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| Regular Race Card Takes the Green at Citrus Saturday | by Larry MacMillan
(Inverness, Fl. 9/3/03) Six Divisions get back into a full point race program Saturday night for the second week in a row, barring any weather complications which have plagued central Florida racing action for the past several months. Jim Smith is slowly reeling Mike Bresnahan in for the Late Model crown with Smith picking up just four points after last week’s action. Ricky Carlton lost some ground and will be back this week to hang on to third in the running being chased by Herb Neumann Jr. and last week’s winner Dale Sanders. Six out of 42 drivers are in the win column in the Late Model limited schedule after ten point races.
Bill Oesterreicher is as close as he has been all season to taking the top spot in the Sportsman race for the crown. Mike Bell had a break down before the race and had to have Rex Struble run for his points to hold onto the lead. Oesterreicher pulled to within four points of the leader and the showdown will come this weekend for the top spot. Bill Ryan continues to hold a comfortable third in the running while Johnny Sanders has a good lead on Johnny Gann who is just four points up on last week’s winner J.D. Goff. There have been nine different winners in the division.
It’s still a nip and tuck battle between Chris Hooker and Chris Thornton in the Mini Stock race. Thornton picked up 12 points on Hooker last week in an attempt to go back to the top. There is still a 28 point separation but that can be made up in a week with a good finish. Phillip Joyner still continues to run well and has third pretty well locked for the moment over Mike Lawhorn. Lawhorn is the only driver in the top six that hasn’t been to Victory Lane but is sporting 12 top ten finishes. Last weeks winner, Dustin DesChamps is back on track after being sidelined for seven weeks due to an off track injury. He has had a win and two top five finishes in his last three outings. Fifty one drivers have earned points in the division with just eight going to Victory Lane.
Eight out of 49 Street Stock drivers have claimed checkered flags in their 22 races this season. Ernie Reed parlayed his second place finish into the point lead last week while Danny Cretty will be looking for some more horsepower this week to try to recapture the spot Saturday night. Four points separate the top two positions. Joe Viverito has a slim five point lead over Daniel Webster in the race for third. Webster should be back this week after having Sport Wilson drive for him last week due to a family obligation for his grand parent’s 50th anniversary. Mickey Burns held on to fifth after he had a good finish last week but lost all his points in tech for weighing in lite and he is still looking for his first feature win.
Richie Smith still heads up the 65 Hobby Stock contenders in pursuit of his 3rd consecutive division crown. Despite a run in with major damage in his heat race his pit crew was able to replace numerous parts on the front end and he came from the back of the pack to score his fifth win of the season. Curtis Neumann lost some ground to the leader and holds a 69 point lead over Dean Lawyer in the race for second. Sport Wilson joined the rest of the Wilson family and did not participate in the race last week after scoring 9 wins in the division. There have only been five different winners in the division with Sport and his brother Wes accounting for 13 wins in 22 races.
Pat Quick joined the 9 win club last week and put some more distance on her run for the crown over runner up Lee Keller who had to settle for a second place run again. Louie Cioe and Larry Triana hold out in third and fourth respectively and still don’t have a win to their credit. Tim Wilson has five win trophies on his resume and holds out in fifth in the point run. Seven out of 45 drivers have claimed checkered flags in their 22 races for the season.
Citrus County Speedway is located 2 miles south of S.R. 44 in Inverness on U.S. 41 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds. All six divisions will race in heat and feature action Saturday night with the green flag falling on the first heat at 6 P.M.
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