IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 19, 2007 Citrus Week 3 Equals Cold Weather, 167 Drivers, Lots of Action by Larry MacMillan Robbie Cooper picked up a win in the Modifieds. Speedweeks at Citrus County Speedway brought cold, cold weather, hard core fans, action packed races and full pits for the first three weeks of the 52nd season at the 3/8ths mile venue. Saturday night was no different with 167 drivers participating in 14 heat races and 8 feature races as the points begin to add up towards the 2007 division crowns. The fans definitely got their money’s worth with the Open Wheel Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stock Rookies, 4 Cylinder Bombers and capping it off with a 22 car Figure 8 wild encounter. Robbie Cooper took the green flag from the pole with a 19 car field in pursuit and won the drag race into turn one and two over Mike Wilson and never looked back. Billy Bechtelheimer chased Cooper for all 30 laps but just couldn’t get the job done while battling in the race for second with Adam May who had to settle for third when the checkers flew. John Chance made his first modified ride pay off with a fourth place finish over Harold Cannon. Heat wins went to Jack Arnold and Kyle Bookmiller. The Mod Squad will have a month off before returning on the 31st of March after the Citrus County Fair break. Nineteen Sportsmen continued their battle for early point supremacy and D.J. Macklin became the third different winner in the division for the new season. Macklin and J.T. Renau battled for the first five laps for the lead with Macklin taking the point for the rest of the race and taking his first win of the season. Tom Posavec came out of his 8th starting spot and put the heat on in the final laps after surviving a spin and was denied his second win of the season with a close second place finish. Pole sitter J.T Renau locked down third over 6th starter Gary Johnson who was doing double duty and surviving his second race in his new Sportsman ride. Maloy Kelly rounded out the top five. Heat wins went to J.T. Renau and Scott Hendrickson. Another pole sitter, Todd Downs, set the pace from flag to flag over the 29 car Street Stock division, holding off outside pole sitter Jason Murphree who weighed in too light giving the second place finish to 8th starter Tim Wilson. Tim Alexander came from his 13th starting spot to take third over Jason Van Ochten and Artie Hewitt in a race that saw too many caution flags that lost 5 of their 20 laps to the clock for lengthily cleanups. Heat winners were Downs, Dean Lawyer and Mike Ruff. Mini Stocks came 16 cars strong and ready to race with Mike Curry facing a disappointment when his new ride failed to be ready to start and he had to go to his backup car which his brother David was scheduled to drive. Mike took the pole and led a good portion of the race until 10th starter Jonathan Camp made his way through traffic to move into the lead and take the checkered flag just ahead of Mike. His win was short lived as he was D.Q.’d in post race inspection for illegal equipment. Curry inherited the win over 12th starter George Neumann, 13th starter Jesse Henley, 14th starter Steve Griffin and 6th starter Dan Smith. Heat winners were Curry and Clint Foley. Pure Stocks started 28 of 29 registrants and this was another race that saw multiple wrecks, caution flags and time consumption reducing the scheduled 20 lap race to 15 laps. Jack Pate was a man on a mission as he drove through all the traffic from his 20th starting spot to Victory Lane for his first win of the season. Doug Jensen lost the lead to Pate late in the race and salvaged a second place finish from his 6th starting spot. Wes Filyaw finished third after being out of the local racing scene for quite a few years but was D.Q.’d in tech inspection. David Pate inherited the third place finish over 2005 champion Steve Stinedurf and Richard Henick who came into the evening in the point lead. Jensen, Gary Johnson and Eddie Davis were credited with the heat wins. Pure Stocks will have a month to back up and regroup before their return after the fair break. Twenty one Figure 8’s had the fans on the edge of their seats for all 20 laps as Donnie