August 22, 2004 Dustin DesChamps Wins Lenny Brown Memorial Mini Stock Challenge By Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 8/21/04) One hundred thirty four race cars were determined to hold out over threatening weather and won the battle in an altered race schedule that turned out to be an action packed feature only race program. Fans who let the weather keep them away from this show missed a great one. The highlight of the evening was the 34 Mini Stock racers that made the field for the Lenny Brown Memorial Mini Stock Challenge 50. Local racer Jim Curry and son Charlie Brown managed to get sponsor commitments for an additional $1500 in the purse that was disbursed to the entire field in honor of former Citrus County Speedway driver Lenny Brown. Due to the rain at race time there was a late start to the program and time trials were cancelled. Starting positions were determined on a pill draw. All 34 cars started the feature race with Zephyrhills Robbie Storer winning the pole and young gun Dustin DesChamps out of Tampa taking the outside pole. Storer took the point from the get go and held off all challengers for the first 20 laps before showing a loss of power that eventually took him out of the race. The heavy traffic load and a less than perfect race surface due to the rain caused multiple caution flags in the early stages of the race. DesChamps managed to take the lead when Storer faded but lost it several times before the track started coming to him. He took over for good when he found some extra power that made him the man to catch for his first Mini Stock Challenge win. Series point leader Robbie Yoakam started 20th and spun out in the early going forcing him to come from the back of the field on two occasions and despite all the draw backs managed to finish second. Marty Neikens out of Clearwater picked up the Hard Charger Award coming from 29th to finish third and was the only other car in the lead lap at the finish line. Lakelands Lee Davis won out over local former three time local Champion George Neumann in the race for fourth. Rounding out the top ten were Lakelands Jason Rendell, Inverness Mad Max Seaman, Lakelands Charlie Brown, St. Petersburgs Raymond Folwell, and Winter Havens Keith Roggen. Fifteen of seventeen Open Wheel Modifieds took the green flag for their 30 lap main event and Mike Wilson moved from fourth to third in the point race with his second Citrus win of the season. Steve Parez held out for a second place finish after dropping back to fourth before a caution flag caused the front three to drop back to the rear of the pack putting Parez on the point for the restart. Wilson took the lead with five to go for the win. Robert Ray held on for third followed by Jimmy Wagner. Point leader Billy Bechtelheimer managed a fifth place finish after suffering some damage in the earlier four car crash on the front straight. Six cars dropped out from engine problems or damages suffered in accidents. Super Stocks came out 26 cars strong for their twin features and in the first race of the night the pole proved to be the place to be for Dusty Bouchard taking his first local win of the season. Richie Smith charged from 16th to take second ahead of 20th starter Mike Bell, Ernie Reed and Steve Olone. In the second 25 lap main 21 cars were able to make the field. Steve Olone made a charge from 16th to take the win over Ernie Reed, Mike Bell and Joe Viverito who led most of the race from the outside pole. Travis Nichols made a comeback to his home track after a long absence to finish fifth. Hobby Stocks went to war with 28 cars taking the green flag and lots of passing in their 25 lap feature. Alvin Williamson added his third win to his resume from his 13th starting spot in a knock down, drag out battle with James Doc Batson, Tommy Smith, Richie Smith, Bobby Taylor, Curtis Neumann and Todd Downs, swapping spots for the finial 5 laps in three and four wide battles for position. They finished in the order given with Williamson picking up the lead in lap 23. Twenty six cars registered for the Thunder Stock 25 lap main which had an ending that was not decided until the apparent winner would not come forward when it was questioned as to who really drove the car to Victory Lane. The #33 which was registered to John Sullivan took the checkered flag but Sullivan sold the car two weeks ago and the car was disqualified after it was apparent the registered driver was not driving. Runner up Gary Johnson inherited his first win of the season on the D.Q. followed by Lee Keller who physically battled with Jarred Kessler for the spot. Kessler had to settle for third over Andy Taylor and Victor Shahid. Rick Fort logged his third win of the 4 Cylinder Bomber season. There were only three cars in the field and Fort lapped second place finisher Rusty Adams while point leader Clark Pittsley had to retire to the pits at the halfway point of their 15 lap main. Next Saturday night marks the return of the Florida Pro 100 Series in a rainout makeup race. Added to the program are the Open Wheel Lites, a 50 Lap Hobby Stock adventure, Super Stocks, Mini Stock, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. POS. CAR # DRIVERS M HOMETOWN SPONSOR 1 51 Dustin Deschamps M Tampa, FL R&D Trucking 2 8 Robbie Yoakam M Hernando, FL James Curran Electric 3 70 Marty Neikens M Clearwater, FL needed 4 94X Lee Davis M Lakeland, FL Resort Window Treatment 5 1 George Neumann Inverness, FL Neumanns 6 194 Jason Rendell Lakeland, FL Resort Window Treatment 7 27 Max Seaman Inverness, FL Max Tractor/A&G Fill & Debris 8 11 Charlie Brown M Lakeland, FL Speed Pros/Auto Tech 9 03 Raymond Folwell St. Petersburg, FL needed 10 94 Keith Roggen M Winter Haven, FL Big Dog Motorsports 11 01 Jonathan Siner Homosassa, FL AAA Roofing 12 48 Roger Wright Pinellas Park, FL Matts Backstreet Paint&Body 13 41 Mark Moniz M Land O' Lakes, FL Brandon Ford 14 40 Dennis Valdez M Tampa, FL needed 15 35 Randy Foote M Dunedin, FL Central FL Granite & Marble 16 13 Whitnee Shaffer M Valrico, FL needed 17 20X Jeff Pittsley Umatilla, FL Dees Auto Parts 18 44 Mike Lawhorn Clermont, FL needed 19 4 Jason Reynolds Inverness, FL Citrus Auto Salvage 20 112 Justin Edwards M Ft. Valley, GA needed 21 20 Jim Curry Homosassa, FL Cellular 1 Dep/Big Dog Mtrspt. 22 9 Robbie Storer M Zephyrhills, FL AutoLand 23 88 Ronnie Larson M Clearwater, FL Larry Larson's Top Soil 24 9X William Prevatt Bushnell, FL Jarrett Parrish Bail Bonds 25 69 Jay Zolciak Pinellas Park, FL Matts Backstreet Paint&Body 26 00 Steve Griffin Inverness, FL A&G Tractor/Air Masters Citrus 27 24 Chris Thornton M Clearwater, FL Gulf to Bay Enterprises 28 05 Rick Sirmans M Pinellas Park, FL Fascats/Galloway Chemical 29 71 Dave Moskwa M N. Ft. Myers, FL Sterling Industrial Controls 30 5 Alan Buker M Belleview, FL Stacy's Wings & Things 31 1X Chris Hooker Inverness, FL ICC 32 5X Jeff Barnes Largo, FL AutoWay Chevrolet 33 2 Don Faunce M Spring Hill, FL Sling Shot Chassis 34 73 Darren Jackson M Lakeland, FL JRE Race Engines Hobby Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 28 Cars 1. #09 Alvin Williamson 2. #77 James Batson 3. #42 Tommy Smith 4. #142 Richie Smith 5. #66 Bobby Taylor Thunder Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 26 Cars 1. #40 Gary Johnson 2. #21 Lee Keller 3. #10 Jarred Kessler 4. #36 Andy Taylor 5. # 8 Victor Shahid 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 3 Cars 1. #43 Rick Fort 2. #67 Rusty Adams 3. #64 Clark Pittsley Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #79 Mike Wilson 2. #92 Steve Perez 3. #96 Robert Ray 4. #17 Jimmy Wagner 5. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!