IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 12, 2008 Citrus Fall Fiasco a Smashing Success by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 10/11/08) Fans and drivers definitely got their money’s worth in the Annual Fall Fiasco at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night. It was billed as the fun race of the year with only one regular division racing in the point battle in a special 50 Lap Figure 8 race dedicated to retiring Figure 8 driver and car owner Bob Hage. Some big money was up for grabs in the Enduro 150 with a surprise ending and a whole lot of indecision about who really won when the checkered flag flew. The fun came with the Drifters putting on a 20 minute show of dirt tracking on asphalt, the Figure 8 School Bus Races, the Boat Trailer races and a slam, banging Demolition Derby to wrap up the night just before the 11 o’clock curfew. Sixteen of the 21 Figure 8 registered cars went on the clock in the 1 lap qualifying that not only included the figure 8 track but also the oval. Point leader Joey Catterelli was the first car on the track and held his breath for the entire field making their run but his 35.937 second lap held up for fast qualifier. That’s where his good fortune came to an end as he pulled the full inversion pill putting the fast cars towards the rear of the pack except for four cars that didn’t qualify and two cars that elected to give up the front row, going to the rear for the start. Charlie Meyer came off his outside pole position setting the pace for the first 25 laps while Wayne Calkins and the rest of the field made their way towards the front. Calkins locked onto Charlie and remained patient until a caution flag came out for a head on crash in the intersection between John Thomas and Joey Catterelli taking both cars out of action. The next car to drop out was Darryl Hage who thought this might be the race that would put him in a position to overtake Catterelli in the race for the crown. Robbie Hage and Danny Hage pulled out a few laps latter taking all the Hage team out of the running. Wayne Calkins got under Meyer to take the lead and John Baranauskas locked onto second followed by Cliff Rousseau, relegating Meyer to fourth at the checkers. Larry Welter Jr. finished the race one lap down in fifth. The 150 lap Enduro race started 32 cars going after the big money. Some of the heavy hitters who make a habit of winning races such as this ran into early trouble pulling out early as they were going for the lead. After 50 laps the cars reversed direction and used the back chicane in the figure 8 track as part of the course and then at 100 laps reversed the direction and again wrapped up the final laps using the chicane with only half the field still running when the checkered flag came out. Each car had an individual scorer and what appeared to be the apparent winner was Eddie Lawler in the #12 car followed by Michael Gamache in the #85, Jay Seykora in the #05 and William Hindman #89 as unofficially announced when the race was over. It was a nightmare to score for the regular scorers and the individual scorers were the finial word. Well, the race isn’t official until the Tech Man speaks and when he did Eddie Lawler lost out on the big money with what was judged an illegal carburetor. Michael Gamache, Jay Seykora, William Hindman, Cathy Ray and Zane Reid moved up one spot to capture the top five spots. The rest of the evening was devoted to the fun races of the night with the popular School Bus Races. Fourteen busses ran in the first 20 lapper with a lot of pushing and shoving but no major accidents to mar the race. Brent Fults came from the 5th starting position in his short bus working three deep at times in the figure 8 straight and on the turns to take the lead and another win trophy to put on the shelf. Travis Nichols stayed in the top five throughout the race to take second followed by 12th starter Robert Aaron, and Mike Gamache in the top four. The second race started 13 drivers and saw a major role over accident with Big Kenny in his hot pink machine from the Robbie Aaron stable. Kenny came out of the crash O.K. but the bus was definitely finished for the night. Several more busses got into trouble and had to fall out due to accidents. One Lap Larry Triana started 10th and drove his short bus to the front for his first School Bus race with only four busses still running at 13 laps and the race got the checkers at lap 15. Mac Kersey, Ryan Oneal and Andy Dewberry locked down the top four spots. Nine boat trailer racers took on the 3/8th mile for 20 laps and boats and trailers went flying right from the get go. T.J. Sharrone took off from the pole position and managed to stay out of trouble with traffic behind him battling for position. When it was all over T.J. was the only car with boat and trailer still intact and locking down the win. Mike Gamache again was in the running with a second place finish followed by Don Welter and Larry Welter Sr. the final car still eligible for the finish with at least a trailer in tow. Only 7 cars registered for the Demo Derby but the attack on destroying their competitors started when the dropped the green flag. An illegal hit in the driver door was the deciding factor after 15 minutes of mayhem in the infield. Three cars got locked up near turn four when the checkers finally flew but the apparent winner was disqualified for an illegal hit and another car in the final group also got disqualified for the same infraction. After a lot of discussion the final three were decided. Brooker Mathein in the #77 came up the winner with #16 Eugene Malvehty taking second money and Travis Belcourt locking down third. Next Saturday night will be Health Care Appreciation Night at the speedway with Health Care workers with proper ID from their Health Care organization getting in free. With only 4 weeks left in the regular season the race card will feature Super Late Models, Sportsman, Street Stock, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stock Rookies, and 4 Cylinder Bombers. The drivers are also signing up for the 2nd Suitcase Race of the season which the fans and drivers really enjoy participating in. Citrus County Speedway Results Fall Fiasco 10/11/08 Figure 8 Bob Hage 50 – 50 Laps – 21 Cars 1. #14 Wayne Calkins – St. Petersburg – 1st Season Win 2. #27 John Baranauskas – St. Petersburg 3. # 3 Clifford Rousseau - St. Petersburg 4. #94 Charlie Meyer – St. Petersburg 5. #58 Larry Welter – Williston 6. # 5 James Poole – Pinellas Park 7. #31 Rick Shahid – Floral City 8. #81 Ken Crews – Tampa 9. #11 Danny Hage – St. Petersburg 10.#74 Robbie Hage – St. Petersburg Enduro 150 – 150 Laps – 32 Cars 1. #85 Michael Gamache 2. #05 Jay Seykora 3. #89 William Hindman 4. #63 Cathy Ray 5. #37 Zane Reid 6. #30 Bill Ryan 7. # 7 Mike Bresnahan 8. #169 Frd Judy 9. #81 Ken Crews 10.#90 Anthony Easton Figure 8 School Bus #1 – 20 Laps - 14 Busses 1. #01 Brent Fultz 2. # 6 Travis Nichols 3. # 1 Robert Aaron 4. #05 Michael Gamache Figure 8 School Bus #2 – 15 Laps – 13 Busses 1. # 0 Larry Triana 2. #411 Mac Kersey 3. # 3 Ryan Oneal 4. # 9 Andy Dewberry Boat Trailer Race – 20 Laps – 9 Cars 1. #59 T.J. Sharrone 2. # 1 Michael Gamache 3. #80 Don Welter 4. #85 Larry Welter Sr. Demolition Derby – 9 Cars – 15 Minutes 1. #77 Brooker Matheim 2. #16 Eugene Malvehty 3. #43 Travis Belcourt Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!