Five Divisions Spice Citrus Co. Speedway Racing Saturday
by Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl. 4/15/06) Fans forgot the “Income Tax Deadline” Saturday night and took time out to watch 118 racers in five divisions tear around Citrus County Speedway on a beautiful night for racing. Evening breezes kept things cool in the grandstand but things really heated up on the race track with some early season disagreements that led to fines and some penalties for illegal passing on the inside groove which caused some controversy and changes in the results when all was said and done.
The Gulf Coast Modifieds came loaded for bear with 28 of Florida’s best chasing fast qualifier Perry Brown in Riverview’s, Evergreen Development Construction machine. Perry turned a 14.017 second, fast qualifying time on the 3/8th mile followed by local hot shoe Curtis Neumann with a 14.136 run. On the pill draw the entire field started straight up and Perry Brown won the drag race into turn one and two, with Neumann falling back to second. The rest of the field battled for position chasing the top two for 40 of the 50 lap main with point leader and 5th starter Lee Collins being the only driver that had anything for Brown in the race for the checkers. He spent the final 10 laps trying to reel Brown in but had to settle for second ahead of Neumann, Billy Mowery, Mike Hinegardner, Dwayne Dempsey, Sean McLaughlin, Ralph Bowman, Billy Bechtelheimer and Andrew Alderman to round out the top ten. Gulf Coast Mods are due back on June 3rd to try it on again.
Tom Posavec was the big gun in the Limited Sportsman action taking the lead in their 20 lap main from the get go with pole sitter A.J. Isbister making the 14 car field chase him in the hot race for second for the entire race. An illegal intake manifold found in post race inspection took Posavec’s second feature win of the season away from him and Isbister inherited the win after tech inspection for his first ever at Citrus County Speedway. Scott Hendrickson locked onto second over point leader Jim Altobelli, Maloy Kelly and Ernie Reed rounding out the top five. Heat wins went to Isbister after the Posavec D.Q. and Dustin Aaron picked up the win in the second heat.
An illegal pass on the inside lane before the start finish line on the final restart changed the finishing order in the 26 car Hobby Stock 20 lap feature. Defending division champ Curtis Flanagan worked his way through traffic from 12th to the front by lap 16 passing Jay Witfoth for the lead and took the checkers just a half car length ahead of Doc James Batson. Batson was sent to the rear of the field early in the race and had to come through all the traffic to finish second ahead of Michael Stallnaker. The post race decision to penalize Flanagan was made on the final caution flag restart when he went under then leader Witfoth to the point. Batson inherited the win and Flanagan had to settle for second on the penalty. Mike Stallnaker, who was in a four car battle for the win, picked up third over Jay Witfoth, who led most of the way. Mike Wilson, in a borrowed ride, started 21st and rolled through traffic for a fifth place finish. Heat wins went to Artie Hewitt, Jason Murphree and John Makula. Sheldon Kinser won the 12 car 10 lap “B” main qualifying the top five for the feature. Thirty four cars registered for the night.
Louie Coie used the outside lane from 17th to Victory Lane in the Thunder Stock 23 car 20 lap main that was cut to 14 laps due to time consumption. It was another one of those crasharamas that caused a repeat of last week’s early end due to the time clock. Gary Johnson couldn’t hold off Coie and settled for second over Jim Kruse, defending champ Steve Stinedurf and Rick Shahid. Heat wins went to Johnson and Cioe. Thunder Stocks have next week off.
The 4 Cylinder Bomber division continues to grow with 18 cars making up the largest field ever to appear at Citrus. Justin Durbin made it three wins for three races ahead of his brother Joey Durbin. Peter Nelson took his banged up “green machine” to a third place finish over Jon Doucette and Phil Edwards in their 15 lap feature run. Heat wins went to Joey Durbin and Peter Nelson.
Saturday night the local Late Models return for their second race of the year with 26 cars registered for the run for the championship. Herb Neumann Jr. leads the pack with the only feature win of the season. Limited Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers and the Fantastic Figure 8’s round out the local point’s races. Added to the local line up will be the Open Wheel Lites and the Florida Pro Challenge series. Citrus County Speedway is starting the race program ½ hour early for the rest of the season with the first race taking the green flag at 5:30. So come early so you don’t miss anything.
Citrus County Speedway Results 4/15/06
Gulf Coast Modifieds – 50 Laps – 28 Cars
1. #83x Perry Brown – Riverview – Fast Qualifier 14.017 Sec.
