Winter Spectacular IV drew 84 racers for the 2006 post season finale. Six divisions put on a terrific show for the fans as Citrus County Speedway closed out their 2006 season in a final dash for cash featuring 290 laps of racing.
The local Open Wheel Modifieds kicked off the night with qualifying time trials with Teddy Nelson and Kyle Bookmiller matching fast times on the clocks. Nelson got the honors of pulling the 6 pill for the inversion for the first 50 lap main putting Alan McCafferty on the pole and Curtis Neumann on the outside pole.
It took two starts to get the 16 car field underway with Neumann and McCafferty running side by side for three laps before Neumann was able to take the point and set the pace right to the checkered flag. McCafferty stayed glued to Neumann’s rear deck to the checkers. Ninth starter Bobby Taylor finished third and took the Dynamic Performance Coating Hard Charger $100 bonus in his first Modified ride. Teddy Nelson finished 4th ahead of Steve Perez, Richie Smith, David Davis, Harold Cannon, Mitch Korzenski and Donnie Maxwell rounding out the top ten.
After a 15 minute infield stop the Mod Squad was realigned with Donnie Maxwell taking the pole and David Davis on the outside pole. Harold Cannon made short work of Maxwell before taking the point and young David Davis locking on to his rear deck. Davis held off 7th starter Teddy Nelson for just about half the race before looping his racer on turn two and having to restart in the rear of the field. Nelson picked up second and spent the rest of the race putting the heat on Cannon who took the checkers for the $1,000 win purse. Tommy Schnader moved from his 12th starting spot to 3rd for the $100 Dynamic Performance Coating Hard Charger award. Pole sitter Alan McCafferty held out for fourth followed by Curtis Neumann, David Davis, Richie Smith, Donnie Maxwell, Kurt Jett and 2006 Modified Champion Kyle Bookmiller locking in the tenth spot.
Limited Sportsmen saw 13 cars take the green flag for their 50 lap post season race. First timer Joe Barbera won the pole on the pill draw with Phillip Rook taking the outside slot. Rook and Barbera went for a side by side race for the point swapping the lead on each of the first four laps before Rook took the point. Meanwhile, Craig Robinson lit the fuse to his rocket from his 9th starting spot and made short work of the rest of the traffic before he took the point and never looked back. Tom Posavec gave it all he had but just couldn’t reel in Robinson who took the win going away followed by Posavec, Richie Smith, Ernie Reed, Wayne Lewis, Steve O’lone, John Zuidema, Phillip Rook, Joe Barbera and J.T. Renau. 2006 Points Champion Jim Altobelli wound up 11th but was unable to finish the race.
Only 8 Mini Stocks made the show and they were cut back to 20 laps. 2006 Point’s Champion George Neumann left the rest of the field in the dust from the get go just to let the rest of the world know that his 4th championship was well earned. Jason Rendell out ran Marty Neikens for second. Rounding out the top five were Dustin Perez and Jesse Henley.
Ted Taylor set the pace for all 50 laps in the Thunder Stock Special. Tim Whitehead took his final ride in a race car for a while due to health problems that will take him out of action. Tim borrowed Mike Dubbs racer to make his final run and finished a solid second being chased by Bill Ryan, Fred Henick and Daniel Nauman. Glen Colyer moved from his 11th starting spot and was challenging for second when he handgrenaded his motor and wound up 7th for the night.
The Florida Open Wheel Lites came to wrap up their 2006 Season with 19 cars and Brian Gingras made a clean sweep of the night opening up with a fast qualifying lap of 13.929 seconds on the 3/8ths mile and running away with the big 40 lap win. Mike Belusar tried his best to hang in with Gingras but had to battle John Bailey for a second place finish. Rick Lundeen locked onto 4th and Jeff Wolfe rounding out the top five. Only 8 cars finished the race. Rick Brayton lost control of his racer coming off turn two, got into the back end of Larry Hubbard III sending him down the back chute, end over end, and coming to rest on the top side of turn three upside down. Larry walked away from the wreck without injury and well built roll cage definitely saved him from getting hurt after that ride.
Esslinger Engineering brought in the ˝ scale Outlaw Modifieds to wrap up the Winter Spectacular IV post season race. Cliff Stinemann launched his racer from 15th to the point in lap 20 of their 30 lap feature and drove to the win and 2006 Championship. Robby Bean came from 8th to finish 2nd over early leader Doug Hopper, Billy Campbell and Mike Bean.
Eighty Citrus County Speedway drivers will be honored on Friday night December 15th at the Annual Awards Banquet being held at the Citrus County Fairgrounds Auditorium. The fun affair will be catered by Sonny’s Bar B Q and Chris Mohling will be the D.J. so come ready to honor our champions, eat well and party afterwards. Tickets are available at the pit office and time is running out to purchase them. There will be no tickets sold at the door.
Happy Holidays to all our drivers, owners, sponsors and the greatest fans in the world. Citrus County Speedway will restart racing for their 52nd year in the 2007 season opener Winter Spectacular V on January 20th featuring the Super Late Models in Twin 50’s and a full race card.
Citrus County Speedway Results Winter Spectacular IV 12/2/06
Open Wheel Modified 1st 50 Lap Feature – 16 Cars
1. #01 Curtis Neumann 2. #32 Alan McCafferty 3. #91 Bobby Taylor - Hard Charger 4. #34 Teddy Nelson – Fast Qualifier 5. #92 Steve Perez 6. #42 Richie Smith 7. #08 David Davis 8. # 3 Harold Cannon 9. #20 Mitch Korzenski 10.#6x Donie Maxwell
Open Wheel Modified 2nd 50 Laps Feature – 15 Cars
1. # 3 Harold Cannon 2. #34 Teddy Nelson 3. #19 Tommy Schnader – Hard Charger 4. #32 Alan McCafferty 5. #01 Curtis Neumann 6. #08 David Davis 7. #42 Richie Smith 8. #6x Donnie Maxwell 9. # 9 Kurt Jett 10.#03 Kyle Bookmiller
Sportsmen Feature – 50 Laps – 13 Cars
1. #175 Craig Robinson 2. #01 Tom Posavec 3. #42 Richie Smith 4. #55 Ernie Reed 5. #28 Wayne Lewis 6. #20 Steve O’Lone 7. #47 John Zuidema 8. #97 Phillip Rook 9. #44 Joe Barbera 10.#29 J.T. Renau
1. #77 Ted Taylor 2. #36 Tim Whitehead 3. #34 Bill Ryan 4. #60 Fred Henick 5. #21 Daniel Nauman 6. #00 Josh Long 7. #44 Glen Colyer – DNF
Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 40 Laps – 19 Cars
1. # 1 Brian Gingras – Lakeland - Fast Qualifier 13.929 Secs. 2. #82 Mike Belusar - Naples 3. #45 John Bailey - Sarasota 4. #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 5. #83 Jeff Wolfe - Sarasota 6. #40 Alan Paradis – Indian Town 7. #21 Sam Mancuso -Sarasota 8. # 0 Sonny O’Sullivan - Edgewater 9. #33 Roger Richmond – Port Charlotte - DNF 10.#18 Dennis Diehl – W. Palm Beach – DNF
Outlaw Modifieds Feature – 30 Laps – 15 Cars
1. #23 Cliff Steinmann – 2006 Champion 2. #28 Robbie Bean 3. #15 Doug Hopper 4. #11 Billy Campbell 5. #12 Mike Bean 6. #10 Robert Campbell 7. #4 Tom Meyer 8. #30 Roy Campbell 9. #77 John Gilbert III 10.#78 Craig Sherar
