Citrus County Speedway came back to life Saturday night after a 4 week break from the Citrus County Fair. 91 cars and drivers packed the pits for 6 divisions of racing, headlined by the first 50 lap Open Wheel Modified race of 2012. 23 Open Wheel Modifieds took their shot at the time clock with Randy Anderson (86) proving he knew the fastest way around, with a blistering lap of 14.06 seconds. This amazing lap earned him top qualifier honors, and $100 in his pocket. Following behind Anderson were Robbie Cooper (98), James Glover (5), Doug Miller (53), and Jeremy Gerstner (70) in that order.
After some help from one of the Speedways fans, the tracks giant foam dice turn up a 5, which meant there would be 5 rows inverted for each feature on this night. This now left the quick Anderson, starting in the 5th row, behind some extremely competitive drivers. LJ Grimm (25) would smile now, as the dice roll would put him on the pole position for the start, with Tommy Schnader (19) along side. Grimm would jump out to and early lead, with Schnader settling into the 2nd position. Grimm would set the pace early on in the race, and survive several early race cautions to remain up front. Behind him, Anderson and Cooper would battle hard while charging to the front, with Anderson getting the best of Cooper eventually. Jeremy Gerstner was running solidly in the top 5 challenging the front runners, until he saw his motor let go just past half way, ending his night. Anderson continued his charge to the front, until contact between he and Wayne Morris (198) would bring out the caution with just 10 laps left. Cooper would also be caught up in the incident, ending all three drivers night. Grimm would rocket away on the restart, and leave the others to battle for position to the finish. 2011 points champion Doug Miller (53) had a fast car all night, and patiently waited for his openings to make moves. Miller would finally find a way around a strong running Troy Robinson (0) for 3rd late in the race. A lap 49 caution would set up a one lap shoot out for the win between Grimm, Schnader, and Miller. Grimm again rocketed away on the restart and went on to take the checkered flag followed to the line my Schnader in 2nd, and Miller in 3rd. Grimm would see his great night come to a screeching halt once the cars entered the post race technical inspection however. The top 5 cars all went to the tech area, and Grimm was found to have an illegal transmission in his winning machine. This violation would cause Grimm to be disqualified for the nights event, and hand the win over to Tommy Schnader. The DQ moved Miller to 2nd and Robinson to 3rd.
21 Sportsman were brought to the green with Andy Nichols (66) and Aaron Williamson (13) on the front row. Nichols would jump out to the early lead with 3rd place starter Lance Dubach (771) settling into the second position. These two drives would put some space between themselves and the rest of the field, who were battling tooth and nail. The cars of Brandon Morris (56), Williamson (13), Cody Stickler (99), Jay Witfoth (4), Mike Bell (17), Mike Bresnahan (69), and Ernie Reed (55) were waging war behind the leaders. This was the most aggressive and competitive racing of the entire evening. 14th place starter Bresnahan was merciless in his charge to the front of the field, passing cars outside and then another inside in the same straight away at times. A few late race cautions would bunch up the field with only 7 laps left in the event. Bresnahan had carved his way to the 3rd position, and now was on the front runners bumpers. Nichols tried to get away on the restart, but Daubach put the pressure on right away in 2nd. Bresnahan saw the top two drivers battling it out, and took to the high side of Daubach for the 2nd position. They would battle side by side for 5 laps. As the top three took the white flag, Nichols was still out front, with Daubach glued to his bumper, and Bresnahan on the outside of both drivers, scored in the second position. As the cars exited turn two, Bresnahan would pull even with Nichols as they entered turn 3 on the final lap. Both drives would hammer the throttle and dash for the checkered flag with Bresnahan powering by Nichols for the victory. Bresnahans’ margin of victory was less than 2 feet as the cars crossed the stripe, with Nichols just on the short end. Daubach came home in a very strong 3rd position. Nichols strong 2nd place finish has now moved him to the top of the points standings, 18pts ahead of Chris Harvey (51). Heat race winners were David Williamson (12), Jay Witfoth (4), and Mike Bell (17).
19 Pure Stocks were brought to the green with Glen Colyer (44) and Chris Ickes (20) on the front row. Their lead was short live as the cars of Mike Autenrieth (32), Larry Welter Sr (85), and Steven Stinedurf (0) would come charging to the front early on. These three drivers would survive a few mid race cautions to battle for the lead. Autenrieth and Welter would battle for the lead, with Welter finally putting his car out front near the halfway mark in the event. Tyler Stickler (9) would work his way from his 13th starting position to battle with Autenrieth for the 2nd position in the closing laps. Contact between these two drivers would bring the caution out at lap 13, sending both drivers to the rear. Because of the many early race cautions, the race was shortened to 13 laps, and finished under caution. Welter Sr would take his first victory of 2012 at Citrus County Speedway followed by Michael Martin (76) in 2nd, and Happy Florian (65) in 3rd. Heat race winners were Duane Baker (46) and Arden Franklin (7).
14 Mini Stocks saw a hard late race battle between Ashlee Williamson (84) and Shannon Kennedy (46) come down to the wire. 2011 points champion Jeremy Sharrone (32) would survive an early race trip to the rear of the field, and move to the 3rd position in the closing laps. Kennedy would prove he was the man to beat taking the victory over Williamson in 2nd, and Sharrone in 3rd. Sharrone and Kennedy were your heat race winners.
The Hornet division saw Steven Ross (98) dominate the field and go on to take his first feature win of 2012. Following him to the stripe were Daryl Veltman (55) in 2nd, Scott Bumgarner (9) in 3rd, Anthony Bennett (6) 4th, and Kyle Capacitance (1) in 5th.
The DWARF car division saw sprint car veteran Stan Butler (3) drive to victory over perennial front runner Bo Bass (14) in 2nd, and Todd Brown (1) in 3rd. Butler was also your heat race winner.
This Saturday night Citrus County Speedway welcomes back the largest field of Super Late Models in the state for their 35 lap feature event. Joining them on the race card will be the Modified Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Hornets. Don’t forget the speedway has a new 6:30pm starting time, so grab your friends and come on out for a great night of Super Late Model racing. Visit the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the speedway office at 352-726-9339 for complete details. Like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest news about the speedway!