Citrus County Speedway fans, drivers, and crews were greeted with perfect racing weather on Saturday night. 80 drivers would all take their shot a bringing home the checkered flag, but some would leave with far less.
12 Sportsman cars took the green for their 25 lap feature, by the end, less than half the field would see the checkered flag. A 6 row inversion put Andy Nichols (66) on the pole for the 2nd straight feature, he turned the 1st one into a feature win. This one did not turn out as well, contact between Nichols and a hard charging Cody Sitckler (99) on lap 10 would send both drivers to the rear, and out of contention. This would hand over the lead to 2011’s division champion Brandon Morris (56). Behind him the sparks continued to fly, Nichols and Stickler would again make contact on lap 12, sending both cars into the front stretch wall. Also collected in the carnage was the 17 of Mike Bell, and innocent bystander in the grudge match. These two drivers would engage in something that looked like bumper cars, instead of a Sportsman race under the caution. Both drivers would be done for the night, sent to the pits with damaged race cars. Racing would resume again, but not for long, lap 16 would see the nights scariest incident. The 199 of Brett Jenkins was attempting a pass and inside pass on the 55 of Ernie Reed, entering turn 3. Both cars would make contact, with Reed sliding up the track, and Jenkins moving by for the 2nd position. As both cars come down the front stretch, Reed would make contact with the right rear of Jenkins machine, sending him violently head on into the turn one guard rail. The race was red flagged while the track safety crew attended to Jenkins, and his destroyed racer. Jenkins would emerge from his mangled racer unscathed, but the same could not be same for his racing machine. Two tow trucks were required to remove the mangled machine from the racing surface. Once racing resumed, Brandon Morris would prove that his 2011 championship was no fluke, pulling away over the final 9 laps to take the victory. Behind him Jay Witfoth (4) and Chris Harvey (51) ran very smart races, and managed to stay out of all the calamity around them. Witfoth would come home in the 2nd position with Harvey just behind in 3rd. Harvey’s 3rd place finish would move him to the points lead early in the 2012 season. Heat race winners were Jenkins and Stickler.
16 Open Wheel Modifieds would follow Herb Neumann Jr (01) to the green flag in their 40 lap feature event. Neumann would jump out to the lead, and looked to finally have his car dialed in after struggling in his son’s unfamiliar ride. Neumann enjoyed a comfortable lead before a lap 17 caution. A three wide race into turn one involving Doug Miller (53), Ronnie Heard (81), and Robbie Cooper (98) would have the yellow waving again. Heard would get very loose off of turn 4, causing the cars behind him to scatter. Miller made an inside move to avoid Heard, while Cooper took the high line. Racing room ran out when the 3 drivers got to turn one. Miller and Cooper made contact, and both ended their nights with their racing machines in the turn two wall. Neumann’s’ fortunes would also change under the lap 17 caution, as his rocket ship would suffer a flat left rear tire just before the restart. He would make a quick trip to the pits for a new tire, and rejoin the tail of the field. This would hand the lead over to the 198 Machine of Wayne Morris on the restart. His lead would be short lived, as Tommy Schnader (19) would put the pressure on, and make the pass for the top spot. 10th place starter L J Grimm (25) had been charging hard on the outside the first half of the event, and would move by Morris for the 2nd position. Grimm would then set his sites on the leader Schnader, and the battle was on. Grimm would again take to the high side to challenge for the lead, making his move on lap 23. These two drivers put on the best show of the night, battling side by side for over 8 laps, before Grimm was able to make the outside groove work. Behind Grimm, Schnader was now under fire from an unlikely competitor. Herb Neumann Jr (01) had moved from dead last in the running order at lap 17, to challenge for the 2nd position over the final 2 laps. Neumann would make the outside move as they came to get the white flag, but Schnader had just enough to hold off Neumann for 2nd at the checkers. Heat race winners were Robbie Cooper (98) and Jarrett Snowden (4).
The Mini Stock division would once again see a familiar name in victory lane. Jeremy Sharrone (32) would make the winning pass on Jessey Mallory (50) at lap 8, on go on to take the victory. Hot on his heals was 11th place starter Austin Jenkins (43), but Jenkins had to settle for 2nd just ahead of Kevin Stone (98) in 3rd.
13 Pure Stocks all ended up chasing Michael Martin (76) for most of the feature event. Martin would rocket from his 10th starting position to take the lead on lap 3, and never look back. Behind Martin it was a familiar father son battle with Nicholas (17) and Eugene Malverty (23) battling for the 2nd position. The younger Malverty would again get the best of his father, coming home in the 2nd position just ahead of father Eugene. Martin enjoyed a lead of nearly half a lap when the checkers flew. Martin and Carl Peters (39) were your heat race winners.
A short 10 car Street Stock field once again saw Curtis Flanagan (3) come from the last row of the field to take his 2nd feature win in a row in 2012. Flanagan would have a brief battle with from row starter James Peters (5) for the lead, before making the winning pass on lap 14. Peters would hold on to the 2nd position well ahead of 3rd place Bubba Martone (98). Dora Thorne (48) showed that girls can drive too, picking up her 1st heat race win ever to start off the night for the Street Stocks.
8 Outlaw Modified Mini’s saw Doug Hopper (15) take the victory just ahead of a faster Mike Endee (26). Endee tried several times to make the high groove work, but just couldn’t find the traction he needed to make the pass. Endee would settle for 2nd just ahead of Tom Meyer (04) in 3rd.
13 Pro Figure 8 cars closed out the nights events with some exciting intersection action. The event had 5 cautions over it’s 20 lap race distance, which slowed the mayhem. When the dust settled, Benny Harris (28) survived to take the victory over Cliff Rousseau (3) in 2nd, and 9th place starter Mason Love (01) in 3rd.
This Saturday night the Citrus County Speedway will have it’s first $5 grandstand admission night. All regular adult, student, and senior citizens will pay only $5 for an action packed night of racing. As always, children under 42 inches are FREE!. Gates open at 4pm and racing takes the green flag at 5:30 sharp. Visit the speedway website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the track office at 352-726-9339 for complete details.