IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 10, 2009 Five New Winners to Citrus Speedway Victory Lane by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. May 9, 2009) Eight local divisions and the visiting Bass Champions Challenge Series filled Citrus County Speedway’s pit area with 127 race cars and provided another action packed night with a full moon having its unusual adverse affects on the program. A very superstitious racing community proved again that the full moon definitely has some kind of mojo that seems to provide strange activity on the track. Twenty two Open Wheel Modifieds went for an action packed 40 lap feature after running three heat races that saw Bobby Blake, Richie Smith and Robbie Cooper go into the win column. On the pill draw Robbie Cooper won the pole position and when the green flag flew his mission was to go to the front and stay there. Despite several caution flags that shrunk several big leads that he built up Cooper was able to hold off all the competition right to the checkers for his first win of the season putting him in the point lead after their 3rd week of point racing. he only driver that seemed to have anything for him was 7th starter Curtis Neumann who has spent the last two races getting the bugs out of his new ride. Unfortunately he just couldn’t get any runs at Cooper and had to settle for second at the finish line. Outside pole sitter Troy Robinson managed to stay in the top five for the entire race finished third over Jay Coleman and Harold Cannon who made his first appearance at Citrus this season. The Mod Squad will run a non points race next weekend. Sportsmen were 2 cars short of running heat races but the 12 cars that started their 25 lap feature spent the entire race chasing down outside pole sitter and former Sportsman champion Mike Veltman. Veltman logged his first win of the season and popped to the top of the point’s race. Pole sitter and defending champion Tom Posavec lost the race into turn one and two when the green flag flew but managed to hook up with Veltman all the way to the checkered flag. L.J. Grimm is letting the old timers in the division know that he will be a talent to contend with throughout the season locking down a solid 3rd place finish in his second race at Citrus. Bobby Ervien worked his way through traffic from 10th to 4th ahead of new comer Mark Peterson. Thirteen Mini Stocks had a feature only night also, one car short of the 14 minimum for heat races. It would appear that George Neumann has his new body and chassis setup dialed in as he pulled the low pill winning the pole starting position and it was catch me if you can from the green flag right to the checkers, taking his first win of the season after a late season start. Outside pole sitter James Ellis spent the entire race doing double duty holding off the rest of the field and making every effort to get around Neumann to no avail. Mark Powers managed to move from 9th to 3rd when the checkers flew bringing 7th starter Brandon McSwain right along with him to the finish line. Point leader and 3 time winner Clint Foley ran into problems making that outside lane work for him but got caught up in an early caution flag sending him to the rear of the pack but managed to pull off a 5th place finish. Four Cylinder Bombers continue to put on a great show bringing in 17 of the 36 registered cars in the division. Bryson Ward and defending champion Richard Kuhn locked down heat wins to open up the night of action. When the green flag flew Richard Kuhn wasted no time flexing his horsepower from his 16th starting spot and despite several caution flags managed to take his second feature win of the season. Sixth starter Nathan Florian was showing signs of overheating throughout the race particularly during caution flag laps but managed to hold on for a second place finish just ahead of another hard charger Bryson Ward. Point leader Anthony LaPoint moved from 15th to lock down a fourth place finish over Sonya Heater who started 17th. Pure Stocks came out 23 cars strong with Victor Shahid, Bill Ryan and Richie Smith picking up wins in their heat races. When the flag flew it looked like Richie Smith was going to lock down another win but he got caught up in a mid race caution flag that eventually led to a “did not finish” for the #142. Tommy Smith picked up where Richie left off and moved from his 22nd starting spot, working through several wrecks and lots of traffic to take his 5th win of the season and really putting a cushion in his points lead. Bill Ryan looked like he was in