IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

August 5, 2007 16 Heats - 8 Features Highlight Citrus Action Saturday by Larry MacMillan Citrus County Speedway opened the month of August with 131 cars in the pits, 6 regular divisions and two traveling series plus perfect weather for the first time since the restart of the second half of the season in July. The fans definitely got their money’s worth of action that saw several first time winners. Post race inspections took its toll in three divisions and two divisions have new point leaders at the top of the ladder. Open Wheel Modifieds got back on track in the point races after their Twin 35’s were rescheduled to June 23rd. Those races were not for points so they haven’t raced since June 9th for points. Harold Cannon definitely had his race car dialed in as he led the 14 car field from flag to flag for his second feature win of the year. Teddy Nelson came into Saturday night’s races with the point lead and looked like he was on his way to his fourth win when he got into a minor wreck and the new spin out rule sent both cars to the rear for the restart and then a cut down tire sent him to the pits putting him down two laps when he came back. Mitch Korzenski locked onto second after a wild battle with Kyle Bookmiller for the spot. The third place finish put Bookmiller into the points’ lead by 3 over Nelson. Doug Miller held out for fourth over James Houle. Miller and Richie Smith took the heat wins. Congratulations to Curtis Neumann for taking the $1000 bonus for accumulating the most points in the Citrus/Ocala Speedway 4 race series. Sixteen Sportsmen took the green flag for their 20 lap main and chased Tom Posavec from the outside pole spot to the checkered flag for his second win of the season. The win moved him to the point lead by 3 points over Phillip Rook who finished 8th in the race. Mike Veltman again made a hard charge from 11th to second in search of his 6th feature win of the season. Chasing Veltman to the line was Ernie Reed, Jeff Rook who ran a solid race from his pole starting spot and outrunning Mike Mennenga in the race for fourth. Reed and Posavec scored the heat wins. The rained out Southern Sportsman Series will replace the local Sportsman race scheduled for next week. Kevin Harrod came off the pole position in the Mini Stock 13 car, 20 lap feature and set the pace all the way to the checkered flag with Richie Powers in pursuit from his 11th starting spot and only his 3rd race in quite a few years. Finishing third was point leader Steve Griffin but the race final results were changed after checking the heads of all of the top three. Harrod was D.Q’d, Richie Powers took his first win of the season and Steve Griffin put some cushion in his points’ lead with a second place finish. Clint Foley locked down third over Mike Lawhorn and Mark Powers. Griffin and Lawhorn chalked up heat wins for the night. Johnathan Camp took a real scary ride in the first lap when his car was pushed up and on to the first turn wall. The car stayed upright and rode the wall for about 20 feet before it went over the wall and landed on all four wheels on the pit side of the wall. Johnathan came out of the car definitely shaken up but uninjured and that ended his night early. The rained out Mini Stock Challenge has been rescheduled for next Saturday which will replace the regular Mini Stock race on the schedule. Street Stocks came out in force with 22 cars taking the green flag for their main event and wound up with another first time winner. Mike Loudy motored his way through traffic from his 9th starting spot to join the ranks of only five different winners in a division that has seen Richie Smith dominate with 12 wins out of 18 races. Michael Stalnaker gave it a last lap effort but had to settle for second after Phillip Rook was disqualified in post race inspection. Richie Smith was also on his way to the front but finished in a rare 3rd place when the checkers flew. Rounding out the top five were Tim Wilson and Jason VanOchten in a race that saw a lot of side by side, 3 wide racing at all points on the track. Curtis Flanagan, Richie Smith and John Makula took the heat wins. The 4 Cylinder Bombers had a tough time getting their race started with 5 caution flags in the first 3 laps. The last of the three cautions saw Burns Mothershed take a terrible ride off turn two, barrel rolling his race car 3 times. Burns came out of the car pretty well shaken up but uninjured and of course the car was done for the night. On the 3rd restart the division only had 3 minutes left on the clock but somehow they managed to stay green for the next 15 laps with Jeremy Sharrone leading the pack all the way to Victory Lane for his first win of the year. Phil Edwards worked his way from 13th to second when the