Fans, crews, and drivers filed into the Citrus County Speedway Saturday night to get their holiday weekends started off with a bang. The speedways talented roster of drivers would not disappoint the fans, as they put on some of the best side by side racing the speedway has seen this year.

18 Sportsman took the green for their 25 lap feature with the 12 of David Williamson taking the pole, after the 4 row inversion. Williamson would pull out to a very comfortable lead after the green flag, and run unchallenged until a lap 17 caution, for the 34 of Kevin Harrod would, put the field right back at his bumper. 6th place starter Richie Smith had taken Jay Witfoth’s No. 4 machine to 2nd, just before the caution, after a battle with the 56 of Brandon Morris. On the restart Smith would pour the pressure on Williamson, only to see several quick cautions stop his quest for the top spot. The 1st of those cautions would be for the 3rd running Morris, who suffered a flat right front tire, and had to make a trip to the pits for repairs. With Morris now in the pits, the 10 of George Gorham Jr. would now see his hot rod in the 3rd position, within striking distance of the top 2 drivers for the restart. On the lap 19 restart, Smith would power past Williamson for the lead, and go on to take his second Sportsman feature win of the season. Williamson would bring his 12 machine home 2nd, followed by Gorham in 3rd, the 199 of Brett Jenkins in 4th, and the 13 of Aaron Williamson in 5th. Smith and the 77 of Lance Daubach were the heat winners.

15 Street Stocks would register to compete in their 20 lap feature race. The 26 of Brad Lyon would be the benefit of the 4 row inversion, and start on the front row with the 65 of Dave Wright along side. On the start, 2nd row starter Kenny May, in the 10, would move to the lead quickly. May would pull out to a sizeable lead and looked to be headed for a sure feature victory, but a fuel leak would bring the black flag out for May, and send him to the pits and out of contention. With May’s bad luck, the 27 of John Makula would take over the top spot before the 85 of Tim Wilson would move past Makula on lap 9 to take the lead. Back in the pack, 14th place starter Curtis Flanagan and 12th place starter Jesse Veltman were cutting their way through the field. . 2nd through 6th place was a hotly contested battle between Flanagan, Veltman, the 33 of Bill Ryan, the 98 of Bubba Martone, and Makula. This race would run the entire 20 laps caution free, which allowed Wilson to cruise to an unchallenged victory. Flanagan would ultimately prevail taking the 2nd spot, followed by the 55 of Veltman in 3rd, the 33 of Bill Ryan in 4th, and the 27 of Makula in 5th. Heat race winners were Martone and Wilson.

15 Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks took the green for their 20 lap feature event. The 20 of Chris Ickes would take the pole position and lead the field to the green. The lead would be short lived, as 2nd row starter Tyler Stickler would make his way to the front quickly, and set a fast pace for the other drivers to try to follow. 7th place starter Carl Peters, in the 39, would move his way through the field and get a lap 11 caution to close up the gap on Stickler. On the restart, Peters would look high and low, but could find the speed to make a move on the leader. Stickler would go on to take the feature victory followed closely by Peters in 2nd. 5th place starter, and former track champion, Steve Stineduf would come home in the 3rd position. Tim Wilson would bring his No. 8 machine home in 4th, after just winning the Street Stock feature, and point leader David Walls would bring home his 35 machine in 5th. Heat race winners were Peters and Walls.

13 Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini stocks were taking their chance at victory on Saturday night. The 43 of Shawn Jenkins would shoot out to and early lead, and build a considerable advantage, until a lap 8 caution for the damaged car of Jessey Mallory would close up the field. In the early laps of the race, 11th place starter Jeremy Sharrone and 13th place starter Jeff Eberly were making their charge from the back of the pack. There would be a wild battle between these two drivers and the 29 of Chris Snow for the 2nd through 4th positions. Eberly, in his 01, machine would make the right moves and go on to take the lead from Jenkins on lap 11. As Sharrone, Snow, and Jenkins now battled for the 2nd position. 12th place starter, and last race winner, Ashley Williamson showed the boys how to get it done again. Williamson took her 84 machine past all three cars and took the second position in the last few laps from Jenkins. Eberly would go on to take the feature win followed by Williamson in 2nd, and Jenkins in 3rd. Sharrone would have to settle for the 4th position and the 98 of point leader Kevin Stone would come home 5th. Sonya Heater in her 71 racer and Eberly would take the heat victories.

The Florida Open Wheel Lights would make their 3rd trip to the ¼ mile bullring this year. The 14 of Bo Bass was the class of the field and drove to an easy feature win over the short field. Bass thanked the fans for coming out, and encouraged his fellow FOWL racers to come and support the series at the next race.

9 Pro Figure 8 cars took their chances with the intersection for their 20 lap feature. The 3 of Cliff Rousseau would take advantage of his front row starting position and take a wire to wire win for his first victory of the year. The 25 of Robbie Powell and the 01 of last row starter Mason Love, would put on the nights most intense battle for the second spot. Powell would hold on to the 2nd spot followed by Love in 3rd. Point leader Joey Catarelli would come home 4th, with 2nd place point challenger Wayne Calkins in 5th. These two drivers are separated by less than 8 points for the season long championship.

10 Powder Puff School Bus Figure 8 drivers would take the green for 20 laps of edge of your seat intersection action. The 701 of Becky Aaron would draw the pole position and lead the field to the green. Aaron would quickly take the lead, and was on a mission. After several close calls in the intersection, and a brief moment on two wheels, Aaron would go on to take the checkers. The last lap saw the 36 bus of Sonya Heater end up on her side, as contact flipped her bus over. The race would be red flagged and called after the incident. Heater was uninjured, and was credited with 2nd followed by Tina Tweedy in 3rd. Victory lane was very emotional for the Aaron family. Becky is the first Aaron to take a victory since her father, figure 8 champion Robert Aaron, passed away earlier this year.

This Saturday night will see the first trip for the United Promoters Super Late Model series to the speedway this year for their 100 lap shootout. The best of the best Super Late Model drivers in the state will be in attendance with names like Jeff Scofield, Tim Russell, Wayne Anderson, Darryl Shelnut, Steve Dorer, Anthony Campi, Justin Larson, Anthony Sergi, and local hot shoe Herb Neumann Jr. all battling it out for the $3000 win purse. The series has seen an average of almost 25 cars at each event, when you add that with the speedways normal 15 cars, this could be the largest field of the season for the series. Also on the race program will be the Modified Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks, Hornets, and the Pro Challenge Series. If you love Super Late Model racing, this is your night! Visit the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com for complete details. See you at the races!