Pratt holds off Bresnahan for Citrus County victory

By LOGAN NEILL

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 10, 2000

INVERNESS -- Luck of the draw meant everything to Ricky Pratt on Saturday night at Citrus County Speedway.

Pratt, who qualified third fastest behind Late Model points leader Mike Bresnahan, nailed down the pole position by drawing the top pill for the 35-lap Pepsi Big Purse Challenge.

In the end, it was enough to keep the San Antonio driver out in front of the 15-car field the entire distance.

Bresnahan, who qualified with a 13.797 lap time, chased Pratt in earnest. But with only one caution flag, there was little opportunity to set him up for a pass.

Interestingly, the lone caution claimed the fortunes of Ricky Carlton, who was going for his third victory in a row. Carlton got taken out in a first lap collision with Leo McCullough.

Bresnahan ended up settling for second. Herb Neumann, Jr., Dale Sanders and Danny Johnson rounded out the top five.

Sportsman division rookie Jim Smith proved he had the strongest machine, taking a flag-to-flag victory in the 20-lap feature.

Smith, who has four wins this season, didn't find the going easy, however. He spent much of the late race holding off charging heat-winner Johnny Gann.

Gann, too, had his battles with Rex Struble and Mike Veltman, who finished third and fourth, respectively. Fifth place went to Brooksville's Alan Struble.

St. Petersburg's Bob Hage took home another addition for the family trophy case after capturing the 20-lap Figure 8 feature.

Hage -- who has been running this season along with his brother, Robbie, who has three wins to his credit -- outran Mark Wilkins to the finish.

Ken Crews claimed the third spot ahead of Robbie Hage, with fifth place going to Charlie Meyer.

In Street Stocks, track newcomer John Gibbs received his first win of the season with a flag-to-flag run in the 20-lap feature event.

Gibbs took on a 26-car field and set the pace early. His only real threat came from points leader Wes Wilson, who chased Gibbs down several times but was unable to get by.

The runner-up spot was enough to put a little more cushion in his race for the crown.

The remaining top five spots went to Danny Cretty, Ernie Reed, who trails Wilson by 32 points; and Victor Stanley. Heat wins went to Reed, Don Teague and Mark Holms.

Mark Sowell followed up last week's return to form by notching his second victory in as many weeks.

Sowell, who has had an up-and-down season, outdueled John Coleman in a fierce late battle to the checkered flag.

Meanwhile, points leader George Neumann missed a couple of opportunities to overtake Coleman and had to settle for third. Heat-winner Mike Moore finished fourth ahead of Frank Coleman.

For the second week in a row, the outcome for the Hobby Stock feature was overturned at the tech barn.

Mickey Burns took the checkered flag in the 20-lap event. However, the springs in his machine were found to be illegal afterward.

That handed the victory over to Chris Hooker, who had to submit to tech scrutiny as well.

Hooker's victory was his sixth of the year, thus inching him closer to his first division championship. Second place went to Kreg Belcastro, who finished ahead of Beau Stevenson, Roy Perkins and Richie Smith.

Rick Badessa prevailed in a 12-car field to earn his first Street-Legal Junker win of the season.

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