Antioch And Stockton New Years Results, More

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Pettit, Gomez, Robles, Johnson 

Win Antioch Speedway New Years Special 

Antioch, CA...January 2...Jim Pettit II won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The first IMCA sanctioned event on the West Coast for 2021 paid Pettit $1,000. He recently celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary with wife Veronica, who is the daughter of Antioch Speedway legend JD Willis. Pettit ranked second in points at Antioch, Watsonville and in the State last season.

Pettit had a pole position start for the feature race with Medford, Oregon star Dave Duste Jr lined up next to him. Pettit immediately bolted into the lead as reigning champion Troy Foulger and Bobby Hogge IV battled for second. Meanwhile, 17th starter Nick DeCarlo methodically worked his way through the pack. Pettit would lead all the way for the impressive victory, while DeCarlo made 15 passes to score an impressive second place finish. Foulger settled for third, followed by Kellen Chadwick, Hogge, Dylan Thornton, Michael Paul Jr, Buddy Kniss, Jesse Bailey and Bobby Motts Jr. Eight lap heat race wins were earned by Paul, Motts and Thornton, who made a last turn pass on Kniss to get his win.

Todd Gomez scored the victory in the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. The win paid $500 to Gomez, who is a past Street Stock champion at the speedway. Three-time reigning champion Trevor Clymens started on the outside front row and bolted into the lead at the start. Clymens led until surrendering the position to Gomez on the 15th circuit. Gomez would go on to score the victory as Clymens settled for second, followed by Guy Ahlwardt, Watsonville champion Adriane Frost, Andrew Pearce, Chase Thomas, Todd Clymens, Tommy Clymens Jr, Jacob Mallet Jr and Matthew Elmore. The eight lap heat race wins went to Pearce, Frost and Trevor Clymens.

Jason Robles won the 25 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Chowchilla's Tim Elias had the pole for the race with past Merced and Chowchilla champion Kevin Joaquin and Robles lining up in the second row. Travis Dutra started fifth. Robles would battle past Elias and score the win. Elias settled for second, followed by Dutra and Joaquin. Past IMCA Modified star Brad Coelho lined up 13th and charged to a fifth place finish, followed by Gavin Griffitts, Colton Haney, James Grassle, Gene Haney and Michaela Taylor. Eight lap heat race wins went to Gene Haney, Dutra and Robles.

Bakersfield's Cody Johnson won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. The first ever point race for the division at Antioch paid Johnson $500 and drew a six car field. The feature race saw a red flag when three-time Watsonville Hobby Stock champion Rob Gallaher rolled hard in Turn 2. He was uninjured, but his car was severely damaged. Renn Bane paced the first three circuits before surrendering the position to Johnson. Johnson was unstoppable on his way to victory as Watsonville Hobby Stock champion Joe Gallaher finished second, followed by Michael Shearer, Bane, eight lap heat race winner Austin Van Hoff and Rob Gallaher.

For information on coming events, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Foulger, Ryland, Shelby, Denman, Corder Win 

Stockton Dirt Track New Years Race 

Stockton, CA...January 1...Troy Foulger won the 25 lap Dirt Modified Main Event Friday night at the Stockton Dirt Track. This was the Second Annual New Year's Bash, and the win for Foulger paid $1,000 aboard the Bowers Motorsports Modified.

Keno, Oregon's Jeffrey Hudson led one lap before Bakersfield star Robby Sawyer charged by on the backstretch to take over. Foulger slipped past Steve Noland for third on Lap 3 and made a low pass in Turn 4 of the fifth lap to grab second from Hudson. Dylan Thornton quickly moved into third. Jake Dewsbury spun in Turn 3 for a Lap 16 yellow flag. Foulger challenged Sawyer for the lead on the restart and made an inside pass on the backstretch to take over. Following another quick yellow flag a lap later, Foulger led Sawyer and Thornton on the restart. A low pass in Turn 4 on lap 20 put reigning Susanville champion Ryan McDaniel into third. Foulger led the rest of the way to win ahead of Sawyer, McDaniel, Thornton, Petaluma champion Anthony Slaney, Noland, Jesse Bailey, Matthew Hagio, Dewsbury and Jeff Olschowka. The eight lap heat race wins went to McDaniel, Hudson and Thornton.

