IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

August 18, 2008 Mark Gimmler takes Checkered Flag Sprint Series Win at Citrus by Larry MacMillan Citrus County Speedway fans got more than their money’s worth of high speed, excitement, close and unusual finishes, and some amazing competition from 7 local divisions and the Checkered Flag Sprint Series Saturday night. This was probably the most exciting night of the season taking all the above into consideration and if the fans weren’t satisfied with that performance they weren’t watching the same races I was. The CFSS brought 16 wingless sprint cars putting on quite a show and saw a real bone chilling accident that got the grandstands attention as Wendy Mathis almost joined them in their seats on one of the restarts. Sprint cars and local divisions can not make a pass on the low side until passing the start/finish line. Sprint car officials put out a cone at the line and all cars are supposed to go to the right of the cone. On this particular restart one car went on the low side, hit the cone knocking it and another car into Wendy’s racer forcing her to the wall, up on the fence wheels first, taking out the traffic signal light pole going into turn one and damaging the wheel fence. She continued on rolling the car into the fence going into turn one with the top against the fence and winding up on all four wheels just before the turn. Fortunately all the safety equipment in her car worked and Wendy walked away from this horrendous wreck caused by another drivers’ error. The car really took a beating and ended her night very early. Mark and Gary Gimmler opened the Sprint Series heat races with wins and lined up in row 2 for their 35 lap main event. Mark came out of his 4th starting position getting around Scott Adema in the early going setting the pace right to the checkered flag for his second win of the season and picked up a $100 bonus with the Barfield Clean Sweep Award. Scott Adema managed to stay with Mark for the entire race despite several caution flags. Sixth starter Brian Gingras made a couple of passes to finish third just ahead of Keith Butler and Dakota Stephens. Gary Gimmler had to settle for 6th with point leader David Slawiak recovering from an early accident that sent him to the rear for the restart taking home a 7th place finish. Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Partin, Bryan Riddle and 15 year old Amanda Ferguson. Only 9 Modifieds made the show, running 1 heat race and their 30 lap main event. Richie Smith won the pole with Adam May on the outside and Richie made short work of the rest of the field in the early going. Meanwhile Curtis Neumann, coming off the heat win, worked his way from 5th to second and put on a real dog fight with Smith for the lead in the late laps. Richie spun into the infield on the front chute in their side by side battle bringing on the caution and sending him back to the rear of the pack. It was all over for the rest of the field when the green flew as Curtis took his 6th win of the season holding off Troy Robinson, Kyle Bookmiller, Doug Miller and Adam May. Neumann crashed his racer in July and they never really got the car frame straight from that crash. Some how or other they came up with a setup that worked for the win. The Sportsman division ran a 25 lap feature only due to a short field. Twelve cars took the green for their feature run and Bobby Miller and Clint Foley went to war early but it was a short battle with a caution coming out. Foley had problems keeping his racer running and needed to be pushed back to the pits for engine repair making it back out just in time for the restart well behind the rest of the field. Ernie Reed rolled from 6th to the lead waiting patiently for the openings and locked down his second win of the season. Tom Posavec put a little more cushion in his point lead working his way from 8th to second followed by Bobby Ervien, Tim Wilson and Todd Kelly to round out the top five. A spectacular finish in the Street Stock feature had the crowd on their feet for one of the most unusual circumstances putting Dr. Mark (Dr. Pain) Fallows in the winners circle for his first career win. Mark provides pain relief for his patients but the way this one ended he may need some relief himself. Tommy Smith rocketed from his 10th starting spot to the point in the early going. Larry Welter Jr. made some early moves to catch up to Smith in the late going after one of several caution flags. Meanwhile Mark Fallows watched from third while Smith and Welter went for 5 laps side by side for the win. Coming off turn 4 in the race for the checkers Smith took Welter right up to the front chute wall while Fallows took the low groove and they were 3 deep just short of the line when Fallows got turned around in front of Smith and Welter and came across the line sideways, being pushed by the two former front runners. When the smoke cleared Doc Fallows had his first win and was taken to tech inspection on the hook. Tommy Smith salvaged second with Welter getting penalized from second to fourth for jumping one spot on the restart, giving third to Mike Wilson who started 11th. Point leader Tim Quick picked up a 5th place. Four Cylinder Bombers provided the