Antioch Speedway, Ocean Speedway, Coos Bay Speedway, Dixon Speedway, Marysvile Raceway, More

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Pit Stops

It's kind of a busy week for us this week, but we still wanted to try to do a brief preview of some of the action coming this weekend. We're also trying to keep track of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, and that's definitely been exciting to watch. You might think that the IMCA Speedweek was all that was happening this week, but tracks are planning other events as well. We'll take a look at a few of them here.

Antioch Speedway

This was a busy week for Antioch Speedway. On Wednesday night the track got to host the third round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series. This Saturday night, the quarter-mile clay oval will have some open wheel racing as the Wingless Spec Sprints are back along with the Delta Dwarf Cars. The local Super Stock division will be on hand along with an appearance by the BCRA Midgets. We haven't seen any point standings offered up for any of these divisions, but the racers are just happy to be able to get some racing in under the circumstances.

The Wingless Spec Sprints have had four shows at Antioch, counting the Hunt Wingless Series event. We've seen four different winners take their turns in the spotlight. The last time out, 14 year old phenom Dylan Bloomfield battled fiercely with past Antioch champion DJ Johnson. Bloomfield has managed to finish no worse than fifth in his four Antioch starts, and he nearly grabbed the win at the most recent race. However, Johnson made the right move at the right time and became the fourth different winner of the season, joining past Petaluma champion Shayna Ensign, three-time Hunt Wingless Series champion Terry Schank Jr and May Hunt Series race winner Bradley Terrell on the list.

This year, the speedway opened up the Wingless Spec Sprint rules a little more to allow Hunt Series racers and drivers from Petaluma to compete in the regular shows. The last time out, two-time Antioch champion Bob Newberry finished a season-best third as he still looks for his first win of the year. Jarrett Soares, who has been running Winged 410 Sprint Car races in recent years, was fourth that night as Ensign finished fifth. Antioch regular Jeff Scotto has had multiple Top 10 finishes this year and will be out to try to get a Top 5 finish. We've also seen multiple Top 10 finishes from ageless veteran Roy Fisher and a fourth place finish in the opener by two-time Antioch champion Dan Gonderman. It will be interesting to see who shows up for this race. 

The local Dwarf Car competitors decided to form the Delta Dwarf Car Association in order to join the larger Western States Dwarf Car Association and be able to host bigger events. In fact, the track had the Dwarf Car Regionals on July 17th and 18th. There have been four regular Delta Dwarf Car events, and even those have had some big car counts. The record shows that two-time Antioch champion Danny Wagner and 2016 champion Kevin Miraglio have both earned a pair of victories.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Scott Dahlgren still searches for his first win in regular competition this year. He won the Dwarf Car Nationals at Petaluma for the Veterans class earlier this year. He has a pair of seconds at Antioch. Hard charger Devan Kammermann has a pair of third place finishes. Kammermann is still looking for his first win. 

Sean Catucci had a season-high second place finish once this year, and Travis Dutra returned to the action to get a third place finish. Dutra has been making headlines with multiple Hobby Stocks wins this year. Some of the drivers to watch for this week include new stars Chance Russell and Ellie Russo, Travis Day, Toby Brown, Troy Stevenson, David Michael Rosa and two-time champion Mike Corsaro.

The speedway is hoping to build up the ranks of the Super Stock division. The last time out, they had a very entertaining race where several drivers battled fiercely at the front of the pack before reigning Tri State Challenge Series champion Mike Learn moved past everybody and got the win. The rules have been opened up a little to allow the Tri State Challenge drivers to visit, and Bakersfield area racer Ryan Smith got his first career win earlier this season. The Tri State Series does have a race up north, so it's uncertain whether we'll see any of those drivers are not. 

The last time out, 2013 champion Jim Freethy made a last lap move around Chris Long to get another second place finish. Long looked good in the John Keith owned car as he finished third ahead of hard charger Mike Walko. Walko has been a regular fixture at the front of the pack, and he's due for a win. Other drivers to watch for include Chad Hammer, John Evans and two-time reigning champion Kimo Oreta.

Also on the schedule for the night is the return of the BCRA Midgets. This group used to have regular visits to the speedway in prior years and counted Antioch as a home track in 1981 and 1982. Last season, third-generation racer Robert Carson won the BCRA championship driving the car of the late Howard Segur. Howard is Robert's grandfather, and past BCRA champion Glenn Carson is his father. We're not sure who might show up for the group this week, but this is an opportunity for them to get back to their dirt track roots and put on a show.

This should be an interesting program, but the Wingless Spec Sprints and Dwarf Cars have certainly been entertaining this season. Fans can't come to the grandstands yet, but www.antiochspeedway.tv will be offering internet pay-per-view. Just around the corner will be the Fourth Annual Hetrick Memorial race on August 22nd, featuring IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and a Four Banger race. The track has even offered to pay the Four Bangers a purse as long as they can bring at least five cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Ocean Speedway

There's another Friday Night Show happening at Ocean Speedway. There aren't too many races left on the schedule before they begin wrapping up the various championship battles. Taking their turns on the Tom Sagmiller prepared quarter-mile clay oval this week will be the Ocean Sprint Cars, presented by Taco Bravo, the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Four Bangers.

The Ocean Sprint Cars are having an interesting season to say the least. They have managed to have six races so far, and there has yet to be a repeat winner in Main Event competition. The wins so far have been recorded by reigning NARC/King of the West champion DJ Netto, reigning Chico champion Sean Becker, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Mitchell Faccinto and Blake Carrick. Still looking for his first win at Watsonville this year is point leader Bud Kaeding, but he did get a win at Keller Auto Speedway driving his father's.#69 car last week. Bud leads the field with five Top 10 finishes, three of which are Top 5s. This gives him a 97 point advantage over Koen Shaw.

The battle is a little bit closer for second. Shaw has a three point lead over reigning champion James Ringo and a 26 point advantage over newcomer Joey Ancona. Ancona impressed last week by winning the Trophy Dash and getting a Top 10 feature finish, which puts him very much in contention for second in the standings. Ancona also has a 21 point lead over Netto and a 23 point advantage over Jason Chisum as he tries to hold onto fourth in the standings. Carrick is also in the hunt in that battle, 31 points back.

The IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds are on the schedule, but the fields might be impacted by the fact that there is a California IMCA Speedweek race happening in Hanford. The standings show Cody Burke leading the IMCA Modifieds after three races. His advantage is just six points over reigning champion brother Austin Burke. Cody is also a past champion in this class. Both haven't won yet at their home track, But the wins have been earned by Jim Pettit II, Bobby Hogge IV and Troy Foulger. It's unlikely that we'll see any of them, and just who might show up remains to be seen. Third-ranked Brian Cass has been doing well at Speedweek so far. He's 18 points out of the lead and four ahead of JC Elrod. Five points behind him is Robert Marsh. Elrod and Marsh are two drivers who are anticipated for Friday night.

It's not likely that you're going to see many visitors in the IMCA Sport Modifieds, but most of the drivers competing in the points are likely to be here. After seven events, nobody in the Top 9 has won the Main Event yet. Gavin Espino has a two point lead over Adriane Frost. Frost picked up her division-leading fifth Top 5 finish last time out to move that much closer in the battle. Also doing well last week was Kelly Campanile. With four Top 10 finishes, she's only eight points back. Steven Allee is 17 points out of the lead, while Billy Robertson and Max Baggett are 19 points back. All hope to get a win this week. Wins have been recorded by Brent Curran and Fred Ryland twice and Andrew Peckham, Tanner Thomas and most recently past champion Jim DiGiovanni once.

In the Hobby Stock division, Joe Gallaher finds himself leading the battle after four races. He is one of four different winners, which also includes past champion Terry Campion, Nick Johnson and Johnny Wood. Joe Gallaher leads Steve Remde by 32 points and three-time reigning champion Rob Gallaher by 37. Remde actually started racing at the track back in the late 1990s, but we haven't seen him much in recent years. The battle for second is a bit closer as Bobby Huckabey Jr is only 10 points back in fourth. Campion is 43 points back and Jerry Skelton is 57 points behind.

In the Four Banger division, point leader Ryan McClelland didn't have very good luck last time out, but the two-time winner and past champion is still 13 points ahead of two-time reigning champion Kate Beardsley. Beardsley is still looking for her first win, but Nicole Beardsley has a win. Nicole is six points behind Kate and 19 out of the lead. Tony Gullo suffered a disqualification last time out, and that keeps him 38 points out of the lead, two ahead of past champion Bill Beardsley and six over Richard Mitchell. John Grilli and 2018 Central Valley Mini Stocks champion Greg Baronian are the other winners so far.