checkers flew but failed to make it through tech giving the spot to Johnathan Doucette. Point leader Jeff Eberly continued to put cushion in his point lead with a third place finish followed by John DeGeorge and Candie Moniz. Heat winners were Travis Hoefler, Sharrone and Bobby Richardson. Wrapping up the regular show were 22 hard charging Figure 8 cars that lost out to rain in their last attempt on July 21st. With the full field it didn’t take long for things to happen in the intersection and the attrition rate dropped quite a few cars from the finish after 20 laps. Darryl Hage became the 9th different winner out of 9 races for the season. Wayne Calkins raced in the front of the pack until the first caution came out and that put him back to about 8th on the restart then he came back through traffic and was giving Hage a run for his money when the checkers flew for a second place finish. Curtis Youmans moved to second in the points’ race with his third place finish after starting 14th. Holding out for fourth was Mike Wedlick being chased to the finish line by Danny Hage. Figure 8’s return in two weeks. The Outlaw Mini Modifieds brought a 15 car contingency and put on a great show that saw Doug Hopper take charge from the green flag to the checkers in their 30 lap main. Charlie Lee, Billy Campbell, Marty Neikens and Tom Meyer locked down the top five spots. Meyer and Neikens also took wins in their heat races. The Florida Open Wheel Lites brought in 10 cars from all over the state and they chased Phil Krathoff for all 20 laps of their main event. Sonny O’Sullivan advance from 10th to 2nd when it was all over followed Rick Lundeen, Rick Brayton and Roger Richmond. Heat winners were Krauthoff and Richmond. Next Saturday sees the rescheduled Mini Stock Challenge/Southern Sportsman plus the Gulf Coast Modifieds and local races in the Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stock Rookies and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Three traveling series plus the locals in points’ races. Practice will be on Friday night only this week. --Advertisement-- Citrus County Speedway Results 8/4/07 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 14 Cars 1. # 3 Harold Cannon – Valrico – 2nd Season Win 2. #83 Mitch Korzenski – Pinellas Park 3. #03 Kyle Bookmiller – Valrico 4. #53 Doug Miller – Largo 5. #80 James Houle – Pinellas Park 1st Heat Winner - #53 Doug Miller 2nd Heat Winner - #42 Richie Smith – Hernando Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps - 16 Cars 1. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon – 2nd Season Win 2. #94 Mike Veltman – Crystal River 3. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto 4. #75 Jeff Rook – Brooksville 5. # 9 Michael Mennenga – Ocala 1st Heat Winner - #55 Ernie Reed 2nd Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavec Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #84 Richie Powers – Hernando – 1st Season Win 2. # 3 Steve Griffin – Inverness 3. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 4. #44 Mike Lawhorn – Clermont 5. #29 Mark Powers – Hernando 1st Heat Winner – Steve Griffin 2nd Heat Winner - #44 Mike Lawhorn Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #21 Mike Loudy – Holiday – 1st Season Win 2. # 8 Mike Stalnaker – Ocala 3. #142 Richie Smith – Hernando 4. #93 Tim Wilson – Floral City 5. #99 Jason VanOchten – Hudson 1st Heat Winner - # 3 Curtis Flanagan – Floral City 2nd Heat Winner - #142 Richie Smith 3rd Heat Winner - #27 John Makula – New Port Richey 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #32 Jeremy Sharrone – Floral City – 1st Season Win 2. # 5 Johnathan Doucette – Bayonet Point 3. #001 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 4. #122 John DeGeorge – Dunnellon 5. #15 Candy Moniz – Oldsmar 1st Heat Winner - #20 Travis Hoefler – Floral City 2nd Heat Winner - #32 Jeremy Sharrone 3rd Heat Winner - #22 Bobby Richardson Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars 1. # 8 Darryl Hage – St. Petersburg – 1st Season Win 2. #14 Wayne Calkins – St. Petersburg 3. #27 Curtis Youmans – Floral City 4. #96 Mike Wedlick – St. Petersburg 5. #11 Danny Hage – St. Petersburg Outlaw Mini Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #15 Doug Hopper 2. #33 Charlie Lee 3. #11 Billy Campbell 4. #70 Marty Niekins 5. #04 Tom Meyer 1st Heat Winner - #04 Tom Meyer 2nd Heat Winner - #70 Marty Niekens Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 10 Cars 1. # 2 Phil Krauthoff – Stuart 2. #0 Sonny O’Sullivan – Edgewater 3. #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 4. #8X Rick Brayton – Deltona 5. #33 Roger Richmond – Port Charlotte 1st Heat Winner - # 2 Phil Krauthoff 2nd Heat Winner - #33 Roger Richmond Have an opinion on this story? 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