Roughly 60 cars in five divisions rolled into Antioch Speedway last Saturday night to begin the 50th consecutive season of championship racing on the quarter-mile clay oval. The evening featured plenty of exciting, side by side racing with lots of thrills and spills.
In one incident, shortly after a restart, leader Dan Gonderman rolled his Dirt Modified. The 1999 Wingless Spec Sprint champion was uninjured in the incident, and the crowd donated over $500 in rollover money for his damaged race car.
Former Petaluma Dirt Modified champion Joe Carr would take the checkered flag in that event, followed by Nick DeCarlo and 2004 Antioch champion Aaron "Crazy Man" Crowell. The Modifieds are off this week, but they return on April 10th, following the April 3rd appearance of the high powered Golden State Challenge Series Sprint Cars.
There will be Sprint Cars in action this Saturday night, including the winged 360 Sprint Cars and the Wingless Spec Sprints. The 360 Sprints are booked for several races this season in response to driver interest for dates at the track.
Following his strong showing last week, veteran Sprint Car racer "Cowboy" Craig Smith holds a two point lead over Ryan Rusconi, 52-50. In the event, Rusconi a newcomer to the speedway, scored the feature win, ending Smith's bid for a clean sweep after Smith had won the dash and heat race.
2009 Wingless Spec Sprint champion Billy Aton made his 360 Sprint Car debut with a top five finish and sits four points arrears of Devon Osthermer, 48-44, in the battle for third.
A good field of Wingless Spec Sprints opened their season last week, and following his impressive showing, Arvo Backholm holds a four point lead over former Watsonville champion David Press, 54-50. Backholm nearly had a clean sweet of dash, heat and feature, but he was penalized one position for a rule infraction on a restart, making Press the winner of that race.
One of the top drivers of the last ten years in the division, Jim Perry Jr., was in action last week, but the 2007 champion finished outside the top ten.
Super Stocks return this week, following former Petaluma champion Mitch Machado's victory over ageless veteran Larry Damitz. Damitz won the dash and heat race and carries a four point lead into this race.
With his third place finish, second generation racer Eric "Bad News" Berendsen holds a four point lead over 2009 Pure Stock champion Fred Ryland, 48-44, in the battle for third.
After Nick Squatritto's season opening victory over Jerry Doty, last week, the the Dwarf Cars are off this week, but the always exciting Pure Stocks make their season debut. With Ryland moving up, it appears we may be headed for a new champion in the division.
Grandstands open at 5:00 p.m. with the first race to start at 6:00 p.m. General admission is $12 for adults. A family ticket good for two adults and two children is $30, while seniors 65 and older pay $6.
Top 3 Feature Finishers, March 20
Dirt Modifieds-Joe Carr, Nick DeCarlo, Aaron Crowell.
Wingless Spec Sprints-David Press, Arvo Buckholm, Rick Sharp.
360 Winged Sprint Cars-Ryan Rustoni, Devin Ostheimer, Craig Smith.
Super Stocks-Mitch Machado, Larry Damitz, Eric Berenden.
Dwarf Cars-Nick Squatritto, Jerry Doty, Tony Carmignani.
Dirt Modifieds-Joe Carr, Nick DeCarlo, Aaron Crowell.
Wingless Spec Sprints-David Press, Arvo Buckholm, Rick Sharp.
360 Winged Sprint Cars-Ryan Rustoni, Devin Ostheimer, Craig Smith.
Super Stocks-Mitch Machado, Larry Damitz, Eric Berenden.
Dwarf Cars-Nick Squatritto, Jerry Doty, Tony Carmignani.
