Wednesday, April 23, 2003 Six Divisions Put the Hammer Down at Citrus by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 4/23/03) All six regular divisions take on Citrus County Speedway this weekend in heat and feature action. Mini Stocks will get back on track after taking the week off and will be getting prepared for next week’s Mini Stock Challenge. The Sportsman will take next week off to make room for next week’s Mini Stock special. Mike Bresnahan put a little more cushion in his Late Model point lead over Jim Smith after his second place run last week. Rex Struble moved to within one point of Smith and Daniel Keene Jr. closed the gap on Struble, trailing by five points. Ricky Carlton took his first point feature win last week and moved from eighth to fifth, trailing Keene by a seven point margin. Carlton also won the only Late Model special in the Sunbelt 125 Super Late Model series. Twenty-eight Late Model drivers have earned points in just three weeks of point races. Only seventeen Sportsman have earned points after seven races. Johnny Gann turned his fourth place finish into taking over the top spot in the division point race, slipping by Mike Veltman by three points after Veltman’s first DNF of the year. Bill Oestricher slipped to third by seven points on a sixth place finish last week. Johnny Sanders holds out in fourth with Mike Bell chasing him down. Twenty-nine Street Stocks have earned points in the first seven races of the season and the point lead has changed three times in the early going. This week it is Ernie Reed who picked up the top spot over Joe Viverito. Reed led the 50 lap special last week for 29 laps before Travis Nichols made the pass and logged his third win of the year from the back end of the 22 car field. Nichols moved from eighth to sixth on the merits of the win. Danny Cretty slipped from first to third after a rough night Saturday and could only pick up an 18th place finish. Mickey Burns moved around Daniel Webster to take over in fourth place while Webster slipped to fifth with a 15th place finish last week. Mini Stocks come into this week’s action with five different winners and Chris Thornton still holding on to a 29-point lead in the point race over Phillip Joyner. Chris Hooker is just fourteen points out of second followed by Rob Wheatley who is the only driver in the top five who hasn’t made it to Victory Lane. Dustin DesChamp is just eleven points behind Wheatley. Thirty-two cars have picked up points with six races behind them and a big race ahead of them next week in the Mini Stock Challenge. Richie Smith is batting .427 and is one of three drivers claiming wins after seven races. Smith is doing double duty with a Late Model that should be repaired for this week’s race after a bad wreck two weeks ago, but he only had one car to worry about last week and brought it from the scratch row to Victory Lane for the third time this season. Sport Wilson was the only driver that really had something for him at the end of the race. Smith owns a 42-point lead in the run for his third crown in as many years. Curtis Neumann is one of four in the top five still looking for a win. Dean Lawyer, Tim Whitehead and Alvin Williamson round out the top five. Sport and Wes Wilson are the only drivers out of thirty-nine that have a pair of wins on their resume for the 2003 season. With two wins Pat Quick continues to hold the Thunder Stock point lead for the third week in row despite early point leader Roy Blotz scoring his third win of the season. Lee Keller, Larry Triana and Louie Cioe round out the top five over a 28-car field that have raced this year. Tim Wilson and Elmer Crowfoot are the two other drivers who have picked up wins after seven races. Citrus County Speedway is working on its 48th racing season at the same location, 2 miles south of Inverness on U.S. 41 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds. The grandstand gates open at 3 p.m. and the Hobby Stocks put the hammer down at 6 for the first of 13 heat races. Take advantage of the family special, admitting two adults and two children under 12 for just $25. Regular admission prices will apply this weekend. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!