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World Of Outlaws, Dwarf Cars Make Final
2015 Appearance Sunday At Antioch Speedway
Oval Motorsports remains committed to Sprint Car racing at Antioch Speedway. In 2015, the track is crowning a Winged 360 Sprint Car champion for the second straight season. This year, that honor belongs to third generation racer Shawn Arriaga. The track will wrap up its 17th consecutive Wingless Spec Sprint season with Kyle Bakkie heading for his first championship.
To top it off, the track is in its fifth year of having at least one World Of Outlaws Winged 410 Sprint Car Series race. This is actually the second appearance of the year for the premier Winged Sprint Car Tour of the United States. It was Daryn Pittman winning the March 2015 race to become the sixth different winner in the six visits. We have yet to have a repeat winner as Kerry Madsen, NASCAR star Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic, Tim Kaeding and Steve Kinser are the other winners going back to 2011.
One driver yet to win at Antioch is the current WoO point leader, Donny Schatz. Donny does have a second and a fourth as his two best Antioch finishes. Heading into Monday’s race at Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington, Schatz holds a 416 point lead over Shane Stewart in the championship battle. Schatz has racked up 57 Top 10 finishes and 49 Top 5‘s this year, and he has also won an impressive 26 times, leaving little doubt as to why he is the point leader.
Stewart held a 123 point lead over Kerry Madsen in the race for second. His impressive stat line includes 47 Top 10‘s, 31 Top 5‘s and eight feature triumphs. Madsen, meanwhile, is in the midst of his best season on the tour, and he has 51 Top 10 finishes, which is second only to Schatz. Madsen also has 22 Top 5‘s and one win this year, keeping him 41 points ahead of Grass Valley, California native Brad Sweet.
Sweet actually raced at Antioch over a decade ago and won several races on the BCRA Midget Lites Tour before moving up to race Sprint Cars and some NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series races. Sweet has 47 Top 10‘s, 23 Top 5‘s and three Main Event triumphs. Brad has two fourth place finishes in WoO action at Antioch, including the March race, where he chased third place finisher Madsen across the line.
Joey Saldana is tied with Sweet for fifth going into the Grays Harbor race. Saldana has 45 Top 10‘s, 31 Top 5‘s and two wins this season, but he tops the tour with 14 Fast Times. He does have one second place finish at Antioch and should not be counted out in the battle for victory. Only 72 points behind Saldana in sixth is California native Paul McMahon. McMahon nearly won the latest Antioch race before settling for second. His stat line includes 43 Top 10‘s, 23 Top 5‘s and 2 victories.
The Tour is heading down its stretch run, and a field of over 30 cars is likely for this race as several top California teams are anticipated. The busy WoO Tour schedule sees them racing at Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon on Wednesday before headlining the Gold Cup Race Of Champions at Chico Silver Dollar Speedway this Friday and Saturday. Antioch marks the final California appearance of 2015 before they head back east. So, if you want to check out the best drivers in Winged 410 Sprint Car racing, Sunday at Antioch Speedway will be your last chance of the year.
You can order your tickets for this race at the official World Of Outlaws site HERE.
A story we ran on the blog earlier this year breaks down the previous finishes for the World Of Outlaws at Antioch, and it can be found HERE.
Here is a look at the Top 10 in points coming into this week (Monday) and a look at the finish from the previous Antioch race in March.
