First of all...
The DCRR Racing Media Books
Just A Kid From The Grandstands: My Time In Auto Racing
Stories of my time in auto racing from the beginning to 2003
Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover
Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover
And
Don's California Racing Recollections: Best Of The Blog And Beyond
Racing History, Stories, Statistics And Pictures
Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback
Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback
If You Like Reading Our Articles
Support Us Via The Go Fund Me The Tip Jar HERE
Also...
DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting HERE
Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion Can Be Heard HERE
The DCRR Racing Radio Show
For DCRR Racing Radio Moments Please
Look Up The DCRR on Twitter
We will be doing updates there
The regular show will return soon
Find our latest Tweets on the fright side of the blog site
For DCRR Racing Radio Moments Please
Look Up The DCRR on Twitter
We will be doing updates there
The regular show will return soon
Find our latest Tweets on the fright side of the blog site
DeCarlo, Gustafson, Sieweke Win Wild races
At Antioch Speedway
At Antioch Speedway
Antioch, CA...October 13...Fall Brawl 2018 lived up to it's name Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. It was a wild and exciting night of racing. The night also included Hall Of Fame inductions for ten new members, which included track founder John P. Soares, current promoter/racer John M. Soares, the track's all time feature win leader J.D. Willis, three time Sportsman champion Gary Pacheco, two time Sportsman champion Bill Brown, Stock Car champions Willie Myatt and Dean Cline, long time track maintenance man and racer Harvey Mason, long time push buggy builder/driver and Stock Car racer Chuck Smith and long time announcer John Myers. The night featured six divisions of All Star Series racing.
A memorial lap was led by Promoter John M Soares of Oval Motorsports. Last Sunday, his wife of 57 years, Donna Soares passed away. Donna had been with John throughout his racing career. She ran the track office when Oval Motorsports began promoting Antioch Speedway in 1998.
After having to make a pit stop to fix some damaged sheet metal on his car, A Modified point leader Nick DeCarlo won his eighth 20 lap Main Event of the season. Buddy Kniss led the fist two laps before being passed by Kellen Chadwick on the back stretch. Chadwick's lead was short lived as he pitted during a lap five caution period, putting Brian Cass into the lead over Bobby Motts Jr. DeCarlo was already in fourth on lap nine and made an inside pass on Motts for second a lap later. A Turn 4 move around Cass on lap 12 put DeCarlo into the lead. Once in front, DeCarlo pulled away for the hard earned victory. Cass settled for second ahead of Anthony Slaney, Bud Walberg and Dave Duste Jr.
Mike Gustafson won his third 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event of the season. Gustafson had the pole for the race and led Mike Walko on the start. Lapping a slower car in Turn 2, Ryan Cherezian moved around the outside of Walko on lap 11 with Garner following him closely into third. Moments later a yellow flag flew for Michael Burch in Turn 4. Gustafson led the restart with Garner moving around Cherzian for second. Garner tried an inside pass in Turn 2 on the last lap, but Gustafson held him off for the impressive win. Kimo Oreta made a late move into third as Cherezian and Walko completed the Top 5. Garner holds a slim two point lead over Oreta heading into the season finale.
New DIRTcar Late Model champion Jeff Decker won his seventh 20 lap Main Event. Decker took the lead from Rod Oliver on the second lap and pulled away from there and on a restart later in the race. Decker won by over a straightaway. Oliver had a late battle with Mike Hynes, but he held him off for the second place finish. Kimo Oreta and John M. Soares rounded out the Top 5.
Chris Sieweke won the 20 lap B Modified Main Event. The race was red flagged before a lap was completed when Nick Caughman Jr. rolled his car out the Turn 1 exit gate. Jim DiGiovanni led early. When Anthony Guiliani spun on the front stretch trying to avoid a crash with new champion Trevor Clymens, a major pileup ensued. After a red flag period to remove cars, DiGiovanni led Phillip Shelby and Sieweke on the restart. Sieweke made a strong outside pass on the back stretch on lap six to take the lead. Shelby gained second a lap later. The lead duo ran closely the rest of the way with Sieweke winning ahead of Shelby, Guiliani, DiGiovanni and Todd Gomez
New Hobby Stock champion Chris Sorensen won his eighth 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event of the season. Sorensen charged into the lead on the start ahead of 2017 champion Cameron Swank. At times, Sorensen led by a straightaway before a yellow flag wiped that out. Jimmy Brookshire Jr spun from third and made a charge through the pack to get back into the Top 5. However, Nobody could catch Sorensen as he won ahead of Swank, Brookshire Jr, Josh Leach, Breanna Troen and Anthony Welborn. Brookshire was disqualified in post race tech, moving everybody behind him up a position in the finish.
Mike Corsaro won his fifth 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event of the season. The two time champion raced into the lead at the start with David Rosa in close pursuit. David Michael Rosa took second from his father on lap seven, but he spun in Turn 4 moments later. Corsaro continued to lead David Rosa until Rosa spun in the final turn in an effort to make a pass attempt. Corsaro was the happy winner. Giovanni Bortoli finished second, followed by Mario Marques, David Rosa and Jesse Pfieffer.
The 2018 season comes to a close with a night of double points racing next Saturday. A Modifieds will be back along with Limited Late Models, B Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Unofficial Race Results
All Star Series Antioch Speedway
DIRTcar Late Models
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Jeff Decker. Main Event (20 Laps)-Jeff Decker, Rod Oliver, Mike Hynes, Kimo Oreta, John M Soares.
A Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Buddy Kniss, Bobby Motts Jr., David Zeiter. Main Event (20 Laps)-Nick DeCarlo, Brian Cass, Anthony Slaney, Bud Walberg, Dave Duste Jr, Terry DeCarlo, Bobby Motts Jr, Raymond Lindeman, David Zeiter, Mike Salazar.
Limited Late Models
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Kimo Oreta, Mark Garner. Main Event (20 Laps)-Mike Gustafson, Mark Garner, Kimo Oreta, Ryan Cherezian, Mike Walko, Chad Hammer, John Evans, Michael Burch.
B Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Jimmy Ford, Chuck Golden, Todd Gomez. Main Event (20 Laps)-Chris Sieweke, Phillip Shelby, Anthony Guiliani, Jim DiGiovanni, Todd Gomez, Tommy Fraser, Aaron Crowell, Ryan DeForest, Richard Vanderploeg, Matt Taylor.
Hobby Stock
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Josh Leach, Chris Sorensen. Main Event (20 Laps)-Chris Sorensen, Camreron Swank, Josh Leach, Breanna Troen, Anthony Welborn, Lindsay Buirch, Megan Ponciano, Angela Brown, Jake Fletcher, Haley Gomez.
Dwarf Cars
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-David Rosa, Mike Corsaro. Main Event (20 Laps)-Mike Corsaro, Giovanni Bortoli, Mario Marques, David Rosa, Jesse Pfieffer, Chuck Conover, Chris Becker, Troy Stevenson, David Michael Rosa, Roberto Monroy.
