IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 29, 2008 TBARA & Suitcase Race Card Real Hit with Citrus Fans by Larry MacMillan Citrus County Speedway got their need for speed and some side splitting laughter Saturday night. The TBARA Winged Outlaw Sprint Cars made their second trip of four for the year with twenty one 800 horsepower winged rockets that turn the 3/8ths mile circuit in the low 12 and high 11 second bracket. Twenty local drivers put on a fun filled show in two 10 car Suitcase Races and the fans selected Larry Triana as the Queen of the race for his outfit and other outstanding features to his female appearance. Also on the race card were the Sportsmen, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. The sprint cars ran three 8 lap heats to get their evening started with pole sitter Todd Schmidt locking onto the point and not letting go to the 8 car hot shoes in pursuit. Three caution flags made for some exciting restarts. One saw Bo Hartley go over on his side on turn two but it didn’t stop him from getting back on all fours for the restart. His wing broke when he crashed taking him out early while Schmidt went on to take the checkered flag. Only six cars took the green flag for the second heat with Jim Alvis having to pull out with mechanical problems. Dakota Stephens locked onto the point and never let go for the win. Outside pole sitter Brad Davis showed his horsepower in winning the drag race from the green to the point and the win in the third heat. Twenty racers took the green and the caution came out twice in the first lap before the race really got underway. Dakota Stephens set the pace for the first 20 laps of their 30 lap main and then the heavy hitters put the hammer down in the final 10 laps. Joey Aguilar started 6th and made his way to second by lap 15. On the restart after a caution in lap 20 Aguilar went by Stephens like he was standing still and set the pace right to the checkers despite another lap 28 caution for Michael Smith’s blown motor down the front straight and into the wall on turn one. On the green, white, checkers 8th starter Shane Butler made a run at Aguilar but couldn’t pull it off and he spent the final two laps holding off 13th starter and TBARA Points’ leader Troy DeCaire. Bo Hartley fixed that wing he damaged in the heat race roll over and came from 14th to finish 4th being chased by Dude Teate who got sent to the rear of the pack on an early caution and managed to finish 5th. Larry J. Brazil Jr. running second in the points race also repaired a flat tire after the four abreast salute, started 10th , got sent to the rear of the pack only to motor to a 6th place finish. Rounding out the top 10 were Dakota Stephens, Todd Schmidt, Mickey Kempkins and Mark Gimmler. Fourteen Sportsman racers made the show in their 13th week which is the halfway point in the racing season for them with three new additions visiting. JoJo Viverito earned the pole starting spot and it paid off for the young driver who is also driving a Late Model. JoJo set the pace from the green flag right to the checkered flag with plenty of heat from behind from Tom Posavec, Bobby Ervien, Richie Smith and Ernie Reed. They finished in that order and Tom Posavec maintained his slim three point lead over Bobby Ervien in the closest race for the championship crown for all divisions. Heat wins went to Ernie Reed and Bobby Ervien. Fifteen Street Stocks made the 20 lap run for their 14th race of the 2008 season. Rick Shahid and Larry Triana took the green from the front row and Shahid won the drag race into turn 1. His lead was short lived with Jason VanOchten taking the point in lap 3 and then he went wide off turn two opening the door for Jason Murphree to take the point who jockeyed with David Foster in the battle for the lead. Murphree went on to win his 5th race of the season followed by Foster, Mike Loudy, Frank Stromquist and Kyle Peters who made a late run for the lead then fell off the pace to round out the top 5. Frank Stromquist took the win in the first heat and Mike Loudy won the second heat in what turned out to be barn burner, side by side finish with Tommy Smith. Kevin Harrod had his way with the 19 car Mini Stock field for his 3rd feature win of the season. He launched from 9th to take the lead and left the rest of the field to battle for position in his dust. Travis Hoefler came off the