Antioch Speedway. Marysville Raceway, Dixon Speedway, More

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Winebarger, Cooper, Gallaher Win 
George Steitz Memorial Event At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...May 24...Collen Winebarger won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Sunday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the George Steitz Memorial Freedom Series race, and thanks to additional sponsorship from Steitz Towing of Los Banos, the already increased winner's purse was elevated to $2,100 for the Oregon competitor. Winebarger runs the Superman logo as his number, and he lived up to that logo as he drove more than half of the race with a broken right front suspension.

Winebarger had a front-row start for the race and led Ryan Porter for one lap before Paul Culp spun in Turn 3 for a yellow flag. Following a Cody Laney spin on the first attempted restart, Winebarger continued to lead Porter and Riley Simmons. Contact sent Jimmy Lipke spinning in the second turn, where he collected Carl Berendsen II for a yellow flag. Winebarger continued to lead Porter and Simmons on the restart. As Winebarger pulled away from Porter, reigning IMCA State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon took the third position from Simmons on the fifth lap. A red flag flew after eight laps to check on somebody in the pit area, and it was discovered that Winebarger had the right front suspension damage. This didn't seem to slow him down a bit. There would be no yellow flags from here, but Porter was running closely behind Winebarger when the race first got going again. 2018 Merced champion Darrell Hughes II slipped past Simmons for third on the ninth lap with reigning Merced champion Troy Foulger coming from 10th to gain the fourth spot a lap later. Winebarger began to pull away from Porter a bit in the waning laps and would score the well-earned victory. Porter settled for second ahead of Hughes, Foulger and Fitzgibbon.

The IMCA Modifieds had 55 cars for this event. They ran six 10 lap heat races, and wins were earned by Hughes, Porter, Robert Miller, Winebarger, Fitzgibbon and Bobby Hogge IV. They ran three 10 lap B Mains, which would transfer the Top 3 finishers in each event into the feature race. Berendsen won the first race with a last-lap pass on race-long leader Zach Simpson. Simpson settled for second ahead of John Campos. Kellen Chadwick won the second race ahead of Austin Burke and Jesse Bailey. Laney led every lap to win the final B Main ahead of Ryan McDaniel and Craig Cassell.

Brian Cooper won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. With the increase from Steitz Towing, the win was worth $1,100 for the past IMCA State champion. Cooper had a front row start for the race and slipped into the early lead ahead of past Antioch champion Jeremy Hoff and Chase Thomas. Thomas had his hands full trying to hold off Todd Gomez and reigning State champion Guy Ahlwardt. Gomez finally got by for third on the sixth lap and slipped past Hoff for second a lap later. Cooper saw a good lead wiped out by a lap nine yellow flag for Brent Curran. Cooper continued to lead Gomez and Hoff on the restart. An inside pass in the fourth turn gained Thomas third on lap 11, but Thomas spun exiting Turn 2. Both Nick Spainhoward and Fred Ryland were collected in the incident. Cooper continued to lead Gomez and Saturday winner Michael Johnson on the restart. As Cooper had a good lead over Gomez, the battle was for third in the waning laps. An inside pass in the fourth turn gained Ahlwardt the third position on lap 19. Cooper went on to win ahead of Gomez, Ahlwardt, KC Keller and Johnson.

There were 53 Sport Modifieds, and 10 lap heat race wins went to David Pearson, Ahlwardt, Cooper, Johnson, Mark Garner and Thomas. Reigning track champion Tommy Fraser won the first 10 lap B Main ahead of Nick Caughman Jr and Cottage Grove champion David Schmidt. Brian Pearce turned in a flag-to-flag win of his own in the next race, followed by Kenny Shrader and Curran. The final B Main win went to Timothy Allerdings ahead of Jimmy Ford and the reigning Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce.

Rob Gallaher won the 15 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Hobby Stock Main Event. Thanks to $500 of sponsorship from Jay's Mobile Welding and $200 worth of sponsorship from Steitz Towing, the win paid three-time Ocean Speedway champion Gallaher $1,000. Johnny Wood had a front row start and set the early pace ahead of Matt Kile. An inside pass on the back stretch of the second lap gained James Thomson the second position with Rob Gallaher following closely into third. Gallaher made an inside pass on the front stretch of the fourth lap to take second from Thomson and set his sights on Wood. A low pass in Turn 4 of the eighth lap gained Rob Gallaher the lead as a slower car was in the path of Wood. Wood spun in the second turn on the ninth lap, but the yellow had already waived for Allen Neal. Rob Gallaher led the restart with Travis Dutra and Saturday winner Joe Gallaher settling into second and third. A yellow flag flew after the 10th lap as Billy Garner, Breanna Troen and Josh Leach tangled on the backstretch. Rob Gallaher continued to lead on the restart as his father Joe slipped past Dutra on the front stretch to take over second. However, Rob Gallaher set a good pace out front, leaving his father and Dutra to fight it out for second. At the checkered flag, Rob Gallaher was the happy winner with Joe Gallaher holding off Dutra for the runner-up finish. Thomson and Trent Wentworth completed the Top 5.

The four 10 lap heat races were won by Joe Gallaher, Troen, Wood and Dutra. Logan Clay won the first Hobby Stock B Main ahead of Jon Haney and Cameron Pierce. Neal got the win in the second B Main ahead of Jacob Mallet and Garner.

For scheduling updates and other important information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Winebarger, Johnson, Gallaher Triumphant 
At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...May 23...Collen Winebarger won the 15 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Winebarger is one of the top competitors in Oregon, and his win was worth $600. A track record 150 competitors turned out between the three divisions.

2018 IMCA State champion Shane DeVolder led the opening lap of the IMCA Modified Main Event. Following a yellow flag for a Riley Simmons spin in Turn 2, Winebarger charged past DeVolder for the lead. Reigning Watsonville champion Austin Burke settled into third, but he had his hands full battling Kellen Chadwick and John Campos. A low pass and Turn 2 of the fifth lap put Chadwick into the third position, and a lap six yellow flag waved for reigning State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon, Darrell Hughes II and Burke. Winebarger led this restart and a final restart on the eighth lap as DeVolder held second ahead of Chadwick. From deep in the pack, reigning Merced champion Troy Foulger moved up to battle Chadwick. While that side-by-side battle ensued, Winebarger sprinted to victory ahead of DeVolder. Chadwick managed to beat Foulger back to the line for third as Cody Laney completed the Top 5.

The 52 IMCA Modified competitors ran six 10 lap heat races. Wins went to Oregon competitors Winebarger, Craig Cassell and Jesse Bailey. Burke, Foulger and Nevada star Robert Miller won the other heats. The first of three 10 lap B Mains was won by Cody Burke ahead of Hughes and Fitzgibbon. Laney outran Simmons and Bobby Motts Jr to win the second B Main. Antioch Speedway Hall of Famer Jim Pettit II outdueled Oregon star Albert Gill to win the final B Main as JC Elrod finished third.

Bakersfield champion Michael Johnson won the 15 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This race was destined to go the distance without a yellow flag. Reigning Antioch Speedway champion Tommy Fraser set the early pace ahead of Johnson and Timothy Allerdings. Fraser set a good pace up front, but Johnson reeled him in and began a good battle by the eighth lap. Johnson made the inside pass on the backstretch of the ninth lap to take the lead, but they crossed the line in a dead heat. Johnson carried the momentum on the outside down the back stretch on the 11th lap that gave him the lead once again. This time, Johnson pulled away from Fraser for the impressive victory. Kenny Shrader finished third ahead of Brent Curran and Todd Gomez.

A track record 58 IMCA Sport Modifieds competed. Eight lap heat race wins were earned by Fraser, Todd Gomez, Curran, Brian Pearce, Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce and Shrader. Reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland led flag-to-flag to win the first of three 10 lap B Mains ahead of Mark Garner and Les Friend. KC Keller made a last lap pass on Jason Ferguson to win the second B Main with Adriane Frost settling for third. 2014 State champion and Nick Spainhoward won the final B Main ahead of Cottage Grove champion David Schmidt and Randy Miller.

