| James Powell wins Powell Memorial at Citrus | by Larry MacMillan
INVERNESS, Fla. -- Twenty-two cars came to take on the Citrus County Speedway’s 3/8ths mile in the second leg of the "8th Annual Powell Memorial 150." Dave Pletcher was one of the last to go on the clocks to qualify and followed up Mike Bresnahan’s record breaking run of 13.469 seconds with a 13.450 and a 13.438 to break the newly established Late Model record on his two qualifying laps. Fifteen out of 22 drivers qualified in the 13-second bracket.
That’s where Pletcher’s luck and ability came to a halt. He drew the #12 pill to designate the top twelve qualifiers to pull pills for starting positions on the front straight just before driver introductions. He drew the #10 pill for his starting spot with some pretty heavy hot shoes ahead of him. Jonny Kay pulled the pole pill while Friday night winner Wayne Anderson pulled the two pill and the opportunity to win two in a row and the $1,000 bonus for the big point winner for the two day series.
When the green flew, Jonny Kay went to the point with Justin Drawdy and Daniel Keene Jr. in hot pursuit with Anderson falling back to fourth. Kay survived a half dozen caution flags setting the pace for 112 laps before his racer started going away on him. He slipped wide on turn four putting Wayne Anderson on the outside lane and Mike Bresnahan on the inside taking the lead by one foot with Anderson falling in behind him after crossing the line. James Powell III, Daniel Keene and Jim Smith got into the mix in the final all green flag laps. Bresnahan held onto the lead until lap 133, losing his rear gear and ending his night. Anderson took the lead on lap 134 and looked like he was going to win his second in a row when he lost power and fell out three laps later. Powell took the lead in lap 138 and held off hard charger of the evening, twelfth starter Jim Smith in the run for the checkers.
When James Powell III hit Victory Lane he was out of his car almost immediately to celebrate his first win in eight attempts in the race that was memorializing the tragic airplane crash that took several members of his family nine years ago. Needless to say, James was overjoyed to finally win this prestigious race but the ironic part of it was he felt it was extra special to win it on June 7th, the anniversary date of the tragic death of his family members and the reason for this memorial race that was started at Ocala Speedway, which was formally owned by his father James Powell II.
Rounding out the top ten was Jim Smith, Rich Pratt, Daniel Keene, Danny Johnson (in his first race after having kidney stone surgery), Bobby Coyle, Dwayne Dempsey, Brock Oglesby, Brad Atkins and Ricky Carlton. Jay Middleton was the last car to finish with the rest of the 22 car field parked in the pits before the checkers flew. Most of the cars fell out due to mechanical problems.
In other action, Sportsman rookie Mike Bell made his way to the front from his scratch starting position took his first win in his new division over a thirteen-car field. Mark Dominique was subbing for Johnny Gann whose race car broke during warm ups. Kyle Bookmiller held out for third over J.D. Goff and Stephen Anderson.
Fourteen cars took the green in the Street Stock 25 lap feature that saw five drivers lose engines in the race. When the smoke and steam cleared, Ernie Reed took his second feature win of the season and moved back into the point lead in the division. Travis Nichols came from the back of the pack to pull off a second place finish. Mickey Burns outran Daniel Webster and Danny Cretty to round out the top five.
Another short field for the Mini Stocks as Robbie Yoakam breezed to his third win of the season over last week’s winner George Neumann. Phillip recovered from an early miscue to hold out for third over Chris Hooker and Dustin DesChamps, Yoakam has been running a limited schedule at his home track while running the Mini Stock Challenge and leads the points in the series.
Sport Wilson logged his second win in a row and his sixth of the season from the 25th starting spot in the Hobby Stock 25 lap main event. Defending champ, Richie Smith made his way through the heavy traffic to hold out for second over young hot shoe Curtis Neumann who held the lead at mid race. Jeff Sharp was the early leader and fell back to fourth at the checkers while Alvin Williamson ran a conservative fifth place run.
It was Pat Quick again in Victory Lane for her fourth consecutive Thunder Stock win in their 25 lap feature. She continues to be the winningest driver in all division logging her 7th win of the season. She survived a complete tear down last week and had it all together. Lee Keller failed to have enough for the lady driver again and slipped further back in the point race despite a second place finish. John Donahue, Mike Dubbs and Michael Long round out the top five.
Next Saturday the TBARA Sprint cars attack Citrus County Speedway for their second appearance of the year and USAC rookie Wayne Reutimann Jr will join his dad and 18 to 20 of these 750 horsepower rockets as they put the clocks to shame as the fastest race cars to ever run at this 48-year-old venue. Sportsman, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Thunder Stocks continue their point races in heat and feature action.
RESULTS
SUPER LATE MODEL "POWELL MEMORIAL 150" - 150 LAPS - 22 CARS
1. #37 James Powell III
2. #32 Jim Smith
3. # 0 Rich Pratt
4. #5K Daniel Keene Jr.
5. #96 Danny Johnson
6. #64 Bobby Coyle
7. #24 Dwayne Dempsey
8. #88 Brock Oglesby
9. #25 Brad Atkins
10. # 3 Ricky Carlton
11. #74 Jay Middleton
12. #84 Wayne Anderson
13. #3X Mike Bresnahan
14. #77x Jonny Kay
15. #00 Robert YoHo
16. #75 Dave Pletcher
17. #57 Patrick Williams
18. #17 Mark Mitchell
19. #12 Justin Drawdy
20. #92 Dick Anderson
21. #84X Kiki Thomas
22. #76 Steve Honeywell
SPORTSMAN FEATURE - 25 LAPS - 13 CARS
1. #17 Mike Bell
2. # 7 Mark Dominic (sub for #9 John Gann)
3. #03 Kyle Bookmiller
4. #14 J.D. Goff
5. #48 Steve Anderson
STREET STOCK FEATURE - 25 LAPS - 14 CARS
1. #55 Ernie Reed
2. #2 Travis Nichols
3. #22 Mickey Burns
4. # 1 Daniel Webster
5. #01 Danny Cretty
MINI STOCK FEATURE - 25 LAPS - 10 CARS
1. #8x Robbie Yoakam
2. # 3 George Neumann
3. #86 Phillip Joyner
4. #1x Chris Hooker
5. #51 Dustin Des Champs
HOBBY STOCK FEATURE - 25 LAPS - 25 CARS
1. #94 Sport Wilson
2. #42 Richie Smith
3. #01 Curtis Neumann
4. #40 Jeff Sharp
5. #09 Alvin Williamson
THUNDER STOCK FEATURE - 25 LAPS - 18 CARS
1. #55 Pat Quick
2. #21 Lee Keller
3. #26 John Donahue
4. #03 Mike Dubbs
5. #35 Michael Long
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