The Overview:
Citrus County is back! It does not appear to be a shoestring operation but a fully functioning Racetrack.
Complainer’s Corner:
>The Show-- “Started” at 5:30 with the afternoon sun-ball in the spectator’s eyes, as usual–but hey, that’s Citrus. We got to look at the near empty and nicer grandstands on the backstretch–that were in the shade.
The first race did not run until 6:30. They ran Features only, and qualifying in between. As usual, qualifying is boring as watching paint dry. Run it early, or draw, or…we really do not care, but qualifying is a waste of one’s life, from a fan’s perspective.
There were five features run, I only stayed for four, and left at 10:30–yes, race fans, that is four races in five hours. The officials like officiatin’, but I can assure you, the mood ranged from apathy to upset in the stands.
>The Chow–I intentionally drove past the fast food places to support the track. If you want to support the track, do the same. Otherwise…
>The Restarts–They ran “Delaware” style restarts. That is, the leader was out front and the rest of the field was two wide behind him. Some like this type of restart. I am not one of them.
The Racing:
Pretty darn good. Citrus has unusual banking coming out of four that pitches the cars toward the front stretch wall. Repeatedly in both the Street Stock and Mini classes the leader would have the second place guy get under him, they would race side by side for laps, and eventually the second place guy would take the point. Unbelievably, the new leader would then go high, and the new second place guy would get under him, and…repeat. Over and over again. It made for exciting, if restrictor plate type racing.
Open suggestion: If you are in front, protect the bottom. The high side is a long way around.
It is my understanding that Wayne Anderson has largely retired to let his sons, Ricky and Randy, take the wheel. They looked good, and looked like they were trying to bring the cars home in one piece, which they did in second and third.
The Winners:
Tommy Schnader in Late Models, Paul Fletcher in Street Stocks, Chris Allen in the mod-minis, and Anthony LaPoint in the mini stocks. All were well deserving winners.
Scary Stuff on Halloween:
Curtis Flanagan had the street stock field covered in his good looking #3 Camaro, until his throttle apparently stuck, and he hit the turn one (ramp shaped) concrete barricades and barrel rolled out of the joint. He seemed okay, the car, no doubt, not so much. A poured wall in one and two would be much safer…
Great Stuff on Halloween:
Dora Thorne gave one of her trophies to her “biggest fan”, and it brought the young lady to tears. Big props to Dora!