Yoakam eats up ground in hurry

INVERNESS -- Robbie Yoakam was not worried about starting nine rows back in Saturday night's 40-lap Mini Stock feature at Citrus County Speedway.

After all, said Yoakam, who had the fastest qualifying lap, "Forty laps is a long, long race. I figure let the other guys worry about the first half. All I'm interested in is the second half."

When the second half rolled around, Yoakam had no trouble putting the power to the pavement, allowing him to claim his third feature win of the season.

Getting there wasn't necessarily an easy task for the Hernando driver.

Yoakam had to get by some of the division's most formidable machines to get to the front of the 22-car field.

"We had a lot of cautions early on, and it kind of makes you nervous on the restart not knowing if everybody's aware of where you are," Yoakam said.

"I just said to myself, "Well, let's not be in too big a hurry here and see what everybody's going to do.' "

With each lap, Yoakam's car seemed to stick better in the racing groove.

On one lap, he managed to pass three cars to get into the top five. Finally, on Lap 26, he made a dash inside of leader Tom Zimmerman to take the lead.

"I think his tires were a little overheated at that point because I saw him push way up in the turn, so I ducked under him and drove on," Yoakam said.

Yoakam, who plans to run full time at the speedway this season, has built a sizable points lead in the opening weeks.

While his three victories may appear to signify a great run toward his first championship, Yoakam says he'd rather wait a while before getting too excited.

"I'm just taking it week by week," he said. "You have to. It's a long season. But right now I'm smiling."

SANDERS ENDS DROUGHT: Late Model veteran driver Dale Sanders, who finished last season without a victory and third in the points standings, finally got his due.

After 10 laps of nose-to-tail dueling Saturday night, Sanders beat out Rex Struble at the wire to capture the title of the division's 30-lap feature event.

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