The Winged 360 Sprint Car portion of the program should be good as this is the only show for the class all weekend. Flo Racing will be broadcasting it on internet pay-per-view. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com or the Ocean Speedway Facebook page.

Madera Speedway

After the exciting MavTV taping of the Nut Up Pro Late Model Series and 51fifty Energy Drink Junior Late Models, Madera Speedway returns with a club race this Saturday night. The Madera Late Models are back along with the MST cars, Toyotas and Hobby Stocks. The 602 Modifieds are scheduled for an appearance as well.

The Madera Late Model effort may not be as intense as the Pro Late Models, but they offer plenty of excitement nonetheless. There's a close championship battle between rookie Lily Mead and Trevor Schlundt. Mead is one of the latest drivers to move up from the Junior Late Model ranks, and she's been very consistent this year. She's coming off of back-to-back fifth place finishes to keep her five points ahead of Trevor Schlundt. Schlundt has three Top 5 efforts, including a season-high second place finish.

38 points behind Schlundt is Del McIntosh, and he finds himself just 13 points ahead of Jon Schlundt, 16 over Loren Kutz and 28 over Mike Shapiro. Kutz had a strong showing last time as he finished third in the Main Event and looked at times like he could even win the race. There have been five different winners, including rookies Kyle Keller and Jacob Smith, Jeremy Doss, Garland Tyler and Pro Series point leader Buddy Shepherd.

The MST's, which stands for Modified Super Toyota's, have been bringing plenty of excitement to the speedway in their four visits. Reigning champion Bert Stephens has notched a pair of victories, giving him a nine point lead over rookie Kyle LaBrie and a 12 point advantage over Patrick Geiger. Those two drivers are still looking for their first wins as Geiger has finished as high as second twice, while LaBrie has a third place finish to his credit. Fourth-ranked Ryan Reynolds missed a race, but he and Shaun Reynolds are both feature winners this year as well. 

Car count has been down enough that the Toyota Sedans have run with the MST division. Andrew Parr has been the lead finisher three times, but he still only leads Thomas Magray by just nine points in the championship battle JJ Brandsen hasn't been out there for the last two races, but he is third in the standings.

The Hobby Stock division has struggled to get cars as well, but their last show was very entertaining as veteran Richard Herzog scored the victory over Dennis Saunders Jr. Tyler Rogers was putting on a show, but his handling went away later in that race. A check of the standings finds Manny Gonzalez Jr leading by 49 points ahead of Saunders. Rogers is just three points behind Saunders. Rogers and Saunders are the other Main Event winners after three races.

The track is still unable to have fans in the grandstands due to covid-19 guidelines, but thanks to nutup.com, they've been offering streaming services for free on YouTube. You can find the information on that by going to www.racemadera.com or going to the track's Facebook page.

Coos Bay Speedway

The only track on the West Coast that appears to be able to get as many fans as they want and sell them concessions is Coos Bay Speedway. Because of this, Promoter Drake Nelson is having perhaps his best year yet at the oval track. This Saturday night, the NASCAR Whelen All American Series rolls into action with the America's Mattress Super Late Models running their $1,000 to win Tidal Wave 50. The Sportsman Late Models will be there along with the Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets, Jr Stingers and Dwarf Cars.

Nelson just announced that even though the ISCS Limited Sprint Week of Speed has been canceled, he's holding a Limited Sprint race this Monday, joined by the Dirt Modifieds, B Modifieds, Hornets and the Dwarf Cars. The Dwarf Cars were always scheduled to be a part of Week of Speed. This Limited Sprint race has been endorsed by the ISCS management, which could help bring a few more cars to the field for the $700 to win race.

As a NASCAR sanctioned effort, the Super Late Models at Coos Bay compete for lucrative point fund money that sees the champion winning $3,500, plus additional State money. Even if you finish fifth in the standings, there's $800 on the line for that. From Gresham, Oregon, Jason Johnson has the lead on the strength of his two wins. However, he only leads 2018 champion Brody Montgomery by six tallies. Both drivers have six Top 5 finishes, but Montgomery is still looking for his first win. Only 14 points out of the lead is rookie Braden Fugate. The reigning Sportsman Late Model champion won the most recent race. Mike Taylor is 50 points out of the lead and the only other driver within striking distance.

The money on the line and the fact that this will be the only Late Model show happening in Oregon could bring some top drivers from out of the area. Reigning champion Preston Luckman has two wins in his only starts at the track, while BJ D'Onofrio also counts himself among the winners. Reigning Hornet champion Hannah Robison recently made her first start and is trying to close in on the $800 fifth place position in the standings. Doug Elkins holds the position by two points ahead of Pescadero, California racer Dennis Souza and 16 over Robison. Luckman is only 30 points out of the fifth position.

All of the numbers have been inflated this year since Coos Bay has been the only track to open consistently. This has been the best season in years for the Sportsman Late Models. One-time winner Trace Fugate is trying to keep the championship trophy within the family. He is 24 points ahead of Ryan Emry and is a one-time winner. That is currently your championship battle. Some of the B Modified drivers have even put fenders on their cars to come compete, and Cottage Grove Speedway stars Doug Coffman, Aaron Bloom and David Schmidt each have victories. Jordan Henry is also a feature winner in this class. Phil Lovvorn currently holds third in the standings by 10 points over Jared Simmons and 24 over Coffman.

The Street Stocks may be having their best season since the track was converted to dirt a decade ago. Local stars Ken Fox and Steve Dubisar are the champions at the speedway for the past two years, and both have two feature victories. Fox is leading Dubisar by just 10 points and leads the group with eight Top 5 finishes in nine starts. Creswell visitor Graig Osborne missed a race, but he has three wins to keep him 50 points out of the lead. Other winners include Dakota Goddard and Kevin Roberts. Mini Outlaw champion Sam Talon is fourth by just 34 points ahead of Goddard. Since the track is keeping the big races on their schedule, the Battle At The Beach Iron Giant race is coming up on August 29th.

Even the Mini Outlaws are doing better this year than they have in recent seasons. Brad Hicks has five Top 5 finishes and one win to lead Matthew Emry by 48 markers. Emry is just 34 tallies ahead of three-time winner Scott Beaudoin.  Tahlen Rogers and Matt Diller are the other winners, and Diller won the Hornet Main Event on the same night. We still have yet to see an appearance of fast VW Beetle of Rob Lauver.

The Hornets have a busy weekend as they will get to race on Monday. Isaac Stere has been forgoing the racing action at his home track in Cottage Grove and racing in Coos Bay. With two wins and five Top 5s in his six starts, he leads William Hitner by 78 points. If Stere has a good weekend, it's going to become increasingly difficult to defeat him in the championship battle. Seth Christian, PJ Hussey, reigning champion Hannah Robison and Diller are the other winners this year, and Kevin Rockwell, Dan Briesacher and Kris Parker are currently third through fifth in the standings.

Since the Junior Stinger division was created as a Hornet class for kids 11 to 14 years old, Griff Smith has dominated it. In fact, only one other driver, Alex Butler, has beat him for a Main Event victory. Smith is the two-time reigning champion and has a 36 point lead over Butler on the strength of six wins in six starts. Butler and third-ranked Lane Hitner both have four Top 5 finishes. Other stars of the group include Cameron Metzgus, Heather Burton and Teagan Montgomery. Can anybody beat Smith this weekend?

We're not sure which group of Dwarf Car competitors will be sanctioning the show on Saturday, but we can assume that drivers from the Northwest Dwarf Cars, PHRA and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars will support as they haven't been getting much racing in their own areas. The Dwarf Cars always offer fast and exciting competition, and that should continue to be the case in their two appearances.

The Limited Sprint drivers are excited to get the race on Monday. Longtime former track owner Chuck Prather has been the MVP of keeping the division alive as he owns six cars. Last time out, drivers had to choose between Cottage Grove and Coos Bay, and Ian Bandey surprisingly skipped his home track to pursue the Coos Bay title. With three Top 5 finishes in four starts, he leads past champion Lawrence Van Hoof, but it's only a four point advantage. Van Hoof also has three Top 5 finishes, but he has yet to get a win. 

The only driver of the local fleet with a win to his credit is fourth-ranked Austin Sause. He won the most recent Saturday race, and he is six points behind third-ranked Trent Ding and 44 behind the leader. The other wins have been earned by RJ McGahuey, Tyrell Mead and Tanner Holmes. It's likely that you'll see people like Jake Wheeler, Mike Wheeler and Patrick Desbiens among the field on Monday.

The track is offering the Dirt Modifieds and B Modifieds an opportunity to race on Monday, but it's also not a sanctioned race with IMCA. This is the fourth round of Modified competition. Local area racer Ryan Baker got the win the last time out, joining Yreka star Jimmy Lipke and Jon DeBenedetti on the winner's list. Baker is just six points ahead of Raymond Bloom and 22 in front of another local area racer, Tom Elam. Paul Rea and past Coos Bay Late Model champion Mike George make up the balance of the Top 5 at the moment.

