"I'm
noticing a turn of the tide on racing Web sites like Florida's
Karnac.com, the gathering place for the most dedicated race
fans in the state." -Orlando Sentinel
Grossenbacher logs 2nd Consecutive Citrus L.M. Win, Chris Harvey Takes Bomber 50 Lap Win
by Larry MacMillan
Another perfect night for Saturday night Citrus Co. Speedway stock car racing with 122 racers making up 7 divisions going for broke racing. The 4 Cylinder Bombers kicked off the night with qualifying time trials for their 50 lap Special points race and it was Chris Harvey who set the pace with fast time of 16.513 seconds, pulled the #5 starting position and locked onto the front five for the entire 50 laps.
Karl Born and Shawn Evans put on the early show for the lead off the front row until Evans attempted to snatch the lead taking both cars out. Evans was sent to the rear on the restart while Born stayed on the point and was challenged by Richard Kuhn who gave him all the heat he could handle. Meanwhile young Brandon Watson drove his heart out trying to stay in the top five until he was taken out in a three car crash that ended his night.
Chris Harvey was saving the best for last taking the lead from Karl Born in lap 40 and going on to take his third feature win of the season. Born held out for second over Richard Kuhn who took over the point lead in the division with his third place finish. Defending champion Jeff Eberly locked down 4th followed by John DeGeorge, Bryson Ward, Patric Conner, Tim Scalise, Nathan Florian and Phil Edwards to round out the top ten.
Scott Grossenbacher started on the outside pole for the 17 car Late Model field, won the race through turn one and two over pole sitter John Gerstner and proceeded to do a replay of last weeks make up race with a flag to flag win. Herb Neumann Jr. seemed to be the only driver that had anything for Grossenbacher working his way through traffic on the outside groove, finishing second over Dustin DesChamp, Dale Sanders and Daniel Webster. DesChamp and Webster took the wins in their heats.
Scott leads the point race by just 2 points over Herb Neumann showing how evenly matched these to cars are.
Magic Mike Veltman performed his magic again in the Sportsman 20 lap main event, taking his third win in 7 races for the season and leading the points race by 15 in the early going. D.J. Macklin led most of the race with Ernie Reed, Tom Posavec and Clint Foley giving him some heat in the first 15 laps. Veltman moved from 7th to make the pass on the outside lane and checked out on the field leaving Macklin to battle with JoJo Viverito, Bobby Ervien and Tom Posavec to the finish line in that order. Viverito and Macklin won their heat races.
Clint Foley continues to be the top Mini Stocker driving old #7 from 14th when the green dropped to logging his third win of the season over the 16 car field. He had mechanical problems during the practice session prior to the race and finished 5th in his heat. Whatever wrench work they did before the feature worked and he has a comfortable 31 point lead in the race for the championship. George Neumann looked like he was going to repeat his twin wins of last week but he apparently ran into problems and watched Kevin Harrod and Mark Powers go by before they reached the checkered flag settling for fourth ahead of James Ellis who remained in 5th place for most of the race. Rookie Steve Smith won his very first heat race of his career. Defending champion Steve Griffin picked up the win in the second heat.
Richie Smith hopped into the drivers seat of rookie driver Mike Heine in his familiar #142 and went from 21st to first when the checkers flew for his first ever Pure Stock win. Now he has a win in every race division at the speedway except the rookie V8 Thunder Stocks and that will never happen.
Tim Wilson gave chase but spent the final few laps holding off Wild Bill Ryan in the race for second. Tom Potts beat out Glen Colyer for a fourth place finish. Chad Markland won his first heat race but got caught up in a traffic jam that put him into the turn one wall in the feature ending his night. Tim Wilson and Richie Smith took the wins in the second and third heats.
The #142 car that Richie Smith test drove and put into the winners circle in the Pure Stock feature did a repeat performance with V8 Thunder Stock Rookie Mike Heine up on the wheel, starting 18th and winning his very first stock car race on his first outing. Michael Martin drove from 12th to 2nd at the start finish line after Cory Swanston got his 2nd D.Q. of the season and loses all his points. Drew Matissek inherited a 3rd place finish followed by Austin Roberts and Jon Brown rounding out the top five.
The Florida Pro Series brought in a short field of 8 cars with Port Saint Lucies Ryan Rust taking the win in their 35 lap main. Paul White and Jarrett Snowden took the top three spots after Heat winner J.L. Snowden looped on his run for the win and finally got it going for a fourth place finish.
Next Saturday night will be the Mothers Day Special featuring a twin 35 lap Open Wheel Modified race spiced up with the wild and crazy Figure 8s, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and V8 Thunder Stock Rookies. Bring Mom to the races and put some excitement into your life.
Citrus County Speedway Results 5/3/08
Late Model Feature 35 Laps 17 Cars
1. #09 Scott Grossenbacher San Antonio 2nd Season Win
2. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. Inverness
3. #51 Dustin DesChamp Brooksville
4. # 1 Dale Sanders Lecanto
5. # 3 Daniel Webster - Brooksville
1st Heat Winner #51 Dustin DesChamp
2nd Heat Winner # 3 Daniel Webster
Sportsman Feature 20 Laps 13 Cars
1. #155 Mike Veltman Crystal River 3rd Season Win
2. #14 D.J. Macklin Tampa
3. #72 JoJo Viverito Inverness
4. #88 Bobby Ervien St. Petersburg
5. #01 Tom Posavec Dunnellon
1st Heat Winner #72 JoJoViverito
2nd Heat Winner #14 D.J. Macklin
Mini Stock Feature 20 Laps 16 Cars
1. # 7 Clint Foley Dunnellon 3rd Season Win
2. #34 Kevin Harrod Floral City
3. # 9 Mark Powers Hernando
4. # 1 George Neumann Inverness
5. #98 James Ellis Brooksville
1st Heat Winner - #32 Steven Smith Inverness 1st Ever
2nd Heat Winner - # 3 Steve Griffin Inverness
4 Cylinder Bomber Feature 50 Laps Special 25 Cars
1. #00 Chris Harvey Belleview 3rd Season Win
2. #06 Karl Born Ocala
3. #47 Richard Kuhn Ocala
4. # 4 Bryson Ward Crystal River
5. #122 John DeGeorge Dunnellon
Fast Qualifier - #00 Chris Harvey 16.513 Seconds