Bresnahan #66 Batting .666 in Citrus Late Model Action
by Larry MacMillan
Mother Nature blessed Citrus County Speedway with great weather and a full pit featuring the return of the Super Late Models, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers as the 2007 racing season winds down. Two traveling series spiced up the action with the FMARA Midgets and the Florida Open Wheel Lites. The regular divisions provided some of the closest finishes of the season putting the fans on their feet when the checkers flew.
Eighteen of Florida’s best Super Late Model pilots took the green flag for their ninth race of the year for the 2007 Championship Crown. With only one point race remaining for the season Mike Bresnahan had his way with everyone except runner up Herb Neumann Jr. who at this point is the only driver that even has an outside chance to take the Championship away from Bresnahan. Richie Smith, doing triple duty, got his first ride in the Glen Webster #33 racer, won the pole position and took the field through the first ten laps of their 35 lap feature before opening the door to Bresnahan and Neumann to go to the point. It was a battle royal for Bresnahan and Neumann which ended in a real tight finish at the checkers with Bresnahan making it 6 wins for 9 races and an additional 4 point cushion in his point lead. Meanwhile, Richie Smith did an outstanding job of holding off the rest of the field for a third place finish over Daniel Webster who drove from 9th to 4th followed by 7th starter Scott Grossenbacher. Heat wins went to Danny Johnson and Daniel Webster.
Mike Veltman continued his march up the point ladder in pursuit of his fifth Sportsman Championship as he set the pace early in their 20 lap main from his 7th starting spot. Lots of position changes were going on behind him and when it came down to the final 5 laps it was 14th starter and point leader Fred Tuski looking for the opening to snatch the flag away from Veltman. Another close finish with Veltman taking his 7th win of the season and closing in on Tom Posavec and Fred Tuski in the race for the crown but needs to overcome a 54 point Tuski lead with only 3 races left before it’s all over for the season. Tuski held out for second over Dustin Aaron while Doc James Batson took his daughter’s Street Stock and motored his way from 17th to a 4th place finish making the pass at the line over Mike Ruff. Veltman and Chris Cross took the heat wins.
Street Stocks put on a real barn burner with a 23 car field taking the green flag in their 20 lap main and all the heavy hitters starting towards the rear of the pack. This one had the crowd on their feet several times throughout the race with one wreck taking out point leader Curtis Flanagan and black flagging Jay Witfoth for the accident. Wayne Heater came off the pole and set the pace for 19 laps before a gaggle of racers were three wide in turn 4 in the race for the checkers. Richie Smith took the low groove, Tim Alexander in lane 2 and Heater was on the outside when all three cars made contact in the turn putting Heater in the wall. Smith came across the line as the apparent winner side by side with Alexander but after a great deal of discussion the spin out rule of taking the leader out came into play and the win was given to Wayne Heater and Smith was put back to 15th at the finish.
The controversy didn’t end there as Heater weighed in 200 lbs light and he was D.Q’d in tech with Tim Alexander inheriting his first win of the year. Rounding out the top five were Tim Wilson, Todd Downs, Jason VanOchten and Ted Taylor who flew in from New York and drove his brother Bobby Taylor’s racer which was scheduled to run in the rained out 50 lap feature at Ocala Friday night. Todd Downs inherited the 1st heat win on the Heater D.Q. while Tim Alexander and Jason VanOchten claimed the wins in the 2nd and third heat. Curtis Flanagan still holds and 15 point lead over Richie Smith with three races left in the season. This one will go right down to the wire.
Twelve Mini Stocks took the green flag for their 20 lap main. Johnny Siner was a man on a mission as he came off the pole and never looked back for his second win of the season. Clint Foley was the “Hard Charger” from his 7th starting spot to put on a run to the line for a bumper to bumper second place finish. Mark Powers ran in the top five all evening and took third over Mike Lawhorn and point runner up George Neumann who got tagged early in the race for the second week in a row. Point leader Steve Griffin at one point was going after the lead but was taken out late in the race and wound up with and 8th place finish but still holds the point lead over George Neumann by 44 points with four races left in their season.