This will be the fifth visit for the B Modified division, which has had a Cottage Grove flavor to it. Aaron Bloom is the only driver with all Top 5 finishes so far. This gives him a 48 point advantage over two-time winner and reigning Cottage Grove champion David Schmidt. Schmidt is only 18 points ahead of Jordan Henry and 20 in front of KC Scott. Southern Oregon star Matt Sanders and Roseburg's Doug Coffman are the other winners.

You never know what could happen at Coos Bay Speedway next as Promoter Nelson continues to adjust his schedule to add more events. Being able to get fans in the stands has made this opportunity too good to pass up. We are unaware of any streaming services being offered, but Oregonians can go there and watch in person. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us or the Coos Bay speedway Facebook page.

Dixon Speedway

Racing season continues at Dixon Speedway this Saturday night. This will be their 10th round of exciting Micro Sprint action on the 1/5 mile dirt oval. Unfortunately, they already know that they won't be able to have fan attendance for this race or the August 29th race, and we've heard of no report of streaming services being offered. The track does run the Race Monitor app, which will enable you to keep track of live scoring this Saturday night. 

Dixon Speedway has the most exciting Wingless Micro Sprint show you'll find, and that should be the case this weekend. There have been six different winners, and Brandon Carey, Brandon Shaw and Ashton Torgerson are two-time winners. In fact, Torgerson has won the last two races. Austin Stone, Mitchel Moles and Cody Gray are also winners. 

One driver who has yet to win is Kelvin Lewis, but consistency has served him well in making him the point leader. Lewis has a pair of season-high second.place finishes and a 126 point lead over Gray. At this point, he'd have to stumble pretty badly to lose the lead. Even Gray is a solid second right now at nearly 100 points ahead of Travis Sullivan. Sullivan leads Shaw by 21 points in a closer battle for third.

Likewise, the Super 600 point battle has been busted wide open in favor of Brad Hannum. Hannum won three of the first five races this year to give him a 135 point lead over two-time winner Devin Courtnier. Courtnier is only 12 points ahead of the consistent Sage Bordenave. As two-time reigning champion Kyle Mentch missed the last race, he is 17 points out of third in the standings and just four ahead of Haden Saich. Corey Day, Mitchell Moles, Ricky Sanders and Ashton Torgerson are also feature winners in this class. Torgeson is the most recent winner.

The battle is for the Restricted point lead. Bryant Bell and Izaak Sharp are having a spirited dual, currently being led by Bell by just two points. Bell is a two-time winner, while Sharp has one victory to his credit. Matthew Tatoole has a second and two thirds to his credit as he sits 41 points out of the lead in search of his first victory. One-time winner Brandon Riveira is fourth in the standings, while two-time winner Austin Wood is fifth. Colin Kirby is also a two-time winner.

The new stars of the Junior Sprint division are certainly putting on some good races. Reigning champion Makayla Tatoole has one win to her credit as well as four second place finishes. She leads two-time winner Kyle Fernandez by 40 points and two-time winner Brody Rubio by 58. Rubio has won the two most recent races. Other winners in the group include two-time winner Matthew Ward, Lucas Mauldin and Braxon Vasconcellos.

The Micro program this Saturday night should be a good one as the show keeps going at Dixon Speedway. For further information, go to www.dixonspeedway.net or check out the Dixie Speedway Facebook page.

Lakeport Speedway

Saturday night will see the quarter-mile paved oval at Lakeport Speedway roar into action once again. This is another of the tracks that has been offering streaming for free for the fans to enjoy on the track's Facebook page. They'll be racing for the next two weeks. On this Saturday night, the NCRA Modifieds are joined by the Taco Bell Bombers, the AAA Energy Solutions Pro 4 Modifieds and the Bandoleros. Those groups will be joined by Late Models and Legend Cars on August 22nd.

Taking a look at the Limited Modifieds, Mike Sullivan finds himself leading the battle by 23 points ahead of Richard Knight. Both drivers have been fast this year. Ian Elliott has a good battle going for third as he leads Robert Schmidt by just one point. 

A look at the Bombers division finds Donovan Cox leading by 74 points over Amber Portlock and Mikey Collins, who are tied. Cox won the season opener and has been fast ever since. Klinton Waite is 39 points behind Portlock and Collins in the fouth position and 19 ahead of Trevor Abella.

The Show goes on at Lakeport Speedway, and will likely be broadcast for free for the fans again on Facebook. For further information, go to the NCRA Lakeport Speedway Facebook page.

In Closing 

We're going to try to keep an eye on the racing action at Orland Raceway and Susanville's Diamond Mountain Speedway, and we'll put something out there if we get enough information. For Orland, the 1/5 mile dirt oval will host the Wingless Spec Sprints, Pure Stocks, Mini Stocks and Mini Trucks this week. You can go to the Orland Raceway Facebook page for whatever information they put out.

Diamond Mountain Speedway lost their ability to have fans as the Lassen County Health officials didn't give them permission to do so for last weekend's double-header. Word is that the grandstands will be closed again this weekend, but that won't stop them from having a race that should see some decent support. The Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series will be there for a $1,500 to win race, joined by the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks. We're still looking for a few names that are missing so we can put an article together on last weekend's show. You can go to www.dmspeedway.com or the Diamond Mountain Speedway Facebook page for further information.

Blake Carrick Becomes Eighth Different Sprint Car Winner 

At Marysville Raceway

Marysville, CA...August 12...Blake Carrick won the 25 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event Wednesday night at Marysville Raceway. In the process, he becomes the eighth different winner in nine races. His win came aboard the David Carrick owned Sprinter, and Blake also has wins at Watsonville and Placerville this season. He had to battle brother Tanner Carrick, who was going for his third win of the season. 

Blake Carrick shared the front row with point leader Andy Forsberg and surprised Forsberg by motoring into the lead. A high pass in Turn 4 of the second lap gained Sean Becker third from Nick Larsen. By the eighth lap, Blake Carrick caught slower traffic, and that allowed Forsberg, Becker and Tanner Carrick to close in and make things real interesting. Forsberg made contact with a slower car in Turn 1 on lap 14, allowing Becker and Tanner Carrick to race by for the second and third positions. The yellow flag waved on lap 16 for Forsberg in Turn 2. Forsberg was able to make repairs and come back for the restart as Blake Carrick continued to lead Becker and Tanner Carrick. A low pass in Turn 2 on Lap 18 gained Tanner Carrick second from Becker. Tanner Carrick quickly closed in on his brother, and things were about to get interesting when Becker jumped the cushion in Turn 4. He ended up bringing out a Lap 23 yellow flag with a flat tire. Blake Carrick led Tanner Carrick on the restart, and B Main winner Colby Wiesz maneuvered the Jim Richardson car into third. The multi-time Marysville champion Wiesz pressured Tanner Carrick before making a Turn 2 pass on the final lap to gain the second position. However, Blake Carrick would prevail at the checkered flag. Reigning champion Michael Ing ended up fourth, Followed by Brad Bumgarner, Larsen, Billy Wallace, Forsberg, Bobby Butler and Alec Justeson.

There were 23 Sprint Cars for the show, and Andy Forsberg set the fast time of 13.106, beating the 13.167 of Tanner Carrick. The four eight lap heat race wins went to Butler, Ing, Larsen and Bumgarner. Wiesz won the 12 lap B Main to make it into the feature race along with past champion Mike Monahan, Darren Johnson and Jimmy Steward.

Timothy Allerdings won the 20 lap Pepsi IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the first win of the season for the current State point leader, and it also enabled him to gain the track point lead. Looking for his second win, Justin Funkhouser raced into the early lead ahead of Bryce Campbell and past champion Philip Shelby. Shelby and Mike Merritt dropped Campbell out of the Top 3 as both got by him in Turn 1 on the fourth lap. A yellow flag waved when Campbell spun on Lap 5. Funkhouser led Shelby and Mike Merritt on the restart. Contact between Shelby and Funkhouser in Turn 3 saw Shelby and Funkhouser get sideways as Merritt went motoring by. All drivers continued with no yellow flag. Shaun Merritt settled into third ahead of Scott Savell, and Jason Ferguson broke in Turn 4 for a yellow flag on Lap 12. Allerdings moved into third behind Mike Merritt and Funkhouser on the restart. The battle was close between Merritt and Funkhouser, and it got a little too close on lap 19 as contact from Funkhouser saw Merritt spun for a yellow flag. Merritt was put back to the front of the pack for the restart, and Allerdings was put in second as Funkhouser was dropped to third for rough driving. On the restart, Allerdings got a good run on the inside of Mike Merritt and passed him in Turn 2. With Merritt and Funkhouser running closely behind and trying to get by, Allerdings prevailed at the checkered flag. Mike Merritt settled for second, followed by Funkhouser, Savell, Shaun Merritt, Jimmy Ford, Jeremiah Zeiter, Shawn Smith, Shelby and Jason Ferguson. Eight lap heat race wins were earned by Funkhouser and Shelby.

