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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY
Larry MacMillan – P.R.
August 5, 2007
16 Heats – 8 Features Highlight Citrus Action Saturday
(Inverness, Fl. 8/4/07) 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
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