Fred Ryland one the 25 lap Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series Main Event. Ryland was wheeling the Jim Freethy owned car, and the win paid $1,000. The rapidly run race required no yellow flags. Robert Grace was making his first start with the group and paced the opening lap ahead of Santa Maria star Jerry Stewart. Susanville Promoter Jeff Olschowka moved into second on Lap 2 and made an outside backstretch pass on Lap 6 to take the lead from Grace. Ryland quickly moved into second on Lap 7, but Olschowka had a big lead by then. Olschowka appeared to briefly lose power going down the backstretch on Lap 18, enabling Ryland to catch him and make the pass for first. Ryland led the rest of the way for the victory with Olschowka settling for a $600 second. Reigning Western Pro Stock champion Devin Crockett finished third, followed by Grace, Stewart, Ryan Smith, Tyler Talkington, three-time Petaluma champion Mitch Machado, Matt Kile and Bill Hall III. Ryland and Olschowka won their respective eight lap heat races.

Philip Shelby won the 20 lap B Modified Main Event. The win paid $500 to the past Marysville Raceway champion. The race had to be restarted after Scott Foster did an easy roll in Turn 2. Following another restart, Shelby raced into the lead ahead of Marysville racer Mike Ficklin and Darren Thomas. Past Merced and Antioch champion Jeremy Hoff moved into third on a Lap 7 restart and took second from Ficklin on a restart on Lap 8 following a Buddy Olschowka spin. Thomas regained third on a Lap 13 restart as Bobby Hogge III was pressuring him for the position. Hogge moved by Thomas for third on a Lap 18 restart. Shelby led the rest of the way to win ahead of Hoff, Hogge, Phil Marino, Thomas, Joe Salvi, Jason Ferguson, Olschowka, Matt Pedroni and Theo Van De Sande. Ficklin and Van De Sande were the eight lap heat race winners.

Rich Denman won the 20 lap Bomber Main Event. Denman comes from the Hanford area and excels at Enduro racing. He was in Stockton to run the 200 lap Enduro on the pavement track the following day. Denman raced into the lead at the start ahead of DJ Keldsen and John Farrell. Following a Lap 4 yellow flag for Jake Mercieca, Keldsen made a big move to take the lead from Denman. Unfortunately, Keldsen got sideways in Turn 3 and surrendered the lead back to Denman before the lap was completed. Keldsen's motor let go on him on Lap 16 for the final yellow flag. Denman led the restart and the rest of the way to win ahead of Farrell, Paul Pendroncelli, Mercieca, Jacob Diaz and Keldsen. Eight lap heat race wins went to Denman and Keldsen. There were 11 competitors, but attrition claimed five cars before the feature race.

Chris Corder won the 20 lap Basically Four Cylinder Main Event. Corder is a three-time Merced Speedway champion, and he trailed Dakota Keldsen for two laps before motoring by for the lead. Austin Sprague was running third when a yellow flag flew on Lap 6 for Dylan Powell. Corder continued to lead as Sprague and Shawn DePriest moved into second and third. DePriest led Petaluma star Tom Brown past Sprague for the second and third positions on Lap 12. Corder held a commanding lead over DePriest by Lap 17, and Brown slipped past DePriest for second on Lap 18. Corder cruised to the victory ahead of Brown and DePriest. Ray Bunn finished fourth in his truck, followed by Roy Dearing, Powell, Keldsen, Sprague, Eddie Humphrey and CVMS star Jeff Durant. The six lap heat race wins went to DePriest and Corder.

Another race is scheduled for January 16th, featuring the Dirt Modifieds, B Modifieds, Bombers, Basically Four Cylinders and a fan race. For further information, go to www.stocktondirttrack.com.

News, Rumors And Observations

Some of you may know that this particular column was started by my friend Don O'Keefe Jr about 20 years ago. Don wanted to create a column that didn't necessarily take a long time to create. In it, he could talk about some of the things going on and comment on news and rumors that he'd heard. He always left it up to the reader to decide what was news and what was rumor. 