Jacob Johnson won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Johnson had a near victory at the previous race that ended in a controversial way with a penalty, and also he had a potential win in Chico slip from his grasp with a last lap pass. The jubilant Johnson celebrated his win aboard the Jerry Bartlett car with several people in the infield as this was championship night for the division. With his sixth place finish, Jesse Van Roekel wrapped up the championship.

Still hoping to be able to pull off the championship, Jim Brookshire raced into the lead at the start ahead of past champion Shannon Collins and Jesse Van Roekel. Van roekel took the second position from Collins on Lap 5, and a yellow flag flew for Mike Stoeckle and Chris Van Roekel in Turn 2 on Lap 6. Johnson was up to third on the restart, and he threaded the needle between the lead two cars on the back straightaway. He went high through Turns 3 and 4 and managed to beat Brookshire back to the line for the lead on Lap 7. A yellow flag flew moments later for Rick Etchieson in Turn 4. Johnson led Brookshire and Jesse Van Roekel on the restart. Within a few laps, Johnson had a half-straightaway lead, and he began working slower traffic. An inside pass on the backstretch in traffic enabled Kyle Cheney and Zach Lindgren to move into second and third. One of the slower cars was racing hard against Johnson, but the driver kept his line as Johnson was determined to get it to the winner's circle. Johnson scored the satisfying win ahead of Cheney, Lindgren, Brookshire, Maurice Merrill, Jesse Van Roekel, Paul Stevens, James Wooddell, Collins and Zac Bullock. The 21 Hobby Stocks had three eight lap heat races with wins going to Jesse Van Roekel, Lindgren and Merrill.

Drake Standley won the 20 lap Crate Sprint Main Event. This was his first win aboard the Richard Dozier owned entry. Prior to the Main Event, which saw the biggest car count for this class this season, the track was watered and graded. It made the track a little bit slippery for the competitors. Mike Ballantine raced into the early lead over point leader Brett Youngman and David Sims. Ballantine was doing a good job of leading the race for the first nine laps before a yellow flag waved for a Spencer Slocum spin in Turn 2. On the restart, Youngman made a good run on the inside of Ballantine and passed him in Turn 3 before the lap was completed. A lap later, Standley and Sims both went low on Ballantine in Turn 1 to grab second and third. Ballantine spun in Turn 4 for a Lap 13 yellow flag. Youngman continued to lead Standley and Sims on the restart, and another yellow flag waved on lap 15 for a  tangle between Ballantine and Slocum. On this restart, Standley made a good move on the inside and they were side-by-side going through Turns 3 and 4  As they completed the lap, Standley was just ahead of Youngman. Standley began to pull away to nearly a straightaway advantage by the time the checkered flag waved. Youngman settled for second, followed by Sims, Dusty Barton, Cameron Haney Jr, Slocum, Ballantine and Cameron Haney. Sims won the eight lap heat race with a last-lap pass on Ballantine.

The final point race for the season for the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Pepsi IMCA Sport Modifieds happens on Wednesday, August 26th. Also on the card will be the NorCal Dwarf Cars and the California Hardtops. For further information, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com or check out the Marysville Raceway Facebook page.

The Editor's Viewpoint

I debated whether I even wanted to do a weekend preview since we are doing the Speedweek post that we've been updating daily. However, there are other things happening in the racing world aside from the big IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified blowout week. I figured we could touch on a little bit of that. I always say this, but I'm going to try to be brief.

Speedweek is a big deal, so you can't blame me for getting excited. I think this kind of thing was needed for the IMCA Modifieds for a long time, and the IMCA Sport Modifieds have grown big enough that they should be a part of this. Honestly, with the IMCA Wild West Speedweek Tour being cancelled this year, I wonder how things will be impacted next year. This California thing isn't a flash in the pan. It will continue, and there might be less interest in drivers heading up north from California in light of the fact that they now have something in their own backyard. Time will tell. 

The two tracks that I heard the most chatter about that weren't included in Speedweek this year were Watsonville and Marysville. To be honest with you, I sort of thought Ocean Speedway would have been included. It's a natural fit in my opinion. I don't know the circumstances for why they weren't included, but I do know that when Doug Lockwood put this thing together, he was moving very quickly. So, time was of the essence. Maybe that was a reason why we didn't get the Santa Cruz County track in this deal.

Marysville Raceway might be overlooked. I think when it comes to the tracks up that way, Silver Dollar Speedway probably would have gotten more attention, but that track was not doing anything when Doug started putting the thing together. This left Marysville, and we've already seen that Dennis Gage has been flexible in moving his race dates to work with other tracks. I know there are some hearty IMCA Sport Modified drivers from Marysville who travel everywhere. I also know that some of those guys didn't commit to Speedweek this year because Marysville booked a race on Wednesday. This was not some sort of slight against Speedweek. These things will happen.

Marysville had to move their dates from Saturday to Wednesday in order to get the camera crew to stream the races, although I wonder about that. There are at least two occasions where I feel they probably would have been able to pull it off on a Saturday night, and this week was one of them. There are no other Winged Sprint Car shows in the area on Saturday night, so I'd have to think that somebody could have been brought to Marysville for that. I think Dennis just figured if he was going to do Wednesday once, he might as well be all in.

Marysville was the leader when it came to opening up the bigger tracks in California after the virus shut down. They were the first. They also got a pretty good deal through SpeedshiftTV, which is now Flo Racing. I know that helped Dennis make the move he did. They're not going overboard on their racing. They're not running every week. I think that's the smarter move at this point.

They take a week off here and there. They only have two point events remaining in August, and they will be Wednesday night shows. They wanted to give the IMCA Sport Modifieds a date because they bring cars. The Winged 360 Sprint Cars were a no-brainer. Both divisions would run both races in August. Wednesday's show also included the Hobby Stocks, which is another car count, and the Crate Sprints that wish they had one.

Friday night is Ocean Speedway's night. John Prentice only switches to Saturdays when he has something big on the agenda. People could speculate that John could move Watsonville to Saturday nights and get away with it, and they may be right about that. For some people, a Saturday night show is easier to make than a Friday night, even though people have been used to Fridays in Watsonville for years. They had booked the Ocean Sprint Cars along with IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Four Bangers on Friday night. Again, I will repeat. The Marysville and Watsonville dates were already set prior to the Speedweek Series coming together.

A promoter needs to put something on the track, and sometimes they realize that they're probably screwed by doing what they do. Watsonville has been getting big Sprint Car shows, and I see no reason why Friday will be any different. It's going to be a struggle to get IMCA Modifieds or IMCA Sport Modifieds, and I don't know what to expect. If you saw less than 10 cars in either one of those divisions, would you be surprised? I wouldn't. They won't have quite the stacked pit area they've been having, but they'll make the best of it. That's what everybody has to do these days. 

If I were lobbying for the seventh track to be in Speedweek next year, Watsonville would get my vote without even thinking about it. It should be involved in this. It's a good track, and many of the racers who are competing with Speedweek this year like going there anyway. As I said, there could be room for one or two more tracks in this deal, but at some point you need to dial it back and not go any further. I mean, you'll have tracks further up north like Yreka and Susanville wanting in. If Yreka got a date, why not Southern Oregon Speedway? It's not that far away, is it? Therefore, you can count on Doug Lockwood to be careful where he goes next. One thing is for sure, this series is a winner.

When you're putting your schedule together on the fly and making announcements, sometimes all the information isn't there. Roy Bain has been talking to lots of different people as he puts together the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series. He's had good sponsors make sure the purses are up, and that has been helping the group deliver 20 car fields to these tracks. That makes them appealing to tracks wanting to fill out their pit area a little bit more. 

It was bound to happen. Bain was contacted by Petaluma Speedway Promoter Rick Faeth, and we ended up with the August 30th Sunday show that will be sponsored by Joe Carr Racing. Bain piggybacked that race off of Antioch on the 29th to make it easier for drivers who will be towing longer distances to compete.

Roy hinted at something about Mike Learn working on a date for Petaluma. There was another big race on the horizon, and Learn was trying to be bring in sponsorship. What that race actually is is the 9th Annual Adobe Cup on September 26th. The Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks share the bill with the PitStopUSA.com Winged 360 Sprint Cars, and there is big money on the line for both. The Super Stock race was named after Bob McCoy in recent years, and it's a big show. Bain clarified that this is the other event the Tri State Challenge Series has been invited to. You can check out the group's Facebook page for updates as they come and also the Petaluma Speedway Facebook page. News seems to be breaking daily everywhere, so checking Facebook pages is the way to go.

