From John Chance

Tim Russell lead all the way to take the checkers

Saturday night was the first trip of the year for the United Promoters late model series to the Citrus County Speedway. The newly formed series has had great success in it’s first 4 races of the year, but this race would set a new benchmark for the number of participants. 32 late models registered to try to race their way into the 24 car starting field for the 100 lap feature. The night would start off with time trial qualifying, which saw the 84 of Wayne Anderson, set fast time with a fast lap of 13.647 seconds. The top 20 drivers were locked into the 100 lap feature, with the remaining cars and drivers to battle it out in a 20 lap B-main to determine the final 24 car starting field.

The 17 of Darryl Shelnut would lead the B main to the green flag and go on to dominate the 20 lap event. The 36 of Gary Padula would see his chance of making the race almost fade away. While running 2nd, the 19 of Ray Black made contact with Padula, sending both cars for a spin. Black would take blame for the incident, giving Padula back his 2nd position. Padula would go on to finish in the 2nd position, and be the last driver to race his way into the final 24 car starting field. The final 2 provisional starting spots were given to the highest series points contender, and the highest local points contender, not all ready locked into the race. This would put the 19 of Black, and the 10 of Talon Craft into the big show.

Tim Russell would have luck on his side after qualifying. Russell would draw the pole position for the start of the 100 lap feature, joining him on the outside front row was the 97 of Patrick Staropoli. Russell would jump out to an early lead before a caution on the 2nd lap for contact between the 30 of Jesse Dutilly and the 88 of Justin Larson would slow the field. Dutilly and Larson would be sent to the rear for the restart. Russell would again jump out to a comfortable lead with Staropoli in second and the 98 of local hot shoe Herb Neumann Jr in 3rd. Neumann would take the 2nd position from Staropoli on lap 20 and set his sights on the leader. Lap 32 saw caution fly for contact between the 1 of Dale Sanders and the 36 of Gary Padula, both would join the rear for the restart. On the restart, Russell would now have the bright orange 98 of 5 time track champion Neumann, filling his mirror. Neumann would never leave the rear bumper of Russell’s 136 machine, looking high and low for a lane, putting major pressure on the race leader. Lap 59 would see the field slow again for the spinning 36 of Gary Padula. Russell would lead the way on the restart followed by Neumann, the 33 of Daniel Webster, the 84 of Wayne Anderson, and the 97 of Staropoli. Caution would fly quickly on lap 65 for contact between the 20 of Anthony Sergi, 19 of Ray Black, and the 07 of Steven Simpson. Russell would bring the field to the restart, and Neumann would turn up the pressure with time running out. The top two drivers would put on a driving clinic for the rest of the race. Russell would not let the pressure get to him, never making even the slightest of mistakes while Neumann watched the laps wind down. Lap 84 would see the final caution of the night for debris on the front straight, this would give everyone one last shot to get it done. Russell brought the field down for the final restart, and the top two drivers would pick right back up where they left off. After several good looks on the inside of Russell off of turn 2, Neumann just couldn’t find the traction he needed to make the winning pass. Russell would go on to take the victory and the $3000 winners purse. Neumann would settle for 2nd, with Webster 3rd, Anderson 4th, and 13th place starter Scott Grossenbacher rounding out the top 5. Russell thanked his crew, sponsors, and the fans in victory lane. He also gave a special thanks to Neumann for driving such a clean race, and not trying to use his front bumper to gain an advantage. Neumann commented in his post race interview, that his car just got to loose in the last 25 laps to make the winning pass, and congratulated Russell on a great race. This was the best race the series has seen all year, we can only hope the momentum keeps growing.

13 Street Stocks tried to take home the checkered flag in their 20 lap feature. 5th place starter Bill Ryan wasted little time in making his way to the front in his red and yellow 33 Camaro. Ryan would get out front, and drive away in the caution free event, to take his first feature win of the year. Ryan’s family members were in the stands, which made for a very happy victory lane. 11th place starter, and point leader, Curtis Flanagan would race his way to 2nd at the checkers. With out a caution, Flanagan never got a chance to race for the lead.. John Makula would come home in the 3rd position after starting on the pole position. Heat race winners were the 31 of Tom Potts and the 98 of Bubba Martone.