Joe Gallaher won the 15 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Hobby Stock Main Event. Gallaher was the runner-up in last season's championship battle at Ocean Speedway. He charged into the lead at the start ahead of Tim Elias and Orland star Keith Ross. Three-time Watsonville champion Rob Gallaher came from deep in the pack to settle into third on the seventh lap. Before that lap was completed, he made an inside pass in Turn 4 to take second from Elias. As Joe Gallaher continued to lead the way, Rob Gallaher and Elias had a spirited dual for second. Rob Gallaher held the position until Elias made an inside pass on the 12th lap to regain second. Joe Gallaher went on to victory ahead of Elias, Rob Gallaher, Travis Dutra and Rick Etchieson. Unfortunately, Etchieson was disqualified in post-race tech, handing fifth to Breanna Troen

The Hobby Stocks had 40 cars. Ten lap heat race wins went to Dutra, past Watsonville champion Matt Kile, Jason Robles, Troen and Joe Gallaher. The first 10 lap B Main was a flag-to-flag victory for James Thomson ahead of Rob Gallaher and Dave Betancourt. Last season's top Antioch rookie Ken Johns won the second B Main ahead of Tyler Henrickson and Billy Garner.

For further information on the happenings at Antioch Speedway, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Netto Nets Another Thrilling Victory At Marysville Raceway

Marysville, CA...May 25...Reigning  NARC/King of the West and King of Thunder Series champion DJ Netto returned to Marysville Raceway on Monday night and scored another impressive 25 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event win. Traffic proved to be the undoing of multiple leaders in this race, and Netto piloted the Netto Ag sponsored Sprinter from 11th starting to gain the lead on the 22nd lap.

Hoping to earn his first career feature win, Alec Justeson set the early pace ahead of reigning Placerville champion Andy Forsberg and Mitchell Faccinto. By the seventh lap, Justeson was already in traffic, which was running the low line in front of him. Justeson seemed to be a bit tentative as they went down the backstretch on the eighth lap, opening the door for Forsberg to move underneath him and make a pass for the lead in the third turn. Colby Copeland spun from fourth in the second turn for a lap nine yellow flag. On the restart, Justeson ended up spinning in the second turn for another yellow flag. Forsberg continued to lead Faccinto and Justyn Cox on the restart as Netto had already moved up to fourth. By the 16th lap, Forsberg had already caught slower traffic, enabling Faccinto and Cox to close in. Trying to avoid a slower car in the third turn, Forsberg spun, but he did a complete 360 and kept going in fourth. Faccinto led Cox and Netto, but traffic was still a factor. Seeing a faster line on the outside, Netto made an outside pass in the fourth turn to take second from Cox on the 21st lap. A lap later, Netto went around Faccinto in Turn 2 to grab the lead. A yellow flag flew for reigning champion Michael Ing in Turn 1 on the 24th lap, setting up a two lap showdown to the finish. However, Netto would not be denied as he led the restart and brought it home to victory. Faccinto settled for second, and Forsberg made an inside pass in the third turn on lap 25 to wrestle third from Cox, who settled for fourth. Chase Majdic finished fifth, followed by Jodie Robinson, JJ Hickle, Colby Wiesz, Willie Croft and Geoff Ensign.

The Sprint Cars produced a 45 car field for the special Monday night offering, and Forsberg had the fast time of 13.756, beating the 13.824 of Faccinto. They ran four eight lap heat races with wins going to Copeland, newcomer Max Mittry, Jodie Robinson and Cox. Jesse Love won the 10 lap C Main ahead of Antioch champion Jacob Tuttle and Kevin Lovell. Croft picked up B Main honors ahead of Caden Sarale and Korey Lovell.

Todd Cooper won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Brian Cooper drove the car to a $1,100 victory at Antioch Speedway the night before and let his brother drive the car on this occasion. Todd Cooper had a front-row start for the race and jumped into the early lead ahead of Jimmy Ford and Scott Savell. Three yellow flags waved during the first 10 laps, and Cooper led Ford and Savell on each restart. Saturday night Antioch winner Michael Johnson settled into fourth on a lap 10 restart and began battling Savell for third. Johnson made an outside pass on the 13th lap to grab the position, but Savell was running strong on the inside and managed to regain the position on lap 15. A yellow flag waved at that point. The result of this restart was Cooper again charging out front, and he was never really threatened on his way to an impressive victory. Ford was a strong second, followed by Savell, Timothy Allerdings, Johnson, Jason Ferguson, Theo Van de Sande, Shawn Smith, Shaun Merritt and Hunter Merritt. The two eight lap heat races were won by Cooper and Philip Shelby.

For information on coming events at the speedway and other things, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com.

Shaw, Courtnier, Wood, Vasconcellos Win Sunday Night Races At Dixon Speedway

Dixon, CA...May 24...Brandon Shaw won the 25 lap Wingless 600 Micro Sprint Main Event Sunday night at Dixon Speedway. Shaw gained the lead early on after Brandon Carey had problems as he was making a bid for his third-straight win. Shaw took over from there and went on to pick up the win.

Carey set the early pace ahead of Shaw. Timothy Vaught settled into third on the second lap, and Carey's run at the front of the pack ended with a lap five yellow flag. Shaw led Vaught and Travis Sullivan on the restart. Sullivan slipped past Vaught for second on lap 10 with Cody Gray gaining third a lap later. Following a lap 19 yellow flag, Shaw continued to lead the way on the restart and would go on to score the victory. Sullivan settled for second. Gray held off Austin Stone for third as Brody Fuson, Vaught, Tommy Carroll, Jonathan Henry, Kelvin Lewis and Austin Taborski completed the Top 10 at the checkered flag.

40 Wingless Micros qualified, and Chris Parmely turned the 1/5 mile dirt oval with a time of 12.440 for the fastest lap. Vaught was second quick at 12.450. Gray, Shaw, Carey and Henry won their respective 10 lap heat races, and Shaw also claimed 10 lap Trophy Dash honors to make it a clean sweep. They had two 12 lap B Mains, and Taylor DeCarlo won a close race with Taborski to win the first one. Nick VanAtta finished third. Caden Sarale claimed the second B Main ahead of Jeremy Chapman and Jared Byrd.

Devin Courtnier scored the win in the 25 lap Super 600 Main Event. Brody Fuson shared the front row with Courtnier and charged into the early lead. Brad Hannum ran closely behind in third. Courtnier slipped past Fuson for the lead on the 12th lap before a yellow flag waved. On the restart, Hannum grabbed the second position from Fuson. Gauge Garcia took over third on the 16th lap, but he surrendered the position to Sage Bordenave a lap later. Following a lap 21 yellow flag, Garcia moved by Bordenave for third as Courtnier continued to set the pace ahead of Hannum. Garcia gained second from Hannum on the 24th lap. Hannum's strong run came to an end as the yellow flag waved, causing a two lap shootout to the finish. Undaunted, Courtnier continued to lead the pack on the restart and brought it home to an impressive victory. Garcia finished second. Caeden Steele finished third, followed by Ricky Sanders, Caden Sarale, reigning champion Kyle Mentch, Dillon Horsley, Mattix Salmon, Blaine Baxter and Fuson.

Hailey Wood waa the quickest of 32 qualifiers with a lap of 11.118, beating the 11.137 of Mentch. 10 lap heat race wins were earned by Courtnier, Fuson, Salmon and Hannum, and Fuson won the 10 lap Trophy Dash. Caleb Debem scored the victory in the first 12 lap B Main ahead of Ron Singh and Garrett Williams. Sarale outran Blaine Baxter to win the second B Main as Logan Trevino finished third.