Double Point Event Brings Antioch Speedway Season To A Close On Saturday Night
Antioch, CA...The 2018 All Star Series racing season at Antioch Speedway comes to a close on Saturday night. The show is actually a makeup from a previous cancellation, and it has the added attraction of being a double point race. The A Modifieds will be back along with the B Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. However, taking center stage will be a very close championship battle in the Limited Late Model division.
Last Saturday night, two-time Limited Late Model champion Mike Gustafson left with the glory as he held off a determined Mark Garner to win his third Main Event of the season. However, second place was still good enough to give Garner a two point lead over reigning champion Kimo Oreta. Both drivers won their respective heat races to get the evening started, and Garner was just a little quicker to the front of the pack from his eighth starting spot as he finished second ahead of Oreta. Oreta has driven the Sun Drop Racing #15 car to six Main Event wins, while Garner has four victories to his credit. Hoping to get a little luck on his side, Garner switched the body on his car as he went to the body he ran when he won his championship at Merced Speedway back in 2015.
There's also a close race happening between Mike Walko and Ryan Cherezian for third in the standings. Cherezian managed a fourth place finish ahead of Walko last week, but Walko still managed to hold a tie with Cherezian going into the finale. Cherezian has finished as high as second in the Main Event this year, but Walko has won four races. Due to his absence from the previous race to visit family out of state, Walko surrendered the third point position to Cherezian. Gustafson will be out to see if he can make it two in a row, and other racers to watch for include fifth ranked John Evans, Chad Hammer, Michael Burch and the return of past champion Lori Brown.
Nick DeCarlo isn't letting up in his quest to win the A Modified championship. In 2010, he seemed poised to win his first championship, but bad luck struck and put an end to that. Since then, the second-generation leadfoot has won two championships at Petaluma Speedway and one at Ocean Speedway. He leads the Antioch chase, and barring any major missteps, he should be able to hold on. DeCarlo had to make a pit stop to repair a damaged body last week, but that didn't stop him from coming through the pack for his eighth Main Event win of the season. Misfortune in the final turn dropped reigning champion Bobby Motts Jr from third back to sixth at the finish. Motts still holds on to second in the standings.
The battle continues for fourth in standings as Sean O'Gara seems to have a lock on third. Past champion Kellen Chadwick and rookie David Zeiter are battling closely. Chadwick seemed like he might pick up another Main Event win last week before heading pit side during a yellow flag period. Zeiter started his night off with a heat race win and finished a respectable ninth in the 18 car feature. Anthony Slaney picked up another podium finish in third last time out and could be out to improve on that this week. Other racers to watch for include Buddy Kniss, Brian Cass, Raymond Lindeman, Terry DeCarlo and Mike Salazar.
Last week was not the best of nights for Trevor Clymens, but that won't deter him. He has already won his second B Modified championship in three years. He is a seven time winner this season and was in the hunt for win #8 last week when misfortune struck. Chuck Golden and rookie Ryan DeForest are in a battle for second in the standings. Only 14 points separate the two drivers going into the final race. Golden is still searching for his first feature win of the season, though he did grab a heat race victory last time.
There are some drivers who will be left fixing damaged race cars if they hope to make the final race. A multi-car pile-up sent cars off the front straight away on tow truck hooks last week, and past Petaluma Modified champion Nick Caughman Jr flipped out the Turn 1 exit gate. Other drivers to watch for this week include Kenny Shrader, Tommy Fraser, Todd Gomez and Matt Taylor.
Chris Sorensen could park his car for the weekend and sit up in the stands and watch the action. However that's not likely to happen. He won his division leading eighth Main Event of the season last time out and holds an over 200 point advantage on Michael Cooper in the point race. Sorenson is the champion, while five-time winner Cooper is headed for his career-best effort in second. 2017 champion Cameron Swank chased Sorensen last week with another second place finish and has secured third in the final run down. Unless Cooper is a no-show, Swank will likely settle for third in the standings.
Breanna Troen has a pretty good hold on top rookie honors this season. She picked up another Top 5 finish last week in fourth to maintain fourth in the standings over Josh Leach. Leach had a solid night as he won his heat race before finishing third in the Main Event. Not too many points behind him in sixth in the standings is another of this year's Main Event winners, rookie Anthony Welborn. Other drivers to watch for this week include Lindsay Buirch, past champion Megan Ponciano, Angela Brown and Jake Fletcher.
Mike Corsaro hadn't scored a Main Event win in the Dwarf Car division since the fourth point race of the season. Counting the new year's race, Corsaro had won four of the first five races of the year and has had a series of second and third place finishes since then. Last Saturday night, Corsaro had to deal with the constant pressure of two-time Street Stock champion David Rosa before eventually scoring his fifth win of the season. Even with double points on the line this week, Corsaro has clinched the championship. Mario Marques trimmed several points off of David Michael Rose's advantage in the race for second in the standings, but the four-time winner Rosa is still holding on in a battle that will go down to the final checkered flag this week. Other drivers to watch for in the finale include Roberto Monroy, Chris Becker, Troy Stevenson, Jesse Pfeiffer and Giovanni Bertolli. Bertoli had his best finish yet in second in the former Charlie Correia car last week.
Saturday night will be the final opportunity to see a race at Antioch Speedway this year. The five division program will offer plenty of excitement for the fans to enjoy. For Further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
All Star Series Antioch Speedway
Point Standings
A Modifieds
Nick DeCarlo 940
Bobby Motts Jr. 892
Sean O'Gara 680
David Zeiter 514
Kellen Chadwick 510
Bobby Montalvo 478
Buddy Kniss 456
Raymond Lindeman 385
Carl Berendsen II 270
Anthony Slaney 260
B Modifieds
Trevor Clymens 886
Chuck Golden 640
Ryan DeForest 626
Kenny Shrader 534
Tommy Fraser 487
Todd Gomez 392
Kevin Brown 352
Brent Curran 344
Guy Ahlwardt 302
Matt Taylor 296
Limited Late Models
Mark Garner 868
Kimo Oreta 866
Mike Walko 778
Ryan Cherezian 778
John Evans 545
Chad Hammer 508
Mike Gustafson 506
Lori Brown 174
Jon Haney 80
Michael Burch 74
Hobby Stocks
Chris Sorensen 1304
Michael Cooper 1063
Cameron Swank 1016
Breanna Troen 836
Josh Leach 753
Anthony Welborn 749
John Wacht 548
Billy Garner 504
Haley Gomez 488
Anthony Vigna 370
Dwarf Cars
Mike Corsaro 850
David Michael Rosa 732
Mario Marques 712
David Rosa 686
Chris Becker 567
Jerry Doty 476
Troy Stevenson 456
Timmy Ryan 361
Chuck Conover 265
Roberto Monroy 261
Winged 360 Sprint Cars Final
Matt DeMartini 426
Art McCarthy 403
Tim Burcher 376
David Dias 368
Jacob Tuttle 336
Jeff Strole 302
Billy Aton 248
Burt Foland Jr. 188
Joey Ancona 122
William Fatu 100
Wingless Spec Sprints Final
Bob Newberry 544
Shannon Newton 511
Brandon Burd 504
Roy Fisher 434
Rick Panfili 380
Scott Martin 378
Mackenzie Newton 375
James East 316
Alan Miranda 316
Rick Ottderstrom 150
DIRTcar Late Models Final
Jeff Decker 546
Rod Oliver 488
Mike Hynes 438
Kimo Oreta 434
Richard Papenhausen 424
Dennis Souza 279
John Soares 272
Rob Norris 194
Paul Guglielmoni 176
Chester Kniss 110
Myrick Wins Central Valley Mini Stock Finale
At Lemoore Raceway
Lemoore, CA...October 14...Dan Myrick scored the victory in the 25 lap Central Valley Mini Stock season finale Sunday afternoon at Lemoore Raceway. Myrick was an early second behind point leader Greg Baronian. Following a lap six caution flag, Baronian led just one more lap before Myrick went charging by for the lead. Baronian stayed close and ran some side by side laps with Myrick, and he led the 11th lap before Myrick again resumed command. Following a lap 17 caution flag, Myrick steadily pulled away in the remaining laps and won by a straightaway ahead of Baronian. Brent Myrick made a move around Randy Brown for third on lap 17 and would finish there, followed by Ryan Blank, Tom Durant, Dick Adams, Ryan Doglione, Randy Brown, Lindsey Brown and Logan Doglione.