Balancing out the local point races were 22, 4 Cylinder Bombers. This turned out to be another barn burner with the fans on their feet for the finish. After an early crash last week Jeff Eberly was intent on regaining his point lead over Travis Hoefler. Jeff made a run at his son Chris Eberly who had the early lead, and went on to set the pace until lap 19 when 14th starter Jon Layard came to the front and snatched the win away from Jeff in a side by side finish. Eberly regained a 17 point lead with his second place finish and heat win while Hoefler had to settle for an 8th place finish in the feature and a 3rd in the heat race. John DeGeorge was a definite threat to the front runners but had to settle for a third place finish over Phil Edwards and Joshua Fairchild. Heat winners were Jeff Eberly, Jon Layard and Patric Conner.
Billy Gise out of Auburndale had the Florida Open Wheel Lite races pretty well covered taking flag to flag wins in both his heat and their 20 lap main event. Phil Krauthhoff out of Stuart locked on to his heat win and picked up a second place finish in their feature. Third spot went to Jacksonville’s Rick Lundeen followed by Roger Richmond out of Port Charlotte and Jason Stout also out of Jacksonville.
The FMARA Midgets ran a 25 lap feature only with 7 cars taking the green flag. Brandon Cagle put the hammer down from the get go and never looked back for the win. Ted Durfee, Ernie Teed Jr., Fast Freddie Stutz and Jack Duffy locked on to the balance of the top five spots. The Midget Association brought an extra car and needed a driver. As if Richie Smith wasn’t busy enough racing in three divisions he volunteered try out a Midget. Only problem, he couldn’t get into the car comfortably and had to pass the ride onto Late Model driver John Gerstner. Gerstner found out driving one of these little T.Q.’s wasn’t an easy task.
Next Saturday night will feature the fun race of the year with the “Fall Fiasco” featuring School Bus Figure 8 races, a Boat Trailer Race, a 50 Lap Figure 8 race, The Enduro 150 for $5,000 to win and wrapping up the night with a Demo Derby.
Citrus County Speedway Results 10/06/07
Super Late Model Feature – 35 Laps – 18 Cars
1. #66 Mike Bresnahan – Lecanto – 6th Season Win 2. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. – Inverness 3. #33 Richie Smith – Hernando 4. # 3 Daniel Webster – Brooksville 5. #09 Scott Grossenbacher – San Antonio
1st Heat Winner - #96 Danny Johnson – Crystal River
2nd Heat Winner - # 3 Daniel Webster
Sportsman Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars
1. #94 Mike Veltman – Crystal River – 7th Season Win 2. #71 Fred Tuski – Crystal River 3. #98 Dustin Aaron – Floral City 4. #77 Doc James Batson – Inverness 5. #28 Mike Ruff – Homosassa
1st Heat Winner - #94 Mike Veltman
2nd Heat Winner - # 3 Chris Cross – Crystal River
Street Stock Feature – 30 Laps – 23 Cars
1. #63 Tim Alexander – Floral City – 1st Season Win 2. #93 Tim Wilson – Floral City 3. #00 Todd Downs – Homosassa 4. #99 Jason VanOchten – Hudson 5. #66 Ted Taylor – South Hampton, N.Y.
1st Heat Winner - #00 Todd Downs
2nd Heat Winner - #63 Tim Alexander
3rd Heat Winner - #99 Jason VanOchten
Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 12 Cars
1. #01 Johnny Siner – Homosassa – 2nd Season Win 2. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 3. #29 Mark Powers – Hernando 4. #44 Mike Lawhorn – Clermont 5. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness
1st Heat Winner - #7 Clint Foley
2nd Heat Winner - #44 Mike Lawhorn
4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars
1. #02 Jon Layard – Ocala – 1st Season Win 2. #001 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 3. #122 John DeGeorge – Dunnellon 4. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River 5. # 6 Joshua Fairchild – Crystal River
1st Heat Winner - #001 Jeff Eberly
2nd Heat Winner - #02 Jon Layard
3rd Heat Winner - #444 Patric Conner – Dunnellon
Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 8 Cars
1. # 1 Billy Gise – Auburndale 2. # 2 Phil Krauthoff – Stuart 3. #04 Rick Lundeen – Jacksonville 4. #33 Roger Richmond – Port Charlotte 5. #27 Jason Stout – Jacksonville
1st Heat Winner - # 2 Phil Krauthoff
2nd Heat Winner - # 1 Billy Gise
FMARA Midget Feature – 25 Laps – 7 Cars
1. # 2 Brandon Cagle 2. #26 Ted Durfee 3. # 9 Ernie Teed Jr. 4. # 6 Fast Freddie Stutz 5. # 1 Jack Duffy
