IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 19, 2009 Tracy Wilson Takes DeSoto Champ Kart Triple Crown Round One At Citrus by Larry MacMillan If variety in racing is your cup of tea than Citrus County Speedway was the place to be Saturday night. Five regular divisions and four traveling series filled up the pits with 159 cars and provided a show that went from the DeSoto Champ Karts right up to the Open Wheel Modifieds. It wasn’t just another night at the speedway with unusual action in all divisions. With 10 features to run and heat races in most divisions it was a busy, busy night and we beat the 11 o’clock curfew by 25 minutes. Open Wheel Modifieds were added to the race card last Saturday night with the Mod Squad running a non points race this week. Only 10 cars made the show after a 22 car field last week. Robbie Cooper moved from 6th at the start to Victory Lane in their 40 lap feature only run. Dwayne Dempsey started 9th and was challenging for the lead when Cooper made the late pass when Mark Nelson and Keith Elliot had a run in on turn 1 ending their night in the late laps. Dempsey settled for second with Curtis Neumann crossing the line in his tire tracks. Billy Bechtelheimer Bobby Blake and former Mini Stock driver Ron Armillie made his rookie appearance in the Modifieds. Dr. Mark Fallows was the man of the night in the Street Stock division as he launched his #007 from 6th to the point and held off the charges of Bubba Martone and David Foster in the final run for the flag for his first win of the season. Rounding out the top five were Rick Shahid and Brandon Elwood. A major crash occurred when Richie Smith lost power trying to make a run from the back of the pack to finish in the top 5 almost coming to a complete stop at the start finish line. Tim Alexander also coming from the back after a caution flag sent both cars to the rear came full bore on the outside lane trying to gain some position at the finish line crashed into the rear end of Ritchie's car pushing Richie into turn one and Tim came to a stop 15 to 20 feet behind. Both cars suffered major damage. Ritchie was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital and at last word spent the night with possible back and rib injuries. Heat winners were Jay Witfoth and Tim Alexander. The Pure Stock feature saw Curtis Flanagan launch his racer out of 5th to the point in short order and just totally smoke the whole 22 car field. He was leading by over a half lap when the caution came out for Tommy Smith getting caught up in a crash on turn one late in the race losing a left rear wheel in the collision ending his night and tightening up the whole field for the restart. No problem for Curtis who took the green for the restart and continued on to Victory Lane by a wide margin. The rest of the pack fought for positions in the final laps and pole sitter Glen Colyer made his best finish of the year in 2nd followed by Rick Shahid, Drew Matissek and John Drye taking the top five spots. Alex Wilder and Flanagan took their heat wins. Twenty Two Four Cylinder Bombers made their 6th run of the season and Anthony LaPoint popped to the top of the points’ standings with his first career win. Bryson Ward drove from his 8th starting position and took advantage of a couple of wrecks that put him in a run for second at the checkered flag. Phil Edwards drove from 9th to third over last week’s winner Mike Ogren who started 22nd followed by 3rd starter Josh Fairchild who held the early lead and looked strong before his tires started giving way. Heat winners were Bryson Ward, Phil Edwards and Richard Kuhn. The make up V8 Thunder Stock feature opened the night at 5:05 p.m. Levi Roberts made short work of the 15 car field as he went from the back to the front in the 20 lap race showing the patience of an experienced driver dealing with an entire rookie division. Cody Stickler, Arden Franklin, Shane Goff and Abe Lord rounded out the top five in the first race. In their regularly scheduled race, 20 cars took the green flag with 6th starter Randy Werstein out running Arden Franklin who was going for his 3rd win of the season chasing him across the line in second. Ron Sellers III locked down third over Cody Stickler and Thomas McKay. Thirty one DeSoto Champ Karts took on the Citrus 3/8ths mile race course and put on one heck of a show running 4 and 5 wide throughout the race. This is a scorers’ nightmare from the tower and both tower and infield scorers had trouble keeping up with these Karts that usually are scored on transponders. Tracy Wilson was top shoe when all was said and done winning the 20 lap feature over Robin Pope and Dustin Chisholm who swapped that lead position on three different occasions in the final laps. One