Larry MacMillan Memorial 100

By Jack Smith

When you can get 33  open wheel modifieds show up for a 100 lap race in central Florida these days it is a big deal.   So it was at Citrus County Speedway this past Saturday night, a big deal indeed for the first Annual Larry MacMillan Memorial 100.

While most asphalt tracks these days in Florida would be happy to get half as many,  Citrus seems to have found something with the modifieds.  There were enough cars to run a “B” Main, which earned the top two cars in the 20 lap race a trip to the night’s featured 100 lap event.  Interestingly, two of Florida’s top drivers, both track champions and winners of major events, did not  finish high enough to get in the feature.  Mulberry’s  Wayne Morris and New Smyrna Beach’s Jerry Symons,  one of the best to ever race at New Smyrna  Speedway,  had to pack up and watch from the grandstands.

The Modified feature was a good one, a handful of short cautions gave fans time to catch their breaths, and until the post race inspections were concluded, took many veteran observers by surprise.

Jeremy Gerstner started on the pole by way of a three row inversion set by the roll of the dice.  He managed to lead the first 28 laps,  at times pulling away from the field and setting a pretty fast pace.  Mark Nelson from Clearwater took the lead from Gerstner and when the #19 of Tommy Schnader spun out on lap 32 Gerstner left the track but was able to return for the restart joining the field at the rear.

When the green dropped for the restart,  Nelson was followed by Robbie Cooper, Wayne Jefferson (driving Tony Careno’s #61), Kyle Bookmiller and Fort Myers driver L.B. Skaggs in the #71.  Two other fast cars were at the rear on this restart, those being #46  Doug Moff and #19 Tommy Schnader.

The top five cars pulled away from the rest of the field, but the excitement was at the rear with Moff, Gerstner and Schnader battling each other hard while trying to pass slower cars.  Moff spun out in turn one on lap 37, bringing out the fourth short caution of the race.

At lap 49 the race was halted so the drivers could take on fuel. During the short break announcer Phil Schryver interviewed the top contenders from the infield.  “These things sometimes turn into crash fests,  but  everybody  is doing pretty good and staying out of trouble”,  Robbie Cooper said.  The “Rocket Man”  Wayne Jefferson laughed when he said, “We’re not bad, trying to ride and keep the tires on this thing, but L.B. [Skaggs] is making it rough on me back there. It’s all good, we’re having fun.”   Skaggs meanwhile had this to say during the break,  “We’re hanging in there, trying to stay calm, I figure the last 30 laps it will get interesting with the top eight cars here, we’ll probably get a little goofy here.”

The restart was set so that drivers could choose a lane when they approached a red cone set on the track just before the entry into turn one, one lap before the green flag would restart the feature.  L.B. Skaggs was the first to choose the outside followed by Sean McLaughlin.

It took two tries to get lap 50 in, but after that the full field of cars raced for 46 caution-free laps.  Skaggs grabbed the lead on the restart, passing Nelson on the outside and held onto the lead until the lap 95 yellow.

Skaggs would go on to win the race, only to be disqualified in tech for being too light for the motor package he was running, according to a track official.

Robbie Cooper who had dogged Skaggs in the final stages of the race inherited the win, followed by Jefferson and Bookmiller.   Jeremy Gerstner did an outstanding job coming from dead last early in the race  to finish in the sixth spot, which is right where he qualified.

It was a fitting tribute to Larry MacMillan who loved the modifieds and announced for 53 years, 23 of them at Citrus County Speedway. He was the first announcer at Sunshine Speedway, lasted 27 years and was also the first announcer at DeSoto Speedway.  Two of his sons were present and spoke to the good sized crowd about their father during the intermission.

Larry MacMillan Interview 2009

At the end of the day it was a fitting memorial for the longtime announcer at the track,  a great competitive race,  with 20 cars completing the race before a large crowd in both the pits and grandstands.

Car# — Drivers Name — Home Town — Qualifying Time
1.  98  Robbie Cooper Bronson  14.640
2.  61  Wayne Jefferson Pinellas Park  14.655
3.  03  Kyle Bookmiller Riverview3 14.702
4.   4  David Foster Wildwood  14.748
5.  191 Kevin Macy Bartow  14.772
6.  70  Jeremy Gerstner Wesley Chapel 14.659
7.  01  Curtis Neumann Inverness  14.602
8.  127 Kyle Maynard Weirdale  14.800
9.  0   Troy Robinson Wesley Chapel  14.760
10. 00  Shawn Harper Lake Wells  14.739
11. 12  Ralph Bowman Seminole  14.895
12. 19  Tommy Schnader Largo  14.616
13. 53  Doug Miller Largo  14.855
14. 77  John Gerstner Eustis  14.758
15. 11  Mark Nelson Clearwater 14.687
16. 88  Bobby Ervin Pinellas Park  14.784
17. 31  Jeff  Sloan Crystal River 14.776
18. 25  L. J. Grimm Seffner  15.113
19. 991 Sean McLanghin Punta Gorda  14.717
20. 46  Doug Moff Fort Myers  14.608
21. 981 Johnny Allen Lehigh Acres  14.880
22. 42 Richie Smith Hernando 14.898
23. 101 Raymond Lovelady Lakeland  14.797
24. 71 L.B. Skaggs Fort Myers DQ 14.490

B Main Consisted of the following drivers:
Ralph Bowman & Johnny Allen were top two and so made the feature.
Richie Smith & L.J. Grimm were voted in by the fans.
981 Johnny Allen Lehigh Acres
25  L. J. Grimm Seffner  15.113
12  Ralph Bowman Seminole  14.895
42  Richie Smith Hernando 14.898
198 Wayne Morris Mulberry 14.887
121 John Carter Jr. Bellview  14.917
2   Steven Hise Inverness  15.035
66  Jerry Symons New Symrna Beach  15.104
14  Jarrett Snowden Salt Springs  15.072
271 Ryan Rust Port Saint Lucie 15.112
13  Joh Ditges Orlando  15.960
65  Ken Lawrence Auburndale  15.530