Austin Wood scored an impressive win in the 20 lap Restricted Micro Main Event. Wood led at the drop of the green flag ahead of Bryant Bell and Dominic Carter. Following a lap six yellow flag, Wood resumed command with Bell still holding on to second. By the 12th lap, Wood held a good lead, and he cruised to victory ahead of Bell, Carter, Izaak Sharp, Matthew Tatoole, Colin Kirby, Brandon Riveira, JJ Loss, Cash Lovenburg and Jayden Whitney. Sharp set the fast time of 11.568 with Riveira second quick at 11.758. The 17 car field ran two heat races with Bell and Wood scoring the victories. Wood also picked up the six lap Trophy Dash win to cap a clean sweep performance.

Braxon Vasconcellos won the 20 lap Junior Sprint Main Event. Vasconcellos had the pole and raced into the lead at the start ahead of Kyle Fernandez. Ty Lovenburg settled into third, and they ran in that order through three yellow flags during the first half of the race. Nathan Ward settled into third on lap 17 with a yellow flag waving moments later for Lovenburg. Vasconcellos continued to lead Fernandez on the restart, but Ward began to pressure Fernandez for second. On the final lap, Ward put the moves on Fernandez to grab second place. However, nobody could stop Vasconcellos from getting the victory. Fernandez settled for third, followed by Hayden Stepps, Kellen Harper, Brody Rubio, Ryder Byrd, Lovenburg, Briggs Davis and Chase Whitney. Reigning champion McKayla Tatoole was the fastest qualifier at 12.991 with Fernandez second quick at 13.014. Lovenburg and Rubio were the 10 lap heat race winners with Vasconcellos scoring the victory in the six lap Trophy Dash.

For scheduling news and other updates on what's happening at the track, go to www.dixonspeedway.net.

Carey, Hannum, Wood, Mauldin Kick Off 
Dixon Speedway Double Header With Wins

Dixon, CA...May 23...Brandon Carey won the 25 lap Wingless 600 Micro Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Dixon Speedway. It was the opening night of a two-night event. Carey shared the front row with Timothy Vaught, who had high hopes of getting the victory after setting the fast time earlier in the evening. Unfortunately, Vaught saw his race come to an end on the 15th lap. Carey had to contend with second row starter Kelvin Lewis, but he managed to hold him off for his second-straight victory. Kelvin Lewis settled for second ahead of Robbie Lewis, eighth starter Austin Stone, Travis Sullivan, Brandon Shaw, Jonathan Henry, Chris Parmley, Cody Gray and Drew Laeber.

The Wingless Micros produced an impressive 47 car field. The competitive qualifying session saw Vaught set the quickest lap on the 1/5 mile dirt oval of 11.641. Both Robbie Lewis and Carey had 11.642 efforts. Ten lap heat race wins went to Vaught, Robbie Lewis, Sullivan, Blake Bower and Henry. Vaught continued what could have been a clean sweep effort by winning the 12 lap Trophy Dash. The first of two 12 lap B Mains went to Katie Syra ahead of Matt Santana and Blake Parmely. Joe Silva just managed to beat Chris Parmely to the line to win the other B Main as Gray finished third.

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Brad Hannum won the 25 lap Super 600 Main Event. Hannum shared the front row with two-time reigning champion Kyle Mentch. However, the challenge came from Caeden Steele in the waning laps. Hannum would hold off Steele for the victory as Mentch settled for third. Sage Bordenave finished fourth, followed by Brody Fuson, Devon Courtnier, Gauge Garcia, Jeffrey Pahule, Dillon Horsley and James Andrichuk.

Bordenave turned an impressive 10.222 for the quickest lap in qualifying, beating the 12.295 of Steele. There were 33 competitors. Ten lap heat race wins went to Caden Sarale, Hailey Wood, Hannum and Mentch. Hannum won 10 lap Trophy Dash to sweep all three of his races. Ron Singh outdueled fellow front row starter Joshua Rogers to win the 12 lap B Main as Garrett Williams finished third.

Austin Wood scored the victory in the 20 lap Restricted Micro Main Event. Wood had the pole position and held off some late pressure from Matthew Tatoole to claim the victory. Brandon Riveira finished third, followed by Izaak Sharp, Bryant Bell, Jackson Kohler, Mattix Salmon, Riley Whitehouse, Isabel Barnes and Cash Lovenburg. Wood had the fast time of 11.194, beating the 11.261 of Colin Kirby. The 21 competitors ran three ten lap heat races with wins going to Sharp, Tatoole and Whitehouse. Wood won the eight lap Trophy Dash.

Lucas Mauldin scored an impressive victory in the 20 lap Junior Sprint Main Event. Kyle Fernandez had the pole in his quest for a second-straight feature win. However, Mauldin was just a bit quicker and prevailed at the checkered flag. Fernandez settled for second. Brody Rubio earned passing honors as he charged from 12th starting to finish third, followed by Nathan Wood, Ty Lovenburg, Kellen Harper, Hayden Stepps, Chase Whitney, Briggs Davis and Devon McLeister. Fernandez bested a 17 car field in qualifying with a lap of 12.890, beating the 12.965 of Wood. Ten lap heat race wins went to Mauldin and Stepps, and Fernandez claimed six lap Trophy Dash honors.

For news on what's happening at the track next, go to www.dixonspeedway.net.


Marysville Raceway Unofficial Race Results May 25, 2020
Yuba River Gold Rush
360 Sprint Cars
A Main
D.J. Netto
Mitchell Faccinto
Andy Forsberg
Justyn Cox
Chase Majdic
Jodie Robinson
J.J. Hickle
Colby Wiesz
Willie Croft
Geoff Ensign
Caden Sarale
Jake Haulot
Colby Copeland
Brad Bumgarner
Korey Lovell
Michael Ing
Max Mittry
Alec Justeson
Michael Sellers
Billy Wallace

B Main
Willie Croft
Caden Sarale
Korey Lovell
Geoff Ensign
Jake Wheeler
Blake Carrick
Greg DeCaires V
Jesse Love
Ben Worth
Tyler Thompson
Jacob Tuttle
Stephen Ingraham
Steven Snawder
Steel Powell
Nick Larsen

C Main
Jesse Love
Jacob Tuttle
Kevin Lovell
Mike Monahan
Pat Harvey Jr
Tim Estenson
Ashlyn Rodriguez
Cody Spencer
Devan Whitlock
A.J. Alderman
Jimmy Steward

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Todd Copper
Jimmy Ford
Scott Savell
Timothy Allerdings
Michael Johnson
Jason Ferguson
Theo Van de Sande
Shawn Smith
Shaun Merritt
Hunter Merritt
Phillip Shelby
Jason Pugh
Jeramiah Zeiter
Mike Merritt
Donnie Fortney


Dixon Speedway Unofficial Race Results May 24, 2020
Wingless 600 Micros
Main Event
Brandon Shaw
Travis Sullivan
Cody Gray
Austin Stone
Brody Fuson
Tiimothy Vaught
Tommy Carroll
Jonathan Henry
Kelvin Lewis
Austin Taborski
Chris Parmley
Caden Sarale
Jeremy Chapman
Travis Henry
Kyle Grissom
Blake Parmley
Jared Byrd
Joe Silva
George Nielson
Taylor DeCarlo
Nick VanAtta
Brandon Carey

B Main 1
Taylor DeCarlo
Austin Taborski
Nick VanAtta
Tyler Chamorro
Chuck Patterson
Matthew Kaiser
Katey Syra
Ryan Holden
Rob Brown
Justen McConville
Todd Job DNS
Derrick Patterson DQ

B Main 2
Caden Sarale
Jeremy Chapman
Jared Byrd
Matt Santana
Brandon Alvarado
Drew Laeber
Becca Clark
Justin Stretch
Norman Harley Rose
Don McLeister DNS
Savannah Brown DNS
Robbie Lewis DQ

