Citrus Speedway closes '08 season with two championships decided
Submitted by Robby Douglas on Sun, 11/09/2008 - 6:37pm.
By Larry MacMillan
Citrus County Speedway fans saw six divisions close out the 2008 run for their championships Saturday night, and two were decision makers when the checkers flew.
The ladies got their chance to get up on the wheel in the annual Amateur Women's Powder Puff race in a 10-lap shootout. The night was full of action and closed out the season with a bang or two with some really close racing, particularly in the Pure Stock and Figure 8 divisions.
The real battle was in the Pure Stock division with Bill Ryan picking up the lead by 14 points over John Drye after last week's race. Drye had led most of the second half of the season and ran into problems with Ryan winning his heat and finishing sixth in the feature, while Drye finished third in his heat and 14th in the feature.
Twenty-eight cars took the green flag, with Drye starting 15th and Ryan back in 22nd position. In the heat races, Drye picked up one point on Ryan, who got taken out on the initial green flag and had to go to the pits with flat tire on another early caution flag. Drye drove his way through the front half of the field to take the lead and the win, with Ryan coming from the back end with his mission of having to finish at least seventh or better. Somehow he managed to come across the finish line in sixth, and took the crown by three points over John Drye, who did all he could to come up top shoe for 2008. Top five at the checkered flag were John Drye, Tommy Smith, Steven Steinderf, Mike Hinde and James Peters. Drye and Steinderf took the heat wins.
The other nail-biter was in Figure 8 action, with 16 cars in their finale. Joey Catterelli came into the race with a 24-point lead over Darryl Hage. At the green flag, problems erupted from the get-go in the intersection, bringing on the rare red flag for a complete restart. Catterelli and Hage started side by side, and made their way through traffic behind Robbie Aaron, who took the point away from Charlie Meyer after the first five laps. Several more red flags came out for crashes in safety zones. This closed up the field on several restarts, but Robbie Aaron held onto the lead all the way to the checkered flag for his third win of the season. Right on his rear bumper was Joey Catterelli, just ahead of Darryl Hage assuring Joey of the 2008 Figure 8 Championship by 26 points. Rounding out the top five were 64-year-old Charlie Meyer and four-time winner John Baranauskas.
With only 14 cars on deck for the Street Stock finale, Tim Quick came into the race with the championship crown already won, but he wasn't going to close out the season without a celebration, driving from eighth to Victory Lane for his ninth win of the season, and doing doughnuts in the infield and burnouts on the front straight. Mike Loudy moved from 11th to take the lead away from Dr. Mark Fallows during the second half of their 25-lap finale. Loudy just couldn't hold off Quick in the run for the flag settling for second, followed by Mark Fallows, Kyle Peters and Rick Shahid. No heats were run.
Twenty Mini Stocks wrapped up their season with a Mini Stock Challenge Series winner coming in to show the field how you start at the back and finish in Victory Lane. Johnathan Camp had it all together in one of his rare performances at his home race track this season. James Ellis enjoyed the lead for several laps before Camp made the pass and settled for second just ahead of early leader Travis Hoefler, who also added his first heat win to his final resume in his rookie year. Point runner-up Mike Lawhorn salvaged a fourth-place finish over Chris Hooker, who made a last-lap run at three cars to lock down a fifth-place finish. Six-time winner Clint Foley took the win in the second heat, but ran into early mechanical problems for a DNF in the feature. Kevin Harrod had the Mini Stock Crown already won coming into the final race of the season, and wrapped it up with a conservative seventh-place finish and a burnout for the fans to celebrate his top spot in the point's race.
Despite only winning one feature and five heat wins, Richard Kuhn managed to build a big point lead in the 4 Cylinder Bomber division with top five finishes throughout the season, and has had the championship won for several weeks. The star of the show Saturday night was 14-year-old Brandon Watson, who came in with a flu bug, but went out with a bang, picking up his eighth heat win and seventh feature win of the season. Phil Edwards took the early lead away from Patrick Connor, who ran into mechanical problems early. Watson waited for the opening to make the pass on Edwards for the lead, and despite a caution flag tightening up the field in the later laps, Brandon held Phil off, followed by Andy LaPoint, Shawn Evans and defending champion Jeff Eberly. Shawn Evans logged his sixth heat win of the season.