real bad crash into the front straight wall by Maurice Belcourt wrecked the car and the driver limped away. Moving up to a little larger racer, 14 Mini Cup cars saw Jacob Calloway and Mike Holt take the wins in their heats races. When the checkers flew in their 20 lap main event Brady Marshal showed his muscle in the final laps for the win followed by Jacob Calloway, Mike Holt, Rick Cline Jr. and Rick Cline Sr. rounding out the top five. These little NASCAR look alikes will be making quite a few appearances at Citrus this season. Daniel Miller the fans favorite for Rookie of the Year showed the Bass Champions Challenge Series just why he is a driver to contend with. Daniel started 7th in the 15 car field and took the point before the halfway point in their 40 lap main and was practically pushed across in the line by 13th starter Paul White when the checkers flew. Rounding out the top five were Brandon Williamson, Harvey Johnson and Jarrett Snowden. Jarrett Snowden won the heat race. There were only 8 cars in the Florida Open Wheel Lites but plenty of action to keep the fans entertained. Rick Lundeen made the whole field aware of his presence as he overcame several runs at his lead but no one was able to overcome his strategy. Jeff Ripley went for the lead off turn three got into the low groove and the rumple strips that had him roll his car three times. After they put it back up on all four wheels he kept on going from the rear of the field and came back to follow runner up John Godwin across the line for a third place finish. Sonny O’Sullivan and Ray Gonzalez III rounded out the top five. Also Tom Sherrill’s Florida Short Track Report web and internet broadcast team was on hand to honor Larry MacMillan as Florida Short Track Announcer of the Year and Brent Fults as the Florida Short Track Flagman of the Year, as voted by the fans in January. Joining the two local track officials was 12 year old Daniel Miller out of Tavares driving in the Bass Champions Challenge Series who won the Rookie of the Year as voted by the fans in December. Wrapping up the month of April the Checkered Flag Sprints come to put on a big show along with Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers and the Bass Pro Challenge cars are back in action. Citrus County Speedway Results 4/18/09 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 40 Laps – 10 Cars 1. #98 Robbie Cooper – Bronson 2. #16 Dwayne Dempsey – St. Petersburg 3. #01 Curtis Neumann – Inverness 4. # 6 Billy Bechtelheimer – Dover 5. #75 Bobby Blake – Grand Isle No Heat Races Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #007 Mark Fallows – Crystal River – 1st Season Win 2. #98 Bubba Martone – Floral City 3. #91 David Foster – Wildwood 4. # 3 Rick Shahid – Floral City 5. #28 Brandon Elwood – Anthony 1st Heat Winner - #4 Jay Witfoth – Beverly Hills 2nd Heat Winner - #63 Tim Alexander – Floral City Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #51 Curtis Flanagan – Inverness – 1st Season Win 2. #44 Glen Colyer – Homosassa 3. # 3 Rick Shahid – Floral City 4. #68 Drew Matissek – New Port Richey 5. #39 John Drye – Inverness 1st Heat Winner - #14 Alex Wilder – Inverness 2nd Heat Winner - #51 Curtis Flanagan 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #88 Anthony LaPoint – Zephyrhills – 1st Feature Win 2. # 4 Bryson Ward – Crystal River 3. #21 Phil Edwards – Crystal River 4. #13 Mike Ogren – Spring Hill 5. #6 Joshua Fairchild – Crystal River 1st Heat Winner - #4 Bryson Ward 2nd Heat Winner - #21 Phil Edwards 3rd Heat Winner – #47 Richard Kuhn V8 Thunder Stock Makeup Feature 4/11 – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. # 1 Levi Roberts – Inverness – 2nd Season Win 2. #99 Cody Stickler - ? 3. # 7 Arden Franklin – Hernando 4. #16 Shane Goff – Brooksville 5. #14 Abe Lord – Inverness V8 Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #411 Randy Werstein - ? – 1st Season Win 2. # 7 Arden Franklin – Hernando 3. #32 Ron Sellers III –Spring Hill 4. #99 Cody Stickler - ? 5. #30 Thomas McKay – Loxahatchee Florida Open Wheel Lite Feature – 20 Laps – 8 Cars 1. #04 Rick Lundeen 2. #00 John Godwin 3. #14 Jeff Ripley 4. #0 Sonny O’Sullivan 5. #7Jr Ray Gonzales III Bass Challenge Series Feature – 25 Laps – 14 Cars 1. #00 Daniel Miller – Tavares 2. #25 Paul White – Eustis 3, #20 Brandon Williamson – Powder Springs, Ga. 4. # 2 Harvey Johnson – Ocala 5. # 4 Jarrett Snowden – Salt Springs Mini Cup Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #20 Brady Marshall 2. #07 Jacob Calloway 3. #24 Mike Holt 4. #37 Rick Cline Jr. 5. #22 Rick Cline Sr. DeSoto Champ Karts – 20 Laps – 32 Cars 1. #36 2. #00 Robin Pope 3. # 7 Dustin Chishol Have an opinion on this story? 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