Just a note. I have updated this post with some information on the bottom, thanks to details being available on the races. I wasn't planning that, but I thought it might be nice to add a little color to the race report at Antioch since not much has really be out there over the past few seasons. These weekly updates are not necessarily a regular thing for this blog. Anyway, back to the post.
Cloudy Skies hovered over Antioch Speedway as the 50th season of racing on the quarter-mile clay oval went on as scheduled. When the final checkered flag flew on the evening, there were six new feature winners added to the list of 2010 winners.
The Dirt Modifieds are in an early scramble to determine who the contenders will be for the division's 21st championship, and there are some hard chargers at the front of the pack. Troy Foulger gave some early indication at the previous race that he would be a force by collecting a Trophy Dash victory. This time around, Foulger stepped it up a notch by holding off Joe Carr to claim the Main Event win. However, wasn't done there. The impressive Foulger won his second Trophy Dash of the season and a heat race to score a clean sweep and climb into second in the point standings.
A two time Petaluma Dirt Modified champion and respected car builder, Carr used his second place finish and heat race victory to maintain a 14 point lead over Foulger after two races. Jeff Thomas grabbed a third place finish ahead for former Antioch Street Stock champion Bobby Motts Jr. and Rick Karnes. Former track champions Scott Busby, Aaron Crowell and Kenny Neu were all in action but had problems and failed to finish inside the top ten.
In Round #3 of the 12th season of Wingless Spec Sprint racing at Antioch, it was an opportunity for drivers to make up some ground in the standings as the incoming leaders had problems. Previous winner Jim Perry Jr. flipped in preliminary action and would end up a disappointing seven in the feature. Meanwhile, Jeff Kindt made the most of his opportunity by grabbing wins in both his heat race and the Main Event. Only a second to 2008 champion "Bullet" Billy Macedo in the Trophy Dash blemished his otherwise perfect evening. Tom Laliberte chased Kindt across the line for a second place feature finish as Adam Kaeding placed third. Kaeding also collected a heat race victory. Incoming point leader David Press and Macedo rounded out the top five. Press now has an eight point lead over Perry after three races.
After the domination shown by point leader Mitch Machado and Larry Damitz in the previous two Super Stock races, Saturday night was a night for others to shine. Eric "Bad News" Berendsen continued an impressive start to his season by winning the heat race in front of Machado. However, the faeture event belonged to 2009 Pure Stock champion "Fast" Freddy Ryland. Looking for "Rookie Of The Year" honors, Ryland ran a good race to claim the checkered flag. After her struggles in the previous race, Natalie Perry turned things around nicely with an impressive second place finish in front of Machado, Berendsen and Damitz. Machado's lead over Damitz after three races is a slim eight points with Berendsen 12 points back.
In the competitive Pure Stock division, now in it's 16th championship season at Antioch, former Street Stock and Pure Stock champion Melissa Hansen returned to the division she got her start in and collected victories in her heat race and the Main Event. Paul DeLucca ran impressively in second to move into a tie for the point lead after two races. Chasing Hansen and DeLucca to complete the top five at the finish were Joe Cancilla, Dan McCown and Garrett Mayberry. This may have been Cancilla's best finish to date. McCown won his heat race to make this a nice rebound from the previous race, where mechanoical problems saw him scratch after winning a heat race. DeLucca and Chris Sorensen are tied for the point lead after two races.
The tenth season of Mini Truck championship racing at the speedway kicked off with some competitive action, and when it was all said and done, Tom Brown, last season's third ranked driver, beat Travis Dutra, the runner up last season, for the Main Event victory. Brown also collected the win in his heat race. Dan Wagner placed third ahead of Jim Davis. Ray Bunn had a respectable outing with a fifth place feature finish and heat race victory.
Defending champion Patti Ryland opened the new Four Banger season with a Main Event victory ahead of Dayna Anderson. Frank Rosa won the heat race in front of Ryland before finishing third in the feature, followed by Ken Radabaugh and Dominique Myers.
Racing continues next Saturday at Antioch Speedway with Wingless Spec Sprints, Dirt Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars all on the schedule.
Note: Details have emerged on the Super Stock feature. Fred Ryland started in the third row outside and outside front row starter Mitch Mahchado raced into the early lead. Larry Damitz was running second but slowed dramatically entering Turn 3 on the opening lap as Ryland made contact with him. Natalie Perry and Eric Berendsen raced by for second and third as Machado already held a big lead. Damitz circled the track slowly for a lap before pitting, and Eric Berendsen and Ryland tangled in Turn 4 to bring out a caution flag. The yellow flag saved Natalie Perry a lap as she had been passed just as the yellow flag flew and the track does not race to the caution flag. Berendsen joined Damitz and Loyd Cline in the pits, and Machado picked the outside on the resatrt. Unfortunately for Machado, mechanical problems struck in Turn 2 as Ryland raced into the lead ahead of Perry. With Machado out, Ryland took command on the restart and sped to a convincing victory, lapping second place Perry with five laps to go. Machado was scored third ahead of Berendsen and Damitz.
A few details are in on the Mini Truck feature. Pete Paulsen scratched prior to the race, and Mike Harmon, Garrett Mayberry and Greg Williams were sidelined from the feature early. Tom Brown charged out to an early lead, leaving the battles for second and fourth. Travis Dutra had his hands full holding off Dan Wagner for second, while Frank Rosa waged a fierce battle with Jim Davis and Ray Bunn for fourth. Rosa held fourth until about the halfway mark when Davis and Bunn raced by for fourth and fifth. By then, Dutra had a good hold on second and was steadily reeling in leader Brown. On lap 18, the lead duo caught slower traffic, and Brown made the right move on the inside through Turns 3 and four. From there, Brown brought it home to victory with Dutra settling for second. Wagner finish a strong third as Davis held off the challenge of Bunn for fourth. Rosa's truck faded late with problems, but he still took a checkered flag in sixth.