outside pole and held off most of the competition for the first half of the race but when Harrod got under him he spent the rest of the race trying to salvage a 2nd place finish which he did over George Neumann, Peter Nelson and Don Faunce. Those final 3 positions in the race for the top five flip flopped in the final 2 laps. Point leader Clint Foley has a new car he is trying to dial in and managed to take a heat win and a 6th place finish in the feature. Johnny Siner pulled off a win in the second heat but the feature was not so kind to him with a blown motor while running in third and only 3 laps to go for the checkers. Nathan Florian pulled off his first feature win of the season in Four Cylinder Bomber action and he did it with finesse against the point leader Richard Kuhn. Kuhn gave Nathan a bump in turn two that opened the door for a pass that was short lived when Nathan came back to make a clean pass one lap later. From that point on Kuhn held off all challenges for second, protecting his comfortable 66 point lead in the division. Chris Eberly ran in the top five most of the race and managed to pull off a third place finish followed by his dad Jeff Eberly who is currently running second in the points’ race. Phil Edwards rounded out the top five. Heat winners were Patric Conner, Chris Eberly and Nathan Florian. James Belcher, the safety man on turn 1 and 2 was hit by one of the four cylinder bomber cars during a caution trying to get the line up back in order for a restart. He was taken to the hospital and unfortunately he suffered a broken tibia and bad gash in his leg which is going to take the big man out of action for awhile. All the drivers, fans and management wish James a speedy recovery. Citrus County Speedway will be closed for the 4th of July weekend in deference to the Coke One 400 at Daytona Saturday night. This will be the last night off until November 8th when the 2008 season ends. The second half of the season gets back in gear on Saturday night July 12th with a barn burner race card featuring the School Bus Figure 8’s, something new in the way of an R.V. trailer race, plus Super Late Models, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks and the Fla. Pro Challenge series. Citrus County Speedway Results 6/28/08 TBARA Winged Sprint Feature – 30 Laps – 20 Cars 1. #52 Joey Aguilar 11. #80 Wendy Mathis 2. #18 Shane Butler 12. #27 Sonny Hartley 3. #68 Troy DeCaire 13. #92 Dave Retzlaff 4. #3x Bo Hartley 14. #41 Steve Heisler 5. # 0 Dude Teate 15. #15 D.J. Hozael 6. #21B Larry J. Brazil Jr. 16. # 9 Michael Smith-DNF Blew 7. #79 Dakota Stephens 17. #4D Brad Davis - DNF 8. # 6 Todd Schmidt 18. #55 Tommy Nichols - DNF 9. #78 Mickey Kempkins 19. #56 Bobby Rose - DNF 10.#51 Mark Gimmler 20. #75 Curtis Sutton - DNF #21 Jim Alvis – Did Not Start 1st Heat Winner - # 6 Todd Schmidt – 2nd Heat Winner - #79 Dakota Stephens – 3rd Heat Winner – #4D Brad Davis Sportsman Feature – 20 laps – 14 Cars 1. #72 JoJo Viverito – Inverness – 1st Season Win 2. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon 3. #88 Bobby Ervien – St. Petersburg 4. #42 Richie Smith – Hernando 5. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto 1st Heat Winner - #55 Ernie Reed 2nd Heat Winner - #88 Bobby Ervien Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #95 Jason Murphree – Homosassa – 5th Season Win 2. # 4 David Foster – Wildwood 3. #21 Mike Loudy – Brooksville 4. #57 Frank Stromquist – Lecanto 5. #33 Kyle Peters - ? 1st Heat Winner - #57 Frank Stromquist 2nd Heat Winner - #26 Mike Loudy Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #34 Kevin Harrod – Floral City – 3rd Season Win 2. #20 Travis Hoefler – Floral City 3. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness 4. #18 Peter Nelson – Crystal River 5. # 2 Don Faunce – Spring Hill 1st Heat Winner - # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 2nd Heat Winner - #01 Johnny Siner – Homosassa 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 20 Cars 1. #26 Nathan Florian – Homosassa – 1st Season Win 2. #47 Richard Kuhn – Ocala 3. #56 Chris Eberly – Spring Hill 4. #01 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 5. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River 1st Heat Winner – #444 Patric Conner – Dunnellon 2nd Heat Winner - #56 Chris Eberly 3rd Heat Winner - #26 Nathan Florian Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!