins and Camp ran into mechanical problems that put him in the DNF column for the feature run.
It was a 25 car battle royal in the 20 Lap Hobby Stock main with Curtis Flanagan making it three in a row when it was all over. Flanagan drove from his 17th starting spot and used the outside, inside and middle grooves to wind his way through some heavy traffic that saw lots of contact in front of him. The only car that seemed to have anything for him was outside pole sitter Jason Murphree who took a really bad hit on the front wall that ended his night late in the race. Mike Ruff, Michael Stallnaker, Robert Capps and point leader John Makula rounded out the top five. Heat winners were Jason Murphree, Makula and Flanagan.
Megan Spicer was a lady on a mission Saturday night as the youngster took her #83 pink machine to the front of the 26 car field early from her 6th starting spot and held off all contenders for her first feature win ever. Point leader Tim Wilson came from 13th to hold out for second over Steven Hise, Glen Colyer and Richard Henick. Heat winners were Jason VanOchten, Mike Dubbs and Rick Shahid who took a terrible hit in turn one during the feature that left him on his top. He walked away from the wreck and the car of course was done for the night.
The 4 Cylinder Bombers wrapped up their season with a 14 car field minus 2006 Champion Justin Durbin and saw 13th starter Chris Allen methodically work his way through traffic to take the lead away from Jonathon Doucette in the final stages of their 20 lap main event. Bobby Richardson out dueled Phil Edwards for third with John DeGeorge right on Edwards’s bumper at the finish line. Doucette and Tim Nocella won the heats.
Added to the program were the Florida Pro Challenge Series that saw 8 cars and trucks take on the 3/8ths mile in their final appearance of the year. Howard Brennan out of Vero Beach took the feature win over 14 year old Ryan Rust out of Port St. Lucie who led for 19 laps from the pole. Ken Ellefson of Fort Myers held out for third over Mike Smith from West Palm Beach and Rowdy Gordon of Salt Springs. Mike Smith took the win in the heat.
In the annual Dare to win races winners were: Steven Hise in Thunder Stocks, Michael Stallnaker in Hobby Stocks, Phillip Joyner in Mini Stocks, J.T. Renau in Sportsman, and Phil Edwards in 4 Cylinder Bombers.
Saturday night will be the Season Finale featuring the Outlaw TBARA Winged Sprints in their 800 horsepower rockets, Mini Cup Cars and the final point’s shootout for the Modifieds, Limited Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Thunder Stocks. Winter Spectacular IV will be run on December 2nd featuring Modified Twin 50’s, a Limited Sportsman 50, Thunder Stock 50 and Outlaw Modifieds. Practice will be held on Friday, December 1st, from 5 until 9 p.m. The Annual Awards Banquet will be held on Friday night, December 15th at the Citrus County Auditorium and tickets are on sale at the front gate and the pit office. No tickets will be sold at the door so be sure to get them as soon as possible.
Citrus County Speedway Results 11/4/06
Late Model Final Feature – 35 Laps – 14 Cars
1. #22 Herb Hoefler – 1st Season Win
2. #1x Daniel Webster
3. #09 Scott Grossenbacher – 2006 L.M. Champion
4. #10 Gary Grubbs
5. # 9 Perry Lovelady
1st Heat Winner - #10 Gary Grubbs
2nd Heat Winner - #09 Scott Grossenbacher
Limited Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars
1. #01 Tom Posavec – 3rd Season Win
2. #29 J.T. Renau
3. # 7 Dusty Bremer
4. #20 Steve Olone
5. #66 Bobby Taylor
1st Heat Winner - #97 Phillip Rook
2nd Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavec
Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars
1. #1 George Neumann – 4th Season Win
2. #86 Phillip Joyner
3. #72 Don Smith
4. # 7 Clint Foley
5. #23 Jesse Henley
1st Heat Winner - #13 Johnathon Camp
2nd Heat Winner - #1 George Neumann
Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 25 Cars
1. #33 Curtis Flanagan – 4th Season Win (3 in a row)
Citrus County Speedway wound up their Late Model season with a bang with the Championship shootout going right down to the final checkered flag. The final outcome was a nail bitter right to the finish line. Herb Neumann Jr. led the 55 driver Late Model point’s race from week three of the season. 
