IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

November 2, 2008 Tom Posavec Locks Down Sportsman Championship in 50 Lap Special by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. Nov. 1, 2008) It has been a long time coming but Tom Posavec finally broke out of the runner up Sportsman points’ championship run with an impressive win in their final race of 2008 at Citrus County Speedway Saturday night. He was in a tight run for the championship with Bobby Ervien out of St. Petersburg coming into the race with 7 feature wins against 1 win for Posavec who made it 2 for the year when the final checkered flag flew in the Sportsman finale. At least 8 caution flags marred the otherwise very competitive race in the 50 lap special. The top six qualifiers started inverted with Shane Bastow on the pole and Mike Baker winning the race to turn one from the outside front row. Right behind them was Ernie Reed who managed to pick up the point in lap six and held onto the lead until Tom made his move in lap 39 being chased by Ervien right to the checkered flag. Reed slipped back to third at the finish line followed by fast qualifier Mike Bell and Michael Baker. Only nine of the 20 starters finished. Rounding out the top ten were Shelton Bowers, William Edwards, David White, Greg Groover and Dalton Nelson. Top five in the point race were Posavec, Bobby Ervien, Ernie Reed, Clint Foley and David White. Late Models wrapped up their 2008 season with a 14 car field chasing point runner up Richie Smith for the entire 35 laps in the final race of the season. Herb Neumann finished his championship season with a 2nd place finish from his 10th starting position and taking the 2008 crown by 23 points over Richie. John Gerstner started third and finished third just ahead of pole sitter Dale Sanders and Scott Millar. Gerstner and Millar also added heat wins to their final race of the year. Top five in the run for the championship were Neumann, Richie Smith, Scott Grossenbacher, Scott Millar and John Gerstner. Late Models only got 13 races in for the season. With only one race left in the Mini Stock Season Clint Foley continued to prove that he is a racer to be concerned about as he outran the 21 car field for his 6th win of the season and taking the win in the second heat. Mark Powers won the first heat and looked like he would be the man to beat in the 20 lap feature as he led from the green right down to the final 5 laps. He had to settle for second just ahead of George Neumann who also has 6 wins on his resume. Kevin Harrod has a lock on the 2008 championship and settled for a 4th place finish from his 17th starting spot. Rookie Travis Hoefler stayed in the top five throughout the race and finished 5th. With just one more race to settle the top ten in the race is for second between Mike Lawhorn and Clint Foley with just 1 point separating the two hot shoes. Twenty seven cars went to war in the Pure Stock division in their next to last race. John Drye and Bill Ryan came into the race with Drye in the lead by just 4 points. Drye started 14th and Ryan 17th and both cars had to work their way through a lot of traffic in their private battle for the championship. Tommy Smith came out of his Street Stock and launched from 13th to the front of the pack in short order to log his first win of the season in this division and first heat win on top of it. Curtis Flanagan came from 19th to put the pressure on Smith at the start finish line followed by 10th starter James Peters, Richard Dinkins and Wayne Heater. With a 6th place finish and a heat win Bill Ryan moved to the top of the point ladder by 14 points over John Drye who has been at the top for most of the season. They still have one race left so this one isn’t over until the final checkered flag flies next Saturday. Victor Shahid has a 1 point lead on Wayne Heater in the run for fifth in the points’ race. Twenty four 4 Cylinder Bombers took on the 3/8th mile in their next to last race of the year and Chris Eberly became a first time ever winner. Chris made short work of the front four and set the pace for most of the race being chased by his dad Jeff Eberly, Tim Scalise, point champ Richard Kuhn and Bryson Ward. When the checkers flew Scalise made a