IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 5, 2008 Citrus Late Model and Sportsman Titles Tighten Up by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 10/04/08) Saturday night was a perfect night for stock car racing featuring 6 local divisions and 3 traveling series in heats and 9 features in some of the most competitive racing of the year. After Saturday night’s action there are only 4 more regular races on the 2008 schedule and two division crowns are up for grabs. The Super Late Models saw Richie Smith close to within 17 points of leader Herb Neumann Jr., picking up 6 points with his 2nd feature win of the season. Richie won the pole starting position and never gave up the point from the green flag right to the finish line in their 35 lap main event. Jeremy Gerstner locked onto Smith from the get go but gave up his 2nd position to Dustin DesChamp who spent the second half of the race chasing the leader but just couldn’t make the pass before the checkers came out. Gerstner held out for a 3rd place finish over point leader Herb Neumann Jr. who started 10th and got caught up in a lot of fast traffic in route to his 4th place finish. Scott Grossenbacher held off Daniel Webster in the race for fifth. John Gerstner and Dale Sanders picked up the heat wins. The Sportsman division is becoming an even tighter race for the championship. Saturday night’s final four laps had the fans on their feet watching Bobby Ervein and Tom Posavec battle side by side for the win. Ervein made it to the point in short order from his 5th starting spot while Posavec had to battle the traffic from his 7th starting spot. Tom chased Ervien from the mid point of their 25 lap main saving the run at Ervein for the final five laps. It was a side by side, see saw battle right to the flag with Ervein picking up his 6th feature win of the season and 2 points, pulling to within 6 points of Posavec for the championship with just 2 more races before the season comes to a close for the division. Clint Foley got into the mix for the final 5 laps but had to settle for 3rd when the checkers flew. Ernie Reed settled for a solo 4th while David White had his best finish of the season rounding out the top five. No heats were run with just 11 cars in the field. Twenty one Mini Stock racers came ready to race in their heats and 20 lap feature. Clint Foley launched from his 9th starting position working the outside groove and managed to get around early leader Mark Powers who got into trouble, trying to hold onto the lead, turning Foley around on turn two and getting sent to the rear of the pack for bringing on the caution. Steven Smith locked onto Foley who picked up his 6th win of the season after the restart. Steven held off the rest of the hard charges to nail down a second place finish just ahead of Wes Filyaw, Don Faunce and Mike Lawhorn. Point leader Kevin Harrod blew his engine in his heat race and managed to find a replacement and change out the motor in time to start the feature. Kevin managed to salvage a 6th place finish with the replacement engine and has a pretty comfortable lead over Mike Lawhorn who has a 1 point lead over Clint Foley in the run for second in the points’ race. Heat winners were Mark Powers and Steven Smith. Twenty 4 Cylinder Bombers chased the #66 Racing Rabbit, Brandon Watson in their 20 lap main event and the young 14 year old locked down his 6th win of the season from his 3rd starting spot. Shawn Evans caught him early in the race but couldn’t make the pass even with several caution flag restarts. Defending champion Jeff Eberly held off Tim Scalise who won his first race of the season 2 weeks ago. Nathan Florian continues to stay in the top 5 at the finish line over a very competitive field. Heat winner were Watson and Evans. Twenty three Pure Stock drivers saw 9th starter James Peters drive to Victory Lane for his first win of the season after joining the field on September 6th and in his fourth race this season. Bill Ryan moved to within 3 points of John Drye driving from 14th to second when the checkers flew. Richie Smith had to settle for a 3rd place finish on a green, white checkers run for the finish in one of the rare times the #142 didn’t go to Victory Lane. Rounding out the top five were former champion Steven Stinedurf and point leader John Drye. Peters and Smith took the heat wins in what turned out to be a real barn burner. Cory Swanston launched his V8 Thunder Stock Rookie racer to the point early in the race and despite several