From John Chance & Johnny Sanders
Street Stock Feature Winner Jesse Veltman 55
For anyone coming to the speedway for the past 15 years, they know the name Veltman has been associated with winning. Mike Veltman‘s driving, along with his brother Dave’s wrenching, dominated the street stock and sportsman divisions for many years. From 1997-2002, this duo brought home 5 track championships in just 6 years in 2 different divisions. All though they have been out of full time racing for a few years, the Veltman name is once again in Victory lane. Only this time, it’s a new generation of Veltman.
Young Jesse Veltman has made his return to racing this year in the Street Stock division. After a very successful rookie season in the Pure Stock class a few years ago, Jesse is at the wheel of Ernie Reed’s No. 55 street stock on a limited schedule this year. While he and his father Dave have worked hard, they have struggled to get the handle on their new ride. Saturday night proved to be the night it would all come together.
13 Street Stocks registered for their 20 lap feature. After the fans voted for a 6 row invert for the features, Austin Hughes (68) brought the field to green from his pole position. Hughes time up front would be short lived as Bubba Martone (98) would take his back up car to the lead on lap 3. Veltman would follow Martone by and settle into the 2nd position after starting in the 5th spot. 3 laps later, Veltman would make the pass for the lead, and begin to check out on the field. Points leader Curtis Flanagan would start dead last in the field on the merits of his victory last week. Flanagan would make his way through the field and put the pressure on Martone for 2nd with less than 8 laps to go. Flanagan would get by Martone for 2nd with 4 laps to go, but Veltman would be long gone going on to take his first ever Street Stock feature win. Flanagan charged to 2nd in this caution free race, followed John Makula (27) coming home 3rd, after Martone suffered a flat tire on the last lap. Veltman and Flanagan were the heat race winners.
17 Super Late Models tackled the ¼ asphalt for their 35 lap feature. Cody Lane (27) and Andy Anderson (97) brought the field to the green. Green would be short lived as Anderson would get crossed up down the backstretch and spin in front of the field. Luckily no one would make contact with Anderson, and the race would have a complete restart. On the restart, Lane would jump out to an early lead, and looked to have his car running better than ever. Lap 4 would see Lane go for a solo spin off of turn 2 while leading, Lane would join the rear for the restart. Kevin Macy (19) would now find himself in the lead from his 3rd starting spot, in his first trip of the season to Citrus. Macy would jump out to a comfortable lead, and looked to be poised for a victory. But deep in the field, point leader Herb Neumann (98), and Scott Grossenbacher (09) were coming. Two cautions at laps 15 and 19 would help them close the gap on Macy. Once back to racing, Macy would lose the handle on his car, Neumann would take the lead, and go on to take his 2nd feature win of the year. Grossenbacher would come home 2nd with Macy holding on for 3rd. Grossenbacher and Gene Anderson (21) were heat race winners.
Aaron Williamson 13 was the Sportsman Feature Winner
16 Sportsman battled for the win in their 25 lap feature with Tom Posavec (01) leading the field to green. Posavec would jump out to an early lead, but was getting heavy pressure from TJ Chambers (57). Contact in turn 4 would send Posavec up the track, and allow Chambers to move to the lead. Lap 8 saw Austin Carr get loose off of turn 4 collecting Lance Daubach (771) and Aaron Williamson (13), bringing out the caution. Carr would be sent to the rear for the restart, with the other 2 drivers returning to their positions with damage. On the restart Brett Jenkins (199) would quickly move to the lead from his 7th starting spot. A lap 13 caution for debris would then tighten the field back up to his bumper. On the restart, Jenkins tried to get a jump on the field, taking off before the marked restart area. A caution was displayed, and the cars were lined back up for another attempt. Once again, Jenkins would fire too early, and was sent to the rear of the field for not following the proper restart procedures. This would now give the lead to Aaron Williamson (13), who was aggressively making his way to the 2nd position before the caution. Williamson would go on to take his 2nd feature win of the year, and bring home the checkered flag on his new baby girls 1st visit to the speedway. Cody Stickler (99) would charge from his last row starting position to take 2nd at the checkers. 3rd position would go to Brandon Morris (56) who started deep in the field in 14th position. Daubach and Morris were heat race winners.