Ryan Doglione outran Baronian to win the first eight lap heat race. Logan Doglione won the second heat ahead of Brent Myrick. Durant led the first five laps of the third heat race before Dan Myrick raced past for the lead and victory. Durant settled for second.
The California Mod Lites made their first appearance at Lemoore Raceway, and Zack Forster went on record as the first ever 25 lap Main Event winner for the division on the little one-fifth mile dirt oval. Forster and rising young star JD Brown are two of the front runners on the circuit, and Forster set the pace from the start ahead of Colby Lewis. Brown was running fifth on the opening lap, but he settled into third on lap six. Forster led Lewis and Brown on a lap 10 restart, but Brown slipped past Lewis for second a lap later. Despite two yellow flags during the second half of the race, Forster would not be deterred. He built nearly a straightaway advantage over Brown by the time the checkered flag flew. Lewis settled for third, followed by Anthony Balcazar, Kaden Cochran, Jacob Diamond, Kenny Cochran, Roy Maynard and Danny Valdez.
To keep up with the latest CVMS, go to www.centralvalleyministocks.com or find us on Facebook.
Ensign, Jones Win Adobe Cup Finale At Petaluma Speedway
Petaluma, CA...October 13...Geoff Ensign scored a thrilling victory in the 30 lap PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event Saturday night at Petaluma Speedway. It was the second night of the 7th Annual Adobe Cup event, and Ensign drove the #98 car owned by Jeff Lee to the $1,000 win. Matthew Haulot set the early pace before surrendering the lead to Ensign on lap five. Billy Aton quickly worked his way into second and started battling Ensign for the lead. Aton made his move into first and was leading at the lap 15 mark ahead of Ensign and Halout. A lap 20 yellow flag slowed the pace, and Ensign went to work on Aton on the restart. Ensign made a late move into the lead and won a close battle with Aton for the thrilling victory. Three-time Hunt Series champion Terry Schank Jr finished third, followed by Bruno Bianchi, Dennis Furia Jr, Nick Larson, Eden McCormick, Ryon Siverling, Antioch champion Bob Newberry and Scott Chapeta.
The Spec Sprints ran an ASCS format with two sets of heat races for each driver to determine points. The first round of eight lap heat race wins were recorded by Larson, Haulot, and Ensign. Ensign also won his second heat race with the other wins going to McCormick and new champion Shayna Sylvia. The Top 8 drivers in points after the heat races qualified for their starting positions in the first four rows of the Main Event and Ensign set the fast time of 14.633, beating the 15.136 of Haulot.
The General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Cars ran twin 25 Main Events, and Shawn Jones had the lead when the checkered flag waved after 50 laps. Terre Rothweiler led the pack at 25 laps with Jones in close pursuit, followed by Danny Wagner. Jones made his move early in the second segment of the race with Wagner charging into second. A yellow flag waved on lap 38, but Jones continued to hold off every effort from Wagner for the impressive win. Young Adam Teves charged to a third place finish, followed by Michael Grenert, Rothweiler, Scooter Gomes, Eric Weisler, Marcus Hardina, Chad Matthias and Marty Weisler.
There were 36 Dwarf Cars in action for the big show, and eight lap heat race wins went to Jones, Grenert, Thomas Lieby and Wagner. The 8 lap C Main went to Danny Marsh by a comfortable margin ahead of Brady Beck and Trevor Mendenhall. John Peters out-dueled Joe Barket to win the 12 lap B Main as Brandon Gentry, Adam Johnson and Eric Weisler rounded out the Top 5.
The Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micro Sprints ran a $500 to win Main Event, and David Engstrom won a close three-car race down the stretch. Nick Robfogel just beat Paul Alonso back to the line for second. Cody Gray finished fourth, followed by Danny Rozendahl, Brian Slubik, Tony Soper, Kyle Grissom, Justin Adiego and Jim Beck. Eight lap heat race wins went to Rozendahl, Gray and Engstrom as 20 drivers came to compete in this division.
Keep up with the latest news at the track, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com or find us on Facebook.
Pit Stops
It's been a while since we've filed one of these reports from Antioch Speedway, but we've been able to check out the last couple of races there and are prepared to be there for the season finale of All Star Series racing this Saturday night.
It's an interesting thing when you go an entire season and have a very close championship race at the end. This is the case with the Limited Late Model division. In their 19th season, the Limited late Models are offering the closest championship battle at the track this year. Third generation racer Mark Garner is trying to become the first member of his family to win an Antioch Speedway championship. Nearly 50 years ago, Mark's father, Jerry "The Maverick" Garner, won the NASCAR State of California Stock Car championship. Mark is hoping to achieve his Antioch championship dreams. However, he must beat the reigning champion Kimo Oreta to do it.
What has hurt Garner in the past at Antioch has been some disappointing Main Event finishes at just the right time. This year, what has kept him in the hunt is his knack for winning heat races, even when Oreta has roared to six Main Event wins and four second place finishes. Garner won his fourth Main Event of the season a week earlier, and in the most recent race, he came from eighth starting to finish second for the fourth time. In doing so, Garner holds a slim two point advantage over Oreta heading into the finale.
Here's the monkey wrench in the plan. Originally, this race was set to be the season finale, which means Garner would have achieved his goal. However, management decided to make up for a previously cancelled race by adding the Limited Late Models to a five division show this Saturday night. Furthermore, there will be double points on the line. Since neither Garner nor Oreta won the latest race, neither will be forced to start at the back of the pack as per All Star Series rules.
That honor would go to two-time champion Mike Gustafson. Gustafson had a pole position start in the recent race and held off a late challenge from Garner for his third win of the season. With over 50 Main Event wins to his credit, nobody has won more Main Events in this division's history at Antioch than Gustafson.
