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| Mother Nature Smiles on Citrus Excitement | By Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl. 9/21/02) An early rain shower postponed warm up activity at Citrus Saturday but quick work by the drivers and clean up crew after the shower passed got the track ready for racing. One hundred nine cars registered and were ready for action that had the fans on their feet on numerous occasions throughout the action packed night in all divisions.
Late Models got back on track with a 21-car field taking the green flag. Defending champion Herb Neumann Jr., who isnt even in the top ten this season, took the point from the outside pole being chased from the green flag by former champion Herb Hoefler right from the green flag. Mike Bresnahan, subbing for point leader Rex Struble, moved from his 7th starting spot to put the challenge on for the lead in lap 15 and went after Neumann for the next 5 laps before making contact with Neumann in lap 21 and turning him around on turn one. Bresnahan was sent to the rear for the restart. Neumann got more pressure from Herb Hoefler for the final ten laps in a side-by-side finish and making contact at the stripe for the win over Hoefler. Neumann moved into tenth place I the point chase by virtue of the win. Raymond Lovelady, who started ninth, picked up a third place finish and closed to within 30 points of Struble for the point lead. Bresnahan recovered from his restart and picked up a ninth place finish plus a third in the heat that kept Struble in the lead. Jim Smith and Billy Bechtelheimer rounded out the top five. Heat winners were Raymond Lovelady, Dale Sanders and Herb Hoefler.
Thirteen Sportsman chased George Neumann for the entire 20 laps as he went on to win his first feature of the year in his new ride. Rookie Chris Cross gave George a battle in the early going but got turned around a couple of times trying to maintain his position. Bill Oestreicher worked his way from fifth to second when the flag flew but the real battle was for third between Mike Veltman and Buddy Kessler as they made contact on several attempts to hold or improve their position. Veltman made the pass on Kessler in the final lap to pick up third while Kessler held out over Chris Cross for fourth. Heat wins went to Neumann and Kessler.
Ernie Reed has his new ride dialed in as he went on to win his second feature in his new car and his third for the season. Point leader Travis Nichols put the pressure on all the way to the checkers with point runner up Mike Bell running nose to tail with the leaders most of the way. Kathy Ray had to work on making a pass on pole sitter Joe Viverito to outrun him to the line for fourth. Reed and Bell logged the heat wins.
Fifteen Mini Stocks took the green flag for their 20 lap main and the dominant force in the division prevailed. For the tenth time this season it took just 10 laps for Robbie Yoakam to flex the horsepower in his flying #8 machine to put him in the winners circle. Pole sitter Jay McKenzie set the early pace and was able to salvage a second place finish over second year driver Phillip Joyner Jr. Point runner up had his hands full trying to get through traffic for his fourth place finish with rookie Dustin DesChamps right on his rear bumper at the finish line. DesChamps had his first win ever in their last outing two weeks ago. Heat wins went to McKenzie and Chris Hooker who blew a motor when the green flag flew for the feature race.
Hobby Stocks literally went to war with a lot of paint swapping and for all 20 laps. Early action saw point leader Tommy Smith end his racing season at Citrus after being put into the wall on the front chute and then having a confrontation with the driver he felt responsible for his misfortune. He was escorted off the premises after his action and disagreement with promoters and some physical contact with all parties. This opened the door for his brother Richie to march to the front of the 18-car field and take his 10th win of the season. This win moved him to the top of the points ladder and pretty much guarantees his second Championship Crown in a row. Tim Sharrone drove for Tim Whitehead and salvaged a second place finish from his pole starting position. Daniel Webster outran former champion Roy Perkins in the race for fourth. Sport Wilson drove for Darin McGhan and picked up a respectable fifth place finish. Heat winners were Sharrone and Richie Smith.
