Okay, I was bored and had a few minutes, so I threw something together for the heck of it based on the information I got. I don't claim to be official. Just thought I'd put something out there since there's not much out there at the moment.
There were plenty of thrills and spills to be witnessed Saturday night as the 50th season of racing action continued at Antioch Speedway. When it was all said and done, there were four new winners in the winner's circle.
After having his clean sweep effort thwarted by newcomer Ryan Risconi's feature victory last week, 360 Sprint Car veteran "Cowboy" Craig Smith was not to be denied as he won the Trophy Dash and heat race and capped it all with a Main Event victory. Smith battled it out with 2009 Wingless Spec Sprint champion Billy Aton in his two preliminary victories. Aton ran third in the feature as Jeremy Burt scored the runner up finish behind point leader Smith. Art McCarthy and Brandon Davis completed the top five finish. Coming off of his surprise win of last week, Risconi's bid for another victory ended abruptly with his flip.
In Wingless Spec Sprint action, 2007 champion Jim Perry Jr. held off David Hays Jr. in winning his heat race and grabbed Trophy Dash honors with his victory over point leader David Press. Tommy Laliberte battled Press to win his heat race. Two division racer Aton's hard luck start in Spec Sprints continued as he scratched from the feature. Like the 360 Sprint Car feature, this race was not without incident as former Marysville champion Chris Magoon flipped. Meanwhile, 2008 division champion "Bullet"Billy Macedo halted Perry's bid for the sweep with an impressive Main Event victory. Rick Sharp grabbed the third podium position as Press and Gary Nelson rounded out the top five at the finish.
Now racing in his seventh decade, "The Sundrop Kid" Larry Damitz remains one of the top drivers in any division he competes in. After placing second in the season opening Super Stock Main Event to former Petaluma champion Mitch Machado, the ageless veteran turned the tables on him with the feature victory. Machado, who beat Damitz in the heat race, settled for second ahead of Eric "Bad News" Berendsen. "Rookie Of The Year" hopeful Fred Ryland and Brent Lawrence completed the top five at the checkers.
The season opener for the Hobby Stocks produced a 15 car field, but former division champion Dan McCown scratched before the feature. The night was not without a highlight for McCown, who held off Erik Schantin in winning his heat race. Jeff Bentancourt claimed a heat race victory ahead of Chris Sorensen in the only blemish of the night for Sorensen. Sorensen turned the tables on Bentancourt with a victory in the Trophy Dash and followed it up with a win in the Main Event. Paul DeLucca brought it home in second, followed by Michael Rydman, Brad Myers and Schantin.
On the schedule for next Saturday night is the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series for their first of two scheduled appearances, along with the Dwarf Cars. On April 10th, the Dirt Modifieds return to action along with the Wingless Spec Sprints, Super Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Mini Trucks and Four Bangers.