13 Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks took the green for their 20 lap feature. Carlie Lewis would take Kevin Knox 77 machine and launch it from the outside pole to take the early lead. Lap 3 saw the races 1st caution with Tim Scalise (24) spinning and pulling on to the track, bringing out a caution. Lewis would bring the field to green as the leader, but Adam May (17) would quickly take the lead with Shannon Kennedy (46) following him by Lewis. Just 4 laps later, Jeremy Sharrone (32) would go by both drivers and take the top spot away. A lap 14 caution for the spinning Jessey Mallory (50) would bring the field back to Sharrone’s back door for the restart. On the restart, Ashlee Williamson (84) would quickly move to the 2nd position, and set her sights on the leader. Williamson would catch Sharrone with 2 laps to go, and make an attempt at the race winning pass going into turn 3. Racing room was at a premium with just over 1 lap to go, and neither driver gave an inch, which resulted in both cars spinning. Neither driver was willing to take blame for the incident, so both drivers joined the rear of the field for the restart. Shannon Kennedy (46) now found himself in the top spot, with a green, white, checkered in his future. Kennedy would take off on the restart and go on to take his 2nd feature win of the year. Following him to the line were Adam May (17) in 2nd, and Shawn Jenkins (43) making a last corner pass for 3rd. The last lap saw sparks fly as the 51 of Buddy Mallory and the 50 of Jesse Mallory would spin coming to the line. Sharrone and Williamson would be caught up in the wreck racing to the checkers, and end up in a tangled mess just below the flag stand. After the contact between the 2 drivers while racing for the lead earlier in the race, tempers were high. Both drivers exchanged harsh words with each other, and the fans let their opinions be known also. Sharrone and Williamson were the heat race winners.
The Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks saw 9 cars register for their 20 lap feature. With the 39 of Carl Peters and the 17 of Nicholas Malverty breaking in warm ups, only 7 cars took the green for the feature. Jeffery Eisenhower (73) would take off from his pole position and jump out to an early lead. Happy Florian (65) would quickly take that spot away and go to the lead. Just as quickly, Sherri Makula (27) would take away the lead from Florian on lap 4. Point leader David Walls (35) came from the last row, to put the pressure on Makula for the lead. Walls would get the lead on lap 13 and go on to take his 4th feature win of the year. Makula would come home 2nd with Florian in 3rd. Makula was the heat race winner.
This week sees the return of School Bus figure 8 racing! Joining the mayhem of the buses will be the Pro Figure 8’s for 35 laps, a 150 lap V8 Enduro race, Flag pole race, and the boat and trailer race. Also making his 1st appearance at Citrus County Speedway will be “Benny the Bomb”. Benny will strap himself inside a late 90’s Ford Taurus, pack it full of explosives, and blow it up while inside! One of the best events of the night will be the kids bicycle races. There are 3 different age groups of bicycle races, so bring the kids out with their bikes, and give them a chance to race around the track. There will be cash prizes as well as new bicycles given away to the winners! Bicyclists must have Helmets, and Knee pads to participate. Please check out the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the track office at (352)726-9339 for complete details. See you at the races!