I encouraged him to keep doing this, because I liked seeing Don making a foray into Motorsports journalism. Don has a sharp mind when it comes to racing, so I'm always interested in his take. Granted, I had the advantage of having many long phone conversations with him through the years. In those conversations, Don told me that I could borrow his column if I wanted. In fact, he has encouraged me to do so.

I sort of flaked out on using his column late last year. I was trying to start a tradition of borrowing his column once a year during the off-season. I am currently contemplating the possibility of how we can move forward with this blog by creating content that doesn't take me so long to put together. Therefore, this could either be my annual borrowing of Don's column or the start of something new.

I'm adding observations to the title. Therefore, you'll see my observations along with news and rumors. The original rule that this column was founded upon still applies. It's up to you to decide what is news, rumor or observation.

Blue Valor Speedway in Idaho has added a Wingless Sprint Car division that will be using Wingless Spec Sprint rules in 2021.

2019 Stockton Delta Speedway Junior Sprint champion Lucas Mauldin won his division's Main Event at this year's Tulsa Shootout.

Silver Dollar Speedway will only run a limited schedule of races in 2021.

The contract has yet to be awarded to the next promoter of Lakeport Speedway.

An interested party would like to take over Lakeport Speedway and put dirt on it.

The price to purchase Worden Speedway in Southern Oregon has come down.

The Kern Raceway Dirt Track is looking at running some Speedway Bike programs on the infield track.

Keller Auto Speedway and Tulare Thunderbowl will continue their partnership with the King of Thunder Winged 360 Sprint Car Series.

Despite the fact that several cars have been sold, the Kern County Hardtops, formerly Bakersfield Hardtops and Okie Bowl Hardtops, still intend to keep racing when dates become available.

There is an effort to build a new dirt track somewhere between San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, Alameda County and Contra Costa County sometime in the next few years.

Petaluma Speedway would benefit from the addition of an IMCA Sport Modified division to their roster of divisions.

Race tracks will struggle to be able to have fan attendance through the first half of 2021, and there is a good possibility that most tracks will have a limit to their capacity.

There is an interested party looking to revive Altamont Raceway for racing starting in 2022.

With Madera Raceway running the Challenge Cup series with ARCA West rules, it would be a natural fit for the ARCA Series to give the track a date in the future.

 

With a wing on his car, Rich Denman won the Bomber Enduro race at Stockton 99 Speedway on January 2.

There is strong interest from as many as six different tracks in creating a Hobby Stock Series in California.

The Dave Bradway Jr Memorial race has been moved from Silver Dollar Speedway to Placerville Speedway. This is because the race sponsors for the last 30 years are walking away, and the new sponsor of the race wanted to move it to Placerville.

The Stockton Dirt Track has been a big booster of the Tri State Pro Stock Series, and they look to continue their support of fendered Stock Car racing with four Super Late Model races this year.

The Central Valley Mini Stock effort has grown so rapidly that they have decided to rebrand as the West Coast Sport Compacts this year with rules and schedule forthcoming.

 

 

Stockton Dirt Track Unofficial Race Results January 1. 2020
Dirt Modifieds
Troy Foulger
Robby Sawyer
Ryan McDaniel
Dylan Thorton
Anthony Slaney
Steve Noland
Jesse Bailey
Matthew Hagio
Jake Dewsbury
Jeff Olschowka
Tim Yaeger
Danny Malfatti
Steven Streeter
Jim Weiler
JC Elrod
Jeffrey Hudson
Justin Yaeger
Bobby Hogge IV
Dylan Schriner
Dave Duste

B Modifieds
Phillip Shelby
Jeremy Hoff
Bobby Hogge III
Phil Marino
Mike Ficklin
Joe Salvi
Jason Ferguson
Buddy Olschowka
Matt Pedroni
Theo Fandersandi
Scott Foster
Shawn Smith
Brian Lewis
Darrin Thomas

Pro Stocks
Fred Ryland
Jeff Olschowka
Justin Crockett
Robert Grace
Jerry Stewart
Ryan Smith
Tyson Talkington
Mitch Machado
Matt Kile
Bill Hall III
Chris Smith

Bombers
Rich Denman
John Farrell
Paul Pedroncelli
Jake Mercieca
Jacob Dias
DJ Keldsen