There's also a battle for the final podium position in Limited Late Model points. That seemed to be a foregone conclusion for most of the season. With four wins, four seconds and four thirds, Mike Walko seemed headed for that finish. However, he missed the previous race as he was visiting family out of the state. This opened the door for Ryan Cherezian to drive his El Camino to his fifth third place finish of the season and pass Walko in the standings. Cherezian has not won the Main Event yet this year, but he does have two seconds.
It's an interesting battle. Walko has spent the past few seasons as one of the top drivers in Super Stock points at Marysville Raceway, but he decided to come back to his home track, where he started racing Stock Cars in 1982. The car Mike currently drives is over 25 years old and originated as one of the Modifieds at the speedway in 1992. Walko has used his smooth and consistent driving style to continue to be a frontrunner. However, he knows he'll have his hands full holding off Cherezian to finish third in the standings.
Nick DeCarlo's car looked like it had been through a battle by the time the checkered flag flew on the latest A Modified Main Event. However, he was still able to pick up his division-leading eighth win of the season. DeCarlo was riding along in the Top 3 when he got a black flag to remove some damaged sheet metal from his car. Kellen Chadwick pitted from the lead. Before that, he was looking like he might be in line for his sixth win of the season. Chadwick never returned, but DeCarlo tagged the rear and made a beeline back to the front of the pack.
DeCarlo grabbed the lead from Brian Cass and never looked back. 2017 champion Bobby Motts Jr was running third and hoping to keep himself in a position to possibly use the double point finale to overtake DeCarlo. However, Motts' third place run was disrupted when he got caught up in a Turn 4 tangle and fell back to sixth. Though there's a mathematical chance that DeCarlo could lose the lead, unless there's a major misstep, he will add an Antioch championship to his impressive list of credentials that also includes two titles at Petaluma and one at Watsonville. Though the season may not end the way he'd like, Motts will still hold on for at least second place in the standings.
While Sean O'Gara looks to be a lock for his second consecutive third place point season, there is a battle going on for fourth in the standings. Kellen Chadwick might hold the position right now, but he was forced to make a pit stop with a mechanical issue while leading the recent race early on. Meanwhile, rookie David Zeiter won his heat race and finished a respectable ninth in the 18 car field. Zeiter now holds a four point advantage over Chadwick headed into the final race. Zeiter is still looking for his first career win, while Chadwick has five victories so far.
Also of note was the third place finish of fourth generation racer Anthony Slaney. Slaney has three podium finishes so far, and his latest one moved him into tenth in the standings, 10 points behind two-time champion Carl Berendsen II. Past Watsonville and Hanford champion Brian Cass made a surprise visit last week and ended up second after leading several laps of the Main Event. Cass is a feature winner on one occasion this year.
Trevor Clymens didn't have the kind of night he would have liked last week, but his championship was already clinched a few weeks ago. Clymens is a seven-time feature winner this season, and he has a nearly 250 point lead over Chuck Golden. Golden, meanwhile, finds himself just 14 points ahead of rookie Ryan DeForest in a closer battle for second. Golden was one of the heat race winners last week, but his Main Event came to an abrupt end early on. Meanwhile, DeForest got it to the finish line in eighth to enable him to gain some ground. DeForest counts himself among the feature winners this season, while Golden has finished as high as third twice this year.
Barring any missteps, Kenny Shrader and Tommy Fraser should end up fourth and fifth, respectively, in the final run down. Both drivers are Main Event winners at Antioch this season. Running back in sixth, Todd Gomez is still looking for his first win of the season. Gomez was a two-time winner last season in his "Rookie Of The Year" effort, and he's had two seconds and two thirds as his best efforts this year. He finished fifth in the most recent Main Event. Gomez is a past Street Stock champion at Antioch and is a threat to win any time he gets behind the wheel.
Antioch had a few surprise visitors in last week's 17 car field. Chris Sieweke won the Main Event. He's been driving both the A and B Modifieds this year and has won IMCA Modified features at both Petaluma Speedway and Ocean Speedway this season. He had to hold off 2017 Chico and Marysville champion Philip Shelby to get his most recent win at Antioch. After being involved in the front straightaway pile-up that eliminated several cars early on, Anthony Giuliani managed to get back up to third, followed by two-time Ocean Speedway champion Jim DiGiovanni.
There are rumors of drivers looking to move up to the B Modified division. One such driver is 2017 Hobby Stock champion Cameron Swank. Cameron has shown that he can handle a Hobby Stock quite well. He's currently third in the standings this season with seven Main Event wins. He was going for his eighth win last week, but there was a problem. Chris Sorensen was just a little bit faster on his way to his division-leading eighth Main Event win. Sorensen now has 21 podium finishes and has left little doubt who the champion is.
Jimmy Brookshire had a podium finish going, spun out and managed to charge all the way back up to an apparent third place finish last week. However, we received late word that he was disqualified in post-race tech for running bigger tires. This elevated rookie Josh Leach to a third place finish. Leach has had a strong rookie season after a late start and currently ranks fifth in the standings with one feature win to his credit. He managed to take over fifth in the standings with his latest effort by just four points ahead of Anthony Welborn. Leach also won his heat race earlier in the evening, while Welborn finished fifth in the Main Event. As it looks like Sorensen, Michael Cooper, Swank and Breanna Troen have pretty good holds on their positions, the battle is for fifth in the standings between Leach and Welborn
Troen picked up her first career feature win a week ago as she is headed for "Rookie Of The Year" honors this year. She finished fourth in the most recent Main Event. As the season has progressed, she has gotten much quicker. She currently has four straight Top 5 feature finishes.
Much like the A & B Modifieds, the Hobby Stocks also had a strong showing last week with 15 cars. This included the return of past champion Megan Ponciano, who finished seventh behind Lindsay Burch last week. Buirch had a Top 3 run going before spinning. It was still one of her better showings of the season. Meanwhile, second generation racer Angela Brown and car owner Chris Long made a late decision to go racing last Saturday. She finished eighth in the Main Event, followed by Jake Fletcher. A week earlier, she, brother Chris Brown and father Bob Brown all went racing, making it the first time a father, daughter and son raced in the same division at Antioch Speedway on the same night. Bob's wife, Dee Marie Brown, also mud lapped one of the cars earlier in the evening.
The famed "Meat Wagon", driven by Dwarf Car champion Mike Corsaro, is still out of commission. Mike jumped into the David Corsaro car two weeks ago and had a strong second place finish. Last week, he led most of the way in scoring his fifth Main Event win of the year. This was also his first win since the fourth point race of the season, and he held off a determined David Rosa for the victory. This makes Corsaro a two-time champion.
Rosa, meanwhile, was giving it everything he had in an attempt to try and make a last turn pass on Corsaro. Earlier in the evening, the two-time Street Stock champion won his heat race. Unfortunately, his last-ditch effort in the Main Event saw him loop it in the final turn. He ended up a disappointed fourth place at the finish. For Giovanni Bertolli, the second place finish he gained was his best yet. Giovanni bought the Charlie Correia car earlier this season and is proudly running the #0 in respect to the longtime Dwarf Car competitor.