Super 600s
Main Event
Devon Courtnier
Gauge Garcia
Caeden Steele
Ricky Sanders
Caden Sarale
Kyle Mentch
Dillon Horsley
Mattix Salmom
Blaine Baxter
Brody Fuson
Eli Bookout
Wyatt Bookout
Garrett Williams
Logan Trevino
Caleb Debem
Sage Bordenave
Brad Hannum
Jeffrey Pahule
James Andrichuck
Jarrett Rogers
Ron Singh
Hailey Wood

B Main 1
Caleb Debem
Ron Singh
Garrett Williams
Angel Cappas
Joshua Rogers
Tony Chavez DNS
Lane Taylor DNS
Jason Chapman DQ

B Main 2
Caden Sarale
Blaine Baxter
Logan Trevino
Hayden Saich
Jarrett Heimlich
Tony Alosi
Brett McColloch
Christian Harris

Restricted Micros
Austin Wood
Bryant Bell
Dominic Carter
Izaak Sharp
Matthew Tatoole
Colin Kirby
Brandon Riveira
JJ Loss
Cash Lovenburg
Jayden Whitney
Taylor Mayhew
Xan Miller
Kyle Cravotta
Mattix Salmon
Zackary Williams
Jesson Jacobson
Destry Miller

Jr Sprints
Braxon Vasconcellos
Nathan Ward
Kyle Fernandez
Hayden Stepps
Kellen Harper
Brody Rubio
Ryder Byrd
Ty Lovenburg
Briggs Davis
Chase Whitney
Makayla Tatoole
Jonathan Andrichuk
Devin McLeister DNS


Dixon Speedway Unofficial Race Results May 23, 2020
Wingless 600 Micros
Main Event
Brandon Carey
Kelvin Lewis
Robbie Lewis
Austin Stone
Travis Sullivan
Brandon Shaw
Jonathan Henry
Chris Parmley
Cody Gray
Drew Laeber
Matt Santana
Katey Syra
Derrick Patterson
Blake Parmley
Joe Silva
Kyle Grissom
Chuck Patterson
Justin Stretch
Brody Fuson
Tiimothy Vaught
Blake Bower
Nate Wait

B Main 1
Katey Syra
Matt Santana
Blake Parmley
Brody Petrie
Brandon Alvarado
Ryan Holden
Rob Brown
Tyson Davis
Kevin Carter
Matthew Kaiser
Justen McConville
George Nielson
Taylor DeCarlo
Darrell Busby
Mark Baker DNS

B Main 2
Joe Silva
Chris Parmley
Cody Gray
Tucker LaCaze
Mike Ibarra
Austin Taborski
Tommy Carroll
Jared Byrd
Norman Harley Rose
Jeremy Chapman
Clayton Harris
Savannah Brown
Nick VanAtta
Don McLeister
Becca Clark DNS

Super 600s
Main Event
Brad Hannum
Caeden Steele
Kyle Mentch
Sage Bordenave
Brody Fuson
Devon Courtnier
Gauge Garcia
Jeffrey Pahule
Dillon Horsley
James Andrichuck
Blaine Baxter
Joshua Rogers
Ron Singh
Garrett Williams
Wyatt Bookout
Hailey Wood
Eli Bookout
Brett McColloch
Caleb Debem
Jason Chapman
Caden Sarale
Tony Alosi

B Main
Ron Singh
Joshua Rogers
Garrett Williams
Caleb Debem
Hayden Saich
Jarrett Rogers
Logan Trevino
Angel Cappas
Jarrett Heimlich
Anthony Lewis
Christian Harris
Lane Taylor
Chris Hinkle DNS
Colby Greig DNS
Darrell Busby DNS

Restricted Micros
Austin Wood
Matthew Tatoole
Brandon Riveira
Izaak Sharp
Bryant Bell
Jackson Kohler
Mattix Salmon
Rylee Whitehouse
Isabel Barnes
Cash Lovenburg
Dominic Carter
Jayden Whitney
Taylor Mayhew
Jesson Jacobson
JJ Loss
Kyle Cravotta
Colin Kirby
Zackary Williams
Destry Miller
Xan Miller DNS
Dalton Parreira DNS

Jr Sprints
Lucas Mauldin
Kyle Fernandez
Brody Rubio
Nathan Ward
Ty Lovenburg
Kellen Harper
Hayden Stepps
Chase Whitney
Briggs Davis
Devin McLeister
Makayla Tatoole
Ryder Byrd
Peyton Whitehouse
Jonathan Andrichuk DNS
Reid Baxter DNS
Braxon Vasconcellos DQ

The Editor's Viewpoint

My intent was to put this up after the races on Saturday night. I was gathering my thoughts from the afternoon through the races so that this column could be ready. However, it was such a crazy night that my mind was shot by the time the checkered flag waved at Antioch Speedway right at curfew. It was an exhausting night, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, I decided to wait and just put everything out at once.

The racing community in California should feel lucky to have what they have so far. If certain powers that be had their way, we might not even be having limited practices. That's how much they want to shut everything down. It just so happens to be a time when things aren't really happening to a level that the hype would scare you into believing. Therefore, even in the strictest of states, things have to reopen. If they don't, we're going to be facing something worse than the virus itself. 

Speaking of opening up, Kevin Barba has been able to open Siskiyou Golden Speedway to limited practices. The county they are in is a little further behind the other counties. I'm really not sure how that can be the case given the population there, but they are at a point where only 10 people will be allowed into the pits. Therefore, Kevin decided to open things up to three hour blocks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There would be three race cars allowed with a total of 10 people. It would be $600 for a session.

Obviously, some of the people grumbled just a little bit. Why is the price so high? Why? Because Kevin still has bills to pay so that he will be able to open this track to actual racing when he is able to do so. Therefore, this is the price that has to be paid in order for a session to happen. It's reasonable enough, and the racers who understand the situation and went to put their cars on the race track jumped in to make this happen. It's really not a bad deal. A car brings three people for the session and you can split the difference three ways. It's less than $100 per person that way. Or, you have a good sponsor or somebody willing to foot the bill for everybody.

Either way, things are happening and will continue to happen. I don't think they are going to put the lid on this momentum we seem to be establishing now, but I wont say I'm a 100% sure about that. There's always something that could happen to wipe out the progress we are making, but I'm going to be optimistic here. Tracks are opening up for limited practices, bigger practices and actual racing in front of closed grandstands. It's not the most ideal situation, but promoters have figured out a way to make it happen. We have four tracks in California racing this weekend, and that number should be more than doubled by the time we get to mid June. Will we have grandstands by then? I don't think so, but I don't know. We will get to grandstands not long after that if it hasn't started by then. My guess is July.

More bad news came out of Merced on Friday. They did say they were going to make a Memorial Day Weekend announcement, but they didn't say it would be the good news we wanted to hear. We already knew that the May 30th event had been canceled. This was a show that was to feature that USAC Western States Midgets. The hope was to hear something about a possible date in June. All management could say was we're still not able to go racing, but we hope to have some good news soon. All we can do is stay tuned to the Merced Speedway Facebook page and hope for the news to break in our favor soon. Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork also announced that there was no date set for when they could get back into racing, but they are working on that with the fairgrounds in Trinity County.

Limited practices and regular practices were happening. In the state of Washington, Skagit Speedway and Evergreen Speedway were two of the first to finally do some practicing on Saturday in the hopes of getting into some racing soon. In California, Siskiyou Golden Speedway wasn't the only track having some limited practices on Saturday. Madera Speedway was able to put some cars out on the paved oval, and Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville was also doing some limited practicing. Though it's not quite racing, it's better than nothing for the racers who have been waiting patiently. 

