IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

July 29, 2007 Bresnahan Survives two Wrecks for 5th Citrus Win by Larry MacMillan Questionable weather surrounded Citrus County Speedway Saturday night and definitely had an affect on the fan base but 126 cars came to race no matter what the weather conditions after last week’s rainout. Several feature races raced through light rain sprinkles that may have slowed them down a little but it certainly didn’t detract from the competitive racing and close finishes for all of the regular divisions. Nineteen Late Models tried to take the green flag three times during a light shower that saw three cars spin on the first lap of each restart due to wearing slicks and a slick track. They were sent to the pits to let the Street Stocks come out with their treaded tires that were able to handle the track better and the rain was over after their feature race. Seventeen racers took the green flag for the 35 lap main event and pole sitter Donnie Parkinson jumped to the point early and held off all challengers while battles for position went on behind him. Dale Sanders and Mike Bresnahan locked horns in a side by side battle for 4th place spinning Bresnahan out in the first of his mishaps. Sanders went to the rear of the pack while Bresnahan picked up 4th on the restart. Bresnahan used the outside groove to go around Jim Smith and Daniel Webster before catching Parkinson in the run for the lead. Several more wrecks occurred at the back of the field bringing out caution flags before Bresnahan suffered major rear end damage but was able to take the lead on the restart being chased by Daniel Webster, Jim Smith, Perry Lovelady and Herb Neumann Jr.. Webster was literally right on Bresnahan’s bumper when the white flag came out taking out Bresnahan and all the cars behind him on turn one. The race was called on where the cars were running in lap 34 and Webster was put to the rear of the lead lap with Bresnahan taking his fifth win of the year followed by Jim Smith, Perry Lovelady, Scott Grossenbacher and Herb Neumann Jr.. Heat wins went to Bresnahan, Morris and Dale Sanders. Fourteen Sportsmen put on a great show with the front 10 cars battling side by side for the first 10 laps. Jeff Rook and Fred Tuski see sawed back and forth for the lead until Johnny Zuidema lost his engine in turn 3 and 4 bringing on the caution for a long clean up. Tuski took the green on the restart and held off the charges of 11th starter Mike Veltman right to the checkered flag. When the checkers came out Tom Posavec and Rusty Bremer got caught up in a major crash putting both cars into the front stretch wall before they reached the start finish line and brought on the red flag. Tuski almost lost his first win of the season on his way to Victory Lane for photos when he continued to move after the red flag came out driving around the wreck. He was given the win despite the infraction with Veltman finishing second, Ernie Reed third, Phillip Rook fourth and Jeff Rook fifth. Tuski and Zuidema logged heat wins. Mike Veltman survived a money protest and came up legal after a complete teardown. It was a 19 car Street Stock gang that provided a lot of excitement with the quicker cars starting in the rear of the field and working their way through the pack. Despite a damp race track and a light sprinkle during the race the drivers managed put on a super run for the flag with pretty much the same outcome that has been going on all season long. Richie Smith started 16th and wound up in Victory Lane for the 12th time. Jeff Stalnaker seemed to be the only driver that had anything for Richie but had to settle for second over Tim Alexander, outside pole sitter Frank Stromquist and Tim Wilson. This was another one of those side by side battles for about 10 cars for 10 laps in the early going. Heat wins went to Phillip Rook, Frank Stromquist and Mike Stalnaker. Fourteen Mini Stocks took the green flag in their 20 lap feature run and Clint Foley worked his way from 5th to the point in lap 9 and scored his 6th win of the season continuing his chase for the points lead in third as of this race. Kevin Harrod took off from the pole position and set the pace for those first 9 laps but lost out to Foley at that point and spent the rest of the race holding off Mike Lawhorn, point leader Steve Griffin and defending champion George Neumann. A couple hot shoes were in the mix when the checkers flew with Johnny Siner picking up 6th and Chris Hooker running 7th. Heat winner were Harrod and Lawhorn. The rained out Mini Stock Challenge and Southern Sportsman race has been rescheduled for August 11th. Eighteen Pure Stocks went to war in their 20 lap main event and again more than enough excitement keeping the heavy hitters from repeating their ride to the winner’s circle. Bobby Taylor’s bid for his 7th win was short lived when it appeared that