Thunder Stocks put on two knock down drag out 20 lap features that saw some smoking finishes and some disqualifications in tech that changed the apparent finish. In Thunder One, Josh Teague and Robin Bauer were hooked up, side by side; at the checkers with Teague begin declared the winner. Ultimately it was Bauer who took home the trophy and winners purse when point leader Teague was disqualified for wearing a truck tire. Timmy Wilson, who just lost his father in an accident, celebrated a birthday and his engagement with a second place finish. Apparent fourth place finisher, Natasha Teague, was protested and refused to tear down giving the third place finish to John Donahue. Shawn Conner inherited fourth and Nikki Selvage picked up fifth. Wilson and Bauer also picked up their heat wins.
Thunder Two was no less exciting with defending champion Stuart Madison took off from the pole position and set the early pace while a ton of action was going on well behind him. New comer Bobby Taylor, who claims that he has never raced before and took 11 years to convince his wife that he had a dream he wanted to fulfill, bought the racecar that Rick Ray put together. Again, he started in the back of the pack and went to the front in short order for his second consecutive feature win. Madison held out for second while a lot of shuffling was going on behind the leaders. Third place was decided in the final lap when Pat Quick brought her new ride out for the first time in months and snatched a third place finish ahead of Dale Shelton and Alice Jacobson. The lady drivers were very much in the competition spot light Saturday night.
Next week sees the return of the Figure 8s for their monthly appearance plus a full race card for all the regulars as the season point races continue. The Late Models will have October 5th off as the Winged Sprint cars make their annual appearance for their first run on the new 3/8ths mile layout. These 750 horsepower machines turn this racetrack in the mid 12 second bracket. October 12th sees the Late Models come back for the new Citrus Show Down format, which will now be a 75-lap feature race for $2,500 to win, and it will be a point race so the locals will benefit from entering the competition.
Citrus County Speedway
Results 9/21/02
Late Model Feature – 30 Laps
– 21 Cars
1. #98 Herb Neumann
Jr.
2. #22 Herb
Hoefler
3. #17 Raymond
Lovelady
4. # 9 Jim
Smith
5. # 6 Billy
Bechtelheimer
1st Heat Winner -
#17 Raymond Lovelady
2nd Heat Winner -
# 1 Dale Sanders
3rd Heat Winner -
#22 Herb Hoefler
Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps –
13 Cars
1. #96 George
Neumann
2. # 0 Bill
Oestreicher
3. #55 Mike
Veltman
4. #40 Buddy
Kessler
5. # 3 Chris
Cross
1st Heat Winner
#96 George Neumann
2nd Heat Winner
#40 Buddy Kessler
Street Stock Feature – 20
Laps – 13 Cars
1. #55 Ernie
Reed
2. # 2 Travis
Nichols
3. #17 Mike
Bell
4. #53 Kathie
Ray
5. #72 Joe
Viverito
1st Heat Winner -
#55 Ernie Reed
2nd Heat Winner -
#17 Mike Bell
Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps
– 15 Cars
1. # 8 Robbie
Yoakam
2. #1x Jay
McKenzie
3. #86 Phillip Joyner
Jr.
4. #88 Rob
Wheatley
5. #51 Dustin
DesChamps
1st Heat Winner -
#1x Jay McKenzie
2nd Heat Winner -
#1xr Chris Hooker
Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps
– 18 Cars
1. #42 Richie
Smith
2. #35 Tim
Sharrone
3. # 1 Daniel
Webster
4. #07 Roy
Perkins
5. #22 Sport
Wilson
1st Heat Winner -
#35 Tim Sharrone
2nd Heat Winner -
#42 Richie Smith
Thunder Stock 1st
Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars
1. #97 Robin
Bauer
2. #85 Tim
Wilson
3. #26 John
Donahue
4. #44 Shawn
Conner
5. #01 Nikki
Selvage
Thunder Stock 2nd
Feature – 20 Laps – 14 Cars
1. #66 Bobby
Taylor
2. # 2 Stuart
Madison
3. #55 Pat
Quick
4. #51 Dale
Shelton
5. #93 Alice
Jacobson
1st Heat Winner
#85 - Tim Wilson
2nd Heat Winner -
#97 Robin Bauer
3rd Heat Winner -
#28 Robert Jordan
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