Citrus County Speedway Restarts 2007 Season With a Bang
By Larry MacMillan
It was “Ladies and Gentlemen, Restart Your Engines” for 149 drivers and a standing room only crowd at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night. After a 4 week hiatus for the Citrus County Fair, perfect weather greeted race hungry fans to a 50 lap Figure 8 special, 2 Figure 8 School Bus races and the restart to the battle for points supremacy and the race for the Modified, Street Stock, Pure Stock, 4 Cylinder Bomber and V8 Thunder Stock rookie division.
The program was definitely a crowd pleaser particularly the Figure 8 50 and the School Bus Race.
Twenty two Figure 8’s took the green flag with multiple red and caution flags slowing things down a bit but when they were on the gas the entire field spent the night chasing third starter Joey Catterelli to checkered flag for his second season win of the season.
Robbie Hage remained glued to Catterelli through the entire 50 laps while the passing and intersection mayhem continued behind the two leaders. Only 9 of the 22 starters finished the race with early leader James Poole finishing third ahead of 14th starter Wayne Calkins and 15th starter Donnie Thomas. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Bobby Towe, Paul Grynewicz, Mike Wedlick, Eddie Davis and Darryl Hage.
The Mod squad came on 17 cars strong with former champion Billy Bechtelheimer noticeably absent after his serious traffic accident last week. The modifieds dedicated the race to Billy and the crowd donated over $700 to help defray medical costs that are rapidly mounting. Rookie Bobby Taylor won the pole and was determined to hold it for the entire 30 laps despite a late charge by Teddy Nelson.
Taylor held on for his first Modified ever and is definitely a contender for “rookie of the year” honors for his fourth division in as many years. Nelson moved from 8th to finish 2nd over Harold Cannon, Stephen Harbuck and Doug Miller. Heat wins went to Nelson and Kyle Bookmiller.
Street Stocks were out in strength with 27 cars taking the green flag and this one turned into a crash fest. Richie Smith wasted no time using the outside lane and several caution flags to make his move to the point from 10th to Victory Lane for his second feature win of the season.
Despite getting turned around twice during their 20 lap main, Todd Downs held out for second with a late race crash moving him up several spots in the final restart. Curtis Flanagan started 17th and he also used the outside lane and several crashes to move into a third place finish. Jay Withfoth rolled from 18th to fourth when the checkers flew followed by outside pole sitter and early leader Josh Teague. Heat winners were Smith, Teague and John Zuidema III.
The Pure Stocks were also out 27 cars strong and put on quite a show. Mike Dubbs came off the pole to set the early pace but that was short lived as 19th starter Bill Ryan resurfaced after taking a year off and went to Victory Lane for his first win of the season.
Andy Taylor made one of his rare trips from New York to run in brother Bobby Taylor’s Pure Stock, started 23rd and finished second only to lose the spot in post race inspection. Mike Dubbs finished third and he too was D.Q’d in tech when it was all over.
Former Champion Steve Steindurf picked up two spot by virtue of the disqualifications. Wes Filyaw started 22nd and took home fourth place money and Eddie Davis started 15th and held out for a fifth place finish. Heat winners were Victor Shahid, Johnny Zuidema Jr. and Bill Ryan.
In their fifth race of the season the 4 Cylinder Bombers continue to come out in good numbers with 20 making the show Saturday night. Phil Edwards started 10th and took his first win of the season. Brett Jenkins started 15th in his first appearance at Citrus, wound up second but lost the spot in tech.
Anthony LaPointe saw his third place finish go down the drain in tech as well moving Travis Hoefler into second followed by Jeff Eberly, Patric Conner, Robert Carter and Jeramy Root. Chris Harvey and Phil Edwards took the heat wins.
The V8 Thunder Stock Rookies saw Steven Hise pick up his third win of the season from his 11th starting spot over a 17 car field. Don Altiere came from 17th to second in his second outing at Citrus. Lori Pate had the early lead and had her hands full salvaging a third place finish over Danny Fletcher and Chad Markland.
Eighteen Figure 8 School buses were split into two groups of nine on a pill draw and made for an exciting finale for the fans. Jay Seykora made his first appearance at Citrus payoff in the first race with Mike Gamache making numerous passes at him to no avail.
Slower traffic made it even more difficult as they were three deep on several occasions. Chris Hooker started 9th and pulled into the finish line in third when the checkers flew. Brent Fults made it three School Bus wins in as many races in the second 20 lap, 9 bus race. Gary Swing came from the back end of the field to hold out for second followed by Travis Nichols who had to come through a lot of traffic too.
Super Late Models go in their first point’s race of the season next Saturday night in the Easter Celebration Special. 4 Cylinder Bombers are scheduled for a 50 lap special plus Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and V8 Thunder Stock Rookies.
Citrus County Speedway Results 3/31/07
Figure 8 50 Lap Special – 23 Cars (Non Points Race)
1. #15 Joey Catterelli – 2nd Season Win 2. #74 Robbie Hage 3. # 5 James Poole 4. #14 Wayne Calkins 5. #31 Donnie Thomas 6. #65 BobbyTowe 7. #40 Paul Grynewicz 8. #96 Mike Wedlick 9. #119 Eddie Davis 10.# 8 Darryl Hage
Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 17 Cars
1. #91 Bobby Taylor – 1st Modified Win (Rookie) 2. #34 Teddy Nelson 3. # 3 Harold Cannon 4. #09 Stephen Harbuck 5. #53 Doug Miller 1st Heat Winner - #34 Teddy Nelson 2nd Heat Winner - #03 Kyle Bookmiller
Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 27 Cars
1. #142 Richie Smith – 2nd Season Win 2. #00 Todd Downs 3. # 3 Curtis Flanagan 4. # 4 Jay Witfoth 5. #20 Josh Teague 1st Heat Winner - #20 Josh Teague 2nd Heat Winner - #142 Richie Smith 3rd Heat Winner - #47 Johnny Zuidema III
Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 27 Cars
1. #33 Bill Ryan – 1st Season Win 2. #0 Steven Stinedurf 3. #139 Wes Filyaw 4. #119 Eddie Davis 5. #99 Jesse Mullis 1st Heat Winner - #8 Victor Shahid 2nd Heat Winner - #47 Johnny Zuidema Jr. 3rd Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan
4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 20 Cars
1. #21 Phil Edwards – 1st Season Win 2. #20 Travis Hoefler 3. #001 Jeff Eberly 4. #444 Patric Conner 5. #199 Robert Carter 1st Heat Winner – #00 Chris Harvey 2nd Heat Winner - #21 Phil Edwards
V8 Thunder Stock Rookies Feature Only – 20 Laps – 17 Cars
1. #42 Steven Hise – 3 Season Win 2. # 8 Don Altiere 3. #069 Lori Pate 4. #169 Danny Fletcher 5. #34 Chad Markland
Figure 8 School Bus Feature #1 – 20 Laps – 9 Buses
