Still getting all the details here at DCRR Headquaters, but they raced at Merced Speedway last night. It looks as if they had at least 70 cars for the big show in the cold of winter, including at least 30 Modifieds. As always, check the Oval Motorsports Website for all the official Antioch, Merced and Chowchilla Speedway news.
After racing in Las Vegas two months ago, Duane Cleveland hadn't even taken his car out of the trailer. Racing in Saturday's West Coast Nationals at Merced wasn't even in his plans until Saturday. It turned out to be the right decision for the two time defending Chico Speedway Champion. Cleveland set a nice pace up front down the stretch and cruised to the big victory in the IMCA Modified feature.
This left the battle for second between Tim Berry Jr. and Thursday night Antioch winner Kellen Chadwick. Chadwick provided lots of pressure and finally made his move in Turn 3 of the final lap to score the runner up finish behind the flying Cleveland. Berry settled for third ahead of Chico Limited Late Model Champion Ryan McDaniel and Friday night $2500 Antioch winner Troy Foulger. Nick DeCarlo collected a sixth place finish ahead of Alex Wilson, Ethan Dotson, Paul Stone and Bill Egleston.
The Modifieds ran four qualifying heat races with the first heat going to Berry ahead of McDaniel and Kyle Wilson. DeCarlo won the second heat ahead of Alex Wilson and Stone. Chadwick picked up the third Modified heat ahead of Cleveland and Ventura Champion Josh Vogt. The fourth and final heat race went to Egleston ahead of Dotson and Jerry Movrich.
Stone's third place heat race finish put him in the front of the Modified B Main, and he led all the way with Laney a race long second. Joining Stone and Laney as Main Event transfers were Bricen James, Movrich, Jeremy Richey and Bryan Clark.
In the IMCA Sport Modifieds, $1750 was on the line, which may be the richest first prize ever for the division in California. It was certainly the biggest win of Fred Ryland's career in the division. Ryland grabbed the lead by lap ten and managed to hold Wayne Dotson and 2014 Merced Champion Rick Diaz at bay. Watsonville Champion Nick Spainhoward was caught up in an early crash, but he managed to charge back up through the pack. When Dotson and Diaz got together, Spainhoward was there to grab the second spot behind winner Ryland. Past Merced Speedway Champion Neill Barcellos grabbed the final podium position as Megan Poniciano and Josh Hensley rounded out the top five. Completing the top ten were Al Johnson, Matt Mayo, Dotson, Diaz and Ryan Larimer.
The Sport Mods ran two heat races, and Diaz won the first heat ahead of Dotson and Keith Brown Jr.. The second heat race went to Anthony Giuliani ahead of Ponciano and Ryland. The lower turnout meant that all of the drivers were qualified for the Main Event.
There were an impressive 22 Hobby Stocks on hand for what was essentially a regular show for the Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks. Past Antioch Champion Brad Myers had a front row start and led early before Watsonville racer Joe Willoughby drove by for the lead. Merced regular Ty Shelton has been racing at the track for the past several years and was a feature winner last season. Shelton gave Willoughby all he could handle, but Willoughby would prevail at the checkered flag for the impressive victory.
Jake Jones shared the front row with Hansen and managed a third place feature finish ahead of Nick Baldwin and Watsonville racer Matt Kile. The top five finishers came from the first three rows. Sixth went to Steven Rogers as Charlie Hunter, Porterville racer Alvin Ince, Robert Reagan and Paul Thorburn rounded out the top ten finishers.
In Hobby Stock heat race action, Myers earned his front row start by coming from fifth starting to win the first heat race ahead of Baldwin and Rogers. Polesitter Jones won the second heat race ahead Willoughby and Robert Reagan. Third starter Ty Shelton claimed the third heat ahead of Kile and Thorburn.
The West Coast Nationals concludes at Chowchilla Speedway tonight with the Let It Rain 50. The IMCA Dirt Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds each have 25 laps Main Events. There will be $2000 on the line for the Modified winner and $1500 for the Sport Mods. Northern All Stars Four Bangers will also be in action. This is the 16th year in which Chowchilla Speedway has held a race since Tom Sagmiller opened the gates, and it's the first being promoted by Oval Motorsports. For more information, check the official Chowchilla Speedway Website.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Big Money On The Line At Merced Speedway Tonight
As always, check out the Merced Speedway Website for all the official track information...
Legendary announcer Johnny Sass had a saying at Merced Speedway. He called Merced Speedway the place "Were action is the attraction" each and every Saturday night. Antioch Speedway announcer John Meyers borrowed the saying and admitted he got it from Sass. We all borrow ideas from each other as announcers. I closed the shows with "may you live as long as you want to and want to as long as you live" when I announced. I borrowed that from Butch Althar.
