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Things To Look Forward To In The Coming Season 

At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...Preparations are being made for the 2019 season at Antioch Speedway. In just a few short weeks, the green flag will drop on more exciting racing action on the 3/8 mile clay oval. It's a tradition that goes back many decades. Aside from the entertainment value, auto racing has served to bring many families closer together.

There are lots of reasons to be excited about the coming season. As if getting a glimpse of the new cars and new paint jobs on opening night isn't enough, there are several other reasons, including the divisions the fans will be seeing and showcase events that will serve to get people excited in anticipation for racing season to begin.

We pay tribute to Donna Soares on October 5th. The 2019 championship season will conclude with the Donna Soares Memorial race. The All Star Series A Modifieds will race for $1,500 to win that night. This race is special as many of the racers loved Donna and would stop off in the office on race night to say hi. Donna and John M Soares were married for 50 years, and were together promoting Antioch Speedway from 1998 to last year. This is a race that everybody will want to win in the various divisions scheduled that night.

We have Late Models. This is the 35th championship season for the DIRTcar Late Models at Antioch Speedway. The division started at Antioch Speedway in 1967 and, with the exception of 1980, had championship seasons through 1993. Since then, there have been eight other championship seasons, and this will be the sixth consecutive year for the division in the All Star Series line-up. Jeff Decker is the most decorated champion in division history with four titles to his credit and enters this season as the driver to beat.

We have "old school" Late Models. In 2000, John M Soares added the Limited Late Model division to the roster. In an effort to sneak this division past his father, who had an established agreement that Late Models would be a Petaluma class, John called the division Super Stocks. This is the 20th season for the Limited Late Models, which are reminiscent of the Late Model division when it ran its last NASCAR season in 1993. Two-time champion Mike Gustafson and the Brown Racing Team, which has won three titles, continue to be supporters of this class since it was added. The Sun Drop Racing Team is a force with six championships and three runner-up seasons in the last nine years, while third generation racer Mark Garner is the reigning champion.

We honor the greats of the past. Last season, Antioch Speedway established it's Hall of Fame. With a history of racing going back to 1961, there have been many great competitors, car owners, crew chiefs, significant people behind the scenes and officials who have helped make the race track so special through the years. Last season, a group of 10 such individuals was inducted. At a date to be announced, we will induct more deserving individuals into the Hall of Fame, and this is a tradition that will continue for years to come.

Our A Modified division begins its 30th consecutive season. Only Petaluma Speedway, where the division got its start in 1987, has crowned more Modified champions than Antioch Speedway in California. Antioch has the second longest continuous running Modified Series in the state. From future hall-of-famer Richard Johnson in 1990 through Nick DeCarlo last year, there have been many great competitors who have entertained the crowd every season. Two such stars, multi-time champions Scott Busby and Bobby Hogge IV, share the Antioch Speedway record with JD Willis as 72 time Main Event winners. Nobody has won more Modified Main Events in Antioch Speedway history than Busby.

The Hobby Stocks begin their 25th season. The Hobby Stocks are the spiritual successor to the Street Stock division, which had a 31 year run at the speedway before being merged with the Limited Late Models in 2009. The Hobby Stocks began crowning champions in 1995 with Terrie Wacht. Last season, Chris Sorensen won his second division title in perhaps the most dominant performance of any champion at the speedway. The Hobby Stocks not only offer up the exciting, slam-bang action that fans were used to for years with the Street Stocks, they are also the entry point for new racers into the speedway. Several new drivers have come on board in Hobby Stocks in the past few years, and it's made for some great racing.

We are the track that launched Wingless Spec Sprints. In 1999, promoter John M Soares worked with Don O'Keefe Jr to create the Wingless Spec Sprint division. This was seen as Sprint Car racing to the Stock Car minded as drivers could take their Street Stock motors and put them into Sprint Car chassis and be competitive. This self starting, 360 cast iron engine, 2 barrel carburetor class has allowed drivers to race Sprint Cars who may not otherwise have done so. It's also been a place for Sprint Car racers to go to when they didn't have the budgets to run the bigger class. The racing has been fast and very competitive. Dan Gonderman won his first of two championship back in 1999, and Bob Newberry joined the two-timers club with his second title last season after a good race with Shannon Newton. Division original Rick Panfili and longtime supporter Roy Fisher remain on the roster this year, and Antioch is one of three tracks that will crown Spec Sprint champions this year.