With double points on the line this week, there's a possibility of a position changing hands in the standings. Four-time feature winner David Michael Rosa didn't have the best of luck last week, but he clings to a 20 point lead over Mario Marques. Marques is a one-time feature winner who finished third last week, and he clings to a 26 point lead over David Rosa in the battle for third. Anything can happen.
Jessie Pfeiffer got off to a late start this season. He finished fifth in the most recent race, giving him hopes that he could sneak into the Top 10 in the standings. However, it's still a bit of a challenge. Roberto Monroy currently holds the tenth position, though he ended up a disappointed tenth last week. Monroy leads Correia by 13 points, while Bertolli is 17 points behind. Pfeiffer is 37 points out of tenth. Still, his recent fifth place finish is progress as he looks for better results this week.
Jeff Decker ended the season with his seventh feature win. This makes him the DIRTcar Late Model champion for the fourth time at Antioch Speedway. The decorated champion has won several championships at both Petaluma Speedway and Ocean Speedway and was never seriously threatened in the title chase. Decker is smooth and fast anytime he gets behind the wheel, and the only driver to beat him for wins this year is two-time champion Richard Papenhausen. Papenhausen had three victories to his credit, but he missed the most recent race and was instead pitting for Bud Walberg in the A Modified division. Walberg ended up fourth in that race, followed by surprising Medford visitor Dave Duste Jr.
With Decker securing the championship, Rod Oliver left little doubt who would be second as he scored his season-best second place feature finish last week to go with four thirds. However, he had a good battle in the waning laps with past division "Rookie Of The Year" Mike Hynes. Hynes passed him briefly, but Oliver took the checkered flag in second. With his third place finish, Hynes kept a four point advantage on last season's top rookie, Kimo Oreta, in the race for third.
The All Star Series racing program includes Winged Sprint Cars and Wingless Spec Sprints as well, but both divisions concluded their championship seasons a week earlier. It could have been disastrous for Matt DeMartini in the winged class. DeMartini was making an attempt to pass Tyler Brown for third on the first lap, but he ended up on his lid in Turn 4. DeMartini helped his cause early on when he won his heat race, and that could have been what saved his night. The two-time winner had to watch from the sidelines to see what would happen next.
Two-time Antioch champion Art McCarthy was back from a blown motor last time out and doing everything he needed to do. McCarthy led the first eight laps of the race before a mechanical failure slowed him down. He ran a couple of laps on the bottom groove to try and diagnose the situation before retiring. Had McCarthy won, it wouldn't have been enough to overtake DeMartini, but it would have been his first win of the Season. In 10 events, the division had eight different winners.
We haven't seen much of 2015 champion Shawn Arriaga this season, but he made a rare appearance in the final point race. Shawn had a solid showing with a third place finish behind Brown. He remarked earlier in the evening that he was happy to be back at his home track again. Shawn has taken the opportunity to visit several places, including a trip back to Indiana recently and a trip in late August to Southern Oregon Speedway for the big Wingless Sprint Car Challenge Race, presented by Herz Precision Parts. In that race, Arriaga seemed headed for a $1,500 showing in second before deciding to try to make a run at the leader and hitting the front wall and flipping during the second half of the race. Fortunately, the crash didn't do too much damage to his car.
Tim Burcher managed to make all of the races this season. Though he didn't always get the kind of results he would have liked, he gained valuable experience this year. He will end up third in the final standings ahead of David Dias. Last season's top rookie, Jacob Tuttle, had a good showing in fifth in the 13 car feature. Joey Ancona brought it to the finish line in fourth. Also noteworthy was Ricky Brophy. Brophy has had a challenging experience in the Winged 360 class, but he's taken his lumps and learned with each start. In the most recent Antioch race, he completed all of the laps and finished seventh behind Dias. Also taking a lead lap finish in eighth was Steve Jaquith.
There was drama in the Wingless Spec Sprint division. After winning his heat race, Shannon Newton was hoping to gain even more ground on point leader Bob Newberry. Newberry was the 2004 champion and was just looking to get his car to the finish line and secure his second track championship. There was a battle for second as division original Rick Panfili held the spot in the early laps. Unfortunately, he broke his steering entering Turns 3&4, resulting in a crash that eliminated Newton, Newberry and Roy Fisher. For Panfili, it was more indication that this really wasn't his year as anything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. Though he did have another career-best second place Main Event finish this year, Panfili also rolled his car earlier this season. Despite all of that, he was shown in fifth in the standings at the conclusion of the season. He plans to race again next year
While Bob Newberry secured the championship ahead of Newton and Brandon Burd, there was another driver taking center stage on the final night. Young Adam Teves, a past Top 5 driver and feature winner in Dwarf Cars, was in the Lloyd Beard Special once again. Adam did a good job of staying smooth and making all of his laps. He won his first career Spec Sprint feature ahead of Bryan Sperry and Petaluma racer Keith Calvino He's had opportunities to drive for other people during the course of the season, and every time he gets behind the wheel, he gets just a little bit faster. Also noteworthy was the fourth place finish of Burd. This makes six straight Top 5 finishes for him as he secured third in the final standings.
Orland Raceway had the second part of the Second Annual Battle Of The Axles event last Saturday night. We've been trying to cover the track this season, but sometimes information has been difficult to come by. Saturday's show was to feature the Pure Stocks, Winged 600 Micros and a Destruction Derby.
In viewing some of the photography of Christina Meeds, it looks like there were around 18 or so Pure Stocks for the $1,000 to win show. The Derby cars and the 600 Micros checked in about 10 cars each. Most of the local Pure Stock stars came to race for the money, and this included two-time reigning champion Paul Stephens, 2017 champion Jeremy Langenderfer, 2016 champion Steve Martin and past track champion Brad Ray. Shannon Collins, who finished fifth in points this year and was also the Marysville champion, was in action.
Of course, the money meant you were going to get drivers from elsewhere. Placerville Speedway was again represented by 2017 champion Dan Jinkerson and Jason Armstrong. Jinkerson, you may recall, turned in a very impressive performance in last year's big show, but he ended up having to make a pit stop. This time around, nothing was going to stop him from bagging the big prize.
Picking up the big Destruction Derby win in what looked to be a very action-packed event was Hunter Elkin. The 600 Micros had some tough competitors, including multi-time Orland champion BJ Martin and a car from the Michelet Racing Team. However, it was Jessica McManus scoring the victory. Jessica had a win earlier this season as well. Though the car count didn't look as big as this show was last year in the Pure Stock class, overall, they did well and ended the season on a positive note.
The Central Valley Mini Stocks wrapped up their season with a Sunday afternoon event at Lemoore Raceway. This little effort has grown by leaps and bounds since Dan Myrick got a few racers together for a test race at the end of the 2016 season. His father Danny Myrick was the first CVMS champion last season, and this year it was Greg Baronian doing the honors. However, there was a battle going on for second in the final standings.