The best example of that is probably Coos Bay Speedway. Drake Nelson is the leader in getting your race track open on the West Coast in as close to normal conditions as possible. That has some people scratching their heads and wondering how they are doing this, and I've already come to the conclusion that they aren't playing completely within the lines here. However, they happen to be in a county where nobody's stressing too hard about it. These supposed numbers of virus cases aren't as high as they are elsewhere in the state. Umatilla County had high numbers, and that slapped them down to Phase 1, thereby ending Hermiston Raceway and a rather nice plan they had going for them.

Nelson can invite the fans to come spectate, and there doesn't seem to be any limit to how many he gets. He had photographers out there sharing photos online, but you're not seeing so many of those with the big grandstand shots anymore. There's a reason for that. Nobody's looking, but you don't want the wrong person to notice it and cause a stir. Let's just say he can have fans, and Oregonians from all over the state flock to Coos Bay these days to watch. This includes racers who don't get a chance to run at their own track. Put another way, Coos Bay Speedway is giving the middle finger to what's going on right now with the virus and just doing what they do. 

As Cottage Grove Speedway opens their Gates, Drake needs to be careful. The locals there will stay home and race if they have that choice. The same holds true for people at Southern Oregon Speedway and Willamette Speedway, but the latter two tracks weren't open as of last weekend. This is the perfect opportunity for Nelson to make money. I think he's having his most success since buying the track from Chuck Prather prior to the 2017 season. He's also adjusting his schedule on the fly, and he's done a little bit of that in the last two weeks.

It was about two weeks ago when the McDonald's Malicious Monster Truck Insanity Tour and Nelson made a deal so that they could come out there this Thursday and Friday. Monster Truck shows seem to do pretty well in Oregon. Southern Oregon Speedway has just gotten into it with some success. There's an indoor Monster Truck event in Medford that happens in March every year that has done well. There's the Monster Truck show that Drake promotes in Roseburg, another one that happens at Cottage Grove and the regular show that would happen in June at Coos Bay. They all got cancelled, but all systems were go for Thursday and Friday at Coos Bay. If you can get fans in the stands and sell them concessions, and there's no limit to how many fans you seem to be able to get, you go for it.

The only thing Nelson would have to worry about is these shows get lots of people. If the wrong person finds out about what's going on and goes to pay a visit to the track, it might not bode well for him. He's getting bigger crowds anyway, and I don't think it's a stretch to say he's had over 1,000 people in the stands at least once, if not more. That occasion was a fireworks display, so he knew what he was doing. He still wants to grab a hold of the IMCA Modified classes and Limited Sprints when he can. He's got his own Limited Sprint show, but it only gets 6 or 8 cars on any regular occasion.

Since Monday would have been a Week of Speed race for the ISCS Sprint Cars, Nelson decided he didn't want to get rid of that date. Therefore, he made Monday a $700 to win Limited Sprint race. Cottage Grove has opened, but they're not running that night. He's hoping to get at least a few of those cars. Actually, he gets some support from the guys in Roseburg and a few Southern Oregon racers as well, so he'll do well with this. He also gets some racers from the two Modified classes, but I've got a little bit of criticism here.

Nelson is going for the money. Let's call it what it is. What he's not doing is thinking ahead on this deal. I mentioned in a previous column that he could dabble in some Fast Friday events in the future and be able to add IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds. If you can run four races for either class, IMCA considers it a championship, and there are drivers from Oregon who will commit. This is especially true if you've got IMCA sanctioning. It's also a way for you to build your own classes in the long run. I know the track is NASCAR sanctioned and is doing quite well with that, but there's no rule that says you can't have IMCA sanctioning and NASCAR sanctioning at the same track as far as I understand.

He has not reached out to IMCA and gotten sanctioning. I really feel he could have done that this year. Furthermore, he will have had enough races as of Monday for championships to be earned in both divisions. There are some drivers that are conspicuous by their absence in Coos Bay, and I'm thinking the lack of sanctioning for these classes has contributed to that. He might get 10 cars or so in either class, and maybe that's all he's worried about. Maybe he doesn't want to worry about a sanctioning fee, but I think he's not looking at the bigger picture. 

He's simply counting the money now when he could be doing something that could help the track even more in the long run. Once the shackles are taken off of everybody and this virus fear BS comes to an end, the gloves will be off. You might as well use the opportunity you have now to get your slice of the pie and position Coos Bay Speedway as one of the top tracks in the state, not just the option people have now because they can't go to their home tracks.

Monday's race was always going to have the Dwarf Cars, because they were taking part in Week of Speed as well. They remain on the schedule with the other three divisions, joined by the local Hornet division. It should be an interesting show, and fans can actually come out and spectate and buy food at the concession stands. The race on Saturday night will be the Tidal Wave 50 for the NASCAR America's Mattress Super Late Models, and it pays $1,000 to win. The full slate of NASCAR divisions will be on the card that night. I'm not sure if they're offering streaming services or anything, but you can go to the Coos Bay Speedway Facebook page to get information.

Let's face it, Cottage Grove Speedway is the first place people will go in Oregon to get their dirt track racing fix. If they're doing anything special, people want to be there. At this point, Heather Boyce finally decided that even without fans, she could make a buck running some races. The community in Cottage Grove is hearty, and there are people willing to sponsor money to help her with the purses. When you've got people coming in and sponsoring half of your purse and you're bringing in $40 per person through the pit gates, it adds up to a worthy endeavor. Therefore, the track has now had four events with Limited Sprints, Late Models, Street Stocks and the IMCA sanctioned to Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Sport Compacts.

After back-to-back races, Heather decided to cool things down this weekend, but she's not done. They will be racing for the next three weekends, although a few divisions will be rotated in this case. By the time they get to Labor Day weekend and run September 5th and 6th, the same six divisions will take center stage again. When she does that, she's getting over 100 cars in the pits, and I can only speculate how many people that is. My guess would be at least 400, but it could be 500. The track isn't just going to announce that number for obvious reasons, but if they weren't getting close, I don't think they'd be running as much as they are. I can't blame the lady. If you can make a buck, you've got to do it. She is paying a hefty fee to buy this track from Jerry Schram after all.

Their decision to run on Labor Day weekend comes a few days after Siskiyou Golden Speedway announced that they were going to be running a Labor Day weekend program as well. In Yreka, this show will center around IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Outlaw Pro Stocks on both days with Mini Stocks running on Saturday. The only thing is Promoter Kevin Barba doesn't exactly know the details yet. How much are they going to be able to pay from the track itself? Can they get sponsors? That's the big question. If the community steps up a little bit and helps them out, Yreka could have a nice program where they attract people from Southern Oregon and have inflated numbers. That's the only reason you jump in and do this.

They have some big memorial races that are usually on the schedule, but I'm not sure if this particular weekend will be named after them. Everything is kind of being booked on the fly, and I know Kevin faces a challenge getting anything done there at all. The fact that they can open the gates and run anything is an accomplishment, but now it's time for the community to step up a little bit and help if they can. This still leaves the fans sitting in the dark. People hear the noise of the engines going around that track in Yreka, and they get frustrated. They want to be there.

The track hasn't felt it was a priority to even give the people decent coverage for free on Facebook as other tracks have when they couldn't get a streaming service to come in for pay-per-view. They have tried to bring in a streaming service here or there. The problem is, it's not likely that they're going to get Flo Racing at a place like Yreka. Dirt Oval TV could be a possibility as PJ Risso has demonstrated that he can stream multiple races on the same night now. However, I'm not sure if Cottage Grove would like him doing that or not. Since that's his home base, that could be reason enough for him not to jump in.

They brought in some people from Washington to do a stream on the big Fourth of July weekend show, and that proved to be an absolute disaster. People paid money but the stream kept shutting off and there were issues. What should have been a strong weekend for the track did not go as well as intended. Can they do something this time? That's the question I have. As I said, they're probably going to have a decent show if they can put up even a decent purse for the divisions involved, and people from Southern Oregon to Yreka and a little further south might be interested. 

The way to go might be doing something in-house, but the only way to accomplish that is if Kevin had somebody to work with. He just may have that, but I'm still waiting to see how things work out. I've got my eyes on this one for a few reasons. In the meantime, they'll have a race on August 22nd and a practice the day before. They will have Outlaw Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks and Jefferson City Jalopies, and the place to find out more is the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page.

