IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 27, 2005 FSCR Tommy Bower Gets First GulfCoast Modified Win at Citrus County Speedway By Rick Warren The Modifieds of the GulfCoast Modified Series rolled into Citrus County Speedway to do battle Saturday night. Unfortunately, so did Mother Nature, bringing buckets of rain with her. As the infield and pit area filled with rain water, a quick poll was taken in the pit area. It was determined that none of the racers had brought pontoons with them, so the decision to postpone the race until Sunday afternoon was made. Sunday dawned clear and dry, and the racers returned to the speedway to give it another try. The weather remained dry, although quite chilly, and the fans were rewarded with some great racing. After the racers made their first pass through tech inspection, the track was opened for practice, and the racers began to turn some impressive lap times. As qualifying time approached, 18 cars lined up for a run at the top qualifying position. One by one the drivers pushed their racers around the tight Speedway, and when all had given their best shot, Lee Collins, of Immokalee, Fl. had turned a lap of 13.848 seconds to post the quick time of the day. Just a shade behind was Chet Sennokossoff, of St. Pete, with a time of 13.937 seconds. Local talent Curtis Neumann was the third fastest, followed by Wayne Jefferson and Danny Partelo completing the top five. Collins, as fast qualifier, had the task of drawing the “pill” to determine how many rows would be inverted for the start. Collins pulled a 10, inverting the first five rows. The starting order was set, and Tommy Bower was on the pole position, in the Complete Custom Upholstery entry, with Jack Arnold III in his Teddy Nelson Racecars entry on the outside of the front row. The second row was filled by Jimmy “Gator” Wagner and Michael Coleman. Ralph Bowman, Danny Partelo, Wayne Jefferson, Curtis Neumann, Chet Sennokossoff, and Lee Collins rounded out the front ten. When the green flag waved for the start , Bower and Arnold raced side by side trying to take the lead. The race really heated up quickly, as the racers all were trying to get to the front as early as possible. The field was staying tightly bunched together, and the racing was fast and furious. Wayne Jeffersonlived up to his nickname, “Rocket Man”, as he took his D.T. Racing entry to the outside lane, began a charge to the front. It took only a few laps, 7 to be exact, for Jefferson to drive by the field and claim the lead. Jefferson opened a comfortable lead as the rest of the field fought tooth and nail for every position. Lots of green flag racing made for some exciting competition all through the field, as all the racers worked tirelessly to improve their positions. Lap 30 saw Sennokossoff and Collins make contact in turn 2 , causing both to spin. Both drivers were placed at the rear of the field for the restart, with Jefferson still in control of the lead, followed by Tommy Bower, Ralph Bowman, Jimmy Wagner, Jack Arnold, Neumann, Mark Nelson, John Godwin, Chris Robbins, Jim Houle, Danny Partelo, Andrew Alderman, and Stephen Harbuck. Lap 35 saw the caution flag displayed again as Sennokossoff and Houle got together exiting turn2, with both spinning. As the field restarted, Bowman had a good run into turn 3, but had to get hard on the brakes to keep from punting Bower, and spun the car out. The field was re-aligned, and restarted once again. Lap 37 saw Lady Luck decide to bail out of Jeffersons’ racer, and Jefferson retired from the race with engine problems. This gave the lead back to Bower, with with Wagner and Arnold in close pursuit. Everyone’s attention was now turned towards Lee Collins, who was making a big run toward the front, after working his way back from the rear of the field. Collins was on a mission, but laps were running out. Collins drove by Neumann, the went to work on Arnold. Meanwhile, Bower continued to run hard to maintain the lead. Collins got by Arnold, and began to chase Wagner. Collins, “the Felda Flash”, caught Wagner as they took the white flag, and the racers ran hard into the turn, fighting for the runner up spot. The battle continued down the back straight and into the corner. Collins was able to get the low line off turn 4, but Wagner fought back and beat Collins to the line by mere inches for second spot, behind the victorious Bower. The top 3 cars were inspected after the race, and all were found to be in compliance with the rules, and the race was declared official. A tip of the hat also goes to young Andrew Alderman, winning the hard charger award, coming from his 17th starting spot to finish 9th. Final Results GulfCoast Modifieds April 24, 2005 Citrus County Speedway, Inverness, Fl. 50 Laps 1.#51 Tommy Bower Pinellas Park 2.#17 Jimmy Wagner Dade City 3.#89 Lee Collins Immokalee 4.#84 Jack Arnold III St.Petersburg 5.#01 Curtis Neumann Inverness 6.# 9 Danny Partelo St. Petersburg 7.#11 Mark Nelson St. Petersburg 8.#88 Chris Robbins Belleair Bluffs 9.#83 Andrew Alderman Pinellas Park 10.# 2 Ralph Bowman Largo 11.#80 Jimmy Houle Pinellas Park 12.#09 Stephen Harbuck St. Petersburg 13.#22 John Godwin Zephyrhills 14.# 1 Wayne Jefferson Pinellas Park 15.#61 Chet Sennokossoff St. Petersburg 16.#23 Dustin Chisholm Seminole 17.#15 Michael Coleman Largo 18. #1x Richie Anderson Largo DNS #67 Doug Cleckner St. Petersburg Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!