IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 26, 2005 FSCR Racers 4, Rain 2 at Citrus Co. Speedway by Larry MacMillan Weather was again a consideration at Citrus County Speedway for the fourth time in as many weeks. Winding up the month of June Saturday night was no different with threatening weather scattered throughout central Florida. It looked like the most ideal night for racing with plenty of practice, 121 race cars in the pits for the six division race card featuring the Super Late Models, time trials and 50 Lap Hobby Stock feature plus the Mini Stocks, Super Stocks, Thunder Stocks and the 4 Cylinder Bombers. Hobby Stock qualifying saw 37 of 41 registered cars go on the clocks with former champion Richie Smith taking fast time followed by Don Teague, Curtis Flanagan, point leader Bill Ryan and “Doc” James Batson all running in the low 16 second bracket. On the pill draw the top 18 qualifiers were inverted setting up the 30 car starting field. All divisions got their heat races in with no problems and some exciting side by side racing. James Pate got the night started with a very convincing win in the 4 Cylinder Bomber heat over the six car field. Things were looking good for him in the 15 lap feature when he tangled with Rusty Adams early in the race, damaging Pate’s racer and putting him down a couple of laps when the checkers flew. John Crichton went to Victory Lane for his first time at Citrus after a six week layoff from racing here. Tim Herrington and Rusty Adams finished second and third in the lead lap while Kevin Stone, James Pate and Jesse Mullis finished in that order as lapped cars. It was Jay McKenzie’s night to howl in Mini Stock action, opening up the night with an exciting last lap pass on George Neumann, for the win in the first heat. Chris Hooker ran away with the win in the second heat. Thirteen cars took the green for their 20 lap feature. It was McKenzie again dicing for position right to the checkered flag and making a late pass on Neumann once again for his second win of the season. Rick Litka moved from 12th to a third place finish over Mike Lawhorn and early leader Mike Curry. Point leader Richie Smith was again the dominate force in Super Stock action with a heat win to begin the evening. Ten laps into the 20 lap feature he was running fourth when the bottom dropped out and rain brought out the red flag that delayed the restart for an hour an a half. When the track was dried the restart saw Scott Hendrickson continue to set the pace before he lost it on turn four that ended his night. Smith moved forward from the get go to take the lead by lap 15 for his second win of the season followed by Travis Nichols who moved from the rear of the 12 car field in his first point race of the season in the division. Dusty Bouchard, James Batson and second heat winner Tom Posavic took the top five spots. Twenty six cars answered the green flag start for the Thunder Stock Feature. Dennis Sanderson had the crowd on their feet with a three car, side by side, battle for his first heat win rubbing paint with Chris Cramer and Ray White at the finish line. In the 20 lap main Sanderson again came up through the middle in several three wide situations slicing through for an early lead before some of the heavy hitters came from the back of the pack to put on a run for the flag. Sixteenth starter Mike Loudy Jr. used the third groove most of the race to take the lead away from Louie Coie when the checkers flew. Rounding out the top five were Glen Colyer, Steve Stinedurf and Dennis Sanderson. Coie and Stinedurf took the wins in the second and third heat. Hobby Stockers were scheduled for their 50th Anniversary 50 but with 30 cars wanting to win the race in the first lap, it took ten minutes to get the first three laps in due to multiple contacts bringing on caution flags. Twenty minutes and several more caution flags into the race it was red flagged with only 11 laps in the books. The race will pick up where they left off on July 16th in hopes that they will settle down and race rather than have a demolition derby in the round. With only thirty minutes left before the curfew cutoff, 22 of 23 Late Models came on the track in an attempt at getting the final event of the evening in. As soon as all the cars were on the track the rain Gods had other thoughts and it was just too late to wait for the rain to stop and get the track dried to get the race in. The three heat winners were Perry Lovelady, Jim Smith and point leader Raymond Lovelady. The Late Models are due back on July 9th and they will run double features to restart the season after the week off for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona next Saturday night. Citrus County Speedway Results 6/25/05 Late Model Feature – 35 Laps - 23 Cars Postponed Until July 16th Due to Rain 1st Heat Winner – #9 Perry Lovlady 2nd Heat Winner - #32 Jim Smith 3rd Heat Winner - #17 Raymond Lovelady Super Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 12 Cars 1. #41 Richie Smith – 2nd Feature Win 2. # 2 Travis Nichols 3. #74 Dusty Bouchard 4. #B4 “Doc” James Batson 5. #01 Tom Posavic 1st Heat Winner - #01 Tom Posavic 2nd Heat Winner - #41 Richie Smith Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #5X Jay McKenzie – 2nd Feature Win 2. # 1 George Neumann 3. #82 Rick Litka 4. #44 Mike Lawhorn 5. # 9 Mike Curry 1st Heat Winner - #5X Jay McKenzie 2nd Heat Winner - #1X Chris Hooker Hobby Stock Feature – 50 Laps – 30 Cars Started – 41 Cars Registered Postponed Until July 16th with 11 Laps run after 20 Minutes of Racing Fast Qualifier - #42 Richie Smith Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 26 Cars 1. #80 Mike Loudy Jr. – 1st Feature Win 2. #88x Louie Coie 3. #44 Glen Colyer 4. #0X Steven Stinedurf 5. #26 Dennis Sanderson 1st Heat Winner - #26 Dennis Sanderson 2nd Heat Winner - #88X Louie Coie 3rd Heat Winner - #0X Steven Stinedurf 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 15 Laps – 6 Cars 1. #41 John Crichton – 4th Feature Win 2. #82 Time Herrington 3. #67 Rusty Adams 4. #98 Kevin Stone 5. #55 James Pate Heat Winner - #55 James Pate Have an opinion on this story? 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