11 Modified Mini stocks took the green for their 20 lap feature event. The 26 of Nathan Florian would bring the field to the green with the 1 of George Neumann along side. The two drivers would have a side by side battle for the first 2 laps, but Neumann would take over the top spot. While Neumann was out front, defending point champion Clint Foley, was charging to the front. That charge would end before halfway when Foley got loose while trying to pass the 18 of Jesse Henley on the outside. Foley would end up head on into the backstretch wall and done for the night. The 98 of James Ellis would get caught up in the incident when Foley slid across the front of his car, ending Ellis night with front end damage. Neumann would retire to the pits with a mechanical problem shortly after, which would leave the 33 of Chris Allen clear sailing for his second straight feature win. Following Allen to the stripe were the 18 of Jesse Henley, and the 44 of Mike Lawhorn in 3rd. Point leader Allen took the first heat, with Foley winning the second heat.

A short 7 car Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini stock field battled it out for their 25 lap feature. This race was short on cars, but not on drama. The 77 of Kevin Knox would jump out to an early lead and pull away from the field. But before he could get to halfway, his racer would lose a right front tire and wheel in turn 4, that would end his night in the turn 4 wall. Jeremy Sharrone would take over the lead on the restart and looked to be headed to a feature win. But the mechanical gremlins would once again get the best of the 32 machine, as his racer lost power while leading, and he retired to the pits. This would give the lead to the 01 of former track champion, Jeff Eberly. Eberly would go on to take his 4th feature win of the year with the 29 of Chris Snow 2nd, and the 71 of Sonya Heater in 3rd. Points leader Kevin Stone, in the 98 car, was black flagged early in the race for a fuel leak and came home in the 7th position. With her 3rd place finish, Sonya Heater now takes over the point lead with a 7 point margin over Stone.

8 Pro Challenge cars made the monthly trip to the friendliest track in the south for their 30 lap feature. This race would feature a furious battle with the 25 of Paul White and the 56 of Mark Landis for the top position. Both drivers would swap the lead several times, but a late race tangle between the two drivers, would send them into the turn 1 wall. The 28 truck of Randy Glick would take advantage of the incident, and go on to take his first feature win of the season at Citrus. 2nd spot would go to Open Wheel Modified standout Kevin Terry in the 24 truck, and Harvey Johnson would bring home his 2 truck in 3rd.

In the new Hornet Division, Mathew Street would make his first night of racing one to remember. Street would lead the 15 lap feature green to checkers. Coming home in 2nd was the 98 of John Fisher, and the 60 of Carson Taylor in 3rd.

This Saturday night will see the Open Wheel Modifieds back in action with the Sportsman, Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks, Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks, Pro figure 8’s, TQ midgets, Hornets, and the Cars of Yesterday. Check the speedway website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the track office at (352)-726-9339 for complete details. See you at the races!

CITRUS
COUNTY
SPEEDWAY
Finishes: 06/04/2011
UPS Super Late Models Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
36 TIM RUSSELL Apopka 1
98 HERB NEUMANN JR. Inverness 2
33 DANIEL WEBSTER Brooksville 3
77 WAYNE ANDERSON Wildwood 4
(Fastest Qualifier) 13.647
09 SCOTT GROSSENBACHER San Antonio 5
5 JOE BOYD Riverview 6
92 JEFF SCOFIELD Plant City 7
7 DARYL SHELNUT Home Stead 8
64 JOE WINCHELL Dade City 9
97 PATRICK STAROPOLI Plantation 10
88 JUSTIN LARSON Safety Harbor 11
42 JONATHAN GUY Auburndale 12
59 JAKE PERKINS Ocala 13
30 JESSE DUTILLY Brandenton 14
19 RAY BLACK Ocala 15
20 ANTHONY SERGI Geneva 16
07 STEVEN SIMPSON New Symrna Beach 17
127 KYLE MAYNARD Weirsdale 18
36x GARY PADULA Pompano Beach 19
10 STEVE DORER Lakeland 20
1 DALE SANDERS Lecanto 21
55 DAKOTA STEPHENS Brandon 22
10 TALON CRAFT Seminole 23
01 FAIN SKINNER Live Oak 24
Street Stocks Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
33 Bill Ryan Bushnell 1
3 Curtis Flanagan Inverness 2
27 John Makula New Port Richey 3
10 Kenny May Spring Hill 4
007 Mark Fallows Crystal River 5
98 Tom Bubba Martone Floral City 6
31 Tom Potts San Antonio 7
85 Tim Wilson Floral City 8
55 Jesse Veltman Crystal River 9
26 Bradley Lyon Brooksville 10
68 Austin Hughes Hernando 11
48 Dora Thorne Floral City 12
112 Cliff Bifaro Inverness 13
Mod. Mini Stocks Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
33 Chris Allen Center Hill 1
18 Jesse Henley Homosassa 2
44 Michael Lawhorn Clermont 3
2 Jeremy Gerstner Wesley Chapel 4
24 Phil Edwards Crystal River 5
47 Richard Kuhn Ocala 6
13 Richard Heath Inverness 7
1 George Neumann Inverness 8
7 Clint Foley Dunnellon 9
98 James Ellis Brooksville 10
26 Nathan Florian Clearwater 11
Mini Stocks Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
01 Jeff Eberly Spring Hill 1
29 Chris Snow Inverness 2
71 Sonya Heater Homosassa 3
35 Kenneth Watkins Summerfield 4
32 Jeremy Sharrone Floral City 5
77 Kevin Knox Wesley Chapel 6
98 Kevin Stone Dade City 7
Pro Challenge Series Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
28 Randy Glick Ocala 1
24 Kevin Terry Ocala 2
2 Harvey Johnson Ocala 3
25 Paul White Eustis 4
23 Jerry Heflin Gainsville 5
12 Kyle Maynard Weirsdale 6
56 Mark Landis Delray Beach 7
11 Jacob Calloway Longwood 8
Hornet Division Feature
Car-# Drivers Name Home Town Winner
151 Matthew Street Lakeland 1
98 John Fisher Lake Panasoffkee 2
60 Carson Taylor Lecanto 3
3 Johnny Pendarvis Cheifland 4
Year To Date Points
(Top Ten)