Anyway, the money is on the line at Merced Speedway tonight, and there will be plenty of action on tap. They go to Chowchilla Speedway the next night. It's fitting that Merced, like Antioch, will offer the biggest Sport Mod first prize in California that I know of, $1750 to win. Merced is actually the first track in the state to run Sport Mods, about nine years ago. A kid named Neill Barcellos won a championship, then came Shawn Bryant. Car count wasn't great, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
As Merced went through it's issues, Chowchilla Speedway did something unusual. They completely dropped Dirt Modifieds at the time to give the headline status to Sport Mods. Sure, it was a money saving move by the track. You don't have to pay as much. However, they worked their way up to double digit car counts. Only Victorville, which had started a class of their own, could compare in car count.
Thanks to that little move, other tracks got into the class. I'll admit I'm not a fan of the teams using the latest and greatest equipment in Sport Mods. I didn't think that was the point when they sold us this idea. Suddenly, every track started a class. Santa Maria, Hanford, Bakersfield, Watsonville, Antioch. Sport Mods have taken hold. The fact that Antioch, Merced and Chowchilla are putting the money into big races for Sport Mods is further proof that this division is taking off. I still wonder what things will look like with respect to the two Modfified classes in the future, but it's good now.
A Merced racer, Bruce "Bubba" Nelson led off Antioch's opening night with a win on Thursday. Now, he's coming back to the track where he won back to back Hobby Stock Championships. Last season, he was third in Sport Mod points, so he's ready to rock and roll. The two drivers in front of him are about as fast as they come. You have Ramie Stone, a four time Merced IMCA Modified, one time Street Stock and one time Little Truck Champion. Then, you have the guy who forced him to settle for second in points last season, 2014 Sport Mod Champion Rick Diaz.
I'm thinking Ramie might want that big trophy. I have no idea who has signed up to defend the local honor. A few brave souls like Nelson, Michael Shearer and Ryan Larimer, came to Antioch. Shearer was one of the four to lock up a starting spot for the big money race at Merced. In fact, Antioch's big money winner Jeremy Hoff, Nick Spainhoward and Richard Mueller are also in tonight's Main Event.
What the car count will actually be is the question. There were 23 cars on Thursday, which dropped to 17 on Friday. Several of these guys, I suspect, will be in Merced tonight, including Spainhoward, Hoff, Shearer, Mueller and last nights runner up, Fred Ryland. The question is, who else is coming? Merced is a little closer, so this may entice more Bakersfield and Hanford guys to come. I expect that Merced will do alright.
There are some key names we didn't see at Antioch in Dirt Modifieds, not the least of which is Ramie's cousin, 2014 Merced champion Paul Stone. Also absent was 2013 champion Rodney Freitas. Let's not forget other area racers Bob Williamson, Bill Egleston and Jeff Streeter. Williamson and Egleston are also past Merced Champions. Again, being that this track is closer for some racers, might we see some guys pull in from further south? That is the question, and it will be answered in a matter of hours.
Merced is a track that is very much worthy of having big events like this. I recall the 9/11 Memorial Race that attracted over 40 Dirt Mods in 2002. Is that still the record for this class at Merced? It's cold and I know some people don't want to come out yet. Even with points and big money, some may stay away. However, they came out and raced a year ago at this time in Chowchilla and had an amazing race too.
The bottom line is there's no reason to expect this won't be a great race. Will Paul Stone come out to play, and is he the man to beat? I tend to think he may be. But there's some guys named Troy Foulger, Nick DeCarlo and Kellen Chadwick who may disagree. This is one of those races you want to win for the bragging rights. Some talented racers will be in Merced, and the racing is sure to be intense. Only one driver can hoist the big trophy being offered up to the winner in the Modified and Sport Mod races, so who will it be?
In case you are wondering, Foulger, 2014 Willamette Speedway Champion Collen Weinbarger, Chris Clark and John McDougall have already qualified for this race after their Top 8 finishes on Thursday at Antioch.
Lest we forget, the Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks are also racing. There have been inquiries from Bakersfield and Watsonville. It's not a big money race for them, but there is one point that could lure them in. The winner will be the first Hobby Stock feature winner of 2015. Past Antioch Champion Brad Myers is said to be coming, and he'll be fast. Speaking of fast, "Fast" Freddie Ryland has a Hobby Stock, but I'm not sure he'll be bringing it with his Sport Modified. This is a man who has been known to bring a Four Banger to the area to win races in that class.
Who will win when it's showtime? Perhaps the man with "Showtime" as his nickname, many time champion Raul Rodriguez? Kristie Shearer may be gunning for that win, and she wasn't second in points last season for nothing. Josh Hensley, Robbie Loquaci, Ty Shelton or 2012 Chowchilla Champion Chris Falkenberg? We'll just have to see.
I just know that there is money on the line. That's $2500 to win for IMCA Modifieds and $1750 to win for IMCA Sport Modifieds, and they will be racing hard to collect that paycheck. It's sure to be a good show. As Johnny Sass would say, "Action is the attraction" at Merced Speedway tonight.