Dan Myrick was hoping to get a win at the home track after earlier picking up a win with the drivers out at Merced Speedway. He found himself in a good battle with Greg Baronian, who won nearly every Main Event this season. They ran some side-by-side laps, but Myrick prevailed ahead of Baronian at the checkered flag. Myrick beat Ryan Doglione by 11 points for second. It was Brent Myrick finishing a season-best third in the Main Event. Meanwhile, Jeff Durant used a fifth place finish to secure fourth in the standings, followed by Brent Myrick.
One of the things Dan Myrick is working on is making the shows a little bit bigger. At the previous race in Lemoore, the Dwarf Cars were invited. This time around, they invited the popular California Mod Lites to be a part of the program. These cars, which run motorcycle engines, have a look similar to the old California Dirt Car division that was once featured at Santa Maria Speedway, only they're a little bit smaller. They compete at tracks such as Bakersfield Speedway, Kern Raceway and Kings Speedway.
For this show, the Mod Lites brought a nine car field, which wasn't bad considering they had a busy weekend as part of the Budweiser Nationals event at Bakersfield Speedway the previous two nights. Zach Forster has been the big star of the group since its inception, and he ran strong in picking up the division's very first Main Event win at Lemoore. Rising young star JD Brown, who is a multi-time feature winner on the circuit, looked good in second.
For 2019, Dan Myrick is aiming a little bit bigger. While they still intend to have races at Lemoore Raceway, Myrick is looking to take the show on the road to a few other tracks and trying to put the rule book in line with others to encourage more visitation. One of the things that helps the Central Valley Mini Stock effort along is having good leadership that's looking ahead to the future and how to make things better. Year number three for this group should be their best one yet.
There's news at Rocky Hill Speedway. It was back in November of 2016 when the track held its last race. The November offering had a big field, but the weekend was marred with rain that cut some of the races short and left some of the racers less than happy. There was going to be a racing season in 2017, but things got delayed as work needed to be done to the track. The track sat and decayed throughout the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
In September, Sonny Sell and a group of volunteer workers set about cleaning the place up. They've removed the bleachers and are getting ready to replace them. The idea is to get the track up and running again, but no dates have been set as of yet. The first priority is to get the track back into operational condition once again. However, if things continue to progress the way they are, you're likely to hear about races being scheduled in 2019.
The news is a bit better at Ocean Speedway. Word is that the Prentice Motorsports Group has secured a contract to keep the track running through the next three seasons. Much like Petaluma Speedway, there's been the looming threat of closure hovering over the Watsonville track for the past several years. As a promoter, you can face a difficult choice when you don't know what's going to happen from year to year. Do you continue to do what you do or do you plan on pulling up stakes and leaving the place to sit?
Fortunately for the Watsonville racing community, John Prentice has chosen to continue promoting the track and wait and see if anything materializes to close things down. This was the same tactic employed by both Jim Soares and Rick Faeth at Petaluma Speedway, and that track has secured a deal to keep it running through 2022. It's the old saying that as long as the gates continue to open, there's a chance for good things to happen.
For Ocean Speedway, the racing has been good and the numbers have been up in the pits this year. The track has had some big showcase races, including the annual Johnny Key Classic for the Sprint Cars and the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial Shootout and Mike Cecil Memorial races for the IMCA Modified classes and American Stock classes. Numbers have been up slightly in the Sport Modified and American Stock classes this year. If in doubt, bring your race car out and support the show.
On the list of champions this year are three-time Taco Bravo Sprint Car champ Brad Furr, IMCA Modified champ Cody Burke, two-time IMCA Sport Modified champion Jim DiGiovanni, two-time American Stock champion Matt Kile and Four Banger champion Kate Beardsley. Prentice Motorsports Group will also crown Cole Macedo as the Civil War Sprint Car Series champion and IMCA Modified State champion Shane DeVolder as the All Star Series champ. The latter series didn't have too many dates this season, but word is there will be more on the schedule next year. You can always find out what's going on by going to www.racepmg.com.
Petaluma Speedway went out with a bang with the two weekend Adobe Cup event. Now in its seventh year, the Adobe Cup grew to become a two weekend event as the track attempted to accommodate most of its divisions with special nights. The first night featured the $5,000 to win PitStopUSA.com Winged 360 Sprint Car division, and Tanner Thorson walked away with the first prize in that race. Roughly 40 drivers competed in the big money race. Past track regular Mike Learn, who competes with the Nevada Pro Stock group these days, came back and won the Bob McCoy Memorial $2,000 first prize in The Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stock portion of the show.
Last Saturday was Weekend #2, and the PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints had a $1,000 to win offering. Driving for Jeff Lee, Geoff Ensign scored the big victory after a nice battle with past Antioch Speedway Champion Billy Aton. A field of nearly 40 Dwarf Cars came to town to race in the Twin 25's General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Car show. Terre Rothweiler, a past South Bay champion, led at the halfway point, but past South Bay and NorCal champion Shawn Jones grabbed the victory at the end of 50 laps, followed by another past NorCal and Antioch Speedway champion, Danny Wagner. David Engstrom won the $500 prize in the Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros Main Event. The Micros fielded 21 cars for this event as it was their biggest show of the season.
The one thing about promoter Rick Faeth is that he tries to give all of his divisions big shows during the course of the season. The PitStopUSA.com Winged Sprints and Wingless Spec Sprints get a few different shows during the year, Faeth brought back the Top Dog Nationals $1,500 to win race for the IMCA Modifieds and the Dwarf Cars have a couple of big specials during the season. It seems like every class gets a piece of the action.
The latest list of champions includes Jake Haulot in the PitStopUSA.com Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Shayna Sylvia in the PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints, Oreste Gonella in the McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds, Mitch Machado in the Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks, Scooter Gomes in the General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Cars and Tom Brown in the Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks.
In Rick Faeth, you have a promoter who is genuinely enthusiastic about keeping the show going and has assembled a good staff. Rick, who is a past competitor with the BCRA Midgets, was inducted into the BCRA Hall Of Fame earlier this year for not only his time with BCRA but his efforts to promote racing and support the BCRA. Stay tuned for the latest happenings at Petaluma Speedway by going www.petaluma-speedway.com.
The Editor's Viewpoint
I'm amazed that I was able to help get the Antioch Speedway Hall Of Fame started. Still can't believe that it happened. It has been a dream of mine for some 20 years to see Antioch Speedway's Hall Of Fame become reality, but it wasn't too many years ago that I felt like this might not ever happen. What I had hoped was that somebody would pick up the ball and run with it. Nobody seemed interested in taking up the charge.
Honestly, if you had told me five years ago that I was going to be the one to spearhead this movement, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I was out of the sport and okay with that. I had another temptation that year as Mike McCann had made a call to me during the summer. He had taken over Orland Raceway, and we had quite a long conversation. The result was the inspiration that led to the writing of most of my book, Just A Kid From The Grandstands. I was in a reflective mood at that time and was looking back at the crazy road I took in racing. After about a week's worth of intensive writing, I put everything aside and left it there until the fall of 2014.