Coos Bay is the anomaly. They have fans. When Susanville's Diamond Mountain Speedway opened back in May, they were able to have socially distanced fans as well. Jeff Olschowka simply had a proposal for the Lassen County Health officials and brought them to the track to see how he marked off his grandstands. It worked. Though he couldn't sell concessions, he could sell tickets. That's revenue, and it enabled him to open up and pay some pretty good purses all the way around. Things were going well for the track.

Prior to last weekend, they got the news that they couldn't have fans. The county was slow to get back to him, and I'm not sure exactly what it was he heard. Was this a temporary situation or are fans gone for this year? The show still went on with probably 90 cars on Friday and over 100 on Saturday. I saw some video footage being taped from the pit area, and it seemed like they weren't lacking for people back there. Given that situation, I would say Jeff made out pretty well despite the fact that he lost the fans that would have made it a bigger success

We were just getting details prior to going live with our post on Monday, but it looked good for the track. The IMCA Modifieds had enough cars for a B Main both nights. It was championship contender Riley Simmons winning on Friday ahead of Nick Trenchard. Simmons found himself in the B Main the next night, but he won that race. Meanwhile, Trenchard came within a lap of getting the win before being passed by Yreka racer Jimmy Lipke on Saturday. They've now had six different Main Event winners in seven races in this class.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds didn't have a huge car count on Friday, but they had enough cars for the show. Current point leader Craig Nieman got the win over State point leader Timothy Allerdings that night, and three-time reigning Southern Oregon Speedway champion Jorddon Braaten didn't finish. However, Braaten got redemption the next time as he won that race. Allerdings grabbed another podium in third. The Hobby Stock shows both belonged to Royce Goetz, and their numbers continued to be very strong as drivers come from everywhere. Not to be outdone, it was Tom Davis winning both Mini Stock races. The Orland racer loves going to Susanville.

The Northern Nevada Sprint Car Series is trying to give a taste of their exciting style of racing to the people in their state, but they also latched on to this I-80 Series. Since Susanville was a series race, they brought eight Sprint Cars to put on a show. At the front of the pack, Trey Walters and Jordan Garretson battled fiercely. Walters got the Friday win, but Garretson got the win on Saturday. They don't get Sprint Cars at Susanville very often, so the fans would have loved watching it if they could have been there. The Dwarf Cars brought about 10 cars, and area racer Joe Frock got that win over NorCal competitor Buddy Olschowka.

Susanville was still planning to run this Saturday night with the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series. The last time they were there, Bakersfield area racer Ryan Smith got that win and the $1,500 prize that went along with it. Thanks to Travis Peterson and Rick Workman Communications, the pay will still be $1,500 to win and should help them get a decent turnout once again. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks will also be part of the show..I'm getting word that they won't be able to have fans in the grandstands this week either, unfortunately. The Diamond Mountain Speedway Facebook page is the place to check for more details.

Not only was Antioch Speedway a part of the California IMCA Speedweek Series on Wednesday, they had a show booked for this Saturday night. They go back and forth between their Modified and Hobby Stock shows and their open-wheel offerings. On this occasion, the Wingless Spec Sprints return along with the Delta Dwarf Cars, Super Stocks and the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets. This is an interesting schedule for a few reasons.

I'm not sure what the Wingless Spec Sprint car count will be, but Antioch is the only place to go in the Bay Area if you want to run them this week. They had one heck of a battle between DJ Johnson and 14 year old phenom Dylan Bloomfield last time, won by Johnson. I can see management trying to negotiate for another Hunt Series race as they know the car count will be there for that, but they should have enough cars in this class for a good show this week. The Dwarf Cars are a no brainer. I'd be surprised if they had less than 20 of them, and they usually live up to their end of the bargain.

The question will be how many Super Stocks and Midgets are they're going to get, and I have a few thoughts on the Midgets. But first, I know the track has invited the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series to compete, but I'd be surprised to see anybody from the group there since they're running in Susanville. There could be an odd car or two, but it's up to the locals to support this race. They had 10 of them the last time, and though I know management would like to see more cars, they are okay for now if they can at least keep it around that number.

Speaking of wanting numbers, management made an announcement this week concerning the Four Banger division. I completely agree with their stance that this division is needed to bring in new drivers. You have to have something with a budget, and having a budget division doesn't mean boring racing. If you need proof of this, look at the House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stocks. In fact, management might want to pick up the phone and give Dan Myrick a call. You want a 20 car field? That's the way you get one in this class.

My magic minimum number is a half-dozen cars. Give me a heat race and Main Event, and we can build on that. I will never understand why previous management dropped this class. I've heard stories here and there, but I really don't care. I'm a fan of the previous management, and I make no secret of that. However, they made decisions regarding divisions that I never agreed with. 

I never endorsed merging Street Stocks with the Limited Late Models, because it just killed one division and didn't help the other class at all. I never agreed with them dropping Super Hobby Stocks after three years when it look liked the division might be able to do something. I can forgive the second move, but the first move was terrible.

The third move was dripping the Four Bangers, and admittedly they didn't have a big car count in 2014. They were delivering a half-dozen cars. When management returned the division to the roster in 2009, that's where they were at then. It stayed there for a couple of years before numbers hit double-digits for a couple of seasons. By the time 2014 came around, you got a half-dozen cars, maybe a few more. Here's the thing. How much did they pay these guys to race? Nothing. What was it costing the track to have the class? Nothing. Were they getting drivers from this class that moved up? Yes.

What the current management is dealing with right now is a result of the bad feelings Four Bangers boosters had from the class being dropped at the end of 2014. The media guy at the time made a smart-ass comment on Facebook about the drivers going to Merced because it was a flat tow. Yeah, a two hour flat tow to go racing where you're not going to get a purse. I don't think so. Though there were one or two drivers willing to make that trip, most of them parked and eventually sold their cars. The division was a memory when the current management said they were bringing it back.

I've said there are a few options you can explore in trying to build this class back up. Contacting Dan Myrick to get a race and see what he can do to help drum up support is one option. Another option would be to go ahead and sanction this with IMCA and be the second California track with Sport Compacts. The first is Ventura, though they haven't raced yet this year. Merced was the original track, but that was over a decade ago and only ran for a couple of seasons. Sanctioning? The reason I bring this up is because some people are so in love with IMCA I wonder if it will work for Sport Compacts too.

Option #3 is what management is going to do. They have somebody sponsoring money to win when the Four Bangers return on August 22nd, and they're going to offer a purse. All they are asking for is five cars. Heck, that's one less car than I would ask for. Just five cars are needed. The problem is you may only have one local driver with a car, and that means you have to have drivers coming from out of town. Will they do it? If you've got Chris Corder wholeheartedly on board, he might bring two cars. Maybe he could talk somebody into coming up with him. I don't know. Maybe you could get the Campanile Racing Team to bring the Pinto out, although I don't know if they would do that or not. You ought to be able to get five cars, right?

You know the track is serious about building up the class when they start taking money out of their pocket and paying them. A lot of tracks look at this division as something they get money out of. In other words, racers pay to come race and don't get a purse. They might get a trophy or a plaque at the end of the night. What really needs to happen in the Antioch area is somebody with mechanical skills building cages for these cars and getting some new drivers out there. I don't know how much it costs to build one these days, but I know it's got to be reasonable compared to any other class on the roster.

If somebody could build a decent car at a reasonable price, I think they could sell them. When they're able to have fans in the grandstands and have this division out there, the announcer can hype up the class. Somebody sitting there with a hot dog and a Coke in their hands will notice these cars and say, "Yeah, I'd like to do that." The next thing you know, that fan is brought out of the grandstands and into the wonderful world of racing. That's how it starts. Unfortunately, we still can't have fans in the grandstands just yet, and I might go so far as to say that's impacted this class in a negative way.

Anyway, I like that they're taking a look at this division and trying to figure out what they can do to stimulate interest. We constantly have to bring in new drivers to replace the old drivers. People get burnt out or take a break. Sometimes they take a break and never end up coming back. That new driver is there a to replace the old driver and keep the numbers up. As divisions out there get a little bit more expensive, you start looking at affordable ways to get people involved. The Four Bangers are it. I always endorsed the idea of bringing it back..I have a few other crazy ideas that could be done with this class, but I'm going to keep some of that to myself for now.

Moving it back over to the BCRA Midgets, Antioch Speedway had them on the original schedule before the pandemic hit and shut everything down. Now, they have two dates. I see this as a golden opportunity for the group to step up and forge an alliance with the track. Management is looking for anything that can give them cars and put on a show, and the BCRA can give them a show. They've also got cars, although you wouldn't know that when you look at their races on the pavement. There are people who run dirt, and they might be more willing to come to Antioch. Once upon a time, Antioch was a home track for this group.