Legendary announcer Johnny Sass had a saying at Merced Speedway. He called Merced Speedway the place "Were action is the attraction" each and every Saturday night. Antioch Speedway announcer John Meyers borrowed the saying and admitted he got it from Sass. We all borrow ideas from each other as announcers. I closed the shows with "may you live as long as you want to and want to as long as you live" when I announced. I borrowed that from Butch Althar.
Anyway, the money is on the line at Merced Speedway tonight, and there will be plenty of action on tap. They go to Chowchilla Speedway the next night. It's fitting that Merced, like Antioch, will offer the biggest Sport Mod first prize in California that I know of, $1750 to win. Merced is actually the first track in the state to run Sport Mods, about nine years ago. A kid named Neill Barcellos won a championship, then came Shawn Bryant. Car count wasn't great, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
As Merced went through it's issues, Chowchilla Speedway did something unusual. They completely dropped Dirt Modifieds at the time to give the headline status to Sport Mods. Sure, it was a money saving move by the track. You don't have to pay as much. However, they worked their way up to double digit car counts. Only Victorville, which had started a class of their own, could compare in car count.
Thanks to that little move, other tracks got into the class. I'll admit I'm not a fan of the teams using the latest and greatest equipment in Sport Mods. I didn't think that was the point when they sold us this idea. Suddenly, every track started a class. Santa Maria, Hanford, Bakersfield, Watsonville, Antioch. Sport Mods have taken hold. The fact that Antioch, Merced and Chowchilla are putting the money into big races for Sport Mods is further proof that this division is taking off. I still wonder what things will look like with respect to the two Modfified classes in the future, but it's good now.
A Merced racer, Bruce "Bubba" Nelson led off Antioch's opening night with a win on Thursday. Now, he's coming back to the track where he won back to back Hobby Stock Championships. Last season, he was third in Sport Mod points, so he's ready to rock and roll. The two drivers in front of him are about as fast as they come. You have Ramie Stone, a four time Merced IMCA Modified, one time Street Stock and one time Little Truck Champion. Then, you have the guy who forced him to settle for second in points last season, 2014 Sport Mod Champion Rick Diaz.
I'm thinking Ramie might want that big trophy. I have no idea who has signed up to defend the local honor. A few brave souls like Nelson, Michael Shearer and Ryan Larimer, came to Antioch. Shearer was one of the four to lock up a starting spot for the big money race at Merced. In fact, Antioch's big money winner Jeremy Hoff, Nick Spainhoward and Richard Mueller are also in tonight's Main Event.
What the car count will actually be is the question. There were 23 cars on Thursday, which dropped to 17 on Friday. Several of these guys, I suspect, will be in Merced tonight, including Spainhoward, Hoff, Shearer, Mueller and last nights runner up, Fred Ryland. The question is, who else is coming? Merced is a little closer, so this may entice more Bakersfield and Hanford guys to come. I expect that Merced will do alright.
There are some key names we didn't see at Antioch in Dirt Modifieds, not the least of which is Ramie's cousin, 2014 Merced champion Paul Stone. Also absent was 2013 champion Rodney Freitas. Let's not forget other area racers Bob Williamson, Bill Egleston and Jeff Streeter. Williamson and Egleston are also past Merced Champions. Again, being that this track is closer for some racers, might we see some guys pull in from further south? That is the question, and it will be answered in a matter of hours.
Merced is a track that is very much worthy of having big events like this. I recall the 9/11 Memorial Race that attracted over 40 Dirt Mods in 2002. Is that still the record for this class at Merced? It's cold and I know some people don't want to come out yet. Even with points and big money, some may stay away. However, they came out and raced a year ago at this time in Chowchilla and had an amazing race too.
The bottom line is there's no reason to expect this won't be a great race. Will Paul Stone come out to play, and is he the man to beat? I tend to think he may be. But there's some guys named Troy Foulger, Nick DeCarlo and Kellen Chadwick who may disagree. This is one of those races you want to win for the bragging rights. Some talented racers will be in Merced, and the racing is sure to be intense. Only one driver can hoist the big trophy being offered up to the winner in the Modified and Sport Mod races, so who will it be?
In case you are wondering, Foulger, 2014 Willamette Speedway Champion Collen Weinbarger, Chris Clark and John McDougall have already qualified for this race after their Top 8 finishes on Thursday at Antioch.
Lest we forget, the Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks are also racing. There have been inquiries from Bakersfield and Watsonville. It's not a big money race for them, but there is one point that could lure them in. The winner will be the first Hobby Stock feature winner of 2015. Past Antioch Champion Brad Myers is said to be coming, and he'll be fast. Speaking of fast, "Fast" Freddie Ryland has a Hobby Stock, but I'm not sure he'll be bringing it with his Sport Modified. This is a man who has been known to bring a Four Banger to the area to win races in that class.
Who will win when it's showtime? Perhaps the man with "Showtime" as his nickname, many time champion Raul Rodriguez? Kristie Shearer may be gunning for that win, and she wasn't second in points last season for nothing. Josh Hensley, Robbie Loquaci, Ty Shelton or 2012 Chowchilla Champion Chris Falkenberg? We'll just have to see.