B 4
Chris Corder
Tom Brown
Shawn DePriest
Ray Bunn
Roy Dearing
Dylan Powell
Cody Keldsen
Austin Sprague
Eddie Humphrey
Jeff Durant
Steven Gallaher
Joe Flowers
Austin Lowden


Antioch Speedway Unofficial Race Results January 2, 2002
IMCA Modifieds
Jim Pettit II
Nick DeCarlo
Troy Foulger
Kellen Chadwick
Bobby Hogge II
Dylan Thornton
Michael Paul Jr
Buddy Kniss
Jesse Bailey
Bobby Motts
Matthew Hagio
Jeffrey Hudson
T.J. Etchinson III
Dave Duste Jr
Jake Dewsbury
Danny Malfatti
Stephen Streeter
Carl Berendsen II
Mickey Hill
Jeff Browne DNS
Dylan Schriner DNS

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Todd Gomez
Trevor Clymens
Guy Ahlwardt
Adriane Frost
Andrew Pearce
Chase Thomas
Todd Clymens
Tommy Clymens
Jacob Mallet Jr
Mathew Elmore
Scott Savell
Kevin Brown
Gavin Espino
Kodie Dean
Craig Nieman
Dwayne Short
Max Baggett
Hunter Merritt
Buddy Olschowka DNS
Jason Ryan Jr DNS

Hobby Stocks
Jason Robles
Tim Elias
Travis Dutra
Kevin Joaquin
Brad Coelho
Gavin Griffiths
Colton Haney
James Graessle
Gene Haney
Michaela Taylor
Misty Welborn
Breanna Troen
udy Arth
Ben Dobrich
Dennis Gilcrease
Larry McKinzie Jr
Angela Brown DNS

IMCA Stock Car
Cody Johnson
Joe Gallaher
Michael Shearer
Renn Bane
Austin VanHoff
Rob Gallaher 

 

The Editor's Viewpoint

I'm rewriting this column in the hopes of being more succinct than I was in my first attempt. We made it through 2020, and I know people are hoping for a much better 2021. I've never been through a year quite like this one. Much like a lot of people, I'm not making any grand predictions on how 2021 is going to be. I just want to see things change for the better this year and see people living free again. 

People are going to feel the financial pinch of what we went through last year for a while, and businesses are suffering. Despite all of the limitations, several racing promoters found a way forward. However, I don't imagine many of them made much money. Because the guidelines were enforced differently depending on the state and county, some promoters made out better than others, and some races had a more inflated car count. The clever promoters were able to take advantage of the situation.

Many promoters in California have already released schedules, but there are more to go. There's much optimism that they will be able to have fans in the grandstands. However, we're not completely out of the woods yet. We will still be dealing with the lockdowns and mask mandates for at least a few months to come. We will also be dealing with contact tracing and the possibility of being locked out of certain activities without proof of your current shots. This is stuff that I have a lot to say about, but this isn't the place to talk about that. I only mention it in regards to how it may or may not affect racing going forward.

I don't know when tracks will be able to open without restrictions on fan attendance. I am assuming that restricted fan attendance could come in June or July, and there is hope that it may come earlier. I know that some tracks in California are hoping to get their season started in March, but I don't know that they have good odds of getting fan attendance. Making matters worse is that the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and other big Sprint Car events are being booked at some venues starting in March. What do you think the chances are of these shows taking place if there's a severe restriction in fan attendance?

I covered the struggle to get racing going again under these conditions last year. I suspect that I won't be doing the same this year. I was curious to see how it would all play out, and I'm happy that I was able to document that on this blog. I think I will be leaving the day-to-day and week-to-week coverage of that to other reporters. By November of last year, I was in a fairly grumpy mood. After what was going on at Antioch in their struggle to get fans in attendance, I finally decided to back away and try to get to work on my books. More on that further down. 

I was able to check out some of the Tulsa Shootout Micro Sprint event. This is how it all started with the indoor thing in Tulsa, and it branched out to the Chili Bowl Nationals for the Midgets that we will be seeing very soon. It's impressive to see over 1,000 competitors come to Tulsa in the various Micro Sprint classes to showcase their abilities on a bigger stage. Much like the Midgets, drivers are coming in from across the United States.