turn four run at Jeff Eberly to pick up a side by side second place finish. Jeff held out for third while Richard Kuhn and Bryson Ward locked down the 4th and 5th spots. Heat winners Mike Ogren, Bryton Prevatt and Shawn Evans were unable to finish. This division will wrap up their season next Saturday night. In the V8 Thunder Stock Division Levi Roberts became another first time winner rolling to Victory Lane in his first race in the division from his 12th starting spot. Darrell Demonbreun held off the rest of the 16 car field for the entire race for his best finish of his early racing career. Drew Matissek held off apparent 2008 point champion Alex Wilder in the race for third. Rounding out the top five was Randy Werstein. cIt was all Jarrett Snowden out of Salt Springs in the Florida Pro Challenge series as he was top shoe in both the heat and feature race. An outlaw Open Wheel Lite racer, Jerry Heflin, joined the short field to take a second place finish in both races followed by J.L. Snowden, Paul White and Harvey Johnson. Four divisions ran in the Dare To Win races. Qualifying drivers had not won a heat or feature during the year. Mini Stock winner was James Ellis, Lawrence Wilder picked up the Pure Stock win, Sonya Heater borrowed Nathan Florian’s car for the win in the 4 Cylinder Bomber race and Randy Werstein won the V8 Thunder Stock Rookie race. Next Saturday night will wrap up the 2008 season at Citrus County Speedway closing out with Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers, Figure 8’s, V8 Thunder Stocks and the Women’s Powder Puff Race. Street Stocks will run a Dare To Win race. Citrus County Speedway Results 11/01/08 Sportsman Finale Feature – 50 Laps – 20 Cars 1. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon – 2 Season Win – 2008 Champion 2. #88 Bobby Ervien – St. Petersburg 3. #55 Ernie Reed – Lecanto 4. #17 Mike Bell – Brooksville – Fast Qualifier 14.775 sec. 5. #02 Michael Baker – Inglis Late Model Feature – 35 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #33 Richie Smith – Hernando – 3rd Season Win 2. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. – Inverness – 2008 Champion 3. #62 John Gerstner – Eustis 4. # 1 Dale Sanders – Leanto 5. #20 Scott Millar – Ocala 1st Heat Winner - #62 John Gerstner 2nd Heat Winner - #20 Scott Millar Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 21 Cars 1. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon – 6th Season Win 2. # 9 Mark Powers – Hernando 3. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness 4. #34 Kevin Harrod – Floral City – 2008 Champion 5. #20 Travis Hoefler – Floral City 1st Heat Winner - # 9 Mark Powers 2nd Heat Winner - # 7 Clint Foley Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 27 Cars 1. #93 Tommy Smith – Hernando – 1st Season Win 2, #35 Curtis Flanagan – Floral City 3. # 5 James Peters – Monteverde 4. #69 Richard Dinkins – Bushnell 5. #13 Wayne Heater – Homosassa 1st Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 2nd Heat Winner - #60 Rick Henick – Inverness 3rd Heat Winner - #93 Tommy Smith 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 30 Laps – 24 Cars 1. #56 Chris Eberly – Spring Hill – 1st Season Win 2. #48 Tim Scalise – Lutz 3. #01 Jeff Eberly – Spring Hill 4. #47 Richard Kuhn – Ocala 5. # 4 Bryson Ward – Crystal River 1st Heat Winner - #13 Mike Ogren – Spring Hill 2nd Heat Winner - #33 Bryton Prevatt – Center Hill 3rd Heat Winner – #46 Shawn Evans – Williston V8 Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #35 Levi Roberts – Hernando – 1st Ever Win 2. #34 Darrell Demonbreun – Bushnell 3. #68 Drew Matissek – New Port Richey 4. #14 Alexander Wilder – Floral City – 2008 Champion 5. # 9 Randy Werstein – Belleview Florida Pro Challenge Series Feature – 20 Laps – 7 Cars 1. #40C Jarrett Snowden – Salt Springs 2. #23 Jerry Heflin – Gainesville 3. #40 J.L. Snowden – Salt Springs 4. #25 Paul White – Eustis 5. # 2 Harvey Johnson – Ocala Dare To Win Features – 10 Laps – 4 Divisions 1. Mini Stock - #98 James Ellis – Brooksville 2. Pure Stock - #28 Lawrence Wilder – Floral City 3. 4 Cylinder Bombers - #71 Sonya Heater – Homosassa 4. V8 Thunder Stock - #9 Randy Werstein - Belleview Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!