I hope the racers in Antioch know how lucky they are to have gotten Saturday's race in. We are very lucky. There are certain powers that be that would seek to drag their feet on things, and I think we are fortunate to know that they may not have been looking at our beloved race track. For instance, we had 100 cars for practice last week and who knows how many people. Somebody wanting to stoke the fear and keep the hype machine going might have taken a look around and said, "No. This needs to stop. No racing.*

The track didn't just open. It opened for what would be considered one of the biggest events of the season the speedway has had even in normal conditions. Two nights of great racing. With the exception of having no grandstands, management decided they were going to go all in and open things up with a bang. As I said, there are several reasons that this has been done. It certainly was a risk. But, let me boil it down this way. One of the fairgrounds race tracks in California had to take the first step, and that track was at the Antioch Fairgrounds. 

Speaking of fairgrounds, the El Dorado County Fairgrounds has sounded the alarm. If they are not able to have their County Fair, they are worried about being able to pay the bills needed to keep things going. They believe there is a real serious danger of the place closing. While I haven't seen much posted from the other fairgrounds, I would guess that Placerville isn't the only place feeling the pinch right now. Other fairgrounds could be in danger. 

These places are about more than just race tracks. There are other events, including the County Fairs, that happen year-round to keep them going. These are places where communities come to be together. I'm not sure what sort of movement will be started, but I hope the state takes that into consideration come budget time. They will probably need help, and I personally believe that having a fairgrounds in your town is better than putting up a strip mall or anything else in that location.

From Delta Speedway, management put up a dire Facebook post today explaining their situation. They thought they were making progress to do something at the little San Joaquin County Fairgrounds track, but they got nowhere when it came to the state agencies they had to deal with. Track management went so far as to say they were surprised that any track in the state was able to do any kind of racing as this clearly isn't allowed in Phase 2 of the reopening of the stare, though it might be possible in Phase 3. What he speculates on is that those tracks didn't contact the State agencies, and local agencies have pretty much decided to look the other way. I will add that what I've seen is that if a state agency does come in there and shut you down, they can smack you down with a huge fine. There's a risk involved with being a leader and forcing the reopening of the state earlier than the governor would allow.

Given what was going on in Contra Costa County compared to other counties, one might have been surprised that things began to happen at the track the way they did. It doesn't surprise me that the county fairgrounds would allow this to happen. Again, you've got to keep some revenue coming in. Management was given a crash course on how to best proceed here. This was going to involve little things like getting certain supplies that are needed to adhere to strict covid-19 guidelines, understanding how things must be done when an event is happening and preparations made during the week. Disinfecting areas and that sort of thing would be the priorities.

Even then, I can guarantee you that Promoter Chad Chadwick was holding his breath. Until you get to race day, you are nervously wondering if you are going to be able to pull it off  I think there's confidence among his crew that they can do their jobs and keep the show running, but in the back of their minds, there is concern that somebody could come in and pull the plug on them at any given time. The racers want to race. This is obvious. Social media and the track's website itself have been flooded with racer's questions wanting to know whatever details they needed to know, but they were coming in droves. How big? There were blank cars at Antioch on Saturday.

Sometimes we don't appreciate the effort that goes on behind the scenes to run even a regular show. It's just expected. Officials and everybody involved do their part to keep it all going and keep everybody happy. This situation was different because of the covid-19 guidelines that were put in place to even allow the race to be attempted. You have to maintain social distancing and all of that. Therefore, the regular pit area could not even contain the amount of cars that showed up for this big event. All three of the featured divisions had inflated car counts, and drivers had to park in the parking lot as well as the area surrounding the paintball arena. Sadly, this was made possible because fans still aren't allowed in the grandstands yet and had to be content to watch the awesome coverage provided by SpeedshiftTV. 

The place was an absolute madhouse from early in the morning as teams were arriving from out of state. This led to very long lines before the pit-gate was officially opened at 1pm, and at 3pm there were still around 70 people standing in line to get signed in. Obviously, this was going to raise the stress levels of everybody involved, and Chadwick and his crew knew the pressure would be on to keep this show going all night and get it done. Talk about trial by fire. The first race promoted by Chadwick as the official promoter of Antioch Speedway produced a record 150 car count. IMCA Sport Modifieds accounted for 58 of them, which was a record for the class. The Hobby Stocks had 40 cars, which was again a record.

The problem is you can't address the people through the pit PA system if they are parked in the parking lot. When you're calling those people out for their race, they aren't going to hear you. This meant that the track had to come up with a workaround to keep this show going. There were more cars, so that meant more races. Everybody was busy busting their rear ends to make it all happen. This was an impressive accomplishment and a very important one. I'll go so far as to say that not only was Antioch Speedway doing this show for itself and the racers in the area. They were doing it for California racing in general as we try to get back to some sort of normalcy again.

Thanks to a few updates from people going live in the afternoon, I was able to get a sense of the chaos happening around the track. Apparently, the fairgrounds still allowed the flea market to take place. I'm not sure how big the flea market actually was. By the time I saw some live footage around 1 in the afternoon, the parking lot had quite a few trailers in it. There was a very long line waiting to sign in, and that remained the case for at least three hours. They managed to get everybody signed in okay. From an organizational standpoint, it looked like the team had it all figured out. They seemed to stick to the schedule. 

..

The problem was they had so many cars that an earlier start would have been better. They were basically going to start racing at 6pm, knowing they had to run a total of 17 heat races, eight B Mains and three Main Events. The heat races themselves took up two hours of time. I'm not so sure I would have given the heat races as many laps as they were given, but this was done because management wanted to give the drivers plenty of laps to have an opportunity to earn feature starts. It's just that you wind up crunched for time later and risk having to cut laps from the Main Events to get it done before curfew.

I'm not sure how I feel about the track configuration, to be honest with you. I know there are people who liked to rip on the track as John had prepared it for years. A lot of times, John wasn't so worried about how heavy the track might be in heat races, because the goal was to prepare a fast and racy track come Main Event time. Because you didn't have the kind of car count that required B Mains, you could get away with that. Nobody was going to suffer for having a bad heat race, because everybody was in the Main Event. The other thing I liked about John's tracks was the amazing outside groove and how good the side by side racing could get. 

Part of the new philosophy with the racing surface now is to give the racers plenty of room. The hope is to promote three and sometimes four-wide racing, and you certainly can get that out of this track. These days, the sheepsfoot seems to be the go-to piece of equipment, because it's popular back east. I'm not in love with this, but a lot of people are. What it looks like to me is a racing surface designed to go dry, and that means dust. It's not going to be popular with some of the fans in the stands if this is a regular occurrence, and the neighborhood will probably voice their disapproval. I'm not trying to be negative here, but I am saying that nobody should be surprised if this becomes an issue. That being said, I want to give it some time and see how this concept plays out in the long run. You can't judge it based on one weekend.

It was decided during the offseason to get rid of the big tires and bury some tires halfway. The drivers are getting so much more room as the track goes down further, and yet the drivers somehow ended up trying to dig for more room in the infield. This resulted in knocking some tires onto the track. By midway through the heat races, the racers were just running on the bottom. There was no two-groove racing, which can't be seen as acceptable given the way the track was widened. It was decided after the heat races that they would grade the track a little bit on the outside and bring the high groove back in. This worked, and it helped the racing a little bit. However, the dust issue reared its ugly head by the time we saw the Main Events.

It really didn't take that long to grade the track. You might have been talking about 10 to 20 minutes, which has been normal intermission time at the speedway for the past few years. However, you're trying to run a 150 car program, and that requires a little bit of haste. When the B Mains started rolling onto the track, I knew that beating curfew was going to be a challenge. The Hobby Stock Main Event didn't roll out until 10:20 pm. It was decided at that time that the Main Events would be 15 laps instead of 20 laps. This was the only time during the night in which laps were cut off of any of the races, so I can't complain too much. I know there were people complaining, but I'm not so sure how much of a difference five laps in any of those Main Events would have made. Then again, you never know. 