A thought struck me as I was watching the Wingless Micro class. The Bay Cities Racing Association should be looking at some of that talent to fill their own ranks. There are some capable drivers, and I know there are a few cars that don't make it out to the track these days. I wouldn't suggest just giving the drivers everything. They have to bring something to the table. My friend Don in Indiana is constantly bombarded by requests to drive one of his cars, but seldom does anybody want to bring either sponsorship or effort to work on those cars to get them ready. Surely there are drivers in California just chomping at the bit for their opportunity?

BCRA has released 11 dates for their dirt schedule. My hope is that the schedule stays there and they focus on building their ranks through the dirt, but I suspect there will be several pavement dates announced very soon. It's been over 20 years since the BCRA brought in the Mini Sprints and renamed them Midget Lites. My assumption was that this second tier division would be a feeder class for future stars in the Midgets, but look at the results over the past two decades. This has not been the case. Furthermore and much like the Midgets, the average car count for the Midget Lites is only a fraction of what it once was. I'd say the BCRA is on life support.

The Western Midget Racing group has built their roster of Ecotec Midgets over the past two years. Despite going through the pandemic last year, they were averaging car counts in the low double digits. Their schedule last year consisted of Watsonville, Ventura and Petaluma, but Ventura was one of those tracks that was never allowed to open thanks to the way things were handled down in Ventura County with the virus. All three tracks are scheduled again with Watsonville and Ventura getting eight dates each.

To me, the smart move would be to use strategic growth in building the ranks. A reasonable schedule that doesn't overdo it will lead to more cars coming. Unlike the regular Midget class, these Midgets are actually bringing drivers up from the 600 Micro Sprints. However, they added eight dates in Arizona this year. I don't regard that as a smart move unless they already have a half dozen or more of these Midgets in Arizona. In which case, I might be inclined to schedule them separately. I don't think I'd include them in what California is doing. We'll see how things go. If I were to add a visit to another California track, I might take a look at Micro Sprint tracks like Dixon or Stockton.

I don't know that we will be doing season recaps or season previews this year, but there was one thing Merced Speedway did last year that I liked. Actually, there was more than one thing that Doug Lockwood did that impressed me. It was announced right after the Al Miller Memorial race had run at Antioch for the Pro Stocks that it would be moved to Merced Speedway in April of this year and given to the IMCA Sport Modifieds. The second day of the two-day show would pay that class $5,000 to win.

Lockwood wasn't through there. The IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars will also be on that bill. There will also be the two-day Ed Parker Memorial event in June and the two-day John Fore Jr/Bob Smith Memorial in October. The three IMCA classes will be a part of that. They will keep a special point series going for that, and the champions in each class will automatically earn provisional starts in the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas this November. Doug was one of the first to release a 2021 schedule at Merced Speedway, and it hits all of the right notes. He's also put out the West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series schedule, and there is a lot of optimism there.

The first thing Doug did last year that got everybody's attention was California IMCA Speedweek. It has grown from six events to eight during a nine-day span this year. Participating tracks this year will be Bakersfield, Hanford, Tulare, Merced, Antioch, Petaluma, Placerville and Chico. The purse has already been announced as matching last year's purse and it can grow bigger with more sponsorship. The California IMCA Speedweek Facebook page will offer more details. I suspect that even if we're not doing week to week coverage this year, we will attempt to cover Speedweek again.

As for the other schedules, I would say go to the appropriate track pages and look them up. The announcement at Chico that a full schedule is not forthcoming should highlight that this whole virus shut down thing could ultimately cost us some race tracks. Dennis Gage isn't saying the place is closed, and he is also planning to have races at Marysville. I'm just saying that nobody should be surprised if we start hearing bad news on this front. The best antidote to all of this is being able to open the gates to full capacity, and then it becomes how many people have racing in their budgets, either as racers or spectators?

I would be tempted to jump into other topics as there have been things that caught my eye. However, the longer this column gets, the more of a pain in the ass it becomes to edit. I wish everybody the best of luck with what they have scheduled. I did notice that Blue Valor Speedway in Idaho has booked a class that seems to be using Wingless Spec Sprint rules. I have to admit that the news made me smile. It was back in August of 1998 when Don O'Keefe Jr and I put together the rules and started hyping this class up for John M Soares at Antioch. The idea that people still want to run a true Spec Sprint at their track in 2021 is very cool indeed.