I find myself very much involved in the sport, though it wasn't really my intent. I do think that the things I do are helpful to the cause. That part does make me feel pretty good. I think everybody wants to know that what they do makes a difference somewhere. It just so happens that I have been fortunate that the things I have done through the years have had a positive impact on the sport that I loved so much as a kid.
Back in those days, I idolized people like John Soares, JD Willis, Dean Cline and Willie Myatt. I can guarantee you that I never thought back then that one day I would be inducting them into the Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame. How on Earth is this even possible? Who do I think I am? I'm nobody special. The title of my book says it all. I'm just some kid from the grandstands who enjoyed watching the sport and wanted to become involved. Through a series of events that led me to really special people, I got further involved and here I am today.
Because of my life situation, I live in uncertainty when it comes to my future. I've been fortunate enough to have a roof over my head thanks to Mike McCann, and that has led me to serious involvement with the turnaround effort at Southern Oregon Speedway. In my off time, when I'm not required to be writing about that track or be at that track for some reason, I spent time writing about Antioch Speedway. Antioch Speedway will always be near and dear to me, and if I'm writing about racing, there will never be a time when I don't want to write about Antioch Speedway. I make no apologies for that. It's who I am, and it's what you get.
Mike McCann was encouraging me to pursue the Hall of Fame down here when I told him I wasn't sure I should even do it. He felt it would be a good thing. That's one of the things I like about him. He is passionate about the sport and cares about the tradition and the history of it. He, along with John M Soares, are the last of a breed of old school promoters. I will be sad when the day comes that these guys aren't a part of it. I know it's inevitable. I do worry about the future of this sport and where it's headed. I don't like some of the things I see. Maybe I romanticize things a little bit when I look at the future and see what could be.
But I believe that it is important to know the history of the sport. This isn't just another race, it's part of the lineage and heritage of the sport. New stars are being created. New champions. That's why I always endeavor to get the record straight and try to maintain that stuff. I admit sometimes it's a challenge when all the information isn't readily available.
In Medford, I have done my best to put the history of Southern Oregon Speedway in order and up on the website. I'm proud to have had any part in helping get the Southern Oregon Racing Hall of Fame up and running. We've had two Hall of Fame events there so far, and we've barely scratched the surface of what has been a great heritage of racing there. As I was doing all of this, I was a little bit sad that it wasn't happening at Antioch Speedway. I began to wonder if there was a way for me to get it started.
The problem is, I'm up in Oregon and that's Antioch. I must have been crazy to think I could put it all together. But I realized there was a window of opportunity in which I could make something happen. Furthermore, I had two good friends in California who were going to see to it that I could make the trip. They are Antioch Speedway photographer Paul Gould and Antioch Speedway webmaster Mike Kord. Both sponsored my trip. I had Rick and Diana Panfili willing to give me a place to stay for a week and Dana Craig coming through for an additional week. Things were becoming possible.
I have many of my records from the past. Despite losing my home and having my uncle throw many of my possessions out on me, I kept most of my racing stuff. I believe my brother has possession of some of my valued souvenir programs. But the clippings for the display boards remained in my possession. I began to go through that stuff to get a nice sampling for what became the 10 boards that we put on display. I had help and putting that together with Diana Panfili, and Rick Panfili was there to make sure we had them hung up on the fence so the fans could see them.
The question of who would go in was on my mind for several weeks. The list of 10 I had originally put together 20 years ago was largely still intact, but there were a few changes. I had some help from people, but it wasn't a committee situation. I want that. I've said from the start that this is not my Hall Of Fame. I don't want to be seen as some arbiter of what counts and what doesn't. I have my records and my knowledge, but other people know things too. I want a committee to help us go through all of this. I want other ideas and suggestions for how to improve the Hall Of Fame Night and who to put in. And the field of candidates will stretch across the lines of the racers, car owners, other people behind the scenes, officials and so on.
The problem was the Hall Of Fame needed somebody to step up. One person can take charge and get the ball rolling, and sometimes that's necessary in the beginning. And I understand one thing about looking to put everything together and form a committee to get things started. You could easily get bogged down in details and before you know it years have passed. I had no interest in that. If this thing was going to get started, it had to happen now. I know the names. Most people who have been around here know the names. And to be honest with you, you can go through 50 or more names very quickly, and every one of them are deserving.
But you have to come up with a list that's reasonable. I did my best. I will readily admit that it may not be perfect, but I stand behind each one of those names as people who are deserving members of the Hall Of Fame. I stand behind the assertion that we're going to get to many, many other greats. This is only the beginning. The important thing is that we were making this happen. The important thing is that we celebrate the history and heritage of Antioch Speedway. That's what this is all about. We can do better with this.
I am humbled by all of this. The response has been very positive. And as far as the criticism, there are some very valid points to consider as we move ahead. And one of the things I like about the criticism is that they weren't merely being negative for the sake of being negative. They raised valid points for how we can improve and people who are deserving of being Hall Of Fame members. It's important to note all of this as we move ahead. This isn't a perfect situation, but we're going to do our best to do this right.
As I was putting my list of 10 together, I still didn't know if we were going to make this happen. How would the awards be paid for? I'm not making enough money to do things. As I said, I'm lucky to have a roof over my head. I had a debate online for a few weeks in which I was tediously tagging certain people who have been around for a long time. So, there were people who knew what we were thinking, and there were people who offered suggestions. It helped frame this a little bit better.
I was looking for a little bit of support in putting this together. Though the responses weren't what I was hoping for, there was one response to do the plaques and donate them for the first year. We had a Hall Of Fame. I knew this by about the end of August, so I was cautiously proceeding. There were still some things that had me concerned enough that I couldn't make the formal announcement yet. I wanted to, because I recognized that we needed to really get this out there and build it up. Though I know we'd put more butts in the seats for the track this year, it's not where it could have been had it been promoted bigger than it was.
One of my reasons for being tentative was because I wasn't certain about the plaque situation. It was a week before I was to jump on the train down to Antioch when I got the news that confirmed my worries. A lightning strike had hit the machine that was going to create the plaques. Where were we going to get the plaques now? There was another person willing to step up and help with this, and they weren't looking for credit. They didn't care about any of that. All they wanted to do was see that the Hall Of Fame happened and that some worthy people were honored. Of course, I had Mike McCann behind me insisting that we could do something. It happened.
So, I boarded the train and headed down to California. Diana Panfili was there asking me what we needed to do to get it going. She helped make these clipping boards. Actually, her suggestions helped to make them better. And, if we're budgeted for more next year, the way we display the boards could be even better. But the important thing was we got something started. I would like to thank Curt and Danny Deatherage in Oregon for showing me exactly how you could do a Hall of Fame and not break the bank.
I said this before and I'll say it again. You don't need a fancy building or a monument for the Hall of Fame. If you've got the money for such things, sure. But, this is one of those areas where you can get bogged down in details and discussions and never make it happen. The Hall Of Fame is a state of mind. The Hall Of Fame is in your heart. The location of the Hall Of Fame is at the race track where the memories have been made. We have it at Antioch Speedway. This goes for any race track that has a significant heritage. You can easily dig up newspaper clippings from through the years to create display boards. You can make plaques. You can get the families out there and make those presentations.