his fuel cell fell the through the trunk area of his race car. Rick Shahid went from 5th to first in the first few laps getting around Jesse Mullis while Bill Ryan worked his way from 13th to get in the leader mix at the mid point of the race. Ryan made his way around the front runners and on to his 4th win of the season after logging the win in the first heat and maintaining his point lead in the division. Shahid held out for second over hard charging Kyle Peters and Rick Henick who shared the early lead with Shahid. Bobby Taylor took the win in the second heat before he lost his fuel cell. Brandon the “Hammer” Elwood was the dominator in the 4 Cylinder Bomber feature wasting no time moving from his 22nd starting spot to the point and taking his third win of the season by half a lap over Patrick Connor and Anthony LaPoint. The “Hammer” breezed through tech but Connor was D.Q. d for offset wheels and LaPoint refused to tear down so that moved hard charging Bobby Richardson from 16th to second when all was said and done. Inheriting third was Jeff Eberly who moved into first in the point race with point leader Travis Hoefler having early problems and 20th place finish. Rounding out the top five was Chris Harvey and Robert Carter. Heat Wins went to Elwood, Jenkins and John DeGeorge who crashed in the feature and finished 22nd. --Advertisement-- Wrapping up the night of action were the V8 Thunder Stock Rookies and it looks like Ricky Shahid has run his last rookie race after scoring his 4th win of the season. He outran the 18 car field from flag to flag for his win followed by Josh Long who was disqualified in post race inspection. Richard Dinkins took over the ride in the #34 car and inherited a second place finish in only his second week in the field. Mike Veltman’s nephew Jesse Veltman locked in a third place finish in his first race ever while Kevin Veltman was in the flager’s stand for much of the evening assisting Brent Fults. Eddie Rosasco outran Cotee Clark in the run for 4th from his 9th starting spot. Next Saturday night sees the return of the Open Wheel Modifieds, Figure 8’s, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers. Joining the regular divisions will be the Florida Open Wheel Lites and the Outlaw Mini Modifieds. The rained out Mini Stock Challenge, Southern Sportsman Series and the Gulf Coast Modifieds will run on Saturday, August 11th plus Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results 7/28/07 Super Late Model Feature – 35 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #66 Mike Bresnahan – Lecanto - 5th Season Win 2. #121 Jim Smith - Inverness 3. # 7 Perry Lovelady - Lakeland 4. #09 Scott Grossenbacher – San Antonio 5. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. - Inverness 1st Heat Winner – #66 Mike Bresnahan 2nd Heat Winner - #09 Scott Grossenbacher 3rd Heat Winner - # 1 Dale Sanders Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #71 Fred Tuski – Crystal River – 1st Season Win 2. #94 Mike Veltman – Crystal River 3. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto 4. #97 Phillip Rook – Inverness 5. #75 Jeff Rook – Brooksville 1st Heat Winner - #71 Fred Tuski 2nd Heat Winner - #147 Johnny Zuidema Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 20 cars 1. #142 Richie Smith – Hernando – 12th Season Win 2. #90 Jeff Stalnaker – Ocala 3. #63 Tim Alexander – Floral City 4. #57 Frank Stromquist – Lecanto 5. #93 Tim Wilson – Floral City 1st Heat Winner - #75 Phillip Rook 2nd Heat Winner - #57 Frank Stromquist 3rd Heat Winner - #8 Mike Stalnaker Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars 1. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon – 6th Season Win 2. #34 Kevin Harrod – Floral City 3. #44 Mike Lawhorn – Clermont 4. #3 Steve Griffin – Inverness 5. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #34 Kevin Harrod 2nd Heat Winner - #44 Mike Lawhorn 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps - 21 Cars 1. # 28 Brandon Elwood – Anthony – 3rd Season Win 2. #22 Bobby Richardson - Lecanto 3. #001 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 4. #00 Chris Harvey – Belleview 5. #199 Robert Carter - Lakeland 1st Heat Winner - #28 Brandon Elwood 2nd Heat Winner - #89 Brett Jenkins 3rd Heat Winner – #122 John DeGeorge Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell – 4th Season Win 2. # 3 Rick Shahid – Floral City 3. #14 Kyle Peters – Citra 4. #61 Rick Henick – Inverness 5. #99 Jesse Mullis – Beverly Hills 1st Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan 2nd Heat Winner – 127 Bobby Taylor V8 Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #3 Ricky Shahid – Floral City – 4th Season Win 2. #34 Richard Dinkins – Bushnell 3. #94 Jesse Veltman – Crystal River 4. #10 Eddie Rosasco – Inverness 5. #39 Cotee Clark – New Port Richey Have an opinion on this story? 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