caution flags managed to outrun Drew Matissek for his first win of the season. Randy Werstein, point leader Alex Wilder and Josh Long in the MOO Car rounded out the top five. Just about the entire state of Florida was represented by the 13 car field of Florida Open Wheel Lites. The man to beat was Auburndale’s Jonathan Guy who had the field pretty well covered in both his heat and their feature run. John Bailey out of Sarasota won the 2nd heat and locked horns with Auburndale’s Billy Gise holding out for second. Gise held off Jeff Wolfe out of Myakka City in the race for third and Port Charlotte’s Roger Richmond rounding out the top five. Doug Hopper returned to what used to be his home track and was the dominant force in the Outlaw Modified feature. He went from 6th to first by mid race and Robert Campbell was the only driver that had anything for Hopper but had to settle for second. Cliff Steinmann made a late pass on Colin Cabre to take 3rd while early leader Ric Mills locked down a 5th place finish. The Florida Pro Challenge cars were not on the original schedule but they brought 6 cars and wend for 1 heat and 20 lap feature race the saw J.L. Snowden take his #40 truck to Victory Lane over Jarrett Snowden in #40 car, Bruce Gibson fell back to third in the final lap and was followed across the line by Daniel Miller, Paul White and Harvey Johnson. Only one regular division will be racing Saturday night in the ”Fall Fiasco” and that will be a 50 lap Figure 8 Special dedicated to Bob Hage as he retires from many years of Figure 8 racing. Highlighting the night will be the School Bus Figure 8 races, the Boat Trailer Race, a 150 Lap Enduro race for big money, the Drifter 280 Z’s will be back to put on a show and wrapping up the night will be a crashing, banging Demolition Derby until there is only one car running for the win. You don’t want to miss the fun race of the year as the season winds down for 2008. Citrus County Speedway Results 10/04/08 – 137 Cars Super Late Model Feature – 35 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #33 Richie Smith – Hernando – 2nd Season Win 2. #51 Dustin DesChamps – Brooksville 3. #70 Jeremy Gerstner – Eustis 4. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. – Inverness 5. #09 Scott Grossenbacher – San Antonio 1st Heat Winner - # 1 Dale Sanders – Lecanto 2nd Heat Winner - #62 John Gerstner – Eustis Sportsman Feature – 25 Laps – 11 Cars 1. #88 Bobby Ervien – St. Petersburg – 6th Season Win 2. #01 Tom Posavec - Dunnellon 3. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 4. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto 5. # 6 David White – Spring Hill No Heats Run Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 21 Cars 1. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon – 5th Season Win 2. #32 Steven Smith – Inverness 3. # 3 Wes Filyaw – Brooksville 4. # 2 Don Faunce – Spring Hill 5. #44 Michael Lawhorn – Claremont 1st Heat Winner - # 9 Mark Powers – Hernando 2nd Heat Winner - #32 Steven Smith 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 20 Cars 1. #66 Brandon Watson – Dunnellon – 5th Season Win 2. #46 Shawn Evans – Williston 3. #01 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 4. #48 Tim Scalise – Lutz 5. #26 Nathan Florian – Homosassa 1st Heat Winner - #66 Brandon Watson 2nd Heat Winner - #46 Shawn Evans Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. # 5 James Peters - ? – 1st Season Win 2. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 3. #142 Richie Smith – Hernando 4. #88 Victor Shahid – Floral City 5. # 0 Steve Stinedurf – Brooksville 1st Heat Winner - #5 James Peters 2nd Heat Winner - #142 Richie Smith V8 Thunder Stock Rookie Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #33 Cory Swanston – Aripeka – 1st Season Win 2. #68 Drew Matissek – New Port Richey 3. # 9 Randy Werstein – Belleview 4. #14 Alex Wilder – Inverness 5. #00 Josh Long – Inverness Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #42 Johnathan Guy – Auburndale 2. #45 John Bailey – Sarasota 3. #7Jr. Billy Gise – Auburndale 4. #83 Jeff Wolfe – Myakka City 5. #33 Roger Richmond – Port Charlotte 1st Heat Winner - #42 Johnathan Guy 2nd Heat Winner #45 John Bailey Outlaw Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 12 Cars 1. #15 Doug Hopper 2. #10 Robert Campbell 3. #23 Cliff Steinmann 4. #71 Colin Cabre 5. #21 Ric Mills 1st Heat Winner - #4 Tom Meyer 2nd Heat Winner - #6 Frankie Hurst Have an opinion on this story? 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