IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 7, 2009 Anderson Tames 19 Car Citrus Late Model Field by Larry MacMillan (Inverness, Fl. 6/7/09) With an all day rain threatening to wash out the Citrus County Speedway race card fortunately somebody found the faucet and turned off the wet weather allowing for a full race card to run that included a 50 Lap Late Model feature. Despite the weather outlook the Super Lates brought some of Florida’s best to challenge the 3/8th mile oval and provided the fans with a great racing show. Eighteen of the nineteen registered Super Late Models went on the clocks to set up the lineup for the 50 lap feature. Eight of the top ten qualifiers ran in the 13 second bracket on a green race track due to all the rain washing off any rubber that may have built up. Wayne Anderson picked up the $200 bonus for running fast time at 13.728 just .008 of a second faster than Scott Grossenbacher who formerly held a track record. Herb Neumann, Raymond Lovelady and Dave Pletcher. The top ten pulled pills for starting positions and Kyle Maynard won the pole with Dale Sanders taking the outside pole. When the green flag flew Sanders launched his racer to the point and looked like he may have a chance to have a great finish until lap 11 when he apparently had his rear end go away on him taking him out for the night. Todd Brown took over the top spot and had everything under control until lap 26 when Herb Neumann made his way from 9th to a side by side battle for second with Scott Grossenbacher. Coming off turn four both cars got together and turned around into the infield sending both to the rear of the pack for the restart moving 8th starter Anderson and 7th starter Raymond Lovelady up to chase down the leader Todd Brown. Anderson and Lovelady made the pass on the leader and went on to finish with Anderson, Lovelady, Brown, Neumann and Rusty Ebersole rounding out the top five. The next five spots went to Donny Williams, Scott Grossenbacher, Patrick Mennenga, Dave Pletcher and Jeremy Gerstner all in the lead lap. Fifteen Street Stocks made for an exciting evening with Jay Witfoth turning up the rpm’s for a heat win and logging his second win of the season from his 7th starting spot over Tim Quick who was looking to make it three wins in a row Saturday night. Dr. Mark Fallows known as Dr. House in the pits came out of his 6th starting spot to take the lead early in the race and managed to hold onto the lead until the final few laps when he got into an accident that could have ended his night. This closed the lead that he had built up on the restart and Jay Witfoth managed to make the pass in the final few laps being chased by Tim Quick who had to settle for second. Rounding out the top five were Mark Fallows, Tom Bubba Martone and Tom Potts. Herb Hoefler took the win in the 1st heat. Thirteen seems to be the magic number for a starting field for the Mini Stock action. Working on the 11th week of their season Clint Foley came into the night as the favorite to watch as he was intent on logging his 5th win of the season in his new ride. Brandon McSwain had other ideas as he came off the pole and had 12 cars chasing him from the green flag to the checkered flag for his first win at Citrus. Foley got into early trouble that sent him to the rear of the pack where he started anyway but he managed to come right back up through the traffic but just couldn’t reel in McSwain and had to settle for second at the finish line. George Neumann gave him a good race for the position but had to settle third followed by Mike Lawhorn and Chris Harvey who was celebrating his high school graduation Friday night with a top five finish. Steven Smith and Clint Foley took the heat wins. Tommy Smith’s win streak came to an end last week but his brother Ritchie won and was not in the Bounty Hunt so four cars signed up for this week’s bounty. All the cars in the hunt had to start at the rear of the 19 car field so they all had plenty of traffic to move through for the win. Tommy Smith and Curtis Flanagan were definitely the fastest cars on the track but Tommy got passed by Flanagan and apparently there was some reason for Smith to pull out of the race with 4 laps to go that ended the Bounty Hunt with Flanagan making his third motor of the year do the job. Glen Colyer came off the pole and set the pace for most of the race while the back of the pack made their way through all the heavy traffic. One caution came out when Colyer was tagged coming off turn four and pushed into the infield. He got his spot back for the restart and that’s when Flanagan managed to get around him for the lead and the win with Glen holding out for second. Bill Ryan has signed up for the bounty hunt ever since it was started and he managed to make his way from 18th to 3rd when the checkers flew. John Drye finished 4th after winning the second heat with Mathew Harris having his best finish of the year in fifth. Flanagan also took home the win in the first heat. Levi Roberts may have had a graduation of his own in the V8 Thunder Stock class as he rolled through traffic from his 14th starting spot to Victory Lane for his third feature win of the season which will probably move him up from the rookie division to the Pure Stock division. This will probably also make a car change for him since his car is also the one that Curtis Flanagan runs in the Pure Stock division. He will probably move into the #31 which is his brother Austin’s car. Matt Harris Sr. according to the registration held out for second while Thomas McKay locked onto 3rd after running into trouble early in the race. Tara Wilder and Scott Werstein rounded out the top five. The Reutimann Series 2009 Mini Cup Cars brought 17 cars to put on a competitive show. Jacob Calloway was top shoe again with a win in the second heat and having a 20 lap match race with Brady Marshall who one the first heat. The two of them swapped the lead on several occasions with Marshall holding out for second. Several battles were going on behind the leaders for position and Rick Cline Jr. won out in the race for third over Carlos Pinto and Mike Holt. Saturday night will see the return of the Open Wheel Modifieds who haven’t raced in a month and they will be joined by the Modified Pro Figure 8’s, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers. Citrus County Speedway Results 6/7/09 Super Late Model Feature – 50 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #84 Wayne Anderson – Wildwood – 1st Season Win 2. # 7 Raymond Lovelady – Lakeland 3. #23 Todd Brown – Lake Panasoffkee 4. #98 Herb Neumann Jr. – Inverness 5. #123 Rusty Ebersole - ? Fast Qualifier - #84 Wayne Anderson – 13.728 Seconds Street Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 15 Cars 1. # 4 Jay Witfoth – Beverly Hills – 2nd Season Win 2. #97 Tim Quick – Lecanto 3. #007 Mark Fallows – Crystal River 4. #98 Bubba Martone – Floral City 5. #31 Tom Potts – Dade City 1st Heat Winner - #5 Herb Hoefler – Floral City 2nd Heat Winner - #4 Jay Witfoth Mini Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 13 Cars 1. #37 Brandon McSwain – Auburndale – 1st Season Win 2. # 7 Clint Foley – Dunnellon 3. # 1 George Neumann – Inverness 4. #44 Michael Lawhorn – Claremont 5. #51 Chris Harvey – Belleview 1st Heat Winner - #32 Steven Smith – Inverness 2nd Heat Winner - #7 Clint Foley Pure Stock Feature – 20 Laps – 19 Cars 1. #51 Curtis Flanagan – Inverness – 2nd Season Win 2. #44 Glen Colyer – Homosassa Springs 3. #33 Bill Ryan – Bushnell 4. #39 John Drye – Inverness 5. #411 Mathew Harris - Brooksville 1st Heat Win - #51 Curtis Flanagan 2nd Heat Win - #39 John Drye V8 Thunder Stock Rookies – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #51 Levi Roberts – Hernando – 3rd Season Win 2. #411 Matt Harris - Brooksville 3. #30 Thomas McKay – Loxahatchee 4. #41 Tara Wilder – Floral City 5. #45 Scott Werstein – Belleview No Heat Races Mini Cup Feature – 20 Laps – 17 Cars 1. #07 Jacob Calloway 2. #20 Brady Marshall 3. #37 Rick Cline 4. #48 Carlos Pinto 5. #24 Mike Holt 1st Heat Winner - #20 Brady Marshall 2nd Heat Winner - #07 Jacob Calloway Have an opinion on this story? 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