It was inevitable that Antioch Speedway Promoter Chad Chadwick would choose to book something at the start of 2021. When he made the announcement back in November that he had initially been given permission to have 25% fan attendance in the stands, there was something he appeared to be wanting to tell everybody in regards to New Years. I know he wanted to have New Years Day to himself, but Tony Noceti at Stockton had already booked the date. Chad dropped hints, but he made no announcements.

Back in 2015, Promoter John M Soares booked an ambitious New Years plan that had two dates at Antioch, one at Merced and one at Chowchilla. He held New Years dates at Antioch in two of the next three years. 2019 didn't happen because John was in a fight to retain control of Antioch Speedway. 2020 didn't happen because John was in negotiations with Chadwick to sell. Chadwick actually wanted to book a New Years date that year, but Stockton had already swooped in with their own race.

What ended up happening this year was Stockton ran on New Years Day and Antioch, despite some early morning rains, held a race on January 2nd. The Antioch date was the first IMCA point race for Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars. Hobby Stocks were also included. I'm thinking that this negatively affected the car count in Stockton a little bit, despite the fact that Antioch and Stockton ran on different days. Some people were going to save their equipment for Antioch. Also, as fast as Stockton is, it has a reputation for being rough on equipment.

Make no mistake, people want to run on what is one of California's biggest dirt tracks. Stockton had around 70 total cars in the pits for the first of 11 dates that will include Dirt Modifieds, B Modifieds and Hobby Stocks this year. During the course of the year, those shows will also have appearances by the Pro Stocks, Super Late Models, Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks, and I suspect that if the track can pull that off, they will crown champions. That was their intent last year as Tony is trying to establish a Stock Car presence. As I write this, I haven't seen an Antioch schedule yet, but I'm sure they will be just as busy as they were last year. 

Some of the car base that Stockton is searching for comes from Antioch, although they are hoping to draw cars from further in the valley and up north in the Sacramento area. I've said for a few years now that there is a Stock Car program. All Tony needs to do is go after it. They've established some marquee Sprint Car events, so this is the next step. The rumor of the Stockton Dirt Track's demise has been exaggerated, although I'm hearing some very interesting rumors on that front that I can't get into in this column. If anybody can do it, Tony's the man.

The magic bullet solution these days is slapping an IMCA sanction on your racing program. Tony might want to look at that possibility. Given the distance between Antioch and Stockton, we might have a similar situation as we had 20 years ago between Merced and Chowchilla. I don't know, and I won't speculate on IMCA's position. If it were available and Tony wanted to run certain IMCA type divisions, I think sanctioning those races would be a winner. I wouldn't be averse to going the NASCAR route if he pursued sanctioning and IMCA said no. Why should Coos Bay Speedway be the only dirt track in NASCAR on the West Coast when there's some pretty good point fund money at stake?

I don't want to get too deep into talking about Antioch and Stockton's races as there are articles covering them. I don't think the car count at either track quite hit the mark. Granted, both shows had 20 or more Dirt Modifieds and Sport Modifieds. The other classes under-performed. You had a golden opportunity to get the cars as the only shows happening. Was this a case of it being too early and nobody being ready, or is this a sign of things to come this year? I'll chalk it up to being too early, but some of us are bracing for impact in terms of lower car counts this year.

I do think Stockton could have a clear path to establishing a Pro Stock show of their own. I can easily see Antioch dropping their class if numbers don't pick up this year, and there are still people who want to run these types of cars. Tony seems to have a mind for that. One of the things that could push Pro Stocks out at Antioch is the IMCA Stock Car division. There were just six cars in Antioch for the New Year's race, none of which you could call Antioch guys. Again, people may not be ready yet, but I can say one thing for certain. The modern record for a division point racing debut at Antioch still belongs to the Wingless Spec Sprints in 1999 with 12 cars. Just saying... 

I'm looking to go back into nostalgia for my writing. It's not that I'm against covering the current situation in the sport, but it's become so much work for so little reward. It's obvious that tracks aren't interested in what I have to offer as an announcer or a writer, and I'm okay with that. Even though I don't know how much fuel I have left in the tank, I think I have a few years. However I'm not going to beg for a return. I've put in my time and proven what I can do. It doesn't mean I can't cover current things differently than I have in recent years.