We deliver the excitement, the drama and the excellence to the fans. Last season, Mark Garner won a thrilling battle with Kimo Oreta for the Limited Late Model championship by winning the last race of the season. It was the closest race at the track. Art McCarthy nearly pulled off the upset in the Winged 360 Sprint Car ranks when incoming leader Matt DeMartini flipped early in the race. McCarthy was leading when he blew a motor. The battle for the Spec Sprint championship was derailed in the finale as both champion Bob Newberry and contender Shannon Newton were eliminated in a crash. Chris Sorensen racked up an impressive eight Main Event wins out of 22 Top 3 finishes to win the Hobby Stock title. Nick DeCarlo was an eight-time winner in winning the A Modified championship, while Trevor Clymens got his second B Modified title on the strength of his seven victories.

We have Dwarf Cars. When the Bay Area association that promoted Dwarf Cars hit upon hard times, Oval Motorsports welcomed them under the All Star Series banner in 1998. This means that Antioch Speedway has crowned a track champion in Dwarf Cars for 22 years. It was John Anderson winning the inaugural championship, and some great drivers such as Jim Barton, Mark Chaves and Ricardo Rivera, turned in dominant performances in the years that followed. Mike Corsaro used consistency and five victories to win his second straight Dwarf Car title last season. There's a great group of younger and older competitors in the Dwarf Cars providing great racing action for the fans on any night in which they are scheduled.

We have the beautiful Bay Area Hardtops. In a throwback to the division that headlined Antioch Speedway in its early years, the Bay Area Hardtops were added as a special appearance class to the speedway back in 2008. Their signature race has its roots at Vallejo Speedway. This season will offer up the 17th Annual Chet Thomson Memorial in September, honoring the Vallejo Speedway champion who passed away in the 1960s. Chet's son Tommy runs a car with the body that he had on it in the final years of Hardtop racing at Vallejo Speedway. The Hardtops will also be a part of the Donna Soares Memorial and Larry Damitz Memorial races this year, and such hard chargers is Terry DeCarlo, Dave Mackey, Doug Braudrick and Ken Retzloff will be among the field this year. These beautiful Coupe and Sedan race cars will bring back fond memories of the days when the Hardtops ruled the roost across the country in the 1950s and 1960s.

This is the 59th annual championship season. Antioch Speedway began its current run of weekly racing in 1961. There weren't too many cars there for the opener, but car count grew rapidly beyond that. The record shows that Jimmy Stewart won the first two championships in the Hardtop Auto Claimer class. The Claimer Cars gave way to the Sportsman division, which gave way to the Late Model division and then to the A Modifieds. Many other divisions have been a part of the program through the years, and many drivers have raced hard to earn the right to call themselves Antioch Speedway champions. This season, the speedway will offer championship seasons for eight different divisions.

We have the Larry Damitz Memorial race on April 27th. Even at 87 years old, they still called him the Sun Drop Kid. Larry Damitz won the last championship that he competed for in the Limited Late Model division. He won five championships and finished second twice in his final seven seasons, was a star in the Late Models before that and ran Hardtops for some 20 years between Pacheco, Vallejo and other places. The racing community took his death hard, and the Larry Damitz Memorial race ran for the first time in 2017. This year will be the third annual event, and word is that Larry will also be inducted into the Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame. It's an honor truly befitting of a legend such as him.

We have the Jerry Hetrick Memorial race on June 8th. We lost Jerry Hetrick prior to the 2017 season. He was a track record holder in the Sportsman division who ranked as high as the Top 5 and was even a feature winner. Jerry was known for doing more with lesser equipment than most other competitors. He was also well-respected among his peers. The race for Jerry has offered bigger payouts to the A Modified division, which is the closest class to the Sportsman division that he ran in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The Firecracker 50 returns. On July 6th, the A Modifieds will compete for a $1,000 first prize in the Firecracker 50 lap race. This is a race that has been on and off the schedule since Oval Motorsports began promoting the speedway in 1998. Anytime you offer extra money like this race, it attracts some of the top drivers from out of town. Local drivers such as Nick DeCarlo, Scott Busby, Kellen Chadwick and Bobby Motts Jr will be among those contesting for the big prize.