I just know that there is money on the line. That's $2500 to win for IMCA Modifieds and $1750 to win for IMCA Sport Modifieds, and they will be racing hard to collect that paycheck. It's sure to be a good show. As Johnny Sass would say, "Action is the attraction" at Merced Speedway tonight.
Foulger, Hoff Win Big At Antioch Speedway
Racing continues at Merced Speedway tonight in Round #3 of the West Coast Nationals. I'm hoping the locals are ready to come out and play. We didn't see as many of them as I hoped we would at Antioch, but I'm thinking they were saving their cars for tonight at Merced and tomorrow at Chowchilla. Anyway, check out the Merced Speedway Website for all of the latest information.
We have a new DCRR Racing Radio Show ready to go at the end of this story. I look at a couple of special anniversaries to me, results from the big West Coast Nationals event at Antioch last night and things that should be considered to help promote racing at tracks like Antioch, Chowchilla and Merced.
Oh, by the way, I neglected to mention this on the show, but Merced Racers WILL have a banquet in Merced to celebrate their 2014 accomplishments on February 21. Antioch's banquet is a week later. I know people were worried, but there's no need for that. They've got you covered. Check out the Oval Motorsports Website for more details.
Anyway...
With the money on the line, the stars stepped up big time at Antioch Speedway to lay claim to the big first prize money and the nice trophies on the line at the West Coast Nationals. After a good battle with Thursday night winner Kellen Chadwick, four time champion Troy Foulger collected the $2500 first prize in the Dirt Modified feature. 2013 Antioch Sport Mod champion Jeremy Hoff stepped up to score the biggest win of his career in the Sport Mod feature. In DIRTcar Late Model action, 2014 Northern All Stars Champion Richard Papenhausen won that division's Main Event.
The beautiful trophies for the IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified winners were sponsored by Delta Transmission of Antioch.
The Top eight finishers in the Modified race on Thursday night were staggered as those drivers prequalified for either this race or tonight's race at Merced. This meant that Chadwick, Nick DeCarlo, Michael Paul Jr. and Les Friend were automatically entered into Friday's race and could skip the heat races. Foulger, Collen Winbarger, Chris Clark and John McDougall are automatically entered into tonight's $2500 to win event at Merced, but that still left them needing to get a top two heat race finish Friday night to avoid a B Main.
Heat 1 turned out to be the "heat race from hell" as three Dirt Modified Champions, Joe Carr, Scott Busby and Ryan McDaniel, were in the race. Alex Wilson was not intimidated as he held off McDaniel to get the win. Collen Winebarger used a pole start to win the second heat ahead of Shawn DeForest. The third heat went to Jeremy Richey ahead of Bobby Motts Jr. Foulger came from fourth starting to beat past Merced Champion Jim DiGiovanni in the fourth heat. Carr had the pole for the B Main and scored the victory ahead of Busby, Kyle Wilson, Tim Berry Jr. and Ethan Dotson. Chester Kniss was sixth to just make the Main Event cut.
Not surprisingly, the top three of the night before were the ones mixing it up at the front of Friday's Modified feature. Chadwick thought he might be on his way to another win, but Foulger beat him on a late race restart to grab the lead. A last lap pass gained DeCarlo second as Foulger brought it home to the impressive win ahead of DeCarlo and Chadwick. McDaniel skipped Thursday's event and still drove to a solid fourth place finish ahead of Winebarger, Alex Wilson, Scott Busby, Shawn DeForest, Chester Kniss and Jeremy Richey.
The Sport Mods also took the top eight finishers from the night before and staggered them with four automatically entered into the Friday Antioch race and four more entered into tonight's Merced race. This meant Bruce Nelson, Keith Brown Jr., Wayne Dotson and Megan Ponciano were automatically entered into Friday's race, while Jeremy Hoff, Nick Spainhoward, Richard Mueller and Michael Shearer can skip the heat races at Merced tonight and go straight to the Main Event.
B Mains weren't an issue Friday as the attrition factor dropped Thursday's 23 car field down to 17 cars for Friday The heat races were still a nice tune up for the feature, and Spainhoward won the first heat ahead of Fred Ryland and Al Johnson. Hoff won the second heat ahead of Ryan Larimer and Mueller.
As it happened, Hoff had a front row start for the Sport Mod Main Event, and this was not an opportunity he would waste. Hoff would score the victory with second row starter Ryland bringing it home in second. Passing honors went to Nelson and Brown. Nelson came from the eighth row to finish third, while Brown started back in the seventh row and charged to fourth. Mueller rounded out the top five with the top ten completed by Megan Ponciano, Al Johnson, Jimmy Ford, Wayne Dotson and Ryan Larimer.