As much as I can be critical of the IMCA Sport Modified division at times, they deserve some praise. They went out there and ran a Main Event with no yellow flags. When you're up against curfew and trying to get things done, that's the kind of thing that makes a big difference. When the IMCA Modifieds rolled out and had a few yellow flags, they still managed to see a checkered flag just before curfew. I don't think that breaking curfew was an option, and I know management was trying hard not to cut any more laps. They were definitely under the gun, so they needed this to go their way.

You can have all the ideas in the world about how you're going to run a program once you become the promoter. However, you have to go out there and hold a race and see how your ideas play out. You have to learn and adjust. It's not many new promoters who have 150 cars for their first race. Talk about a test. This was a big test, and they got passing grades as far as I'm concerned. Were they high marks? Maybe not, but they got the job done and learned some things before Sunday's bigger show.

As I said, just getting this race on the schedule was a miracle. There's been some question as to whether any racing at all should be happening in California under the current covid-19 guidelines, and yet other tracks have already had races. The difference is Antioch Speedway was the first fairgrounds track to do it. When you know all that is expected of you under the guidelines, you're just hoping you do good enough to avoid any issues. I'm sure there's going to be some grumbling here and there, but they got it into the record books. Maybe you brace for impact to see what's said after the event is done. This was Saturday, so there was still one more day left to go. 

I admit I was a bit disappointed to find out that Speedshift's #1 guy wasn't out there announcing. He took a gig at one of the other events that they were covering. This left Wade handling things in the booth. Wade took a beating from critics, and I can understand that. He was seeing drivers in the field that he's not used to, and that is a challenge for any announcer. He got creative in some of his phrasing, which didn't go over very well. This might have been an occasion in which he needed somebody else up there with him to help him with the announcing duties. 

I know how it goes when you're announcing, so I am not going to be too critical here. The only thing I would suggest is that announcers should be using pen and paper at the race track. Don't rely on computers for your information. I know that technology is here and it's here to make things easier for us. However, if your computer gives you an issue, and if you don't know a good portion of the drivers who are in the field, you put yourself in a bad position. People are watching the stream at home, and they are counting on you to tell them what's going on. 

There were times during the races when he didn't have that information on screen and the action wasn't being described to the fans. There were times when he didn't know names or information about certain racers. One thing I do appreciate was that he did his best to give us a Top 5 finishing order after every race. Since the track is not on electronic scoring yet, Wade was the lifeline to the people. We counted on him to let us know where the drivers finished 

I'm not going to tell you that I don't show up at a race track without a laptop computer these days. It's a tool of the trade that I need as I'm usually filing an article not long after the races are done. My records are kept on the computer, but my notes are on a piece of paper. I write the drivers names down on a piece of paper and also keep the point sheets and stats for the season printed on paper. If I am announcing, I also have sponsors handy. I can't use a computer. First of all, I can't always punch that stuff up easily on the computer. Secondly, if the computer malfunctions for some reason, what do I do? I memorize a lot of stuff, but my memory is going to fail me sometimes. That piece of paper with the names on it comes in very handy.

All in all, you do the best you can for the night, make notes of where you can improve and come back and try it again another day. This was an opportunity for Antioch Speedway to showcase itself to the world. There aren't too many other tracks on the West Coast having races right now, so many eyes were on the place. Did the track present itself as well as it could have on this occasion? Probably not. However, they still did pretty darn well under the circumstances. People are going to complain about the things that were wrong, and some things may deserve criticism. However, I still come back to the idea that we are lucky the gates have opened for a race anywhere at the moment. Sometime down the line, people are going to understand just how lucky we were that Antioch Speedway could even attempt this so soon. Give Chad credit for taking the risk and rolling the dice to make this happen.

I was monitoring Dixon Speedway on live scoring while Antioch was going. They were off to a later start than Antioch. The cool thing about it was they don't have the curfew out there, but I do think it gets a little bit cold there at night. The drivers flooded the pits in even bigger numbers this time than they did two weeks ago. I think they were somewhere in the 100 car range, but that's an estimate. Not only did the Wingless Micros have a field of almost 50 cars, the Super 600s checked in with over 30. The Micro Sprint drivers wanted to race, and this two-race weekend opportunity meant some teams were traveling from out of the area to Dixon.

I'm not sure how late this program went, but before live scoring disappeared on me, they were just wrapping up the final Wingless 600 heat race at 11. They still had B Mains and Main Events left to go, but they got them all in the record books. I actually doubt there were too many people complaining because sometimes these bigger events at Dixon do go a little bit longer. Furthermore, these guys just want to race. We have to understand that everything may not be perfect during this time, but these promoters are doing the best that they can to give us something.

Under normal circumstances, Dixon Speedway has a strong Micro Sprint program. This has been their focus since the Outlaw Karts faded away and interest seemed to wane as far as having Mini Stocks and Dwarf Cars there. When you can get over 30 Wingless Micros on an average night and usually 70-80 total competitors with your Micro program, why complain about that? This was a solid turn out of cars for some great racing. We'll look back as we push through this whole mess and appreciate that guys like Jeremy Prince, Dennis Gage and Chad Chadwick were leading the charge to get race tracks open again.

Sunday would have been a huge event for Antioch Speedway had we not had the virus situation. I can imagine the grandstands would have been fuller than usual as people came from out of town to watch. Some of the area tracks weren't scheduled to have a race this weekend, regardless of what happened with the virus. Chad Chadwick had a good friendship with the late George Steitz. It's probably not very well-known, but George actually took a shot at getting the contract at Antioch Speedway prior to the 2004 season and nearly won. At the time, George and Chad were talking about doing something together.

Memorial Day Weekend was to be the first of three scheduled holiday weekend events, which would be billed as the George Steitz Memorial Freedom Series. It looks like Chadwick is following through on those plans. It should be noted that the first time in my memory that I recall the Freedom Series being used in a racing sense in California was when Tom Sagmiller created the series at Chowchilla Speedway in 2001. George and Tom had already worked together on bringing the big Dirt Track Shootout race to Chowchilla after San Jose Speedway closed. They were keen on working together, so George sponsored this series as well. Tom isn't affiliated with this series, but I think it's fair to point out where the Freedom Series idea came from.

Everything has sort of been pieced together. I've mentioned how lucky we are that we were able to get this weekend in, so a lot of things were geared towards just making it happen. However, there were sponsors that came in to support the show, such as Competition Carburetors. Jay Bryant of Jay's Mobile Welding has come on board to sponsor the Hobby Stock division and also put money into the Hobby Stock purse. $500 of additional money was going to the Hobby Stock winner on Sunday. Jay gave $200 to the winner on Saturday.

Chadwick already announced a nice purse, especially for the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds. The Steitz family came in and upped the ante. They threw an additional $1,500 in purse money towards the three divisions. Each class would get $500 with $200 going to the winner, $100 going to 2nd place and 3rd place and $50 going to 4th place and 5th place. This meant that the IMCA Modified winner would be receiving $2,100, while the IMCA Sport Modified winner would get a $1,100 payday. In addition to the money coming in from Jay's Mobile Welding, the Hobby Stock winner would now receive $1,000.

You really don't want to have such a big race under these circumstances. You want to pack the grandstands with fans, and people tend to get excited about watching a race when there's a bigger prize on the line. Thanks to the covid-19 situation, that wasn't possible. The fans would have to be content to watch things live on SpeedshiftTV, but I'm thinking there were many people tuned in to this program. We all have our fingers crossed that on Fourth of July Weekend Antioch Speedway will be having a race and will be able to have fans in the grandstands. We are a little bit over a month from knowing that for sure.

Sunday's race was slated to start an hour earlier than Saturday, which was a good move. It's obvious that the team figured a few things out from Saturday, which served to keep things moving quicker. What was interesting was that after hot laps were completed, the track crew was sent out there to do a little grading and watering before the Hobby Stocks were to run their heat races. That basically burned 45 minutes of the hour, but I think this was a good move. They were trying to keep two grooves of racing and at least had hopes early on of beating the dust problem.