| Super Late Models | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 98 | Herb Neumann Jr. | Inverness | 1 |
| 09 | Scott Grossenbacher | San Antonio | 2 |
| 119 | Kevin Macy | Bartow | 3 |
| 10 | Talon Craft | Seminole | 4 |
| 70 | Jeremy Gerstner | Wesley Chapel | 5 |
| 47 | Keith Zavrel | 6 | |
| 21 | Gene Anderson | Lakeland | 7 |
| 27 | Cody Lane | Port Richey | 8 |
| 14 | Randy Plantz | Largo | 9 |
| 23 | Todd Brown | Lake Panasoffkee | 10 |
| 50 | Perry Lovelady | Lakeland | 11 |
| 97 | Andy Anderson | Port Richey | 12 |
| 177 | Ray Heater | Lakeland | 13 |
| 82 | Danny Maddox | Crystal River | 14 |
| 30 | Cyrus Robinson | Spring Hill | 15 |
| 94 | William Fuller | Lecanto | 16 |
| 1 | Dale Sanders | Lecanto | 17 |
| Sportsman | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 13 | Aaron Williamson | Lakeland | 1 |
| 99 | Cody Stickler | Pinellas Park | 2 |
| 56 | Brandon Morris | Mulberry | 3 |
| 55 | Ernie Reed | Crystal River | 4 |
| 8 | Bobby Ervien | St. Pete | 5 |
| 51 | Christopher Harvey | Belleview | 6 |
| 83 | Dennise Neighbor Sr. | Clearwater | 7 |
| 114 | John Buzinec | Summerfield | 8 |
| 199 | Brett Jenkins | Lakeland | 9 |
| 57 | T.J. Chambers | Brooksville | 10 |
| 81 | Austin Carr | Polk City | 11 |
| 01 | Tom Posavec | Dunnellon | 12 |
| 1 | Jeremy Gerstner | Wesley Chapel | 13 |
| 771 | Lance Daubach | Plant City | 14 |
| 34 | Kevin Harrod | Floral City | 15 |
| 12 | David Williamson | Mulberry | 16 |
| Street Stocks | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 55 | Jesse Veltman | Crystal River | 1 |
| 3 | Curtis Flanagan | Inverness | 2 |
| 27 | John Makula | New Port Richey | 3 |
| 007 | Mark Fallows | Crystal River | 4 |
| 98 | Tom Bubba Martone | Floral City | 5 |
| 10 | Kenny May | Spring Hill | 6 |
| 33 | Bill Ryan | Bushnell | 7 |
| 68 | Austin Hughes | Hernando | 8 |
| 26 | Bradley Lyon | Brooksville | 9 |
| 48 | Dora Thorne | Floral City | 10 |
| 85 | Tim Wilson | Floral City | 11 |
| 53 | Kyle Peters | Ferndale | 12 |
| 13 | Ken Pate | Beverly Hills | 13 |
| Mini Stocks | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 46 | Shannon Kennedy | Summerfield | 1 |
| 17 | Adam May | Lutz | 2 |
| 43 | Shawn Jenkins | Lakeland | 3 |
| 98 | Kevin Stone | Dade City | 4 |
| 007 | Jeremy Bush | Homosassa | 5 |
| 50 | Jessey Mallory | Summerfield | 6 |
| 32 | Jeremy Sharrone | Floral City | 7 |
| 84 | Ashlee Williamson | Mulberry | 8 |
| 71 | Sonya Heater | Homosassa | 9 |
| 51 | Buddy Mallory | Summerfield | 10 |
| 77 | Carlie Lewis | Zepherhills | 11 |
| 35 | Kenneth Watkins | Summerfield | 12 |
| 24 | Tim Scalise | Lutz | 13 |
| 62 | Bill Roberson | Brooksville | 14 |
| Pure Stocks | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 35 | David Walls | Summerfield | 1 |
| 27 | Sheri Makula | New Port Richey | 2 |
| 65 | Happy Florian | Lecanto | 3 |
| 20 | Chris Ickes | Brooksville | 4 |
| 44 | Glen Colyer | Homosassa | 5 |
| 10 | Jessica May | Spring Hill | 6 |
| 73 | Jeffery Eisenhauer | Homosassa | 7 |
| 17 | Nicholas Malverty | Spring Hill | 8 |
| 39 | Carl Peters | Winter Garden | 9 |
| FL Open Wheel Lites | Feature | ||
| Car-# | Drivers Name | Home Town | Winner |
| 14 | Bo Bass | Eustis | 1 |
| 98 | Chris McClelland | Ocoee | 2 |
| 02k | Matt Lundeen | Jacksonville | 3 |
| 17 | John Bailey | Sarasota | 4 |
| 2 | Jon Brown | Lake Panasoffkee | 5 |
| 00 | Donny Bass | Claycona | 6 |
| 23 | Jerry Heflin | Gainsville | 7 |
| 59 | Randy Glick | Ocala | 8 |
| 25 | Johnny Bass | Claycona | 9 |
| 04 | Rick Lundeen | Jacksonville | 10 |