Not to be forgotten in the shuffle were the DIRTcar Late Models. There were 11 drivers in action for this event, and Papenhausen won the first heat race ahead of Randy Shafer and Dominic Stone. The second heat race saw Placerville star Ray Trimble score the victory ahead of past Antioch, Petaluma and Watsonville champion Jeff Decker and Danny Malfatti.
Not surprisingly, it was Decker and Papenhausen at the front of the pack for the Late Model Main Event. Papenhausen started behind Decker, but he would outrun him to lead the 1-2 finish at the checkered flag. Rounding out the top five were Shafer, Malfatti and Dave Newquist. Trimble settled for sixth ahead of Dennis Souza, Chester Kniss, Dominic Stone and Troy Foulger.
The West Coast Nationals continues at Merced tonight with more big money and nice trophies on the line for IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds. The Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks will also be in action for this season opener. For more information, check out the Merced Speedway Website.
And now for another special edition of the DCRR Racing Radio Show...
DCRR Racing Radio Show: Episode 3 by GenWhat
Friday, January 2, 2015
Garner May Be Someone To Watch In Limited Late Models At Antioch
The cars are filling the pits at Antioch Speedway as I post this. IMCA Modifieds ($2500 to win), Sport Mods ($1750 to win) and Late Models. It's gonna be a cold night, but the racing should be good with all that money on the line....
I'll be honest with you. After 1999, when the subject of Mark Garner came up, I'd get a little cranky. I'm not gonna get into why in this column. You see, I liked Mark. He was a bit of an underdog, and I saw a lot of potential in him to kick a few butts out there. For about a year, I lived a couple blocks from him. I used to go to his house and chatted with his father, who had a Sportsman car at the time. I loved those cars. Jerry won some races that year too.
Mark and I even raced bikes on a little oval track some of us ran on the street in front of my house. We were crazy kids. The whole thing ended when one of the kids crashed and broke his leg. Whoops...
In 1996, Mark started racing Dirt Modifieds. His dad retired and Mark got to learn from somebody who really knew. Jerry used to run the circuit. In 1969, he was Stock Car State champion, back when that meant something. Top three at Petaluma and Antioch, but he raced everywhere he could. Mark learned the way a lot of drivers learned back then. See, we used to have lots of cars showing up every week, and we had B Mains. Just making the Main Event was an accomplishment.
Well, Mark made it into the Top 15 in points in 1997. Believe me, that was an accomplishment. If you were Top 5, that was about as good as being a Champion. Top 10 was big. There were drivers who ran every week that year and didn't make a Main Event. So, yeah, he did good.
Then came the change. John Soares Jr. took over. I believed, and still believe, it was for the best. There was a push from the old management to recruit everybody from Antioch to San Jose to run Dirt Mods there. I recall a conversation I had with Kent Bickford. He wasn't going, and he told them as much. Kent's a rebel. I don't always agree with him, but there are things I do respect about him. I don't think some people liked seeing Kent do as well as he was doing in a Modified.
Anyway, the newspaper had a story about how screwed Antioch Speedway was gonna be with Soares in charge. Really? And you know this, how? You've only been reporting for a couple years, and you know NOTHING about John Soares Jr. About that time, a driver who was going to San Jose that season was quoted as saying there would only be B Main drivers left at Antioch, because Hogge, Busby, Wadsworth, Cass, Chadwick, Torres, you get the picture, were all going to San Jose. Who it was, I'll save for another time, and he says he was misquoted anyway.
John said, and I agreed, that we would make new stars. The fact is, this has ALWAYS been the case at the track. The era of Ken Gonderman, Gary Pacheco and Bill Brown gave way to J.D. Willis, Dennis Furia and Marv Wilson. Then, it was Dave Byrd, Jim Pettit II, Bobby Hogge and that Willis fellow again... New stars always step up when given the opportunity.
Now, Mark Garner was already on the rise. There's no reason to believe he wouldn't have been a Top 10 driver in 1998 even with all of those other guys racing. Those Cobra Chassis were more dialed in and getting faster. Bart Reid was faster, Kenny Neu was fast and Mark was too. He immediately became a Top 5 competitor. He won his first race. It was not his last either. He was Top 5 in 1998, Top 10 a year later, took a year off and was Top 10 once again in 2001. He even went to Chowchilla Speedway and won.
I hadn't seen much of Garner in the results until he got back into it a couple years ago. He was back in a Limited Late Model and he was winning races last season. He was Top 5 in the points again. That's the guy I knew could be a front runner at Antioch way back when, and then I saw the most amazing thing last night.
Of course, the focus was on IMCA as you'd expect. In the midst of that, Mark was stuck in a heat race with defending champion Larry Damitz and 2014 runner up Mike Hynes. He put that car up on the high side and drove around Hynes in Turn 4 at the midway point of that heat race and took the lead. That car is "Best Appearing Car" worthy from what I could see, not that they do those awards these days. I don't know if they do.
Anyway...