2015 World Of Outlaws Point Standings
Pos. Car Driver Total Diff Wins T-5 T-10 QT
1 15 Donny Schatz 8548 0 26 49 57 4
2 2 Shane Stewart 8132 -416 8 31 47 4
3 29 Kerry Madsen 8009 -539 1 22 51 9
4 49 Brad Sweet 7958 -590 3 23 47 2
5 71M Joey Saldana 7958 -590 2 31 45 14
6 51 Paul McMahan 7886 -662 2 24 43 4
7 9 Daryn Pittman 7873 -675 4 22 43 1
8 7s Jason Sides 7596 -952 1 12 28 2
9 7 David Gravel 7411 -1137 0 6 23 2
10 1S Logan Schuchart 7156 -1392 0 4 22 1
Antioch Speedway
World of Outlaws Sprint Car
March 29, 2015
Fin. Sr. No. Driver
1 2 9 Daryn Pittman
2 1 51 Paul McMahan
3 4 29 Kerry Madsen
4 6 49 Brad Sweet
5 3 O Bud Kaeding
6 7 71M Joey Saldana
7 5 24R Rico Abreu
8 8 88X Tanner Thorson
9 9 41 Jason Johnson
10 11 83JR Tim Kaeding
11 10 11K Kraig Kinser
12 12 2 Shane Stewart
13 14 22K Shane Golobic
14 18 00 Jason Statler
15 15 15 Donny Schatz
16 13 5v Colby Copeland
17 19 18 Ian Madsen
18 16 17W Bryan Clauson
19 21 7 Craig Dollansky
20 20 3C Jonathan Allard
21 24 83 David Gravel
22 22 7S Jason Sides
23 23 24 Terry McCarl
24 17 31C Justin Cox
Dwarf Cars Added To Antioch Speedway Sunday
Initially, the IMCA Sport Modifieds were on the card for Sunday's race at Antioch Speedway, but management realized that this was the week of the IMCA Nationals race in Boone, Iowa and pulled the date. The Dwarf Cars were added to the card last week. Despite the late addition of this race date, car count is expected to be strong for what is probably the final appearance of the division this season. The Dwarf Cars are in the midst of their 18th championship season at Antioch Speedway, but the championship is in hand.
That honor will fall to Three Nuts Racing’s David Teves. Teves tops the division in Main Event wins and had a streak of all Top 3 finishes since debuting his car midway through the season until the latest race. Teves was leading when mechanical issues sidelined him. Even with son and two time winner Adam Teves earning another Top 5 finish that night, David still holds an insurmountable 58 point lead. Young Adam isn’t in much danger of being passed either, meaning it is likely to be a Teves 1-2 finish in points this season.
Two time champion Danny Wagner does have a mathematical chance of passing A. Teves in the standings and was impressive in his third win of the season last time out. However, if Adam just starts the feature this week, that will clinch his point position. Wagner, meanwhile, has to keep running strong to hold onto second. He beat two time winner Mike Corsaro to win the latest race, but he only leads Corsaro by 20 points in the battle for third. It looks as if Wagner is intent on trying to hold down third. Also in the hunt, 26 points behind Wagner and 6 in back of Corsato is Kevin Miraglio. Kevin had another Top 5 finish last time, but he is hoping he can get a big win in front of a crowd of WoO Sprint Car fans.
The opportunity to race in front of an open wheel fan base could lure drivers to the track that we haven’t seen this season. Though some drivers will be trying to prepare for the big Dwarf Car Nationals in Marysville at the end of the month, racing this Sunday night at Antioch could prove very tempting to them. Most of the top drivers from this season should be in action, including impressive rookie Miranda Chappa, who holds down sixth in the standings. Brian Gray and Thomas Leiby are anticipated as is Tim Reeder, who just put a motor in his #5n car. These three drivers and 2010 champion Jerry Doty all rank inside the Top 10 in points.
Three Nuts Racing's Kurtis Craig has struggled since his mid season debut, but the 2013 Top 5 point runner had a break through night last time out with a heat race win and a Top 5 finish. Two other drivers who have been running up front in recent races are Pat Urdahl and Josh Miller. We're hoping to see these three hard chargers as well as Chuck Weir. Like Miller, Weir had a Top 10 finish last time, and Weir is currently second in points this year at Merced Speedway.
When you look at it, a full field of Sprint Cars and Dwarf Cars makes Sunday a show you’ll want to see. There should be some great racing all the way around, and the competition is so tough that you don’t know who might win. For further information, check out the official Oval Motorsports Website.