prime position to take the win but fell to the power of Smith for a second place finish. Chasing Ryan across the finish line was John Drye who started in the rear making it another 3rd place finish after last week. Glen Colyer stayed in the top five throughout the race and salvaged fourth ahead of Patric Conner. It was a wild start for the 15 car Figure 8 field in their second race of the year. In the first lap the front 5 went for the point and four cars were involved in a bad wreck on turn 3 putting Rick Shahid over the wall into the pits and ending the night for Eric Sharrone, Thomas Peet and Charles Herne. Eleven cars went for the complete restart with Robbie Hage setting the early pace until 10th starter Robbie Powell worked his way through very heavy traffic to take the point and went on to win his first race of the year in the car that took Joey Catterelli to the championship last year. Clifford Rousseau had his work cut out for him for a second place finish after swapping spots with Steven Anderson on several occasions. Wayne Calkins stayed in the mix throughout the 20 lap event for a 4th place finish followed by Charlie Meyer. The locals wrapped up the night with a V8 Thunder Stock Rookie crash and smash race that looked more like a demolition derby. Surviving the mayhem were Scott Werstein who manage to stay in front of the crasharama for his first win of the season. Only 5 of 16 cars finished with Jamie Shahid, Abe Lord, Eric Sims and Tara Wilder rounding out the top five. The visiting Bass Champions Challenge Series saw the full moon shine on Jarrett Snowden who came out top shoe in both their 8 lap heat race and 35 lap feature run. In the heat race he started 9th and in the feature he started 7th. Jerry Heflin seemed to be the only car that had anything for Jarrett but had to settle for second in both races. Paul White survived a crash but managed to hold out for 3rd in the feature run in front of Harvey Johnson and J.L. Snowden Next Saturday night sees the return of the Open Wheel Modifieds in a non point race, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, 4 Cylinder Bombers, V8 Thunder Stocks, the Florida Pro Series and Mini Cup Series. Citrus Speedway Results – 5/9/08 Open Wheel Modified Feature – 40 Laps – 22 Cars 1. #98 Robbie Cooper – Bronson – 1st Season Win 2. #01 Curtis Neumann – Inverness 3. # 0 Troy Robinson – Wesley Chapel 4. #12 Jay Coleman – Holiday 5. # 3 Harold Cannon – Valrico 1st Heat Winner - #75 Bobby Blake – Grand Isle 2nd Heat Winner – #42 Richie Smith – Hernando 3rd Heat Winner - #98 Robbie Cooper Sportsman Feature – 25 Laps – 12 Cars 1. # 5 Mike Veltman – Crystal River – 1st Season Win 2. #01 Tom Posavec – Dunnellon 3. #725 L.J. Grimm - ? 4. #88 Bobby Ervien – St. Petersburg 5. #73 Mark Peterson - ? No Heat Races Mini Stock Feature – 25 Laps – 13 Cars 1. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness – 1st Season Win 2. #98 James Ellis – Brooksville 3. # 9 Mark Powers – Hernando 4. #37 Brandon McSwain – Auburndale 5. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon No Heat Races 4 Cylinder Bomber Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #47 Richard Kuhn – Ocala – 2nd Season Win 2. #26 Nathan Florian – Homosassa 3. # 4 Bryson Ward – Crystal River 4. #88 Anthony LaPoint – Zephyrhills 5. #71 Sonya Heater – Homosassa 1st Heat Winner - # 4 Bryson Ward 2nd Heat Winner - #47 Richard Kuhn Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 23 Cars 1. #24 Tommy Smith – Hernando – 5th Season Win 2. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 3. #39 John Drye – Inverness 4. #44 Glen Colyer – Homosassa Springs 5. # 8 Patric Conner – Dunnellon 1st Heat Winner - #88 Victor Shahid – Floral City 2nd Heat Winner - #33 Bill Ryan 3rd Heat Winner - #142 Richie Smith V8 Thunder Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 16 Cars 1. #45 Scott Werstein – Belleview – 1st Season Win 2. # 3 Jamie Shahid – Floral City 3. #14 Abe Lord – Inverness 4. # 1 Eric Sims – Hudson 5. #41 Tara Wilder – Inverness Figure 8 Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. #15 Robbie Powell – St. Petersburg – 1st Season Win 2. #3 Cliff Rousseau – St. Petersburg 3. #48 Steve Anderson – Hudson 4. #14 Wayne Calkins – St. Petersburg 5. #94 Charlie Meyer – St. Petersburg Bass Champions Challenge Feature – 35 Laps – 9 Cars 1. # 4 Jarrett Snowden – Salt Springs 2. #23x Jerry Heflin – Ocala 3. #25 Paul White – Eustis 4. # 2 Harvey Johnson – Ocala 5. #00 Daniel Miller – Taveres Have an opinion on this story? 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