Mark was looking good in the feature. He just took third from John Keith when he had mechanical problems. He ended up fourth. I don't know what his plans are for 2015, but it was a nice showing for the second (or is that third?) generation racing Garner? It wouldn't be a big surprise to me to see him improve on last season's fourth place ranking. We'll see when the division returns in a couple months.
Here's some footage from Mark's impressive heat race win
I'll be honest with you. After 1999, when the subject of Mark Garner came up, I'd get a little cranky. I'm not gonna get into why in this column. You see, I liked Mark. He was a bit of an underdog, and I saw a lot of potential in him to kick a few butts out there. For about a year, I lived a couple blocks from him. I used to go to his house and chatted with his father, who had a Sportsman car at the time. I loved those cars. Jerry won some races that year too.
Mark and I even raced bikes on a little oval track some of us ran on the street in front of my house. We were crazy kids. The whole thing ended when one of the kids crashed and broke his leg. Whoops...
In 1996, Mark started racing Dirt Modifieds. His dad retired and Mark got to learn from somebody who really knew. Jerry used to run the circuit. In 1969, he was Stock Car State champion, back when that meant something. Top three at Petaluma and Antioch, but he raced everywhere he could. Mark learned the way a lot of drivers learned back then. See, we used to have lots of cars showing up every week, and we had B Mains. Just making the Main Event was an accomplishment.
Well, Mark made it into the Top 15 in points in 1997. Believe me, that was an accomplishment. If you were Top 5, that was about as good as being a Champion. Top 10 was big. There were drivers who ran every week that year and didn't make a Main Event. So, yeah, he did good.
Then came the change. John Soares Jr. took over. I believed, and still believe, it was for the best. There was a push from the old management to recruit everybody from Antioch to San Jose to run Dirt Mods there. I recall a conversation I had with Kent Bickford. He wasn't going, and he told them as much. Kent's a rebel. I don't always agree with him, but there are things I do respect about him. I don't think some people liked seeing Kent do as well as he was doing in a Modified.
Anyway, the newspaper had a story about how screwed Antioch Speedway was gonna be with Soares in charge. Really? And you know this, how? You've only been reporting for a couple years, and you know NOTHING about John Soares Jr. About that time, a driver who was going to San Jose that season was quoted as saying there would only be B Main drivers left at Antioch, because Hogge, Busby, Wadsworth, Cass, Chadwick, Torres, you get the picture, were all going to San Jose. Who it was, I'll save for another time, and he says he was misquoted anyway.
John said, and I agreed, that we would make new stars. The fact is, this has ALWAYS been the case at the track. The era of Ken Gonderman, Gary Pacheco and Bill Brown gave way to J.D. Willis, Dennis Furia and Marv Wilson. Then, it was Dave Byrd, Jim Pettit II, Bobby Hogge and that Willis fellow again... New stars always step up when given the opportunity.
Now, Mark Garner was already on the rise. There's no reason to believe he wouldn't have been a Top 10 driver in 1998 even with all of those other guys racing. Those Cobra Chassis were more dialed in and getting faster. Bart Reid was faster, Kenny Neu was fast and Mark was too. He immediately became a Top 5 competitor. He won his first race. It was not his last either. He was Top 5 in 1998, Top 10 a year later, took a year off and was Top 10 once again in 2001. He even went to Chowchilla Speedway and won.
I hadn't seen much of Garner in the results until he got back into it a couple years ago. He was back in a Limited Late Model and he was winning races last season. He was Top 5 in the points again. That's the guy I knew could be a front runner at Antioch way back when, and then I saw the most amazing thing last night.
Of course, the focus was on IMCA as you'd expect. In the midst of that, Mark was stuck in a heat race with defending champion Larry Damitz and 2014 runner up Mike Hynes. He put that car up on the high side and drove around Hynes in Turn 4 at the midway point of that heat race and took the lead. That car is "Best Appearing Car" worthy from what I could see, not that they do those awards these days. I don't know if they do.
Anyway...
Mark was looking good in the feature. He just took third from John Keith when he had mechanical problems. He ended up fourth. I don't know what his plans are for 2015, but it was a nice showing for the second (or is that third?) generation racing Garner? It wouldn't be a big surprise to me to see him improve on last season's fourth place ranking. We'll see when the division returns in a couple months.
Here's some footage from Mark's impressive heat race win
Chadwick, Nelson and Damitz Open 2015 Season With Antioch Wins
There is a special edition of The DCRR Racing Radio Show at the bottom of this post.
As always, you can get your official rundown of Antioch Speedway happenings at the track's Official Website.
For the first time ever, Antioch Speedway held a race on New Years Day. It was the opening day of the four race West Coast Nationals that will span three tracks, and it was also the opening day of the point season. In the IMCA Modified preliminary feature, Kellen Chadwick led most of the way to pocket the $500 first prize. Bruce Nelson collected his first win in the Sport Mod preliminary feature for a $250 payday. Meanwhile, racing octogenarian Larry Damitz kicked off the new year in style with a Limited Late Model feature win.
