|
| Mothers Honored at Citrus Race Night | by Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl. 5/7/03) NASCAR may take the weekend off to spend with their family’s but Citrus County Speedway is going to be the gathering place for Mom’s of fans, drivers and pit crews with the idea “that the family that plays together, stays together.” There will be a special autograph session during intermission for the kids to get up close and personal with their favorite drivers.
The Mother’s Day gala will have special gift items for some of the moms donated by J.D. Concessions and other sponsors of the racetrack. The kids will have an opportunity to express their love for good old mom through a flower sale at the front gate. So kids and Dad need to encourage Mom to come on out to the speedway and get in on all the great things that are planned during the Mother’s Day celebration.
The FAST Trucks will kick off the night during their second appearance of the season with time trials to qualify for their 35 lap main event. James Firestine took the win on their last outing and he is expected to be joined by runner up Jimmy Gills, James Wright III and fast qualifier Tommy King. Paul Grynewicz and Paul Grynewicz III are expected to come to what used to be their home track to join the 30-truck registered field. The FAST Trucks put on one whale of a show last time out and they have had several races since to prepare them for Citrus County Speedway’s 3/8ths mile bullring that has been reconfigured in turn three and four since their visit on March 1st.
Late Models take the week off to make room for the FAST Trucks with little change in the point’s race after last weeks thirty lap feature. Mike Bresnahan still holds to the top spot over last week’s winner Jim Smith by a slim one-point margin. Daniel Keene Jr. has a one point lead over Ricky Carlton who slipped from third to fourth. Billy Bechtelheimer swapped spots with Rex Struble in the race for fourth and Herb Neumann is sandwiched in between in sixth. They will back next Saturday to continue their run for the crown.
Sportsman get back into action after taking last week off and should be anxious to turn up the RPM’s and get back on track for their Championship run. There is a tight race for the lead between four-time champion Mike Veltman and Johnny Gann who has found a combination that is giving Veltman a run for his money. Billy “O” Oesterreicher is definitely in that mix along with rookie Michael Bell and Johnny Sanders who round out the top five.
Street Stocks are really putting on a show this season. Ernie Reed maintains a 4-point lead over Danny Cretty who had a sub driving for him last week after blowing an engine two weeks ago. Joe Viverito is just 39-points behind Cretty with Mickey Burns just 15-points out of third. Travis Nichols got D.Q.’d last week, losing some ground rounding out the top five. There are plenty of hot contenders behind them and this should be a battle royal throughout the season.
Mini Stocks did not race for points in the Mini Stock Challenge last week Chris Thornton comes into this week’s race with a 28-point lead over Chris Hooker who finished well in last week’s race. Dustin DesChamp holds out in third after not being able to qualify in last week’s race. Phillip Joyner was another local that raced in the Challenge and holds on to fourth, 12-points up on Rob Wheatley. This week they will let it all hang out as they get back to work on the run for the Mini Stock crown for 2003.
Curtis Neumann won his first ever feature race last week and moved to within 10-points of two time Hobby Stock champion Richie Smith. Dean Lawyer has a solid third place but Sport Wilson is coming on strong with two wins for the season and trails Lawyer by 107 points. Alvin Williamson has a slim six point lead over Tim Whitehead in the race for fifth. The rest of the top ten are certainly a threat to change this picture over the coming weeks.
Pat Quick is quicker than ever and stretched her lead in the Thunder Stock division over Roy Blotz to 54-points after her third win of the season last week. Blotz has Lee Keller chasing him and closing with a 19-point deficit. Larry Triana, Louie Cioe and John Donahue have a three-way battle going for third.
Citrus County Speedway is located 2 miles south of Inverness on U.S. 41 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds, next to the Inverness Airport. Pit gates open at 2 p.m., grandstand gates open at 3 and time trials start at 5:30 p.m. The first Hobby Stock heat should take the green flag at 6 p.m.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
or send a letter to the editor!
|
