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| Bresnahan Does It Again in Citrus Fall Finale 150 | by Larry MacMillan
Inverness, Fla - Mike Bresnahan all but owns Citrus County Speeday, when it comes to taking the big money at the fast 3/8ths mile complex. He parlayed what was intended to be a $7,500 win purse into $10,150 putting him over the $40,000 mark for the Late Model specials he has won in 2002.
The "Fall Finale 150" drew twenty contenders for the $25,650 purse with Jimmy Thompson, driving the Al Lawrence car, crashing during practice Saturday afternoon and that ended his possibilities for the final big money race during the regular 2002 season.
Bresnahan kicked off the night of action with a pair of 13.6 second runs for fast qualifier money of $150 in his #3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He pulled the #3 pill for the 3 front qualifier conversions when the green flew. He let the #13 of Tom Haselmayer lead for 30 laps before he took over the point for the balance of the 150 laps that saw 9 caution flags and one red flag for a multi car wreck late in the race. They only ran 18 laps of the 150 under caution with three caution laps coming in the final 50 laps that thinned out the starters to eight cars when the checkers flew.
Tom Haselmayer held off the rest of the field in second until lap 139 when Rex Struble was making a final run from the rear of the pack to the front when Tom took Rex right up to the wall and they got together at the flagger's stand taking themselves out of the competition along with the father and son team of Dick and Wayne Anderson who were running third and fifth respectively.
On the retart for the final 10 laps Robbie Yoakam just didn't have enough for Bresnahan in the run for the flag. Jim Smith held out for third while Daniel Keene, Jr. rounded out the only four cars left in the lead lap. James Powell locked in a fifth place finish, three laps down while Jimmy Castleberry was the last car to finish out of the 19 starters, five laps down.
Bresnahan also picked up a $2,500 bonus put up by track promoters Billy Hooker and Jimmy Wear for being a repeat winner of the Late Model specials put on by Citrus County Speedway during the 2002 season plus fast qualifier money making for $10,150.00 payday for the young driver. Bresnahan announced in the post race interview that he and his crew was heading for Texas to try their hand at a $30,000 win purse next weekend.
In other action Mike Veltman added to his fourth Sportsman season crown with his tenth win of the season. Mark Dominique headed up a three way run for second over J.D. Goff and Bill Oestreicher. Outside pole sitter and early leader Terry Cater held out for a fifth place finish over Alan Struble, the only other car to finish out the eleven starters. Alan was driving for his brother Rex who was concentrating on his Late Model ride this week.
With only three weeks left in the season the heat is really on for the Street Stock Championship crown. Mike Bell came into the week with a 36 point lead over defending champion Travis Nichols and despite adding his fifth win to his resume, Nichols was unable to move back into the point lead with Mike Bell right on his rear bumper at the finish of their 25 lap main event and maintaining a 16 point lead over Nichols. With only two more races left in the season this one will go right down to the wire. Kathy Ray held out for third over Ernie Reed and Scott Hendrickson.
Young gun Dustin DesChamps took advantage of his fourth starting spot in the Mini Stock 25 lap main to move into the lead and set the pace early. Phillip Joyner started fifth and followed DesChamps right to the front but had to settle for second when the checkers flew. Chris Hooker drove through traffic from his tenth starting spot to hold out for third over outside pole sitter Mike Lawhorn and pole sitter Jim Desnoyer.
Richie Smith locked in his 13th win of the season and assured himself of his second Hobby Stock crown with the win over Dean Lawyer, Daniel Webster, Dustin Aaron and Roy Perkins. Our condolences go out to Roy who lost his father after a long illness last week and his mind really wasn't racing but his intent on protecting his third place in the point standings.
Wrapping up the evening, Stuart Madison out raced Pat Quick to the checkered flag and logged his 5th win of the season after winning the championship last year without a win. Madison moved around Robert Jordan for second in the point's race and is just twenty point behind leader Josh Teague who finished fifth in Saturday's race. Lee Keller was under protest at press time and his third place finish may be in jeopardy. Bobby Taylor continued to finish up front in his sixth race of his career with a fourth place finish.
With just two weeks left in the regular season, all seven divisions will be racing next Saturday night to include the final race of the year for the Figure 8's. November 19th will feature the final point races for the six regular divisions plus an open Powder Puff race for the ladies and a Demolition Derby to wrap up the 2002 season.
The Women's Racing Club will hold their Annual Awards Banquet at the Crystal River National Guard Armory on Friday night December 6th. Tickets are on sale at the Speedway on race nights and there will be no tickets sold at the door on banquet night so get your tickets early.
Two races are scheduled for the off-season with Winter Spectacular II on December 14, 2002 and January 11, 2003 featuring 125 lap Late Model races plus Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and Thunder Stocks.
Citrus County Speedway Results 11/02/02
Late Model "Fall Finale 150" 19 Cars - 150 Laps
1. #3 Mike Bresnahan - $7,500 + $2,500 Bonus +
$150 Fast Qualifier
2. #34 Robbie Yoakam - $4,000
3. #9 Jim Smith - $2,500
4. #5 Daniel Keene, Jr. - $1,200
5. #37 James Powell III - $1,000
6. #08x Jimmy Castleberry - $900.00
7. #13 Tom Haselmayer - $800
8. #3 Rex Struble - $650
9. #14 Dick Anderson - $600
10. #19 Wayne Anderson - $550
11. #96 Danny Johnson - %525
12. #31 Jeff Sloan - $500
13. #77 Jonny Kay - $475
14. #09 Scott Grossenbacher - $450
15. #98 Herb Neumann, Jr. - $400 + 75.00 for 2nd
Fast Qualifier
16. #97 Rusty Dixon - $400
17. #08 John Buzinec - $400
18. #6 Billy Bechtelheimer - $400
19. #75 Mike Webb- $400
20. #50 Kevin Fair - No Start
21. #90 Jimmy Thompson - No Start
Sportsman Feature - 25 Laps - 11 Cars
1. #55 Mike Veltman
2. #7 Mark Dominique
3. #14 J. D. Goff
4. #0 Bill Oestreicher
5. #1 Terry Cater
Street Stock Feature - 25 Laps - 12 Cars
1. #2 Travis Nichols
2. #17 Mike Bell
3. #63 Kathy Ray
4. #55 Ernie Reed
5. #21 Scott Hendrickson
Mini Stock Feature - 25 Laps - 14 Cars
1. #51 Dustin DesChamps
2. #86 Phillip Joyner, Jr.
3. #1X Chris Hooker
4. #44 Mike Lawhorn
5. #42 Jim Desnoyer
Hobby Stock Feature - 22 Cars - 25 LAPS
1. #42 Richie Smith
2. #19 Dean Lawyer
3. #1 Daniel Webster
4. #98 Dustin Aaron
5. #07 Roy Perkins
Thunder Stock Feature 25 Laps - 24 Cars
1. #2 Stuart Madison
2. #55 Pat Quick
3. #21 Lee Keller
4. #66 Bobby Taylor
5. #20 Josh Teague....
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