The 28 Dirt Modifieds ran four qualifying heat races that would transfer three each into the preliminary feature. Past Antioch Limited Late Model Champion Mitch Machado, Shawn DeForest and Troy Foulger all won their heats from the pole, while Chadwick came from the third row to win his heat race. Next up for the Dirt Modifieds were two B Mains that would transfer four cars each into the feature. After just missing the cut in his heat race, 2014 Northern All Star Dirt Mod Champ Bobby Hogge IV won his B Main from the pole ahead of Kyle Wilson and Les Friend. Nick DeCarlo had his work cut out for him, coming from sixth starting to win his B Main in front of Tom Berry Jr. and John MacDougall.
Oregon long tow Bicen James and Jeremy Richey of Phoenix, Arizona led the IMCA Modified field to the green flag, but James spun for a lap one yellow flag. Richey led a lap before Chadwick made an inside pass to take the lead. Chadwick pulled away as many time Petaluma Champion Michael Paul Jr. moved in to battle Richey for second early. After a lap six restart, 12th starting Foulger raced into fourth. Back of the pack starter Hogge had worked his way into sixth by the time a lap nine yellow flag flew, and Foulger was third behind Chadwick and Rickey on the restart.
Hogge smacked the Turn 2 wall hard trying to make an outside move into the top five as the yellow flag flew again. Foulger made a low pass on Rickey for second a lap later as Four time Antioch Champion Scott Busby was now riding fifth. Busby made an outside pass on a lap 12 restart to take third from Richey and set his sites on fellow four time Antioch Champion Foulger. Sixteenth starter DeCarlo was battling Richey for fourth when Busby began to slow a few laps later, allowing both drivers to move by. DeCarlo passed Richey for third before the yellow flag flew for Busby.
Chadwick, meanwhile, was driving a flawless race up front and would pick up an impressive victory ahead of Foulger. DeCarlo brought it up a solid third as Willamette Champion Collen Winebarger charged back to claim fourth ahead of Paul, Chris Clark, Friend, MacDougall, past Merced champion Jim Digiovanni and Kyle Wilson
The 23 Sport Mods ran three qualifying heat races with 2013 Antioch Champion Jeremy Hoff winning his heat from the pole. Wayne Dotson and 2014 Chowchilla Champion Nick Spainhowrd were the other heat race winners. Spainhoward won from sixth starting. Multi division star Freddie Ryland and Jimmy Ford, who started racing at Antioch in Street Stocks back in the 1980's, shared the front row of the B Main. Ford, who was actually one of the first drivers to race Sport Mods at Antioch, battled Ryand to claim the B Main victory. Matt Mayo finished third.
Coming off a solid third place point season at Merced Speedway in 2014, Bruce Nelson drew a front row start for the Sport Mod Main Event next to Hoff. The two drivers would go on to a 1-2 finish in what was Nelson's first win in the division. Nelson is a two time Merced Speedway Hobby Stock Champion. The ending wasn't pretty as Spainhoward tried a last lap, low move in Turns 1and 2 for the lead, resulting in contact with Nelson Spainhoward slowed, allowing Nelson to get going and Hoff to move past for second. Third generation racer Keith Brown Jr. turned in a solid effort, battling from the fifth row to finish third. Spainhoward settled for fourth as Dotson rounded out the top five.
Richard Mueller, who came up through the ranks at Antioch in the 1990's driving Street Stocks and Late Models before becoming a front runner in Dirt Modifieds, is back in a Sport Mod. He would drive to a sixth place finish. Rounding out the top ten were, Megan Ponciano, Michael Shearer, Alan Furuta and Jason Ferguson.
Ten Limited Late Model drivers were on hand to start their 2015 point season. Two time Limited Late Model champion Mike Gustafson and Mark Garner collected the heat race wins. Former top ten Street Stock racer John Keith drew the pole next to Damitz. Mike Hynes immediately moved into second at the start and battled Damitz for the lead for a few laps before Damitz pulled away. The lead duo ran comfortably up front as Garner, Jim Freethy and Keith battled fiercely for third. Garner slipped underneath Freethy for fourth around lap six and finally grabbed the third spot from Keith just past the halfway point of the race. Unfortunately, Garner stalled for a caution flag. There was no stopping Damitz as he brought it home to victory ahead of Hynes and Keith. Garner settled for fourth and Gustafson rounded out the top five.
Racing continues tonight at Antioch Speedway as IMCA Modifieds will race for a $2500 first prize, and $1750 is on the line for the IMCA Sport Mod feature winner. The Late Models are also on the card and will race for $1500 to win (based on a $1500 car field).
DCRR Racing Radio Show: Episode 2 by GenWhat
As always, you can get your official rundown of Antioch Speedway happenings at the track's Official Website.
