IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

September 16, 2007 Eight Divisions Provide Citrus Fans Tons of Racing Excitement by Larry MacMillan If race fans were looking for more bang for their buck, Citrus County Speedway was the place to be Saturday night. Eight divisions registered 146 cars for 254 laps of heat and feature action just loaded with close racing competition. All of the weekly regulars except the Late Models were there working on the final 9 weeks of the 2007 season and the race for their individual Championship Crowns or a spot in the final top ten. Richie Smith was the busiest driver of the night, racing in three different divisions and locked in wins in two out of three feature races. His first win of the night came against a 22 car field in the Street Stock division where he started 18th and drove his way to his 14th win of the season and within 19 points of taking the lead in the points’ chase. Johnny Zuidema III came off the outside pole to hold off the hard charges of Frank Stromquist to finish second. Point leader Curtis Flanagan started 14th and lost out to Stromquist by half a car length in the race for third and Tim Wilson managed to hold out for a fifth place finish. Wayne Heater, Flanagan and Stromquist added heat wins to their Saturday night at the races. Smith came back to take over the wheel in his Sportsman racer and got caught up in the first of several early crashes that just about took him out in the first lap. Nineteen cars took the green but only 11 finished in what turned out to be quite a crasharama. Third starter D.J. Macklin managed to use the outside groove when things settled down and took the lead away from J.T. Renau and then proceeded to hold off the rest of the field for his second win of the season. Bobby Taylor gets the Hard Charger award coming from 11th, avoiding all the wrecks in front of him and finishing second. Fred Tuski was another early leader and looped it on turn four late in the race but came back to hold out for a third place finish over Tom Posavec and Richie Smith. Heat wins went to Macklin and Tuski. The Mod Squad came in 13 cars strong with Harold Cannon coming off the pole and setting the early pace being chased by Doug Miller and Ritchie Smith. Smith was a man on a mission taking to the outside lane early and challenging for second right off the get go. Then he worked on Cannon, making the pass for the point before Cannon looped it on turn four sending him to the rear of the pack and ultimately a DNF. When Ritchie took the point, it was all over but the celebration in Victory Lane for his first Modified win. Teddy Nelson crossed the line in second place but on the final restart he jumped one spot getting penalized two spots for the finish giving second place to defending champion Kyle Bookmiller. Doug Miller held out for third followed by point leader Teddy Nelson and Stephen Harbuck in what turned out to be a gang buster race. Harold Cannon and Stephen Harbuck took the wins in their heat races. When the green flag dropped for the Mini Stock feature it was all over but the shouting with George Neumann taking a flag to flag win for his fifth win of the season in search of his fifth Championship and closing on point leader Steve Griffin. Dan Smith started on the outside pole and spent all 20 laps holding off 10th starter Clint Foley in the race for second. Rounding out the top five were Mike Lawhorn and Steve Griffin. Heat wins went to Neumann and Smith. Eighteen 4 Cylinder Bombers took the green flag in the first of the 8 feature races for the night. Another six car run for the win developed with 9th starter Phil Edwards making a late pass on point leader Jeff Eberly to take the checkers in their 20 lap main event. Eberly and Travis Hoefler are in the hunt for the point’s championship and they started 7th and 8th and Eberly outran Hoefler to the line finishing nose to tail. Jon Doucette drove his way from 17th to 4th just ahead of Bobby Richardson. Heat winners were Hoefler and Tim Scalise. Mike Veltman was the big gun in the Pure Stock action driving from his 10th starting spot to take his first win in the division. Bill Ryan started 18th and just didn’t have quite enough for Veltman at the checkers and settled for second over Steven Steindurf who started 11th. Sixteenth starter John Drye made his way through a lot of traffic to take fourth over Mike Dubbs. The top three all took their heat wins. Jesse Veltman jumped in the same car that Mike drove and added his first win in the V8 Thunder Stock Rookie division from his 4th starting spot. Richard Dinkins took second with Bruce Asbel in his rearview but Asbel was the only D.Q. of the night. Ed Steinmann inherited third over Kyle Dubbs and Arden Franklin. Rounding out the night of excitement were the Figure 8’s and the intersection got busy early with 19 cars in the running. Paul Grynewicz took the point when the green flag dropped, survived a rear end crash, and became the 11th different winner in their 11th race of the season. Chasing him to the flag was Robbie Aaron, Robbie Hage, Bob Hage and Curtis Youmans. Youmans continues to lead the local points’ race by 18 over Bob Hage. The Figure 8’s are also in a two track Championship run for the final weeks of the season running a separate points’ race at Citrus and Auburndale with most of the races scheduled for Citrus County Speedway. They will be back on September 29th. --Advertisement-- width="370" height="100" border="0"> Next Saturday night will see the return of the Super Late Models who have been limited to just 7 races this season due to weather conditions on their race nights. Added to the program will be a non points, 50 lap Street Stock race plus Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results 9/15/07 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 13 Cars – 30 Laps 1. #42 Richie Smith – Hernando – 1st Season Win 2. #03 Kyle Bookmiller – Valrico 3. #53 Doug Miller – Largo 4. #34 Teddy Nelson – Pinellas Park 5. #09 Stephen Harbuck – St. Petersburg 1st Heat Winner - #3 Harold Cannon – Valrico 2nd Heat Winner - #09 Stephen Harbuck Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #14 D.J. Macklin – Tampa – 2nd Season Win 2. #66 Bobby Taylor – Crystal River 3. #71 Fred Tuski – Crystal River 4. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon 5. #42 Richie Smith – Hernando 1st Heat Winner - #14 D.J. Macklin 2nd Heat Winner - #71 Fred Tuski Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #142 Richie Smith – Hernando – 14th Season Win 2. #47 Johnny Zuidema – Homosassa 3. #57 Frank Stromquist – Lecanto 4. # 3 Curtis Flanagan – Floral City 5. #93 Tim Wilson – Hernando1st Heat Winner - #71 Fred Tuski 2nd Heat Winner - # 3 Curtis Flanagan 3rd Heat Winner - #57 Frank Stromquist Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness – 5th Season Win 2. #82 Dan Smith – St. Petersburg 3. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 4. #44 Mike Lawhorn – Clermont 5. # 3 Steve Griffin - Inverness 1st Heat Winner - # 1 George Neumann 2nd Heat Winner - #82 Dan Smith 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River – 4th Season Win 2. #001 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 3. #20 Travis Hoefler – Floral City 4. # 5 Jon Doucette – Bayonet Point 5. #22 Bobby Richardson – Lecanto 1st Heat Winner - #20 Travis Hoefler 2nd Heat Winner - #48 Tim Scalise – Lutz Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars 1. #94 Mike Veltman – Crystal River – 1st Season Win 2. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 3. # 0 Steven Stinedurf – Brooksville 4. #39 John Drye – Inverness 5. #36 Mike Dubbs – Bushnell 1st Heat Winner - #94 Mike Veltman 2nd Heat Winner - # 0 Steven Stinedurf 3rd Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan V8 Thunder Stock Rookies – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. #94 Jesse Veltman – Crystal River – 1st Feature Win 2. #69 Richard Dinkins – Bushnell 3. #60 Ed Steinman – Homosassa 4. #34 Kyle Dubbs – Bushnell 5. #160 Arden Franklin – Hernando Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #40 Paul Grynewicz – Hudson – 1st Season Win 2. #6 Robert Aaron – Brooksville 3. #74 Robbie Hage – St. Petersburg 4. #52 Bob Hage – St. Petersburg 5. #27 Curtis Youmans – Floral City Have an opinion on this story? 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