A few details are in on the Pure Stock Main Event. Melissa Hansen charged into the lead at the start ahead of Dan McCoun, Brian Beard, Jim Freethy and previous winner Chris Sorensen. Working the outside, Sorensen charged past Freethy for fourth on lap three, and a caution flag flew after five laps for debris, wiping out almost a full straight lead for Hansen over McCoun. As Hansen remained in command on the restart, Sorensen raced into third and made a bold inside move on Beard for second in Turn 3. Contact between the two saw the left side of Beard's car get into the air as Freethy and Eric Schantin gained second and third. The yellow flag reshuffled the lineup as there is no racing to the caution flag, putting McCoun in second behind Hansen on the restart. Sorensen was still third at that point, only to be passed by the dueling duo of Freethy and Schantin. Charging down the front stretch on lap seven, Freethy made contact on his inside pass of McCoun for second, leaving a three abreast battle behind him for third in Turns 1 & 2. Sorensen made the outside work to quickly take third ahead of Schantin, but Hansen was already a straightaway in ahead in first. Mike Rydman and Pat Gooding tangled in Turn 4 for a lap 12 caution flag. On the restart, Sorensen rode the outside groove around Hansen to claim the lead, but he quickly lost the lead with a right rear flat tire as Hansen led Freethy and Schantin. Hansen again pulled away, leading a side by side battle between Freethy and Schantin for second. Joe Cancilla and Paul DeLucca waged a good battle for fourth. Cancilla's car began to smoke a little as he lost fourth to DeLucca on lap 18. Working Turn 2 on the last lap, contact between Schantin and Freethy saw the two hook bumpers and spin. This gave DeLucca second, but Hansen would cruise to an impressive victory. Cancilla nursed it home to a third place finish as McCoun and Garrett Mayberry rounded out the top five.
Details have emerged on what looked to be an action packed Wingless Spec Sprint feature. Jeff Kindt held the early lead over Adam Kaeding and Tom Laliberte. Tyler Henriquez spun out of fourth in Turn 3 and did an easy roll to end his race on lap three. Laliberte made a strong move to take over the lead, and held it on another restart ahead of Kindt and Billy Macedo. Kaeding and Jim Perry Jr. ran close to the leaders in fourth and fifth. Kaeding made a low pass around Macedo in Turn 2 of the sixth lap for third, and Perry followed closely into fourth. Meanwhile, Laliberte had nearly a straightaway advantage on Kindt as he closed in on slower traffic. As all eyes were on Kaeding and Perry in the close batle for third, a slower car gave Laliberte problems in Turn 3 of the 11th lap, causing him to spin. Kaeding slowed entering the turn to avoid Laliberte and Perry rolled trying to avoid contact with Kaeding. Kindt led Kaeding and Macedo on the restart as Laliberte restarted in the back. As Kaeding gave Kindt all he could handle in the battle for the lead, David Press moved by Macedo with an inside pass for third on lap 16. Laliberte managed to move back into fifth by then and joined the third place battle. A Trevor Press spin in Turn 4 brought out a yellow flag after 18 laps. Laliberte raced past Macedo for fourth on the restart and rode the outside on lap 21 to take third from D. Press. As Kindt continued to hold off the advances of Kaeding, Laliberte moved up to challenge the leaders. You could throw a blanket over the lead trio as they battled fiercely for the lead over the final few circuits. Laliberte put it up on the high side in a last attempt to race by the two cars in front of him in the final turn, and he beat Kaeding back to the line. However, it was Kindt taking the checkered flag ahead of Laliberte, Kaeding, D. Press and Macedo.
More information has emerged on the Four Banger feature. Defending champion Patti Ryland and Ken Radabaugh led the pack on the front row with Dayna Anderson starting in fifth. Ryland charged into the lead from the start as Frank Rosa raced past Radabaugh for second. Anderson settled into third on lap two and began working on Rosa for second. On lap eight, an inside move on the front stretch gained Anderson second from Rosa. Ryland pulled away to a half lap lead at the checkered flag. Anderson was a solid second as a struggling Rosa managed to hold off Radabaugh for third.
Finally got word on the Dirt Modified feature, which was probably the race of the night. Scott Busby and Nick Caughman Jr. shared the front row of the feature, but the race had to be restarted when contact in Turn 3 sent Busby spinning and resulted in a pileup. The returning Kevin Fitzgerald led Troy Foulger and Joe Carr on the restart. The three cars battled closely up front with Carr taking second from Foulger and using an outside pass in Turn 2 of the fifth lap to take the lead from Fitzgerald. Jeff Thomas was running fourth as the lead four cars ran in close formation during the first half of the race. Around the 10th lap, Fitzgerald slipped past Carr on the low side in Turns 3 & 4. Carr made a move on the inside on the front stretch on lap 12,. but was impeded by traffic. A yellow flag waved for Terry DeCarlo, who retired to the pits. With five laps remaining, Fitzgerald led Carr, Foulger and Thomas on the restart. Foulger made a move on Carr on the inside, but Carr still held second at the completion of the lap. Carr kept it on the outside and made a move around Fitzgerald exiting Turn 2. As they hit Turn 3, the two drivers fought over the inside groove with Fitzgerald spinning in the incident to end his race with mechanical problems. Carr led Foulger and Thomas on the restart. Carr ran low entering the final turn and pushed high on exit, allowing Foulger to move to the inside. In a drag race to the checkered flag, Foulger collected the victory ahead of Carr. Thomas was a solid third ahead of Bobby Motts Jr. and Rick Karnes.
