IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 18, 2006 Color Perry Brown's Return Checkered! Brown gets First Gulfcoast Modified Win At Citrus County Speedway. By Rick Warren Perry who? That was the question being asked early Saturday evening as Perry Brown set fast Qualifying time for the Sunoco Race Fuels / Gulfcoast Modifieds at Citrus County Speedway. The young man from Riverview, Florida, better known for racing Dirt Modifieds, showed that he is right at home on asphalt race tracks as well. Second fast Qualifier was local racer and crowd favorite Curtis Neumann, followed by Sean McLaughlin, Mike Hinegardner, and Lee Collins rounding out the top 5. Brown showed that the #83X Evergreen Development Corporation entry was not only fast, but on this night had a little bit of luck also. The pill draw for inversion had Brown pull a #1 out of the hat, meaning that the field would start heads up, according to qualifying times. At 8:35 sharp, right on schedule, the field of 28 Modifieds lined up behind the Pace truck. Brown had his racer on the pole position, with the Dynamic Performance Coatings entry of Curtis Neumann right beside him. The second row consisted of Sean McLaughlin in his King Excavating entry, with Mike Hinegardner alongside in his Thebox.com racecar. Lee Collins had the inside of row 3, followed by Billy Mowery, Dale Shelton, Dwayne Dempsey, Wayne Bowman, and Chris Escott rounding out the top ten. The field was set, warm-up laps completed, and the fans were ready for 50 green flag laps of open wheel modified racing. The first attempt at starting the race didnt work to well, as several cars tried to occupy the same piece of asphalt in turn 2, resulting in the caution flag coming out. Teddy Nelson suffered the worst damage, and was forced to take his racer to the pit area, and was unable to continue. The field was reset, and the green flag waved again, this time to a good start. Brown and Neumann raced side by side until the caution again came out on lap 2 for a spin involving the cars of Patrick Thomas, Jim Houle, Herman Braime, and Jimmy Wagner. After a brief track clean-up, The field was reset with Brown in front of Neumann, followed by Hinegardner, Mowery, McLaughlin, Dempsey, and Collins. By lap 5, Mowery had passed Hinegardner for third, while Dempsey and Collins had both driven by Mclaughlin. Lap 8 saw Collins go to the outside of Dempsey, and make the pass for 5th spot. Lap 10 saw caution once more on the speedway as the 83 and 19 cars got together in turn 4. When the field was reset for the restart, it was Brown continuing to hold the lead, followed by Neumann, Mowery, Hinegardner, Collins, Dempsey, McLaughlin, Chris Escott, Dan Partelo, and Robby Cooper in the top ten. The field stayed tightly bunched together for the next few laps, each driver trying to plan his next move. Caution again on the speedway on lap 15, for a spin in turn 3. The top 5 running order was still the same as the field came for the restart, and Brown fired off turn 4. The start was short lived however, as the 51 of Dale Shelton and the 07 of Kevin Durden got together in turn 4, with Shelton bouncing over the hood of Durdens car, and ending up against the turn 4 wall. The track was cleared, and the field reset for the restart once again. Brown continued to hold a strong grip on first place, with Neumann trying to find a spot to pass. Lap 17 saw Collins again go to the outside, and work his way around Hinegardner for 4th spot. Lap 19 had the car of Scott McDaniel spin, bringing out the caution flag again. As the field was being lined up for the restart, the 51 car of Dale Shelton rammed the 07 of Kevin Durden on the back straight. Shelton was DQ for unsportsmanlike behaviour, and is currently suspended from the series. The field was finally reset, and went green flag racing one more time. Lap 20 saw Collins on the outside again, this time working his way by Mowery to take over third spot. The field remained tight up front, while the racing was furious behind the lead pack. The fans were seeing passes for position every lap, with nobody certain about any finishing positions yet. There were a couple more quick cautions for minor incidents, but the racing remained hot. Lap 40 saw Collins work his way under Neumann off turn 2, and take over second spot, and go on the prowl for the leader. With 4 laps to go Collins was pressuring Brown relentlessly. Perry Brown As the leader took the white flag, Collins made one more big charge to try and take the lead, but to no avail. Brown showed that the 83X with Perry Brown behind the wheel was the real deal, and took a strong win in the tough modified series. Perry Brown fans can listen to a recent interview with the former SARA Champ on Short Track America.Click Now!. Third was Neumann, followed by Mowery, Hinegardner, Dempsey, McLaughlin, Ralph Bowman, Billy Bechtelhiemer, and Andrew Alderman (who by the way, is a high school senior, racing on a shoestring, and looking hard for sponsorship) As the race cars were going thru post race tech inspection, Brown discovered that his left rear shock had broken sometime during the race. Lee Collins said that on the last restart, he saw Browns shock hanging down, and thought that it would surely slow him down enough for Collins to drive by for the win. Collins was heard to tell his crew chief, maybe we should take our left rear shock off, so we can catch this guy. The top 3 finishers cleared tech, and the race was declared official. The Hard Charger Award was shared by Ralph Bowman and Shane Grigsby. The Sunoco Race Fuels / Gulfcoast Modifieds will be in action again on April 29, Taking on the high banks of Bronson Motor Speedway for 50 Green Flag, action packed laps. Come join us at Bronson Speedway for some great racing action. 1 83X Perry Brown Riverview 2 89 Lee Collins Immokalee 3 01 Curtis Neumann Inverness 4 55 Billy Mowery Clearwater 5 1H Mike Hinegardner Largo 6 6 Dwayne Dempsey St. Petersburg 7 99 Sean McLaughlin Port Charlotte 8 2 Ralph Bowman Largo 9 6B Billy Bechtelheimer Dover 10 83 Andrew Alderman Pinellas Park 11 17 Jimmy "Gator" WagnerZephyrhills 12 22 John Godwin Zephyrhills 13 25 Patrick Thomas Orlando, FL 14 03 Kyle Bookmiller Riverview 15 28 Shane Grigsby Pinellas Park 16 8 Chris Escott St. Petersburg 17 4 Blake Lehr Titusville, FL 18 98 Robbie Cooper Bronson, FL 19 83K Mitch Korzenski Pinellas Park 20 07 Kevin Durden Archer 21 81 Howard Skaggs Clearwater 22 19 Scott McDaniel Cape Coral 23 9 Danny Partelo St. Petersburg 24 21 Wayne Bowman Clearwater 25 80 Jimmy Houle Pinellas Park 26 47 Herman Brame Pinellas Park 27 34 Teddy Nelson Pinellas Park DQ 51 Dale Shelton St. Petersburg Have an opinion on this story? 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