Drew Matissek had it all together this week after breaking an axle last week in practice and having parts flown in to the airport across the street from the speedway. The team installed the new parts for the feature ,and he managed to pull off a third-place finish for the effort. Now that's wanting to race in a bad way. He had it all together for Saturday night's finale with a big win over Jamie Shahid. Alexander Wilder held out for third, and took home the points' championship in the rookie division. Tom McKay and Darrell Demonbreun rounded out the top five, and Darrell's family managed to win the 50/50 drawing.
The final race of the season got the women behind the wheel for the annual Powder Puff Race. When the green flag dropped, it was all over but the shouting when Bonnie Yoakam (Robbie's wife) put the hammer down and left the rest of the field in her dust. They couldn't even find her #98 Mini Stock when the checkers flew, because she left them in another time zone. Only seven cars survived the night to run out of 11 that were registered. Gina Evans and Marsha McCall held out for the top three spots.
The next event for the drivers will be the annual awards Banquet on Saturday night, Dec. 13 at the Citrus County Auditorium, and all drivers need to get their tickets to pick up their awards. Call Kolleyne at the pit office 352-726-9339, or contact Beverly Aaron in Brooksville 352-799-7181. There will be no tickets available at the banquet.
Winter Spectacular VI part 1 is scheduled for Saturday night Jan. 3, 2009, featuring the Open Wheel Modifieds in a 75-lap feature, plus the Sportsman, Street Stock, 4 Cylinder Bombers and Figure 8's in 50-lap features. Winter Spectacular VI part 2 is scheduled for Jan. 17, featuring the Super Late Models in a 75-lap feature, Mini Stocks and Pure Stock in 50-lap features, plus the V8 Thunder Stocks, Florida Pro Challenge and Outlaw Mini Modifieds. The regular 2009 points season will open the season in February.
Street Stock Feature - 25 Laps - 14 Cars
1. #97 Tim Quick - Lecanto - 9th Season Win - 2008 Champion
2. #21 Mike Loudy - Brooksville
3. #007 Mark Fallows - Crystal River
4. #33 Kyle Peters -
5. #31 Rick Shahid - Floral City
No Heats Run
Mini Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 20 Cars
1. #13 Johnathan Camp - Beverly Hills - 1st Season Win
2. #98 James Ellis - Brooksville
3. #20 Travis Hoefler - Floral City
4. #44 Mike Lawhorn - Claremont
5. # 6 Chris Hooker - Inverness
1st Heat Winner - #20 Travis Hoefler
2nd Heat Winner - #7 Clint Foley - Dunnellon
Pure Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 28 Cars
1. #39 John Drye - Inverness - 2nd Season Win
2. #93 Tommy Smith - Hernando
3. # 0 Steven Steinderf - Brooksville
4. #142 Mike Hinde - Hernando
5. # 5 James Peters - Monteverde
1st Heat Winner - #0 Steve Steinderf
2nd Heat Winner - #133 Cory Swanston - Aripeka
3rd Heat Winner - #39 John Drye
Four Cylinder Bomber Feature - 20 Laps - 21 Cars
1. #66 Brandon Watson - Dunnellon - 7th Season Win
2. #21 Phil Edwards - Crystal River
3. #88 Anthony LaPoint - Zephyrhills
4. #46 Shawn Evans - Williston
5. #01 Jeff Eberly - Spring Hill
1st Heat Winner - #46 Shawn Evans
2nd Heat Winner - #66 Brandon Watson
Figure 8 Feature - 20 Laps - 17 Cars
1. # 6 Robert Aaron - Brooksville - 3rd Season Win
2. #15 Joey Catterelli - Pinellas Park - 2008 Figure 8 Champion
3. # 8 Darryl Hage - St. Petersburg
4. #94 Charlie Meyer - Pinellas Park
5. #27 John Baranauskas - St. Petersburg
V8 Thunder Stock Feature - 20 Laps - 20 Cars
1. #68 Drew Matissek - New Port Richey
2. # 3 Jamie Shahid - Floral City
3. #14 Alexander Wilder - Floral City - 2008 Thunder Stock Champion
4. #30 Tom McKay
5. #34 Darrell Demonbreun - Bushnell
Women's Powder Puff Feature - 10 Laps - 7 Cars
1. #98 Bonnie Yoakam - Hernando
2. #47 Gina Evans - Williston
3. #22 Marsha McCall - ?
- Login or register to post comments
- send to friend