Thomas drove from his 3rd starting spot, setting the pace early in the race and went on to take his first win of the season. Defending Champion and winner of the first race of the season, Joey Catterelli, made a late move in the final laps to hold out for second. In the final run for the flag a wreck opened the door to Bobby Towe and Clifford Rousseau get around Charlie Meyer who held a solid third until he was caught up in the wreck off turn four. Figure 8’s will be off until March 31st for the restart of the 2007 season. Post race inspection decided the winner in the 4 Cylinder Bomber race with apparent winner Chris Harvey D.Q.’d for illegal equipment giving the win to Jon Doucette who suffered a D.Q. the previous week in Tech. Bobby Richardson came off the pole and ran in the top three throughout the race and inherited a second place finish when it was all over. Jeff Eberly, last week’s winner Anthony LaPoint and Robert Carter locked down the top five spots over the 18 car field. Richardson and LaPoint took the heat wins. The Rookie V8 Thunder Stocks opened up the evening with a 16 car field. John Drye came from the 15th spot to the front very early in the race and took the lead on several occasions then dropping back and coming right back up through the field only to finish fourth and then was D.Q.’d when the race was over. Danny Fletcher, Chad Markland, Josh Long, Ricky Shahid and Eddie Rosasco took the top five spots. Next Saturday will be the final night of racing action before the Citrus County Fair break. The first month of racing will close out with the best of the best in the Super Late Models racing in the Sunbelt Series and the Florida Pro Challenge who will be qualifying on the clocks for their feature races. Sportsman, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers will round out the race card with heat and feature action. Citrus County Speedway will be dark until March 31st when the restart of the 52nd season will see the Figure 8 Bus Race, Boat Trailer Race plus a full race card that will get the 2007 run for division crowns back in gear. Citrus County Speedway Results 2/17/07 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #98 Robbie Cooper – 1st Season Feature Win 2. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer 3. #37 Adam May 4. #61 John Chance 5. # 3 Harold Cannon 1st Heat Winner - #84 Jack Arnold 2nd Heat Winner - #03 Kyle Bookmiller Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #14 D.J. Macklin – 1st Season Feature Win 2. #01 Tom Posavec 3. #29 J.T. Renau 4. #40 Gary Johnson 5. #92 Maloy Kelly 1st Heat Winner - #29 J.T. Renau 2nd Heat Winner - #03 Scott Hendrickson Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 29 Cars 1. #00 Todd Downs -1st Season Feature Win 2. #93 Tim Wilson 3. #63 Tim Alexander 4. #99 Jason Van Ochten 5. # 9 Artie Hewitt 1st Heat Winner - #00 Todd Downs 2nd Heat Winner - #91 Dean Lawyer 3rd Heat Winner - #23 Mike Ruff Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars (16 Started) 1. #19 Mike Curry – 1st Season Feature Win 2. # 1 George Neumann 3. #23 Jesse Henley 4. # 3 Steve Griffin 5. #82 Dan Smith 1st Heat Winner - #19 Mike Curry 2nd Heat Winner - # 7 Clint Foley Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 29 Cars 1. #69 Jack Pate – 1st Season Feature win 2. #31 Doug Jensen 3. #169 David Pate 4. # 0 Steve Stinedurf 5. #61 Richard Henick 1st Heat Winner - #31 Doug Jensen 2nd Heat Winner - #40 Gary Johnson 3rd Heat Winner - #119 Eddie Davis Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars (21 Started) 1. #31 Donnie Thomas – 1st Season Feature Win 2. #15 Joey Catterelli 3. #65 Bobby Towe 4. # 3 Clifford Rousseau 5. #94 Charlie Mayer 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 18 Cars 1. # 5 Jon Doucette 2. #22 Bobby Richardson 3. #001 Jeff Eberly 4. #88 Anthony LaPoint 5. #199 Robert Carter 1st Heat Winner - #22 Bobby Richardson 2nd Heat Winner - #88 Anthony LaPoint V8 Thunder Stock Rookies – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #169 Danny Fletcher 2. #34 Chad Markland 3. #00 Josh Long 4. # 3 Ricky Shahid 5. #10 Eddie Rosasco No Heat Races Have an opinion on this story? 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