Mike McCann brought it to my attention that there's a track out in Maine called Fantasy Speedway. It looks like they have nice scenery of trees surrounding the place, and they have special events with Hardtops and old time Modifieds. The Hardtops are running rules from the 1950s. I haven't investigated the history of some of the cars there, but I'm sure some of them ran back in the 50s and 60s either in Maine or in other states. They are running in the true spirit of the good old days, and it looks like they have decent support for what they have.

It's funny, because Mike and I have had this conversation a few times in recent years. The idea of building a track for this type of deal is appealing. It almost becomes a club for members only. I love the West Coast Hardtop movement, but there's something a little bit off about all of it. It attempts to be in the spirit of those old days, but there's been a touch more modernization than there probably should be. This will spark lots of debate, and I'd have critics telling me why I'm wrong. I also understand that the genie is already out of the bottle. So be it.

I'm not against the efforts taking place in the Bay Area or Sacramento area. On the contrary, I hope they continue to thrive. As much as I am not fond of the Sportsman division running with the Hardtops because you have two different styles of racing here, I understand why that happened at Antioch. It gave the nostalgia effort the shot in the arm it needed, and they never had less than 10 cars at their races last year. It was obviously a winner. The other cool thing is there are people building cars. The ranks will be growing, and that could include three cars from the shop of Mikey Slaney this year. Very cool indeed.

The other thing is, the Sportsman division only has four dates at Merced according to my count. This is disappointing to me, but it's not surprising. The one thing General Manager Doug Lockwood has done there that I oppose is removing some of the traditional stuff from the schedule that honors the track's legacy. This includes Legends Night, the Ted Stoffle Classic and the Matt and Glass Cancer Fundraiser event. I hate to see the Sportsman division not being a part of Merced Speedway or not having a championship season. Other than 2015, they've crowned champions every season since the late Chuck Griffin added the class in 1999.

I know that leadership has stepped forward to keep things afloat, and I think the modern effort's first champion, Mike Friesen, may be leading this charge. Friesen and his team brought as many as three cars to some events last year, and it was also nice to see the last two Merced Sportsman champions, Rick Elliott and Watsonville Hall of Famer Jerry Cecil, be a part of some of the races at Antioch. The Sportsman style will continue. It's also interesting to note that Antioch management has a love for the Sportsman cars. If a few locals either obtained some of the parked cars in the Merced area or built new ones, there's a future for them at Antioch in my opinion.

We'll be watching the nostalgia stuff for sure, but we'll be watching everything from the sidelines. It doesn't matter if we're covering it or not. I don't have a lot of incentive to do a dozen or more articles every week, and I'd like to focus on books. I started doing a little bit of editing on My Apologies, A Written Retraction. This is the follow-up to Just A Kid From The Grandstands. However, it is a jumbled mess that's going to take longer than I thought. It doesn't help that I'm just not as patient as I used to be when it comes to editing.

I wrote 34 chapters of that book prior to leaving California in 2016, but it went on a shelf for a few years. The problem was I dictated those chapters into a crappy phone. What was heard and what was said were two different things, and that means it's a challenge to make sense of things. Cleaning up each chapter is a lengthier process as a result. Even after I get done with those 34 chapters, there's 34 more that I wrote up here. Cleaning them up is the first step, and then comes proofreading and more editing. This book won't be ready in the first quarter of this year, and I have no ETA for when it will be done.

What could end up happening with that book is I might add some personal photos to it and other pictures that might enhance some of the subject matter I discuss in those pages. I'll have time to think about it. If I get seriously motivated to attack the book, things can come together quickly. It wasn't too many years ago when that wouldn't be an issue. I would pull several late nights in a row to get something done. These days, I don't have the drive to attack it. I do want to finish this book and put my observational, autobiographical books regarding racing behind me.

I've mentioned two books that I have on the drawing board. One is Antioch-centric and the other would cover a multitude of tracks. Both books might not be as challenging to put together as the current book is, and therefore they could come together in short order. As I was staring at my computer screen in frustration over this book, an idea hit me. Is there something that I have at my disposal that's largely written and could be thrown together rapidly? After doing a little bit of digging through some of my archives, the answer is yes.

