Last lap pass brings Citrus County win for Kempgens

From John Chance

Saturday night marked the second asphalt sprint car race of the season at Citrus County Speedway. 14 wingless sprint cars made the trip to the friendliest track in the south for their 30 lap feature.

Jimmy Alvis Jr in the 9 would bring the field to the green, and jump out to an early lead at the drop of the green. Alvis Jr would soon get pressure from the “Bushnell Bullet” Shane Butler, and give up the top spot, falling back into the second position.

Lap 10 would see the first of 3 cautions when the 21 of Jimmy Alvis Sr and the 55 of Tommy Nichols would spin in turn 4, both cars would restart and join the tail of the field. Butler would lead the field to green, with Alvis Jr in second and the 70 of Mickey Kempgens in third.

Kempgens would make quick work of Alvis Jr, and set his sights on the 18 of Butler. Lap 12 saw the second caution fly with the 01 of Matthew Hall spinning in a single car incident, he would restart and join the rear of the field. Butler would bring the field back down to the green once again, but now with Kempgens fixed to his back bumper.

The green would not be out for long, as the 78 of Shane Miller would spin in turn three, collecting the 55 of Tommy Nichols, and the 21 of Jimmy Alvis Sr. Nichols and Miller would suffer front end damage, which ended their night, retiring to the pit area.

Butler would again try to get the jump on the lap 12 restart, but Kempgens wasn’t fooled, staying fixed to the tail piece of Butler’s 18 machine. For the remaining 18 laps, these two racers would not be separated by more than 5 feet. Kempgens looked high and low trying to make a pass for the lead. But Butler was as cool as ice, never slipping even the slightest bit.

As the two drivers came to take the 2 lap to go sign, a lapped car would see this race take it’s final twist. Butler had to check up for just a split second, which gave Kempgens the opening he needed. As the leaders exited turn four, the lap car did not move low enough on the race track, and both leaders made inside moves on the lapped car going three wide across the stripe. Kempgens would make the pass on the bottom heading into turn one, but Butler would pull a crossover move that would have made Dale Earnhardt Sr. proud, to retake the lead off of turn 2.

The two drivers would take the white flag side by side, with Kempgens finally taking the lead for good on the outside heading in to turn 1. The last lap also saw some action for the third position with the 9 of Alvis Jr and defending race winner Colin Cabre in the 12. Cabre would get a look on the inside headed in to turn 3 on the final lap, which resulted in contact, and the 9 of Alvis Jr spinning to the infield. Cabre would regain control of his racer and come home in the third position. Victory lane was electric with the excitement of such a close finish, and an exciting race.

Kempgens was exhausted, saying he tried everything he could to get by Butler, but was truly excited with the victory. Kempgens thanked Butler for such a great race and his entire Miller Motorsports crew. Butler was equally excited, but disappointed that he couldn’t hold on to the victory. Butler said that he thinks Kempgens would have passed him even if the lapped car had not got in the way, Kempgens had the car to beat all day. Kempgens and Butler have been friends since they were 1 year old, and consider each other to be almost brothers. Both drivers met between the cars in victory lane and shared a hug and moment of embrace before even taking their helmets and safety equipment off. Cabre was happy to come home third after starting deep in the field, thanked his crew, and Mike Rudloph for helping set up his car.

The second annual Frank Stromquist Memorial 57 lap street stock race saw a field of 18 drivers start their night off with a shot at the time clock. Kyle Peters in the 53 would come out on top after everyone completed their 2 lap qualifying runs. Peters would earn the $50 fast time award for his efforts. Peters would soon have an uphill battle to get to the front, after one the speedways young fans rolled the tracks giant foam dice for the field inversion. The dice would come up a four, so that meant the Peters would now start in the forth row for the feature.

On the start, John Makula would jump out to an early lead, but caution on lap 2 for contact between the 10 of Kenny May and the 98 of Bubba Martone would slow the field. On the restart, Makula would get pressure from the 8 of Michael Stalnaker, and give up the lead just before and lap 8 caution for a single car spin.

Stalnaker would bring the field to the green, and check out on the field while everyone else battled behind him. The race saw several tough battles which resulted in some damaged race cars. Two of those cars were the 27 of Makula and the 31 of Tom Potts who made heavy side to side contact off of turn 4. Makula would suffer a flat tire, and Potts would have to head to the pits for repairs.

Stalnaker would again drive away from the field on the restart, with his brother Jeff Stalnaker now in second followed by a hard charging Bill Ryan in 3^rd.

Lap 28 would see contact between those two drivers while racing for the second position, which resulted in a caution that sent them both to the rear. These two drivers would continue to have problems with each other later in the event, were eventually black flagged, and sent off of the racing surface for rough driving.

Michael Stalnaker would go on to take an unchallenged victory and the $500 win purse. Fast Qualifier Kyle Peters in the 53 would race his way to second at the checkers. Kenny May recovered from his early race incident, and drove to a solid third place finish. All three drivers in victory lane commented on their respect for the late Frank Stromquist, and thanked his family for attending. Frank was a one of a kind man, and he is dearly missed by the entire Citrus County Speedway racing family.

9 Modified Mini Stocks took the green for their 25 lap feature with defending point champion Clint Foley on the pole position. Foley would jump out to an early lead and pull away to a comfortable margin before a lap 11 caution would bring the 33 of Chris Allen to his bumper for the restart. Foley would get the jump on the restart, but with each lap, Foley’s car would begin to get loose off of both corners. Allen would close to within two car lengths at the end, but not have enough to claim his third win in a row. Jesse Henley in the 18 came home with a strong third place finish behind the two front runners.

Another unusually short 8 car Taylor Made Homes Pure Stock field took the green for their 25 lap feature. Levi Roberts would make short work of the field to take his 5^th feature win of the year. Roberts leads all drivers in every division at the speedway with 5 feature wins. Last weeks winner, Tyler Stickler, came home in the second position. Arden Franklin would come home in the third position after a hard fought battle with points leader David Walls in the 35, who came home fourth.

13 Street Stock/Pure Stock figure 8 cars took the green for their 20 lap feature. Ronnie Schrefiels would take his second feature win of the year, but not without constant pressure from the 35 of Thomas Peet. Peet was glued to the bumper of Schrefiels yellow No. 6 machine for the last half of the feature event. Despite a great effort, Peet would have to settle for second ahead of the 62 of Eric Sharrone.

6 Inter-County Recycling Hornets came to the green for their 15 lap feature. The 98 car of John Fisher would jump out to an early lead, and then run away with the rest of the race.

The 151 of last race winner Mathew Street would come home second followed by the 15 of Kane Dixon in third. During post race inspection, it was found that the 98 had performed and illegal driver change at the last minute, putting a driver in the car with substantial racing experience. The Hornet Division is designed for new drivers only, drivers with racing experience are not allowed in the division. So this caused the disqualification of the 98 machine, and handed Mathew Street his second feature win in a row. Kane Dixon then moved to the second position followed by the 60 of Carson Taylor in third.

The Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association brought 35 cars for 4 divisions for their second visit of the year to Citrus County Speedway. It was some of the best racing they have seen in years at the speedway, please see the results listed on the page.

This Saturday night the Speedway welcomes back the Open Wheel Modifieds along with the Sportsman, Street Stock, Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks, Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks, Pro figure 8’s, and the Southeast Champ Kart Series. Please visit the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the speedway office at 352-726-9339 for complete details. See you at the races!