Fans were greeted by hot and humid weather on Saturday night, but they were also treated to a full pit area, with over 105 cars registering to race. With the threat of hurricane Irene earlier in the week, many of the states race tracks cancelled their race programs before the close of business on Monday. That left only Citrus and one other asphalt track racing this past Saturday night.
15 Sportsman took the green for their 25 lap feature with Cody Stickler (99) and Tom Posavec (01) bringing the field to the start. Stickler would jump out to the early lead while some of the other top point contenders were buried deep in the field. Point leader Ernie Reed would make his way to the 2nd position early on from his 4th starting position, but would soon have pressure from Sportsman newcomer Mike Bresnahan (69). Lap 7 would see the caution fly for a solo spin by Brett Jenkins (199), and close the field back up on the restart. Stickler would lead on the restart with Reed 2nd, Bresnahan 3rd, and front runner Aaron Williamson (13) in 4th. Williamson and Bresnahan would battle side by side for several laps, trading paint, before Williamson would take over the 3rd spot. Lap 10 saw caution for a spin in turn one, which once again erased Sticklers lead. Stickler pulled away once again and left the others to battle. Reed was now under heavy pressure from Williamson, and on lap 12 this battle would end, with both cars spinning after an attempted inside pass by Williamson on Reed. Several drivers were unable to avoid the spinning cars of Williamson and Reed. Top point contender Brandon Morris (56) and Chad Pierce (157) both ended up with heavy damage, but were able to continue. Stickler would pull away once again and prove he was the man to beat over the final 8 laps of the race. Coming home 2nd was Bresnahan in his 1st Sportsman race with his new ride. Richie Smith (4) would charge from his 14th place starting position to take 3rd away from Morris in the closing laps. Bresnahan and Pierce were heat race winners.
14 Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks rumbled to the green for their 20 lap feature with Richie Acres (129) and Mike Dubbs (36) occupying the front row. Acres jumped out to a quick lead, but it didn’t take long for 4th place starter Mike Martin (76) to rocket to the front of the field. Point leader David Walls (35) would follow Martin to the front on the outside to move into the 2nd position, and set his sights on the leader. Lap 4 saw the 1st and only caution for a spin involving Dustin Dinkins (96) and Acres, Dinkins would receive a flat tire in the spin, and head to the pits to change his flat. Martin would again rocket away on the restart, putting several car lengths on Walls in a few laps. Just past the half way mark, Walls car would lose power, and head to the pits, not to return. Martin would then enjoy and lead of over a half a lap on the new 2nd place car of Carl Peters (39). Martin went on to take the most dominate victory of the night with Peters coming home a distant 2nd. Sherry Makula would move from her 9th starting position to 3rd at the checkers. Happy Florian (65) and Walls were heat race winners
A large field of 17 Street Stocks registered for their 20 lap feature with Tim Wilson (85) on the pole position. Wilson jumped out to an early lead, but Mike Wilson (79) was moving to the front from his 6th starting position. Wilson would move around the outside of Bubba Martone (98) and Kenny May (10) to challenge for the lead. Mike Wilson would take the lead away from Tim Wilson (no relation) on lap 10 and never look back. Tim Wilson would come home 2nd while the battle for 3rd raged on behind him to the checkers. Bubba Martone, point leader Curtis Flanagan (3), Kyle Peters (53), and Kenny May (10) were racing side by side 2 rows deep to the finish line for 3rd. Martone would come out on top and take the 3rd position at the stripe. Martone and Mike Wilson were heat race winners.
12 Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks tried to take the checkers Saturday night with Shawn Jenkins (43) and Lenard Fussell (88) on the front row. Jenkins would jump out to an early lead, but it would be short lived as 3rd starter Jeremy Sharrone would take his brand new racer to the point before lap 3. 5th place starter Aaron Williamson (84) would take his sister Ashlee’s car to the 2nd spot just behind Sharrone. Williamson would put his experience to go use, taking the lead away from Sharrone on lap 5. The field would see it’s only caution on lap 14, and tighten the field back up for the restart. Williamson and Sharrone would battle over the final 6 laps after the restart with Williamson taking the victory followed by Sharrone in 2nd, and Jenkins in 3rd. The top three points positions would change again this week in this tightly contested championship. Sharrone would move from 3rd to 1st in the points standings with a 1 point lead over Sonya Heater (71), and a 3 point lead over last weeks top dog Kevin Stone (98). Williamson and Heater were heat race winners.
20 Open Wheel Modifieds took the green for their 40 lap feature with point leader Bobby Ervien (88) and Tommy Schnader (19) on the front row. This was shaping up to be the best race of the evening, but mother nature had other plans. The cars were able to take the green flag, but just after 9pm, the bottom fell out. A strong line of thunderstorms had moved in from the northwest blanketing the speedway with rain, wind, and lightning. The rain shower lasted only 30 minutes, but dumped too much water on the speedway to resume racing. With only a handful of laps complete, the modifieds will now run “Twin 30’s” on September 10th to make up for this lost race due to Mother Nature. Heat race winners were Robbie Cooper (98) and Ricky Coffin (3).
This week the speedway will see the return of the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association, a 50 lap Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stock race, Street Stocks, Modified Mini Stocks, Hornets, and the Pro Challenge Series. Gates open at 4pm and racing starts at 6pm sharp. Please visit the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com , or call the speedway office at 352-726-9339 for complete details.