Citrus

[flvideo]

Wayne "The Rocket" Jefferson took the win in the first Annual Eddie Brann Memorial. Man What a race. Lee Collins started on the pole and He led til I think lap 22 and the rocket took over and he weathered several cautions To come home with the Chwckers. Scotty McDaniels was second but he was DQ'ed in tech. Citrus season Champion who finished 3rd was awarded second. I got to meet Andys, OSF came by and said Hi, and Winger was there taking his pictures as usual. I'll post som pic tomorrow evening. All in all, it was a good week-end, with some good friends and the racing community came through agin. All the love that was shown for Barbie Brann was touching. It was a special time. Hopfully we'll do this agin next year.
I for one will be there with bells on. Bob...

[Andy S]

It really was a great thing to be part of and the sense of community and everyone pulling together for such a great cause was overwhelming. Really good to meet so many KARNACians for the first time as well, like Flvideo, Carol Wicks, Winger, Kenny Alderman and of course the wonderful Ron Abney Sr. And I got to hang out with that guy with the intials again. OCD? RAF? Something like that. He still didn't get my email address, thankfully.

It was my first experience of Citrus County Speedway too, and I was very, very impressed with the whole set-up. A very well run, efficient show with only minimal hold-ups usually for clean-up after fluid leaks, and the staff there are a real credit to the sport as they were friendly, helpful and made my own job for the night so much easier. The racing was great too with plenty of excitement, and the track was well lit, easily visible all around from the stands, and best of all a working scoreboard!

Biggest thanks of all go to Carol Wicks and Tony Carreno for thinking of me and inviting me to be part of this. They were looking out for me right from the start, made me feel incredibly welcome, and I'm so glad last night was such a resounding success for them after all their hard work. I'm really looking forward to writing this one up, and I just hope I can capture the atmosphere and sentiment that was all around last night.

If you need me, count me in for next year too!

[Edm]

It really was a great thing to be part of and the sense of community and everyone pulling together for such a great cause was overwhelming. Really good to meet so many KARNACians for the first time as well, like Flvideo, Carol Wicks, Winger, Kenny Alderman and of course the wonderful Ron Abney Sr. And I got to hang out with that guy with the intials again. OCD? RAF? Something like that. He still didn't get my email address, thankfully.

It was my first experience of Citrus County Speedway too, and I was very, very impressed with the whole set-up. A very well run, efficient show with only minimal hold-ups usually for clean-up after fluid leaks, and the staff there are a real credit to the sport as they were friendly, helpful and made my own job for the night so much easier. The racing was great too with plenty of excitement, and the track was well lit, easily visible all around from the stands, and best of all a working scoreboard!

Biggest thanks of all go to Carol Wicks and Tony Carreno for thinking of me and inviting me to be part of this. They were looking out for me right from the start, made me feel incredibly welcome, and I'm so glad last night was such a resounding success for them after all their hard work. I'm really looking forward to writing this one up, and I just hope I can capture the atmosphere and sentiment that was all around last night.

If you need me, count me in for next year too!

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YEAH, whatever, tell us about the racing.

[carolwicks]

Citrus...

Andy...
thank you but the pleasure was mine. Every once in awhile we get to meet people who GIVE so much back to racing. You are one of those people and we are all greatful for when you came along. Dont forget to post about the fun event at your museum ... ;-) you will reach alot of people on here who will appreciate having a nice place to bring their kids ...you are such a pleasure to be around!
Critter: WOW... none of this would have happened if you hadnt allowed us to have such a wonderful display of love for a fallen "soldier"... it is obvious that the Brann family are loved in a special way. Thank you for opening the speedway for us and for making us all so comfortable.
Tony Carreno: another WOW... you and Cheryl are so special. I know how much work you put into this and I also know you didnt really consider it work. It was a labor of love and that was obvious all night. Your heart is HUGE! Your love is STRONG and YOUR CAR WON!!!! WTG ROCKETMAN!!!! rofllll thank you for taking me in and allowing me to help make this event one of the most successful ever. OHH and thank you for the heater. We were all enjoying the heat when it started to stink... hahaha Frank got too close and it burned the hair off his legs. he didnt even know til we told him to back up...theres one in every crowd. ROFLOAO!!!! hahaha
Paula... thank you for not letting me beat up the guy that got MY helmet! You are another who worked so hard. Paula spent the entire night selling Tee shirts, raffle tickets (for my helmet) and making sure things were straight with the money. A system with Linda Collins assured the money collected was safe! Great job! I forgot the name of the lady who held "MY" helmet as you walked thru the pits and grandstands but that was no easy task... TONY STEWART... I would have taken such good care of it...hahaha
DRIVERS!!!! there would not have been a show without you. I havent seen so many OWs in a long long time... Scottie Mc Daniels... I am so sorry about the DQ... I, as well as everyone else, thought it was your best race ever... also felt bad for Daniel Webster but I guess tech has to do their job... I was so happy to see you but sad that you left with a DQ...
My last big thank you is to CHASE JEFFERSON who kept Bobby busy building race tracks in the dirt. We just had a heck of a time trying to keep Tony from demolishing them! You are such a delightful adorable child. I love you!
Wayne Calkins... you are the man! you came from the back to the front with such ease and even tho there werent many cars in the figure eight you manage to keep us on the edge of our seats. You are always such a pleasure to watch!
One of the BEST things about these special events is seeing people we love but seldom get to be with... My dear friend LeRoy Porter, Mr. Excitement Jimmy Cope, Daniel Webster, Bobby Balwin, James Glover, Jeff Scofield, Coop, FAIN SKINNER, your smile is beautiful... glad you did alot of that last night. have missed you! even got to see Jeff and Nancy Sloan! So many people I had a complete HUG saturation!!!!
Food was good, service excellent, people awesome, race organized, and all in all a fantastic night til i got to drive home! 3 hours!... but worth it!
Last but not least... BARBIE... what a strong amazing woman. it was a very emotional night and Barbie was so strong.. greeting everyone and keeping her head high. It is so easy to understand the success of the night because of the love ... the love, not only for EDDIE BRANN but also our beloved Barbie... God bless you Barbie and may He keep you safe and cared for until our 2nd. annual memorial EDDIE BRANN night!!! Tony & Cheryl... we got lots to do! hahahha
Much love to everyone who made this happen...
carolwicks aka OZ

I am so sorry I missed Ron Abney and Edm... its hard for me to get around and I stayed mostly at our slab...