For the first time ever, Antioch Speedway held a race on New Years Day. It was the opening day of the four race West Coast Nationals that will span three tracks, and it was also the opening day of the point season. In the IMCA Modified preliminary feature, Kellen Chadwick led most of the way to pocket the $500 first prize. Bruce Nelson collected his first win in the Sport Mod preliminary feature for a $250 payday. Meanwhile, racing octogenarian Larry Damitz kicked off the new year in style with a Limited Late Model feature win.
The 28 Dirt Modifieds ran four qualifying heat races that would transfer three each into the preliminary feature. Past Antioch Limited Late Model Champion Mitch Machado, Shawn DeForest and Troy Foulger all won their heats from the pole, while Chadwick came from the third row to win his heat race. Next up for the Dirt Modifieds were two B Mains that would transfer four cars each into the feature. After just missing the cut in his heat race, 2014 Northern All Star Dirt Mod Champ Bobby Hogge IV won his B Main from the pole ahead of Kyle Wilson and Les Friend. Nick DeCarlo had his work cut out for him, coming from sixth starting to win his B Main in front of Tom Berry Jr. and John MacDougall.
Oregon long tow Bicen James and Jeremy Richey of Phoenix, Arizona led the IMCA Modified field to the green flag, but James spun for a lap one yellow flag. Richey led a lap before Chadwick made an inside pass to take the lead. Chadwick pulled away as many time Petaluma Champion Michael Paul Jr. moved in to battle Richey for second early. After a lap six restart, 12th starting Foulger raced into fourth. Back of the pack starter Hogge had worked his way into sixth by the time a lap nine yellow flag flew, and Foulger was third behind Chadwick and Rickey on the restart.
Hogge smacked the Turn 2 wall hard trying to make an outside move into the top five as the yellow flag flew again. Foulger made a low pass on Rickey for second a lap later as Four time Antioch Champion Scott Busby was now riding fifth. Busby made an outside pass on a lap 12 restart to take third from Richey and set his sites on fellow four time Antioch Champion Foulger. Sixteenth starter DeCarlo was battling Richey for fourth when Busby began to slow a few laps later, allowing both drivers to move by. DeCarlo passed Richey for third before the yellow flag flew for Busby.
Chadwick, meanwhile, was driving a flawless race up front and would pick up an impressive victory ahead of Foulger. DeCarlo brought it up a solid third as Willamette Champion Collen Winebarger charged back to claim fourth ahead of Paul, Chris Clark, Friend, MacDougall, past Merced champion Jim Digiovanni and Kyle Wilson
The 23 Sport Mods ran three qualifying heat races with 2013 Antioch Champion Jeremy Hoff winning his heat from the pole. Wayne Dotson and 2014 Chowchilla Champion Nick Spainhowrd were the other heat race winners. Spainhoward won from sixth starting. Multi division star Freddie Ryland and Jimmy Ford, who started racing at Antioch in Street Stocks back in the 1980's, shared the front row of the B Main. Ford, who was actually one of the first drivers to race Sport Mods at Antioch, battled Ryand to claim the B Main victory. Matt Mayo finished third.
Coming off a solid third place point season at Merced Speedway in 2014, Bruce Nelson drew a front row start for the Sport Mod Main Event next to Hoff. The two drivers would go on to a 1-2 finish in what was Nelson's first win in the division. Nelson is a two time Merced Speedway Hobby Stock Champion. The ending wasn't pretty as Spainhoward tried a last lap, low move in Turns 1and 2 for the lead, resulting in contact with Nelson Spainhoward slowed, allowing Nelson to get going and Hoff to move past for second. Third generation racer Keith Brown Jr. turned in a solid effort, battling from the fifth row to finish third. Spainhoward settled for fourth as Dotson rounded out the top five.
Richard Mueller, who came up through the ranks at Antioch in the 1990's driving Street Stocks and Late Models before becoming a front runner in Dirt Modifieds, is back in a Sport Mod. He would drive to a sixth place finish. Rounding out the top ten were, Megan Ponciano, Michael Shearer, Alan Furuta and Jason Ferguson.
Ten Limited Late Model drivers were on hand to start their 2015 point season. Two time Limited Late Model champion Mike Gustafson and Mark Garner collected the heat race wins. Former top ten Street Stock racer John Keith drew the pole next to Damitz. Mike Hynes immediately moved into second at the start and battled Damitz for the lead for a few laps before Damitz pulled away. The lead duo ran comfortably up front as Garner, Jim Freethy and Keith battled fiercely for third. Garner slipped underneath Freethy for fourth around lap six and finally grabbed the third spot from Keith just past the halfway point of the race. Unfortunately, Garner stalled for a caution flag. There was no stopping Damitz as he brought it home to victory ahead of Hynes and Keith. Garner settled for fourth and Gustafson rounded out the top five.
Racing continues tonight at Antioch Speedway as IMCA Modifieds will race for a $2500 first prize, and $1750 is on the line for the IMCA Sport Mod feature winner. The Late Models are also on the card and will race for $1500 to win (based on a $1500 car field).
DCRR Racing Radio Show: Episode 2 by GenWhat
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