(Inverness, Fl. 6/14/03) If anyone had a need for speed, it was satisfied Saturday night with the fastest show on wheels, the TBARA Sprint cars. They came, 23 cars strong to take on Citrus County Speedway’s 3/8th mile asphalt oval and they blitzed the clock in the 12.5 second mark in traffic. Three eight-car heats gave the fans a preview of what was to come in their 25 lap feature with Dude Teate, Doug Heveron and Gary Gimmler taking the wins with the likes of Joey Aquilar, Wayne Reutimann Sr and Ray Bragg scoring second place finishes. The fans were warned not to blink or they could miss the whole show with the speeds these hot shoes were turning on this super fast venue that will host the Sprinters two more times before the season is over.
Saving the best for last, 22 of the 23 registered speed rockets took the green flag for their 25 lap main event and it was Joey Aquilar taking the point and never looking back from flag to flag with two caution flags regrouping the lead lap runners on the two restarts. Shane Butler picked up the second spot in the running for the first 12 laps before he spun on turn four bringing on the first caution. He restarted at the rear of the lead lap cars and nailed it to work his way through traffic turning low 12's on the outside groove. The second caution was brought out when third running Ray Bragg ate the wall off turn four with just four laps left in the run for the checkers. On the restart Aguilar continued to set a wild pace to the checkers with Dude Teate, Wayne Reutimann Jr. Doug Heveron, Shane Butler and Gary Gimmler finishing nose to tail at the line. Aguilar celebrated his second win of the season with several donuts in the infield and then was deluged with fans in Victory Lane. TBARA Sprints will return to Citrus on August 2nd and run the second leg of the Sprint Car Classic on September 13 after a Friday night first leg at Ocala Speedway.
In other action, the run for the point’s crowns continued. Sportsman action saw fourteen cars take the green with Bill Oesterreicher kicking off his father’s day eve dedicating his heat and feature win to his Dad Bill Sr who was in the grandstands enjoying every minute of it. Bill Ryan chased Oesterreicher for the entire 20 laps and had to settle for a second after a side by side battle on the final two laps with point leader Mike Veltman. John Chance held off a last minute charge by Mark Dominique in the run for fourth. Dominique also took his heat race after his feature win last week.
Twenty Street Stockers went for the checkers in their 20 lap main. Michael Jordan Jr and Danny Cretty kicked off the evening with heat wins. The top five came through a ton of traffic to accomplish their goal. Travis Nichols rebuilt his racer over night after a crash in Ocala Friday night and came from his sixteenth starting spot to make the pass on Danny Cretty in the final laps for his fifth win of the season. Melvin Farmer held off Elmer Crowfoot Sr in the race for third while Mickey Burns was in the mix for a fifth place finish. Hat wins went to Michael Jordan Jr and Danny Cretty.
George Neumann hit a stroke of luck and parlayed his experience into his second consecutive Mini Stock win since taking over the ride for owner Steve Griffin in the #3 racer. Rob Wheatley was back running for Dustin DesChamps points and held out for a second place run. Chris Hooker continues to put the pressure on point leader Chris Thornton with a third place finish. Thornton had to run a borrowed racer to hold on to the point lead and had to settle for a 9th place finish. Mark Sowell held out for a fourth place finish over Clint Foley who was a last minute entry after the rain out a Bronson. Heat wins went to Hooker and Neumann.
Twenty Six-Hobby Stocks lined up for their main event. Richie Smith is finding it a tough fight to hold on to his point lead after the runaway he experienced for his two previous crowns. He did find his way back to Victory Lane for his fourth win Saturday night with Sport Wilson right on his rear bumper at the line, looking for his third win in a row. Point runner up Curtis Neumann gave the front runners a run for their money but had to settle for a third place finish. Roy Perkins and Josh Teague round out the top five. Teague and Tommy Roberts took the heat wins.
Wrapping up the night was the beat Pat Quick Thunder Stock feature and Jared Kessler was able to do just that. Pat had a mishap during the warm up prior to race time and just about destroyed her race car. Pat did manage to finish a close second in a three car run for the flag which included Tim Wilson. Pole sitter Larry Triana managed to outrun Rick Badessa for fourth over the 21 car field. Heat winners were Badessa and Kessler.
Next Saturday night Figure 8's top the bill as Citrus returns to a regular race card featuring the Late Models, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Thunder Stocks.