crowd with another close finish and a lot of excitement during the race. Patrick Conner set the pace for much of the race after the 20 car field got spread out. Nathan Florian was the fastest car in the field and motored from his 11th starting spot to battle with Bobby Richardson, Phil Edwards and Conner in the final laps of their 20 lap main. Nathan made the pass on the final lap off turn 4 in the run for the flag to take his 2nd win of the season. Patric Conner held out for 2nd over Bobby Richardson, Phil Edwards and Chris Eberly holding out for 5th. Heat winners were point leader Richard Kuhn and Bobby Richardson. Twenty four cars took the green for the Pure Stock Feature with Glen Colyer taking the early lead. Bill Ryan wasted no time working the outside groove to work his way to the front but Richie Smith caught a ride in the #142 car this week and after Mike Hinde took it to the win last week, Richie wasn’t going to be out done and hit the start finish line just ahead of Bill Ryan in their side by side battle for the checkers. Another finish that had the crowd on their feet. John Drye continues to lead the points’ race with a third place finish followed by Aaron Welter and Chad Markland. Heat wins went to Larry Welter Jr., Bill Ryan and Richie Smith. Charlie Meyer celebrated his 64th birthday with a starting spot on the outside pole for the 16 car Figure 8 feature. Charlie led the first lap but gave it up to Robby Aaron in lap 3. Robby set the pace for the rest of the race with Darryl Hage hot on his heels. Joey Catterelli parked behind Daryl and the front four saw Wayne Calkins as the caboose. Robby was literally a ball of fire on the final 3 laps with fire coming out from under the hood when he took the checkers. Hage, Catterelli, Calkins and Robbie Hage locked down the top 5 positions. The V8 Thunder Stock Rookies wrapped up the 8 division night with 13 cars putting on quite a show and the Tech Inspector changing the finishing order with apparent winner Cody Stickler getting D.Q.’d for illegal springs and shocks. Cotee Clark picked up the win for his first ever. Apparent second place winner and point leader coming into the night Alex Wilder D.Q.’d for running a locked distributor. Del Beckner inherited 2nd followed by Cory Swanston and Austin Roberts who survived a bad hit right at the start finish line after a caution flag came out. Rounding out the top 5 was Larry Nevell Jr. in his first race at Citrus. Next Saturday night features the “Back to School Bash” with the kids going in bicycle races. They must register at the front gate or pit gate with bicycle, helmet, elbow and knee pads for safety purposes. Added to the race card are the Super Late Models, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers and the Florida Open Wheel Lite traveling series. Citrus County Speedway Results Checkered Flag Sprint Series Feature – 35 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #51 Mark Gimmler – Palm Beach Garden – 2nd Series Win 2. #22 Scott Adema – Fort Myers 3. #99 Brian Gingras - ? 4. #19 Keith Butler – Riverview 5. #79DD Dakotah Stephens – Brandon 1st Heat Winner – #29 Gary Gimmler – West Palm Beach 2nd Heat Winner - #51 Mark Gimmler Open Wheel Modified Feature – 30 Laps – 9 Cars 1. #01 Curtis Neumann – Inverness – 6th Season Win 2. # 0 Troy Robinson 3. #03 Kyle Bookmiller – Valrico 4. #53 Doug Miller – Largo 5. #37 Adam May – Lutz Heat Winner - #01 Curtis Neumann Sportsman Feature – 25 Laps – 12 Cars 1. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto – 2nd Season Win 2. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon 3. #88 Bobby Ervien – St. Petersburg 4. # 0 Tim Wilson – Floral City 5. #183 Todd Kelly - ? No Heats Run Street Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #007 Mark Fallows – Crystal River – 1st Feature ever 2. #93 Tommy Smith – Hernando 3. #44 Mike Wilson – Dade City 4. #58 Larry Welter Jr. – Bronson 5. #97 Tim Quick – Lecanto No Heats Run 4 Cylinder Bombers Feature – 20 Laps – 20 cars 1. #26 Nathan Florian – Homosassa – 2nd Season Win 2. #444 Patric Conner – Dunnellon 3. #22 Bobby Richardson – Lecanto 4. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River 5. #56 Chris Eberly – Spring Hill 1st Heat Winner - #47 Richard Kuhn – Ocala 2nd Heat Winner – Bobby Richardson Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 24 Cars 1. #142 Richie Smith – Hernando – 2nd Season Win 2. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 3. #39 John Drye – Inverness 4. #80 Aaron Welter – Bronson 5. #34 Chad Markland – Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #58 Larry Welter Jr. – Williston 2nd Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan 3rd Heat Winner - #142 Richie Smith Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. # 6 Robby Aaron – Brooksville – 2nd Season Win 2. # 8 Darryl Hage – St. Petersburg 3. #15 Joey Catterelli – Pinellas Park 4. #14 Wayne Calkins – St. Petersburg 5. #74 Robbie Hage – St. Petersburg V8 Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #39 Cotee Clark – New Port Richey – 1st Season Win 2. #002 Del Beckner – Inverness 3. #33 Cory Swanston – Aripeka 4. #31 Austin Roberts – Inverness 5. #138 Larry Nevell - ? 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