Super Late Models
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
98 Herb Neumann Jr. 317
09 Scott Grossenbacher 306
82 Danny Maddox 304
10 Talon Craft 289
70 Jeremy Gerstner 286
97 Perry Lovelady 280
97 Andy Anderson 256
14 Randy Plantz 245
27 Cody Lane 243
88 Kenny Kuhn 238
Open Wheeled Modifieds
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
88 Bobby Ervien 596
53 Doug Miller 587
98 Robbie Cooper 585
42 Richie Smith 582
70 Jeremy Gerstner 581
6 Billy Bechtelheimer 573
8 Michael Stalnaker 522
94 Dalton Nelson 477
25 (Johnny) L. J. Grimm 475
3 Ricky Coffin 451
Mod. Mini Stocks
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
33 Chris Allen 534
18 Jesse Henley 522
7 Clint Foley 511
26 Nathan Florian 480
24 Phil Edwards 479
44 Michael Lawhorn 408
98 James Ellis 395
47 Richard Kuhn 368
2 Jeremy Gerstner 284
01 Johnny Siner 215
Sportsman
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
55 Ernie Reed 674
99 Cody Stickler 671
56 Brandon Morris 645
13 Aaron Williamson 634
16 David White 567
01 Tom Posavec 525
51 Christopher Harvey 525
83 Dennise Neighbor Sr. 511
4 Richie Smith 504
21 Tommy Schnader 382
Street Stocks
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
3 Curtis Flanagan 1048
33 Bill Ryan 1004
98 Tom Bubba Martone 982
10 Kenny May 891
68 Austin Hughes 869
26 Bradley Lyon 787
53 Kyle Peters 613
12 Jonna Hughes 602
007 Mark Fallows 576
85 Tim Wilson 566
Pure Stocks
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
35 David Walls 1115
44 Glen Colyer 982
9 Tyler Stickler 917
17 Nicholas Malverty 861
15 Levi Roberts 821
39 Carl Peters 804
27 Sheri Makula 801
20 Chris Ickes 695
7 Arden Franklin 677
65 Happy Florian 640
Mini Stocks
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
71 Sonya Heater 996
98 Kevin Stone 991
32 Jeremy Sharrone 989
35 Kenneth Watkins 932
29 Chris Snow 888
77 Kevin Knox 653
50 Jessey Mallory 644
84 Ashlee Williamson 631
43 Shawn Jenkins 605
46 Shannon Kennedy 602
PRO FIGURE-8s
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
6 Joey Catarelli 656
14 Wayne Calkins 650
3 Cliff Rousseau 640
94 Charlie Meyer 624
85 Thomas Peet 614
83 Neil Herne 578
25 Robbie Powell 536
59 T. J. Sharrone 448
01 Mason Love 380
34 James Crawford 372
PS/SS FIG-8s
Car-# Drivers Name YTD Points
62 Eric Sharrone 394
6 Ronnie Schrefiels 378
13 Neil Herne 350
35 Thomas Peet 346
82 Jimmy Kruse 272
1 Larry Triana 258
33 David Ross 256
44 Glen Colyer 252
11 Charles Herne 184
00 Del Beckner 182