This was also an area where I could have done better. Two of the families of my Hall Of Fame inductees were not present and I don't feel were properly notified. I will take full blame on that. The families will be receiving the plaques, but I'm saddened that because I didn't do it as well as I could have, the families of Dean Cline and Gary Pacheco were not there to be able to enjoy this moment in front of the crowd that was very into what we were doing.
We have a good Hall Of Fame list for 2018. The founding promoter John P Soares and current promoter John M Soares are in. Both deservedly so, in my opinion. Five-time champion and all-time Antioch Speedway win leader JD Willis is in. Gary Pacheco, who amassed three Sportsman championships in four years and a division-leading 30 career wins is in. Two-time Sportsman champion and 19 time feature winner Bill Brown is in. Stock Car champions Dean Cline and Willie Myatt are in. Stock Car racer and Push Buggy builder Chuck Smith is in. Longtime track maintenance man Harvey Mason is in. Long time Antioch Speedway announcer John Myers is in. It's a great group, and this is just the beginning.
I'm proud of Antioch Speedway and all of the greats who have made this place so special. I'm proud to have been a part of making this happen. It's my intent to see the Hall Of Fame infrastructure created to a point where this can continue on with other people guiding it in the event that I'm not here. I also want the community around Antioch Speedway to understand how long this track has been here and how it is a part of Antioch. It needs to stay. These are some of the things that were going through my mind when I was pushing for this idea in the very beginning.
Who's next? I already had thoughts about who is next or who I would like to see before we even had this first one. I have names of racers and people behind the scenes and we'll be having this discussion with people who are on the committee. And I will be listening to other people's opinions on this. I want to achieve a consensus of who will be the next class for the Hall Of Fame. I want to see a date put on the schedule when it's announced in 2019. Something people will know ahead of time is coming, and we can properly put it out there. The families will know what's going on. Like I said, we can and will do better.
But you know what? For the first year of doing this, I think we did pretty good. I think we can be proud of what was accomplished. I want to thank all the people who have supported this effort in one way or the other. I want to thank all the families who came out, in some cases flying in from out-of-state. It makes me proud to be a part of Antioch Speedway in moments like these. I'm lucky to have been a part of doing what I did for this.
My stay in Antioch is going just a little bit longer. I'm sitting here at the track on a Sunday, and this is when I should have been getting ready to board a train for Oregon. The plan was to leave this evening. Then, I was told that the announcer would not be here for the 20th due to work schedule. That's fine, I can step in if needed. I've had some good interactions with John, and it's been great seeing him again. I just wish the circumstances were a little better. We're all in mourning over the loss of Donna Soares.
So, that's another reason I am happy to have stayed a week longer. If there's something that I can do, I'm only too happy to help. Picking up a microphone and announcing at Antioch Speedway for the first time in years is something I'm excited about. It was great to be able to address the crowd for Hall Of Fame Night, but doing a full show will be even better. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do all this stuff, so I'm just enjoying things as they happen. It helps to be here among so many friends that I've just enjoyed being around. People that I've known for years, and people that I've only known recently. They all make this place special.
The DCRR Racing Media effort for 2018 is about to wrap up. I had four tracks to cover this last week, but Orland Raceway again didn't report the results. It was a post point season event, so I'll call it good. It sounded like they had more Pure Stocks for this $1,000 to win race. It would be nice to hear more about what happened. I was talking to somebody down there who's concerned about the track and the way information gets out, and I totally understand. This particular person wants to help, and that's what they need. They've got a good leader out there putting up money to keep the track going, but the proper promotional effort in the way of getting the word out about who's leading and all that stuff will only make things better. In any event, the other three articles have already been written and sent out to the media outlets.
When Antioch Speedway holds the final race on the 20th, this year's media effort will have officially concluded. It's kind of interesting that John Myers mentioned over the PA last week that I'm working on another book. That will probably be the goal, though I don't know how much time I'm going to have to work on the book before I need to get to the next thing. So it may be an intense couple of weeks trying to put what I have written together on that before I figure out what 2019 holds in store for me.
I have been invited to the Siskiyou Motor Speedway awards banquet on November 3rd. I'm not sure I will be able to attend, but it was nice to get the invite. They've even invited the Outlaw Pro Stock Association for the Top 8 drivers in points to receive trophies. I thought that was a nice gesture as the Pro Stocks have been an important part of the show this year. I'd love to make some of these banquets that I'm invited to, but as it's not easy for me to get to and from, I can't.
I heard something about an Antioch Speedway awards banquet in November, but it's doubtful that I will be able to make it down, even though I want to. For one thing I've been imposing a little bit more than I'd like on certain people who have been very helpful. What they have done will not be forgotten by me. But, short of something happening that I don't know of, my attendance for the Antioch Speedway awards banquet is unlikely.
I head back up to Oregon on October 21st, and I'm looking forward to a discussion with Mike about what the plans might be for next year. I have a lot of things to consider for next year myself that I can't get into in this particular column. I said going into this last week, that I was only focused on the Hall of Fame. And right now, my main focus is on the race on the 20th.
It was 20 years ago when John gave me the opportunity to announce at Antioch Speedway. I was co-announcing with Jack Menges that year. In fact, it was about this time 20 years ago when I got my first solo announcing gig as Jack wasn't there. I announced a Street Stock and Enduro show to close the season and ended up being the MC of the awards banquet in November. I also got to announce solo for the next two years after that. I'm looking at the board that everybody autographed at the awards banquet in 1998. What a special year that was.
I say that there's a lot of people out there that will be negative. There are the majority of people who are positive in supporting you by showing up every week, even if they don't vocalize appreciation. So the negative people are the ones that say the words that sometimes sting. We had that in 1998, but we rallied behind John. They wanted us to fail. From the media attention we got that was less than flattering to the petition being passed around the grandstands that he needed to be removed before he even promoted a race. They were after John. All we did was keep coming back and working hard, and we won over our harshest critics. They couldn't deny it. The improvements at the track, the improvements with the purses and point funds. It led to two of the biggest seasons the speedway had ever had in terms of car count.
And 1998 is one of those years that is special to me in what it represents. That means that Oval Motorsports is now for 20 years old. John has just about completed his 21st season of promoting this track, giving him one more season than his father. But combined, John and his dad have promoted this track for over 40 years. We've known with them that the gates will continue to open, whatever the challenge is. That's always the goal. I have a great deal of respect for both of them and what they have brought to the sport.
So, I'm going to do this week and see where the future leads me. I eventually see my exit from the sport, even if that doesn't happen next year. Given the volume of work that I do with the media effort and the reward that comes back for the effort, I know that I couldn't sustain myself on this. And I know I couldn't hold down a regular job and do even half of what I do in the media effort. I'd either kill myself or fail in the effort take care of it all. How Gary Jacob made it through as long as he did amazes me. But anyway, I'm contemplating the future of what I'm going to do in the sport. I'll leave it at that.
In fact, I think I'm going to end this column right now. Until next time...