Unfortunately, the dust would win the evening. I know racers well enough to know that there's a significant group of people out there that wish to have more dry slick race tracks. I get that. They talk of making it a racer's track and all of that. That's fine, but racers alone are not going to make this program thrive. You need fans in the stands, and you need the neighborhood to not be unhappy with you over dust issues. As I said, I'm going to reserve judgment on the track configuration until we've had a few races and some of the things have been worked out. I'm not fond of dry tracks, so I'll put that out there right now. I am fond of two-groove racing, and I think that even on a dry and dusty track, it can be accomplished. Too many dusty tracks, and we'll find out how well that goes over, but there's no denying that the track was getting high marks from everything I saw on social media. 

After the heat races were done, the crew went out there to work their magic with more water and grading. The racing overall wasn't too bad, but it was certainly a tricky track for racers. You couldn't just throw it in there and put your foot to the floor as you might be able to do on the track prior to these changes. Therefore, a few racers had miscues. As they get more track time, they'll figure this whole thing out. While I don't think having side by side racing was an issue with the track, despite being a bit more narrow before, there's no denying that this new track configuration will promote two-wide and three-wide racing for sure. It's just a question of finding the right combination when it comes to how it's prepared. Sometimes you've got to give these things time. 

When you bring in a new promoter and a new team, there will be challenges at first. This is under normal circumstances with your regular crowd, and I'm not even talking about a big special show. This team ran a 150 car show on Saturday and about 140 cars on Sunday and got the job done. They learned and adapted from one night to the next, and the racing was actually a bit better on Sunday. That's the good news. There are lots of things to think about as plans are made for how to move ahead. The one thing about Chadwick is he's always looking ahead and thinking about new things to try. This can be a positive. However, it should be pointed out that sometimes the old ways work just fine. Change is needed here, but sometimes there's something to be said about sticking with the old formula. That's just a thought.

I kind of feel bad for Wade up there in the press box. He was doing his best, but he did struggle a bit at times. You also have to understand that he hasn't had too many big shows at Antioch in his time. There have been a few increased car counts from the 60 or so that they would average on any given night. He was having to learn new names, and because there were some cars with the same numbers, that would serve to trip him up just a little bit. I wish I could have helped him out a little bit, especially when I heard him make the comment prior to the intermission after the heat races that he had no information on George Steitz. 

Back in the 1980's, it wasn't uncommon for an announcer to show up only an hour or so before racing and read the names from a sheet. They would get names wrong, and fans would have to go up there and correct them. Some of the better announcers would take time to talk with people in the pits before the races so they could know the names and a little bit about the racers. The late Kenny Takeuchi was certainly one of the best. I learned a bit from Butch Althar, who announced at Vallejo Speedway and other places prior to coming to Antioch.

The one thing about Butch was he was usually one of the first people to show up, and I learned from him. He would walk around the race cars and see if any new sponsors were on there that he needed to update. He would talk to the racers. Usually, he stood at the entrance by the sign up booth and didn't leave until a majority of the people had already signed in. I was already one of those people who would show up as early as possible so that I could get whatever scoop was out there for the magazine, but I learned about being prepared as an announcer from Butch. Even John Myers would show up pretty early to do the same thing. 

This was certainly one of those occasions where Wade should have gotten there early on both nights. I mean, get there before most of the people show up on Saturday and get there early on Sunday. The biggest reason is you get more time to mingle with people. You probably can't really mingle as much as you would like with the racers, but you are able to talk with some racers on Saturday that you don't catch on Sunday. As I mentioned above, I'm a strong believer in printed notes versus reading from a computer. Certainly after Saturday, he could have had a printout of the rosters that would have served to help him immensely on Sunday. 

I'm not sure that I will ever announce again. I'm receptive to the possibility but I'm okay with moving on and being grateful for the opportunities I've had. In Medford, I probably could have made a play for the microphone, but I had too many other duties during the four years that required my attention. I've been very confident with both Bryce Burtner and Cory Penfold. Both are professional in what they do, but I think Bryce was a bit skeptical of the notes that I provided him at first before he realized they were there to help him. 

Bryce had a way of doing the sponsors that I loved. Basically, all of the sponsors of every car in each division were on one or two pages for each class, and it made things pretty easy to plug those sponsors. What I tried to do was give them notes that they could look back on, such as the top feature finishers and dash winners from every race and point standings and anything important that needed to be announced. I even provided rosters.

I have been saying that a lot of people know the big events that George Steitz promoted for over 15 years but aren't aware of what a good racer he was. However, it's been almost 15 years since we lost him. There are people racing now that don't really remember anything about George at all. I would have liked for Wade to talk about George just a little bit going into the Main Events. It would have been nice. When you do these memorial races, you want to make sure you remember the people you are honoring. One of my gripes with memorial races is that sometimes that gets forgotten and it becomes about the money the racers are winning rather than even remembering the guy the race is named after.

The more I think about it, the more I wish I had announced every Dirt Track Shootout race that George asked me to do. I did the first two at Chowchilla, and it was an immense honor to be asked by him to do it. We had two hundred cars in the pits that first year and it was a big test. I went back and forth in those pits to make sure I spoke with everybody. I shuffled sponsor sheets in the press box to make sure I announced them all. I worked hard at that event. Somewhere there is footage with me announcing those two events, but I don't own a copy. I wish I did.

Without rehashing things from Just A Kid From The Grandstands, I remember back in 2003 sitting in the middle of the pits after the races with George. We were talking about his upcoming race at Chowchilla and the possibility of Mini Stocks being added, and he sought my thoughts on things. He also asked me to announce the show that year, which I didn't. I got caught in the middle of political things between Merced and Chowchilla, and I wish I had just taken a stand. George wasn't involved in any of that. I don't necessarily regret walking away from the sport at the end of the year like I did. In absence of a full-time gig at a race track, which I didn't have headed into 2004, I needed a clean break. 

That being said, I really should have come back at the end of every season to announce his big show at Chowchilla and the big Late Model show that he asked me to announce. It would have been fun just to catch up with everybody for one special weekend and enjoy the atmosphere. George didn't have to give me the opportunity he did, and I realize now more than ever that this was a sign of respect from the man. Though he was a legend as a racer and one of the best open show promoters for Stock Car racing, he didn't have an attitude. He appreciated each and every person who was involved, and he spent a lot of time thinking them personally for their support.

One thing I was skeptical of when the management change talk started happening last year was changing the rules of the Hobby Stocks at Antioch Speedway. I'm still sitting on the fence. As I said, it's not my desire to nitpick or be negative, so this is more of a wait and see thing. I agreed with what John said. The class was growing at Antioch with the rules they had, and you need your local support to keep those numbers up. My concern is that I can see the discrepancy between the guys that can now come from out of town because of the rule changes and the locals. I'm not sure what that's going to mean in the long run, but I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm always going to be an advocate for rules that make it easier for the people in your area to support the track. Out-of-town drivers are nice, but how many of them will make the visit for every race? How many locals do you lose when trying to bring those drivers from out of town? It sort of reminds me of the way the Late Model division went, but it's too early to say history is repeating itself. Way too early.

Looking at some of the metric cars out there, I don't think it's too early to make the prediction that Antioch Speedway will start an IMCA Stock Car division in the next three years. I'm aware that Chad was talking about adding the class while he was still in negotiations with John to get the track. The IMCA Stock Car has a distinctive look from the Hobby Stocks, and you're not going to see cars like Camaros in the field. I think the IMCA Stock Car will have more of a presence on the West Coast in the next few years, so I'm not surprised. I also will say that just because this division could be added to the roster in the future does not mean that when it's done the Hobby Stocks will automatically be dropped. 