The Civil War Sprint Car Series returns. The longest running Winged 360 Sprint Car Series in California is the Civil War Series, which launched in the early 1990s. Antioch Speedway got one of the dates this year. The track continues to offer up Winged 360 Sprint Car racing for the fans and that division will have its sixth consecutive championship season this year. With a nice payout for the drivers, the regular shows at the speedway attract a myriad of different up-and-coming drivers who are searching for their first wins. You never know who will come to town for a shot at the money. Last season, Matt DeMartini won his first championship after beating two-time champion Art McCarthy. In the quest to give the fans a nice variety of great racing, promoter John M Soares remains dedicated to giving the fans some Winged 360 Sprint Car shows.

We have several surprises in store. As always, Oval Motorsports continues to look for different ways to entertain the crowd, and there are several nice things on the drawing board to be unveiled during the season. One of the big surprises that was revealed was the $12,000 to win A Modified race that is being booked for the end of the season. This would be the biggest paying A Modified race in Antioch Speedway history and the third biggest paying in the history of the division in California. Word is that the B Modifieds will run for a substantially increased purse as well, meaning Antioch Speedway should see a full pit area for the double division program set for October 11th and 12th. More details to come.

There's been a lot of talk about at Antioch Speedway during the offseason, but it's time to put that stuff behind us and look forward to what should be a great racing season under the All Star Series banner. The racing will begin on March 30th after playdays on the 16th and 23rd. With only a couple of exceptions, Saturday night racing will continue all the way through October 12th. You won't want to miss any of the exciting action that is scheduled. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

The Fendered Frenzy Returns To Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...It's been said that the All Star Series racing program at Antioch Speedway offers a little something for everybody. Open wheel fans have Winged and Wingless Sprint Car racing. The A Modified division has spawned the B Modified class, assuring that this style of racing will continue for years to come. There's even the rapidly paced Dwarf Car division to enjoy. However, Stock Car fans have not been ignored.

Antioch Speedway will continue to offer three styles of fendered Stock Car racing for the fans to enjoy this year. Back once again will be the popular DIRTcar Late Model division. Antioch Speedway is the only place in California that offers a championship season for the full on Dirt Late Models. For fans of the Late Models as they were in the early 90s, the speedway will also offer The Limited Late Models. For fans of the Street Stock style of racing, there will be the Hobby Stocks. It all adds up to some great racing on the 3/8 mile clay oval.

When Promoter John M Soares had the speedway expanded to 3/8 miles prior to the 2009 season, it was with the hopes of offering up more Sprint Car and Late Model racing to the fans. The Late Models were at that point relegated to special visits from the touring groups, but as the touring groups died out, it became obvious that Soares would have to find another way to add Late Model racing to the program. An opportunity presented itself in 2013.

Soares had booked a couple of Late Model shows that year, but neighboring Petaluma Speedway had been offering Late Model racing for several years. It just so happened that Promoter Rick Faeth decided that 2013 would be his last season of offering up this division to the fans. Soares made a phone call to find out how Faeth would feel about him taking over the Late Model program at Antioch Speedway. With the blessing of the neighboring promoter, Soares began offering Late Model races for the fans in 2014.

Two drivers who got on board with Late Model racing at Antioch Speedway from the get-go we're Jeff Decker and Richard Papenhausen. Papenhausen won the inaugural championship for the revival in 2014. In reality, Antioch Speedway's Late Model season this year will be the 35th campaign for this class at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds based facility. Papenhausen again won the championship in 2016 and during the first 30 races for this class in its revival, nobody had more wins than Papenhausen.

However, Decker has shown more dedication to Late Model racing than anybody in the Northern California area during the past 25 years. He's racked up a string of championships at Antioch, Petaluma and Watsonville. counting his championship in 2007, Decker now has four Antioch crowns, making him the most decorated Late Model champion in Antioch Speedway history. He was so dominant last year, that a championship was never in doubt. His worst finish was a third place effort on one occasion. Decker enters the season as the driver to beat, and only Papenhausen seems poised to do anything about that. Papenhausen didn't run every race last season.