The real opportunity is the fact that if they can deliver the cars, Antioch might keep them on the schedule for some dates in the future. Deliver double-digits and show the people the kind of race that you're capable of giving them, and it'll happen. I'm watching intently to see if BCRA steps up or lays an egg. When I talked about how the group can be saved, dirt is the way to do it. 

Antioch has given them a golden opportunity to take the first step. It might also help that you could see some USAC Western Midget competitors in town as well. This is an interesting date for me, because the night could go badly in terms of car count for Antioch, but divisions on the schedule for this night are capable of producing reasonable numbers. We'll see what happens on Saturday. 

Orland Raceway opened a couple of weeks ago, but we still haven't seen results posted from the track yet. We have estimated that about 50 competitors showed up between five divisions, and the numbers were right about average for the Pure Stocks, Wingless Spec Sprints and Mini Trucks. We don't have any details to give you on the two Micro classes, but we know that reigning champion Phil Spencer won the Pure Stock race, past Orland and Chico champion Tony Richards won the Spec Sprint race and past Mini Truck champion Dan Webster won that event. People were asking about the payoff, and it turns out that they're going to get paid at the next event.

The next event will be this Saturday night. The three divisions that we mentioned will be there, but we'll also see the Mini Stocks on the card. I'm curious what the Mini Stocks will look like this year as they were lucky to get a half-dozen competitors last season. Usually, you saw Tom Davis picking up the win. He's won a few championships at Orland, and he's coming off of the big double win weekend at Susanville. We will try to get more details on what happened last time and write an article if we can, and we hope to see some information about how things go this week. Best place to find out what's going on at Orland Raceway is through their Facebook page.

As I sit here writing this column it's early Thursday morning. I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to get this article done in time for a blog post to go up. Wednesday night was very busy as I've been trying to keep the California IMCA Speedweek coverage going on a special post on the blog. I wanted to put a post together on that series that would ultimately have all six races covered with all of the finishes. It would be something that will be available on the web for people to look up for as long as we're able to maintain this blog. For some reason, I thought it would be a bright idea to go ahead and try to do a weekend preview post covering everything else.

To that end, I'm adding a few thoughts about Marysville Raceway as they run their second to last Wednesday night program. The timing was perfect for this. Thanks to the Flo Racing subscription that was sponsored to us by Doug Lockwood, we were able to tune in to the Antioch Speedway Speedweek race. That coverage is up on our Speedweek post. The final checkered flag flew on Antioch while they were doing some track grooming before the Main Events were to take the track at Marysville. Talk about perfect timing. 

The interesting thing about the grooming of the track is they put the Crate Sprints on the racing surface first. When Antioch Speedway did that, it was the Hobby Stocks that got the track first on Wednesday night. It's kind of disappointing that the Crate Sprint division, of which I have been critical, brings their biggest car count of the year and gets less-than-ideal track conditions to run on. The drivers were basically tiptoeing around the track and trying not to lose it, which was particularly challenging for the leader.

If there's a yellow flag in a Crate Sprint Main Event this year, there's a pretty good chance that Mike Ballantine will be part of at least one of them. On this occasion, Ballantine led nine laps of the Main Event. He was having a pretty good night. I noticed on live scoring that Ballantine led seven laps of the heat race before losing it on the last lap. This time, somebody else caused the first yellow flag, but that killed Mike's momentum. You know what comes next? Brett Youngman passes him, and then there's a couple of other drivers and goodbye. Then, Ballantine brings out his first of two yellow flags. It's over. 

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I admit I was kind of sad to see that happen. Yeah, go figure. I actually cared about the Crate Sprints. I only knock this division because I've seen the management at Marysville and Chico use it to destroy the Spec Sprint division, but I'm not going to repeat myself here. Drivers started getting on the throttle a little bit more during the final laps, and this wasn't going to be an easy victory for reigning champion and current point leader Youngman. 

In fact, he got passed later in the race by Drake Standley. This was the first win for Drake in this class. Youngman settled for second. If they can get their act together, organize this deal and get some cars, this division could actually be interesting. I just don't know that they'll be able to do that. It's been six years now. Shouldn't it have happened by now?

The Winged 360 Sprint Car division delivered 23 cars for the program that had 65 total entries. The Sprint Cars at Marysville have been very entertaining, and we've seen eight different winners in nine races. Tanner Carrick is the only driver with two wins, and he was knocking on the door to his third. The problem was, his brother Blake Carrick closed it in his face and got the win. Blake started on the front row with point leader Andy Forsberg and beat him on the start. Forsberg has had one of those interesting years that has seen some crazy things happen to him. He ended up pitting on lap 16, but he came back out. He's still trying to maintain a point lead. He got a Top 10 finish, so that mission was accomplished.

It can get frustrating when you watch a 360 Sprint Car show sometimes. The driver that wins usually starts up in the first couple of rows, and you might see a guy come from back in the pack to grab a fifth place finish. This time, multi-time champion Colby Wiesz won the B Main to get in the show and made a last lap pass to get second. That was another thing that made the race interesting. The Sprint Cars have been entertaining at Marysville, and the midweek races give them an opportunity to be seen by people who might not otherwise get to watch them thanks to the Flo Racing streaming services.

The Marysville regulars in the Pepsi IMCA Sport Modified division did not break ranks and run Speedweek. There were 15 drivers who came out for this point event, and I think there are seven drivers running pretty close to the lead. This race had something very interesting happen. At one point, Justin Funkhouser got into Mike Merritt, resulting in a Merritt spin for a yellow flag. Track officials actually put Merritt back into the lead. Funkhouser was dropped one position from second to third. 

That's a very interesting way to handle things. Marysville has done this in the past where if the leader gets spun out they get put back up to the front of the pack, but I strongly disagree with that. It sucks that you got spun out, but your car was parked on the track when the yellow flag waved. You're going to the back, and the guy who dumped you goes back there as well.

Timothy Allerdings is the State point leader, but he hadn't won a Main Event yet this year. He got around Merritt for the lead, but he had Merritt and Funkhouser pushing him the rest of the way as he scored the victory that probably put him into the point lead at the track. When you think about 15 cars showing up at Marysville against the big show in Antioch, that's not too bad at all. It shows the strength of the division up there, and it does get the brain thinking a little bit about the possibility of Northern California tracks working together. 

I wonder if you can get a northern themed IMCA Sport Modified series together? What I'm talking about is something that could involve Marysville, Chico, Yreka, Susanville and maybe Orland. This wouldn't be a week-long series. It would be select weekend races during the course of the year. Back in the days when John Padjen was promoting Placerville and Chico, he organized something for IMCA Modifieds between those two tracks, Susanville and Marysville. Grass Valley might have been involved with it too. They just picked select races during the course of the year and crowned champions for a few seasons. It was a neat deal. 

These days, drivers seem to like those two-race weekends. Theoretically, you could pull that off. Marysville and Chico could run on the same weekend and make those series races. They could head up to Yreka for one of their double race weekends, and they could do the same at Susanville. You have six races that way. The Marysville drivers seem to like to travel up north, and Yreka and Susanville have both been visited by them. We've seen more of a willingness of the Yreka racers to come down south. 

I don't know if this would happen, but if Dennis Gage, Jeff Olschowka and Kevin Barba sat down and talked, you never know. It's a thought anyway. I think one of the reasons I am looking at this possibility is I'm not so sure that any of those tracks will be included in the Speedweek Series in the future. I don't know that for a fact, and this is just speculation. So my thought is, why couldn't the guys up north do something themselves?

In any case, the IMCA Sport Modifieds did well, and so did the Hobby Stocks. This was their final point race of the abbreviated season. Jesse Van Roekel was having a battle with Jim Brookshire, and Brookshire ran strong early on. Van Roekel ended up finishing sixth, and they said he won the championship. I've got to tell you, the Hobby Stocks in Marysville can be a bit rough out there's sometimes, but they certainly put on an entertaining race. Wednesday was no different. Another interesting driver to watch on the track is Zach Lindgren, and he managed to grab a podium finish behind Kyle Cheney. Like the winner of this particular race, Cheney has been in the doghouse for bumping the guy in front of him. 

John "Porkchop" Johnson is a past Stock Car champion in Marysville, and he got behind the wheel for a race at Susanville earlier this year and won. His son Jacob Johnson is just getting started, and past Marysville and Orland champion Jerry Bartlett put him behind the wheel of his car. This kid led 19 laps at Chico a few weeks ago, only to be passed by Kyle Allen on the last lap. He ran second to Maurice Merrill at the previous Marysville race, and contact sent Merrill spinning as Johnson crossed the line first. Of course, he lost that one. On this occasion, he made a thread the needle move on the back straightaway and made it stick on the outside in Turns 3 and 4 to get around Brookshire. He led the rest of the way and got his first ever win. He did good, and there were several people out there celebrating with him.