I recognize that I could be perceived as being negative towards things at Antioch Speedway now, but that's not the intent. I was supportive of the old regime, but change is an inevitability. Change is necessary to keep things going. You want a situation like this where the guy coming in has been a part of that race track for many years, knows the people and has a game plan. Some of the things that I am concerned with and a bit nervous about may still turn out to be what's needed. I certainly hope so and I'm cheering for that to be the case.

While I think the virus situation is going to have a negative effect in the long-term, there's no denying that people are climbing the fence to get back out there. As soon as fans are allowed to attend the races, I do believe you're going to see a bump. People just want to get out and do something. People who were only casual fans will be there, and that will certainly make the track the place to be. People remembering those days when the stands were packed will rejoice. However, it's very important that the track puts its best foot forward to entertain those fans and make them want to come back. You can gain new regulars this way when those numbers inevitably start to drop a little bit. Maybe you could get back to having a thousand or more people on a regular basis. If the numbers go up when the gates are allowed to open on the grandstand side of things, it's in the track's best interest to make the spectating experience as enjoyable as possible. Give them their bang for the buck and make them want to come back. That means a lot of things, which I'm not going to get into here. 

Dixon Speedway certainly had a late night. They had some 100 Micros in the pits on both nights, and racing went well into the early hours of the next morning. Live scoring disappeared on me on early Sunday morning, so I wasn't able to watch scoring in real time. However, I was watching in the early morning hours on Monday. It looked good from what I could see. I'm guessing everybody had a good time and racers were just happy to be back at the track again. It's nice to see Dixon doing well as they lead the way towards getting us back to some sort of normalcy.

I was skeptical of Jeremy Prince as he was taking a look at a new challenge in addition to Dixon Speedway, but I don't think I needed to be skeptical. Jeremy is another guy that comes from a racing family and has been in this sport for a long time. When he was looking at Antioch Speedway and if he had ultimately gotten the track, it wouldn't have been a bad thing. I certainly hope that the situation in Dixon continues to be positive enough that they can keep that race track open. I'm also happy that he's recovering from that terrible accident. If and when the time comes that Jeremy takes a look at trying to get a bigger track again, or if he tries to do bigger things at Dixon Speedway, I am certainly going to be more supportive of those efforts. We need people like Jeremy in the game.

I'm writing this on a Monday afternoon prior to the Marysville Raceway show. Dennis Gage has been a leader in the movement to get racing going again, and this will be his third event in front empty grandstands. One thing I appreciate about Dennis is that he is respecting the guidelines as outlined by the county and state. This has never been about making a grand statement with a big show. It's been about opening the gates and making something happen in the hopes of getting things back to normal as soon as possible. If he were inclined to do so, he surely could have held a big Winged 360 Sprint Car program with a bigger purse, and I bet that sponsors would have come on board for it. He could have packed the pits with 60-70 Sprint Cars alone before getting into any other division. Again, this is not what he was trying to do. That said, Monday's show had 45 Sprint Cars, which is still very impressive.

The reason that's important is because what he's trying to do is show that you can follow the guidelines and do this safely. We all have our opinions on this whole virus situation, and many of us believe it's BS. That notwithstanding, when you get your foot in the door to do something, you don't immediately put your middle finger in the air to the state and do what you feel like. You risk having the door slammed shut. You risk other things happening which could ultimately result in the race track closing. Granted, that's a worst-case scenario. In any event, I applaud Dennis for his efforts.

Dennis followed Paul Hawes as promoter of Marysville Raceway. Paul was succeeding Mel Hall, who had passed away. He gave that track over a decade of his time. Now granted, there were some highly publicized problems that happened at the track. It seems like the news media is keen on going to a race track when the news is bad, but they don't care to go there when it's an exceptionally good night. Negativity sells, which is obvious when we look at how the virus is being hyped. Through all of the bad times, Paul kept coming back and keeping those gates open. There were mistakes along the way, and maybe things could have ultimately been shut down, but they weren't. Paul was the guy keeping things going between Mel and Dennis.

Some of the promoters were a bit slow to embrace social media or message boards before that. I remember Tom Sagmiller at Chowchilla Speedway being one of the first to realize the value of communicating with the racers online. Paul was up on the old Sprint Car Fan board. He would answer questions and talk about his ideas for the next race. If you emailed him a question, which I did, he would get back to you. He seemed like a good guy to me, and unfortunately he has just passed away. He was diagnosed with Cancer and not given much time to live. The comforting part of the news is that he didn't suffer long. My condolences go out to his family. 

From what I've heard, the past two IMCA Sport Modified champions, Trevor Tiffee and Ethan Killingsworth, were two of the first drivers to run the limited practices at Siskiyou Golden Speedway. This is the beginning of hopefully even better news. I'm not sure how quickly the track will be able to open up for a race given the fact that Siskiyou County was one of the counties low on the performance list when it comes to handling the virus. There could be slightly bigger practices around the corner at any time. Kevin is in communication with all the people that he needs to talk to, and I know that as soon as they can do more, they will. Given the fact that I don't know where Oregon stands at this time, Siskiyou Golden Speedway could have a heck of a show if they are able to open for a race in the near future.

Mark Wauge was practicing his Late Model, but he took a longer trip to Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville to do it. They had slightly cheaper rates for their limited practice, but Roy Bain also put out the word in a recent live stream that Jeff Olschowka was interested in running a Late Model race when he gets going if there are enough drivers interested. Roy certainly beat the drum to get the attention of Oregon racers. I'm not sure where this stands, but Wauge reports that he made good laps and enjoyed his time on the track. We're still waiting for an official word on when Diamond Mountain Speedway may open for a race, though the rumor is June 13th.

This idea came to me as I was watching the first night of Antioch Speedway on SpeedshiftTV. It's just possible that the majority of the tracks in California that are going to even attempt to run races this year won't take their first shot at a race until July. Championship seasons are going to be abbreviated or not held at all. A thought occurred to me as I looked at the impressive roster of drivers across the three divisions that came to race at Antioch Speedway. This idea requires cooperation between at least five to seven promoters, and that sometimes can be a tall order.

When we're able to get crowds in the stands, even if that doesn't happen until September, what if we created a Speedweek Series? Seven tracks, seven dates. Modifieds and Sport Modifieds. IMCA sanctioned. Bring the best drivers that California, Oregon, Nevada and wherever else have to offer. You don't need a third division for this. If you eliminated the Hobby Stocks from the Antioch card on Saturday, you're still talking about 110 cars. Seven nights of racing, a champion is crowned. Considering we've lost so much this year, a California IMCA Modified/Sport Modified Speedweek might be just the thing.

Then again, this depends on being able to have a crowd. It's a good bet that you'll still be able to have SpeedshiftTV covering the whole thing. After all, they go up to Oregon to cover that one, and I could see them being interested in this. Still, you want butts in the seats watching the races. You want fans consuming your concessions. So, this type of deal doesn't happen unless you can have that. July probably wouldn't be the time. August might be iffy but I bet you could put a series together in September if you really tried. Something tells me promoters might be willing to do this. Knowing the racer's mentality, many of them would be up for this as well. 

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I don't know what promoters would want to sit down at the table, but my mind starts to speculate. How about Ocean Speedway, Antioch Speedway, Petaluma Speedway, Bakersfield Speedway, Merced Speedway, Keller Auto Speedway and maybe Marysville Raceway or Chico Silver Dollar Speedway? I'm just saying it would be an interesting show. 

Given the year we've had thanks to the virus, we need something positive to go out on. I think one of the holdups is the fact that people are worried about being able to get fans to come to the race track during the week, but this is a different type of situation. Something tells me that people might be more willing to go to one of those tracks on a Tuesday or Wednesday this year. It's a thought anyway.

The goal is to put this up right after the races at Marysville, so I'm trying to get it ready. I don't want to wait to put this one out there. Therefore, I am going to record an audio show after I edit this column. I think I'm done at this point. Until next time...