I'm flirting with the idea of doing a yearbook, and I have fixated on the year 2000 for the first book. Other books in that time period could be put together as quickly if I went this route. There wouldn't be a lot of editorializing in these books. It would primarily deal with racing recaps and full results that were either written by me or sent to me for the magazine during that time. They would also include photography by me and others. The 2000 book has at least 14 tracks that could be included. It could be interesting and less stressful to assemble that book. I also like the idea of showcasing so many of the great articles that Gary Jacob shared with me.

I was recently communicating with Kevin Beard, a past videographer of racing at Antioch Speedway. He shares my desire to see a book or series of books put together chronicling the history of Antioch Speedway. I can't do Antioch Speedway in one book. Although I love the work that Dennis Manish has done with his books covering Watsonville racing, San Jose racing, San Francisco racing and now racing in Fremont, one book wouldn't cover Antioch the way I want to do it.

I think I outlined it six years ago. I want to go decade by decade at Antioch. These books would include many photos, but also week by week breakdowns, finishes and recap articles. When I start attacking Antioch, it will either begin in the 1980s or 1990s, but we will eventually get to all decades with various volumes. I also have a mind to do something for Merced Speedway, Vallejo Speedway and Petaluma Speedway in that vein. Though Watsonville now has a book for it, I feel like a couple of decades from the track's past could be given the same treatment for a more in-depth look back. 

That's just an outline of where I'm looking to go with the books. Disengaging from weekly racing coverage might make it easier. When I get that spark of inspiration, I can get a lot done. I get drained easily when I cover the current scene the way I have in recent years. My Apologies is still the current book that's in front of me, but that could change. When there's something substantial to update, I will do so. In the meantime, I'll be doing what I do and watching the current racing scene from afar. We'll see what goes from there. 

Finally, I don't want to end this column without acknowledging the passing of two members of the racing community, Dennis Armstrong and Steve Mentch. Both passed away in December. Armstrong has been competing with the California Hardtop Association in recent years. Mentch is the grandfather of two-time Dixon Speedway Super Micro Sprint champion Kyle Mentch.

I didn't have many interactions with Armstrong, who was a Stock Car competitor at Placerville Speedway prior to getting into Hardtops. One of the joys he experienced in racing Hardtops was the fact that he competed against his son Jason. Both drivers won Main Events in Placerville in the Hardtops, and they played a role in helping get dates for the Hardtops there as their home track.

I knew Dennis wasn't doing so well, but it made me smile when I saw that he got one more opportunity to race at Placerville before hanging up his helmet last year. Another observation that I had was that he must have had a blast running side by side with Ken Clifford for as many laps as the two seemed to do in some of their recent races together. My condolences go out to the Armstrong family. 

I met Steve Mentch at Antioch Speedway in the early 1990s. He was the father of Dirt Modified competitor Eric Mentch. Steve was a nice guy, and I learned that he had competed in the Hardtops at Vallejo Speedway for many years. I heard many Hardtop stories from people through the years, but Steve's name didn't come up for some reason. He was actually one of the Top 10 all-time point earners of the 1960s at Vallejo Speedway. If you know how tough the competition was at the track back then, that's one heck of an accomplishment.

Steve was a car owner champion for Stan Cargo in the NCMA at Antioch in 1996, and he and son Eric nearly won a championship together in the Wingless Spec Sprints in 2000. Sometime in the 1990s, I ended up doing an article where Steve recalled some of the old days. He lent me his souvenir program collection from the 1950s and his photo albums so that I could do research. I always appreciated that gesture and I still have all of the copies of those pictures.

I always enjoyed my interactions with Steve. He was friendly towards me, even when I was standing up for a different way to do the carbureted Sprint Car thing and would eventually co-found the Wingless Spec Sprints. He treated me with respect, and I respected him as well. Though we hadn't spoken in several years, it makes me smile to know that he got to enjoy watching his grandson carry on the family tradition and win championships at Dixon Speedway. My condolences go out to the Mentch family.

On that note I will end this column. Until next time...