HOLY COW!!!! i have to do this one more time... JACK SMITH!!!! thank you so so much for allowing us to hog the Karnac message board for so many months. Without your kindness it would have been extremely difficult to spread the word!!! Hope you are feeling much better.... Thank you so much Jack! OK... Over and out... i think!
OH CRUD.... one more... BOBERT! (florida video Bob)... Because of you we can review this night forever by watching your videos... hard work and a labor of love. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[Old Sunshine Fan]

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YEAH, whatever, tell us about the racing.

Settle your arse down son.. The way Andy prepares his writing can't be done in a just a few hours...and the results will show it....

I watched Andy in action as he collected all the valuable information for his accounting of the nights events (I just hope he doesn't include everything I ate while at the track - that would make his story a bit long).

It is truly amazing to see him in action (although, with all the clothing he was wearing, you would not recognize him).

I ran into a lot of KARNACIANS, including the Stalnakers, Jeff Sr, and his three sons, Charlie, Jeff Jr and Michael. The highlight of my talking with people was Kenny Aldereman who raced at Sunshine as did his dad Dale and Unlce Sonny. (Kenny - thanks for the kind words, I really enjoyed talking with you).

Looked for Winger, but he must have been working hard AGAIN.

Hey, MY BUDDY RONNIE Abney (you know, the guy that invited me to "STOP BY MY TRAILER" back when he was pissed at me...) is quite a guy (quite a BIG guy)... He quickly offered Andy and I a sandwich (which of course I declined just in case he was saving a SPECIAL sandwich to get even with me)
I can say one thing FER SUR - RONNIE Abney is a good - good guy... enjoyed meeting him. (I bet that big sucker ate my sandwich when I left).

[Andy S]

Settle your arse down son.. The way Andy prepares his writing can't be done in a just a few hours...and the results will show it....

It's that kind of attention to detail and preparation that Edm just can't appreciate, and is why my reports are always so detailed, but why Ed's car falls apart every time it gets a tiny little tap on track...

Hey, OSF - you didn't have to worry when you went to see Ron Abney Sr. Like I told you, I had your back! If you noticed, I positioned myself carefully so, should anything have gone wrong, I could have got away quickly and run all the way back to Orlando, coming back today to pick up my car once the coast was clear.

A real pleasure to meet all those people yesterday, but especially Ron and all his family who were working so hard all day to get that car out there and missed out on the feature by the narrowest of margins.

[carolwicks]

Oh Yeh!!!!

Thought I was done... KENNY ALDERMAN! what a pleasure meeting you... Thank you for making the effort to come by and chat... hope to see you again.
carolwicks aka OZ

[DeMan951]

Since EDm can't wait for Andy here is my race report.

Their were cars on the track some were good some were not. They went in circles for a lot of laps, and eventually a black and white flag was shown and the cars stopped.

There I think that should satisfy EDm until Andy does his good report.

In all honesty it was a great night with the most talent I have seen race Modifieds in a LONG LONG time. OSF it was nice meeting you next time we will have to talk a bit more but my stomach was growling.

[Frasson118]

Sounds like a great field of top-quality cars.

Although it isn't exactly "neutral" territory, many of those cars don't run Citrus on a regular basis. It makes for a pretty interesting line-up, when many top cars, from several different tracks face each other on a very rare occasion.

That was what made "The Race of Champions" special for many decades up North. Get 100 cars, with almost identical rules, put them on a neutral track, and see who could bring the bragging rights home.

It was the only time of each year, that the NY cars ran against the New England cars, the Virginia invaders, the occasional Western PA car, and a few guys that would bring full-bodied Late Models from Michigan, Ohio, etc...

Anybody who EVER won the R.O.C. will tell you... it's STILL the highlight of their career!

This race reminds me a little of how that was done up there, and I have visions that something great like that could happen here too!

Very nice first step!

[ronabneysr]

i would like to wish ever one a merry christmas and a happy new year

carol wicks sorry i missed you -- osf as usual glad to see you and glad to meet you andy s winger and gang at picture shed critter - carenno you all done a good job barbie brann and family will be praying for you thru the holidays


to ever one else take care be careful and have a happy holiday ron abney sr family open wheel 35- 14

[Edm]

Deman, great report, I really enjoyed reading all two sentences of your race report.

Andy, those "slight taps" are a slight understatement, and this isn't France, way back is not having somebodies back.

Osf, Son, actually turned down a free sandwich, liar.

Ron, did OSF come back for the sandwich when no body was looking?

[Old Sunshine Fan]

DeMan951

Also good meeting you (and I sure can understand a stomach growling - God knows, mine does each and every hour). Citrus is the only track I have found that "Hides" its track radio frequency . You'd think I was asking for the combination for their safe. I'd sure have enjoyed the race more if I could have listened in on the scanner as I do at all the other tracks. I had their old numbers but they have been changed since my last visit there with the radio.