IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 9, 2004 FSCR Wayne Reutimann Jr. Opens 2004 with TBARA Win at Citrus by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 2/7/04) Thirty three winged sprint cars gathered at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night to attempt to qualify for the 24 car main kicking off the TBARA Speedweek’s four race series in central Florida. Three 11 car heat races took on the 3/8ths mile oval for qualifying, setting up the top 18 starting spots. The balance of the field ran for the top six positions in a B main after halftime in the full program of preseason action as they opening the 49th racing season at Citrus. Joey Aguilar, Wayne Reutimann Jr. and Keith Butler took the top spots in the heat races while Doug Heveron came from tenth out of 13 cars in the B main to head up the final six qualifiers for the big one. Kevin Feeney and Joey Aguilar took the green for the 25 lap main from the front row followed by Danny Martin Jr., Hank Lower, Wayne Reutimann Jr., Keith Butler, Dude Teate, Ray Bragg, Wayne Reutimann Sr. and David Steele to round out the top ten. Balance of the field in order were Doug Berryman, Matt Mercer, Gary Gimmler, Shane Butler, Wendy Mathis, John Sambor, Dave Pletcher, Joe Rebman, Doug Heveron, Stan Butler, Troy DeClaire, David Slawiak, Bo Hartley and Tommy Nichols. It took two restarts to get the race underway and in both instances, pole sitter Kevin Feeney took the point leading the first 8 laps before Wayne Reutimann Jr. made the pass to take the lead. From that point on it was catch Jr. if you can and no one was able to handle the task at hand. Meanwhile Dude Teate was making his way from seventh to move through traffic to second by lap eleven. Wayne Sr. took up his position in third and the top three held on to those positions right to the checkers with only one caution marring the final 13 laps of the almost flawless race. Pole sitter Kevin Feeney managed to park in fourth at the finish line just ahead of David Steele. Fourteen cars finished in the lead lap, six finished one lap down and four went to the pits with DNF’s. Reutimann Jr. ran an unofficial lap of 12.29 seconds in traffic on announcer Larry MacMillan’s clock which would be the fastest lap ever run in the 49 year history of Citrus County Speedway. He consistently ran under 12.5 seconds through out the race. This talented third generation driver definitely has a terrific future ahead of him. In other action a surprising fourteen cars made the trip for their 40 lap initial race of the season. Young Daniel Webster moved up from Street Stocks to the Sportsman and found his way around the track on his first clocked run in the division at a 14.520 for fast qualifier. Unfortunately he caught the back chute wall in the first lap of the feature ending his night before it really got started. Stephen Anderson won the outside pole with a third fast time and set the pace in a race that saw only 5 of the fourteen starters finish. Most of the problems were mechanical as many of the drivers were getting the early season bugs out of their race cars. Mark Dominique slipped from the pole to second at the finish line just ahead of J.D. Goff. Aaron Williamson and Joe Rankin held on to be the only other cars to take the checkered flag. Only ten cars took the green flag for the Mini Stock feature. Heat winner Mark Moniz followed his heat win with a wire to wire win over Jay McKenzie, Chad Johnson, David Curry and Whitnee Shaffer in their 20 lap main. Twenty one cars qualified for their 20 lap main in three heat races. Bobby Taylor, Tommy Smith and Neil Herne won the heat races and the front three starting positions. Bobby Taylor immediately took the point when the green flew and Tommy Smith parked right behind him for 17 laps. Smith was saving the best for last when Taylor slipped up on him and came together ending Smith’s night with a flat tire and putting Taylor back to fifth which was the end of the lead lap cars for the restart. Josh Teague inherited the lead for the restart and managed to hold off hard charging Bobby Taylor in the run for the flag for the win. Neil Herne, Patrick Lewis and Dan Wooten took third through fifth spots. It was a twenty five car field that took the green for the Thunder Stock 20 lap main event. Heat winners were Lee Keller, Wayne Heater and defending champion Pat Quick. All started up front when the green flag flew and Pat made short work of the Keller and Heater to set the early Pace. Only Larry Welter seemed to have something for Quick but when the checkers flew he had to settle for second which he lost in tech for illegal tires. Quick, Lee Keller, Jerry Hoover, John Sullivan and Glen Colyer held out for the top five spots. Four Cylinder Bombers seem to be a battle between three families and the Durbin family seems to be the guys to beat. When it was all over Neal, Justine and Joey Durbin ran 1, 2, 3 when the checkers flew. Joey lost his third place finish in tech inspection weighing in too light. This moved Harold Barup up to third followed by Terry Dunbar and Clark Pittsley. The heat win went to John DeGeorge who set the early pace in the feature but ran into mechanical problems that ended his night in the pits with a DNF. Citrus County Speedway will go dark on Saturday, February 14th in deference to the Daytona 500 and will turn it back on February 21st with the Late Models in Twin 50’s, Super Streets, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Thunder Stocks and 4 cylinder Bombers in heat and feature action. Citrus County Speedway Results 2/07/04 TBARA Sprint Feature – 24 Cars – 25 Laps – 33 Cars Attempted to Qualify 1. #00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. 2. #68 Dude Teate 3. #99 Wayne Reutimann Sr. 4. #98 Kevin Feeney 5. #91 David Steele 6. #00M Danny Martin Jr. 7. #18 Shane Butler 8. #66 Ray Bragg 9. #19 Keith Butler 10.#10 Matt Mercer 11.#118 Stan Butler 12.#79 David Slawiak 13.# 1 Doug Berryman 14.#80 Wendy Mathis 15.#37 Hank Lower – 24 Laps 16.# 6 Troy DeClaire 17.#33c John Sambor 18.#77 Joe Rebman 19.#96x Bo Hartley 20.#03 Tommy Nichols 21.#96 Joey Aguilar – 12 Laps 22.# X Dave Pletcher – 11 Laps 23.#22 Doug Heveron – 11 Laps 24.#29 Gary Gimmler – 4 Laps Heat Winners 1st - #96 Joey Aguilar 2nd - #00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. 3rd - #19 Keith Butler B Main Winner – 12 Laps – 14 Cars - #22 Doug Heveron Sportsman Feature – 40 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #48 Stephen Anderson 2. # 7 Mark Dominique 3. #14 J.D. Goff 4. #13 Aaron Williamson 5. # 8 Joe Rankin Fast Qualifier - #1 – Daniel Webster Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 10 Cars 1. #41 Mark Moniz 2. #99 Jay McKenzie 3. #94 Chad Johnson 4. #00 David Curry 5. #13 Whitnee Shaffer Heat Winner - #41 – Mark Moniz Hobby Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 21 Cars 1. #20 Josh Teague 2. #66 Bobby Taylor 3. #13 Neil Herne 4. #46 Patrick Lewis 5. #7w Dan Wooten 1st Heat Winner - #66 Bobby Taylor 2nd Heat Winner - #42 Tommy Smith 3rd Heat Winner - #13 Neil Herne Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 25 Laps 1. #55 Pat Quick 2. #21 Lee Keller 3. #30 Jerry Hoover 4. #33 John Sullivan 5. #4x Glen Colyer 1st Heat Winner - #21 Lee Keller 2nd Heat Winner - #71 Wayne Heater 3rd Heat Winner - #55 Pat Quick 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 10 Cars 1. #55 Neal Durbin 2. #33 Justin Durbin 3. # 3 Harold Barup 4. #72 Terry Dunbar 5. #64 Clark Pittsley Heat Winner - #22 John De George Have an opinion on this story? 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