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| Rule Book Awards Fourth Place Finisher the Win in Thunder Stock Special at Citrus | by Larry MacMillan
Inverness, Fla - Thunder stocks had their day in court
Saturday night and the top three finishers found that
their biggest competitor in the 30 lap special was the
rulebook. Dale Shelton made a 28th lap pass on Michael
Wilson for the win followed by Lee Keller and Alice
Jacobson. All three drivers went to tech and Shelton
was called for running illegal coil springs. Lee Keller
refused to tear down which disqualified him and Alice
Jacobson was running a motor that didn't come stock with
her car.
End results, Michael Wilson took his second win and the
$250 purse. Shawn Conner inherited second and early
leader Reed Rundell, racing for Stuart Madison held out
for third. Jeff Teage, Cassie Selvage, Glen Gordon,
Tim Wilson, Mike Kiernan, Josh Teague and Natasha Teague
round out the top ten over the 25-car starting field.
Promoters Billy Hooker and Jimmy Ware revised the Late
Model special schedule for the season, adding two more
$5,000 to win specials this past week. Three new drivers
came to try out the 3/8th mile course. Billy Bechtelheimer
and Tate Pierce battled side by side for the lead getting
together in lap 23 of the 30 lap main and had to go to
the rear for the restart. Rex Struble came through traffic
from his 12th starting spot and logged his second win in
a row and number three for the season to maintain the point
lead in the division. Dale Sanders slipped to sixth from
his outside pole slot and managed to pull off a second
place finish over Perry Lovelady who was driving for his
son Raymond. Brock Oglesby and Bruce Smith round out the
top five.
Their next Citrus Show Down 125 for $5,000 to win is
scheduled for July 13th with a Friday practice session
from 5 til l0 p.m. on the 12th. Other new dates are
August 3rd, Sept. 7th, Oct. 12th and November 2nd for
the "Fall Finale" 150-lap race for a $7,500 win purse
and a $2,500 bonue to the winner if they have won one of
the previous Citrus Late Model Specials in 2002.
In Sportsman action, Mike Veltman logged his 7th win of
the season outrunning Buddy Kessler, George Neumann,
Johnny Sanders and Bill Oestreicher to the checkers.
Ernie Reed christened his new Street Stock racecar with
a win over a 21-car field. Point leader Travis Nichols
managed to make his way through traffic from his 15th
starting spot, putting pressure on Reed, to finish a
solid second and Kathy Ray put on a little extra weight
in her car this week to salvage a 3rd place finish.
Scott Hendrickson finished fourth and Tommy Smith, driving
for Corky Miley took his first top five finish in
Street Stock action.
Young Rookie Lance Taylor has earned more respect from
his Mini Stock competitors when he held the lead in
their 20 lap main event and raced eventual winner Rob
Wheatley and Robbie Yoakam right to the flag in side-by
side action. Jay McKenzie and Steve Griffin picked up
fourth and fifth.
Hobby Stockers came out 20 strong and it was pretty much
the same story as last week at the finish line. Richie
Smith drove from sixteenth to the winner's circle for
the 7th time this season while brother Tommy came from
fifteenth to second when the flag flew. Mark Wilkins
led the race going into the final 8 laps and salvaged
a third place finish over Curtis Neumann and early leader
Tim Whitehead.
Regular race program will take over for the next two
weeks before Citrus takes a week off during the mini
Speedweeks at Daytona for the Busch and Winston Cup
Pepsi 400 night race on July 5th. Citrus will restart
the second half of the season with the "Citrus Show
Down 125" on July 13th, followed by the "Citrus Truck
Accessories" Sportsman 40 for a $700 win purse. Figure
8's return to action on the fourth Saturday of the month
until the end of the season. The final Figure 8 race is
scheduled for November 9th, one week before the end of
the season on November 16th.
Late Model Feature - 30 Laps - 19 Cars
l. #3 Rex Struble, homosassa
2. #l Dale Sanders, Lecanto
3. #17 Perry Lovelady, Lakeland
4. #88 Brock Oglesby, Ocala
5. #35 Bruce Smith
lst Heat Winner - #l Dale Sanders
2nd Heat Winner - #6 Billy Bechtelheimer, Dover
Sportsman Feature - 20 Laps - 11 Cars
l. #55 Mike Veltman, Crystal River
2. #40 Buddy Kessler, Brooksville
3. #96 George Neumann, Inverness
4. #36 Johnny Sanders, Homosassa
5. #0 Bill Oestreicher, Webster
lst Heat Winner - #14 J.D. Goff, Brooksville
2nd Heat Winner - #40 Buddy Kessler
Street Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 21 Cars
l. #55 Ernie Reed, Crystal River
2. #2 Travis Nichols, Inverness
3. #63 Kathy Ray, Floral City
4. #21 Scott Hendrickson, Inverness
5. #51 Tommy Smith, Floral City
lst Heat Winner - 55 Ernie Reed
2nd Heat Winner - #2 Travis Nichols
Mini Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 13 Cars
l. #88 Rob Wheatley, Inverness
2. #8 Robbie Yoakam, Hernando
3. #29 Lance Taylor, Palm Harbor
4. #lx Jay McKenzie, Inverness
5. #3 Steve Griffin, Inverness
lst Heat Winner - #34 Kevin Harrod, Bushnell
2nd Heat Winner - #88 Rob Wheatley
Hobby Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 20 Cars
l. #42 Richie Smith, Hernando
2. #21 Tommy Smith, Floral City
3. #40 Mark Wilkins, Brooksville
4. #0l Curtis Neumann, Inverness
5. #35 Tim Whitehead, Spring Hill
lst Heat Winner - Tim Whitehead
2nd Heat Winner - #21 Tommy Smith
Thunder Stock Feature - 30 Laps - 25 Cars
l. #39 Michael Wilson
2. #44 Shawn Conner
3. #7 Reed Rundell
4. #x2 Jeff Teague
5. #73 Chassie Salvage
lst Heat Winner - #85 Tim Wilson
2nd Heat Winner - #88 Rick Bedessa
3rd Heat Winner - #39 Michael Wilson
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