When we look back at this crappy year we're having with the pandemic and how the tracks got shut down, we'll remember that Marysville Raceway was the first track to get things going again. Not only did Promoter Dennis Gage lead the way there, he was also the last promoter to get away with a race before the shutdown back in March at Silver Dollar Speedway. The state was none too thrilled with him about that one. In this case, he's tried to follow the guidelines, and he has one of the few tracks that managed to actually get fans. They let him have 100 fans in the stands, which isn't that great. It is better than nothing. Without the streaming service revenue, I don't know how much of this he'd be doing

They'll do the Sprint Car point finale and the IMCA Sport Modified finale on August 26th. The NorCal Dwarf Cars will be there, and it will be interesting to see if the California Hardtops show up as they are on the schedule. After that, the Dwarf Car Nationals will end the month of September with their big shindig. There should be a bunch of cars in the pits for that one. The Crate Sprints will end their season in support on Friday, while the Limited Late Models get their finale the next night. Then, there's the big Stock Car Taxi Cab race and the Sprint Car Spooktacular in October, which I'm assuming will all happen. After that, they'll put this lousy year behind them and hope for better things next year. You can check out the Marysville Raceway Facebook page for updates.

Adding more to this column right now is not helping me as it's making me go longer, but I have to. News broke on Wednesday night that another Oregon track will be opening the gates, and they're doing it this weekend. Willamette Speedway only made the announcement on Wednesday night of a race on Saturday. Loren Kruesi can't have fans. I don't think it's just the virus that's making that the case. I don't know that the county has approved his grandstands yet, or a few other things at the location that may not be up to code yet. It seems the in thing to do these days is open a race track without fans. The track itself hasn't been condemned, and neither has the pits. Therefore, why not?

Loren has had people out there doing maintenance, track prep work has been going on and they even had porta potties delivered to the pits. I'm not exactly sure how sanitary porta potties are at a time like this, but I guess it's fine. They're running all of their regular classes with the exception of the Late Models. Loren didn't want to book on top of Coos Bay's big race this weekend, but he did tell the racers if they showed up he'd let them have hot laps and have an exhibition race for them. If you're truly trying to work with the other track, then you're not opening the door to have any semblance of a race for that particular division. That's my opinion on it.

In any case, they've adjusted the purse a little bit, but they're working on getting sponsorships. If I read it correctly, first place prize money has been eliminated unless it can be sponsored. So basically, the winner would get second place money and so on down the line, but the winner will get first place money if somebody comes in and sponsors it. This isn't exactly how Heather is doing it at Cottage Grove. She's getting people to sponsor half of her purse. Will this be financially viable? Probably not. On the other hand, they want to put something on the track. They're not saying that they're going to start doing this every week. They're just trying to get this race in first and see what happens from there. That's not to say they can't have more races either.

Heather had been offering a couple of Willamette Speedway divisions the opportunity to run at her track this month. When she saw that Willamette was opening up, she made the announcement that she would not book those divisions so that they could support their home track. It's not like Cottage Grove Speedway doesn't have its own classes anyway. 

We are in mid August, and only three Oregon oval tracks have not opened for races. Sunset Speedway can't as the county is still in Phase 1. Southern Oregon Speedway hasn't done anything, and Madras Speedway has had practice but no races yet. Within the next month or so, you're going to start having weather that makes trying to have races problematic. Rain season starts coming in the later part of September. 

Willamette Speedway is the site of the Iron Giant Street Stock race. The Iron Giant Series basically canceled this year as the pandemic hit. James Whitehouse was having problems getting sponsors and basically said that they couldn't do business. It was a moot point once all the tracks shut down, but it looks like a Labor Day weekend race will be happening at River City Speedway in St Helens. I haven't seen all the details on this one yet, but the track is welcoming them.

I'd like to see what James has to say about this, but it would be nice if the series had one race this year just to keep the continuity going. They could come back at it again next year if the situation returns to some sort of normalcy. We're hearing about the Pac-12 season being cancelled this year, which will not go over well in Oregon. Oregon is all about the Ducks, and a Pac-12 cancellation means no Ducks football. That means another bit of normalcy that people won't get to enjoy. I'm not making any grand predictions for what a racing season looks like in 2021 either, because this situation is that screwed up. I'm not buying the hype, but they're going to sell it regardless. Therefore, I will wait and see what they say next. 

An Iron Giant Series race on Labor Day weekend is a good thing. That's been the big race at Willamette Speedway for the Street Stocks for the past few seasons. There should be some details coming soon, but St Helens has a very rigid set of guidelines. People basically have to reserve their spots in the pits, and there's only 250 people allowed. After that, they start turning people away. The grandstands are closed. There's also a Street Stock race happening at Coos Bay Speedway this month, which is the Battle At The Beach. The Iron Giant racers have supported that show for the last three years. I don't know what the status is on that race as of yet, but Drake Nelson will probably keep it going regardless of whether the series supports it.

It might be in the Iron Giant Series's best interest to rally behind the two big races, because there's one thing that's going to get the push once we return to normal. Willamette Speedway and Sunset Speedway have started IMCA Stock Cars. One of the biggest factors behind the division was that the owner of those two tracks, Jerry Schram, was none too pleased with the Street Stock drivers. I've heard it said that he did this to put that division out of commission. Jerry also was dealing a few cars and making some money off if it. It's become a pet project for him. You're going to get more of an IMCA Stock Car push in the state, so the Street Stock drivers better get organized if they want to stick around. 

If you look long range at this picture, the next domino to fall will be the Street Stock division at Cottage Grove. I'm not hearing anything yet, but as Willamette and Sunset Speedway get momentum with IMCA Stock Cars, Cottage Grove won't want to be left out. There is no division at Southern Oregon Speedway and they run a slightly different class at St Helens and Madras. That leaves Coos Bay. The Iron Giant Series is very important to keeping Street Stocks alive in Oregon, and these are Street Stocks as we knew them in California back in the 1990s. They preserved them. I've said that two things California could have taken lessons from Oregon on were the Street Stocks and the Late Models.

I don't think Street Stock racers can afford to just assume everything will be golden. I hope James steps up and makes a big deal out of the race at St Helens and also the race at Coos Bay. Put that Iron Giant stamp on it and get some talk going during the offseason. It's in the best interest of the class, in my opinion. I would hope boosters of the division would throw a little bit of sponsorship support behind the deal. Momentum is gathering with the IMCA Stock Cars, and that doesn't have to signal the end for the Street Stock division. However, if you've got more tracks pushing for the other division, it's up to the drivers to step up and fight for their class.

Oregon was already on the path to add a fourth IMCA class this year. That would be the IMCA Sport Compacts. Technically, there will be a champion as Cottage Grove Speedway has run four races so far In that class. Willamette Speedway and Sunset Speedway have been stuck with closed gates so far, but both tracks also sanction this division. 

There's a push for IMCA sanctioning in Oregon. As much as Californians seem to love the sanctioning body, I would almost say Oregonians love it more. If the Limited Sprint racers didn't have so much invested in their cars, I wouldn't be surprised if they went IMCA RaceSaver with that division. Then again, I don't think the godfather of the class, Brian Crockett, would let that happen.

At this point, it's time to shut my mouth and end this column. I probably shouldn't even be pushing myself as hard as I am, because I have been stressing out a little bit more than usual. I made a promise to myself that I would do the media effort this year under certain circumstances as long as I wasn't stressing out the way I did last year. I've been trying to maintain the Speedweek post as mentioned above, and I could have left the end of the week at that. I chose not to. For whatever reason, I just had to do the preview post.

I'll be honest with you, since I haven't gotten the kind of support this year, the fact that I was sponsored the Flo Racing streaming service put me in a better mood. I'm no longer having to struggle to get information from certain tracks that I can actually watch now. I still rely on the live scoring as it helps me greatly, and I also intend to keep watching Ukiah and Madera as I respect what those tracks are doing by including their fans for free during this crappy situation. This just enables me to keep an eye on Watsonville and Petaluma more closely. It's a damn shame that Antioch fumbled their relationship with the streaming service. They've got their own thing going now, but it's not in my budget to watch, unfortunately. 

The clock is ticking on my weekly regular effort. The end of September at the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial Dirt Track Shootout at Watsonville seems like the perfect place to ease it up a little bit. Interestingly enough, the track has said they can't have fans in the grandstands for that, and we're a month-and-a-half away. I really wish I could be in Watsonville to support the Pettit family for this one, but I'm not in the position to make plans for a trip. I won't be going anywhere in September or October, and that's leaving me in a grumpy mood..

Editing leaves me in a grumpy mood too, so I'm shutting up here and now. I'm going to end this column. Until next time...