Last season saw second-generation racer and rookie Rod Oliver offer the biggest challenge to Decker, but it wasn't until the season finale when Oliver had his season-best finish in second. He never finished outside the Top 5 in the Main Event throughout the season to stake his claim on the runner-up ranking. This left the battle between two past "Rookie Of The Year" winners, Mike Hynes and Kimo Oreta, for third in the standings.

Hynes has lined up sponsorship in the hopes of mounting a challenge for his first career Late Model win this season. He is a multi time feature winner in Limited Late Models and has been steadily improving in this division. Oreta, meanwhile, has racked up more Hobby Stock wins than anybody in Speedway history and has proved to be a formidable competitor in the Sun Drop Racing #15 Limited Late Model, winning the 2017 championship. He was handpicked by Larry Damitz to drive the team's Late Model prior to Damitz passing away in early 2017, and he has certainly made the team proud. When we talk about potential first-time winners in 2019, Oreta's name should appear at the top of the list.

There are several drivers with Late Models, and Antioch would be their best bet to get some racing in this year during the nine race schedule. Among the drivers to watch for this year include past division runner-ups David Newquist and Shawn DeForest, Dennis Souza, Chester Kniss, Rob Norris, John M Soares and Paul Guglielmoni. There is word of at least one extra money event on the schedule, which could prompt visits from such heavyweights as Bobby Hogge IV and Andy Obertello. There's been talk of a visitor or two coming in from Oregon for the rumored extra money race as well.

The Limited Late Model division had the closest championship battle last season between third-generation racer Mark Garner and Kimo Oreta. Knowing the car that the Sun Drop Racing Team puts on the track each and every week, Garner knew he had to bring his a-game. With two feature wins in the final four races, Mark finally added the family's first Antioch championship trophy to the mantle. He may be out to repeat as champion, but Oreta will be hungry to bring the division honors back to the #15 team.

Mike Walko was a welcome return to Antioch Speedway last year and had an amazing start with Top 3 finishes in the first 11 races last season. He was also a four-time winner and would rank third in the standings after missing a race. Ryan Cherezian, who finished a close fourth, will be out to get his first career win in this division after several second place finishes. He offers something different for the fans to watch as he drives a truck bodied car.

Mike Gustafson has notched more feature victories than anybody in Limited Late Model history along with his two titles. However, you're more likely to see him out at the track racing to have fun than worrying about points. He showed last season on three occasions that he's not just some car on the track as he won those races. Even after all of these years, the elder statesman of the Limited Late Model division can still get it done. Another driver with a championship to her credit is Lori Brown, who ran a limited schedule last year. Lori is on a quest to return to the winner's circle and shouldn't be counted out.

Cherezian isn't the only driver looking to get his first win, but 2017 "Rookie Of The Year" Chad Hammer had his best finish of the year at the finale last year in third. Hammer is hoping this will be the year he gets a win. Another driver hanging tough in the division is the steady John Evans. Evans has finished as high as second in Main Event competition, but the win has thus far been elusive.

After talking about a return to racing for several years, past Sportsman competitor Michael Burch finally made his return to Limited Late Models last season. He should be out there this year along with Chris Long, who is teaming up with longtime speedway racer John "The Bear" Keith. 2013 champion Jim Freethy, Jon Haney, Terry DeCarlo Jr and Jim Robbins are other drivers to watch for. Robbins has been working on his car for over a year in hopes of getting it back on the track this season.

The Hobby Stock division is where the car count appears to be the strongest. Well over 30 competitors brought cars to the speedway last year at least once. Experience seemed to be the advantage for Chris Sorensen, Cameron Swank and Michael Cooper, who won the lion's share of races between them. Sorensen was an eight-time winner and only failed to make it into the Top 3 in the Main Event six times. Swank settled for third in the standings, but he has sold his car and moved up to the B Modified class. This leaves Cooper among those three still looking for his first career championship after a career-best second in the standings last year.

There were several rookies in the field last season, led by top rookie Breanna Troen, Anthony Welborn, Josh Leach and John Wacht. All four of these drivers scored a Main Event win, and Welborn did it twice. Welborn was flirting with a move up to the B Modifieds but has decided to stay in the Hobby Stocks for another year. Another driver who did well early on in the season last year with his first career feature win was fourth generation racer Billy Garner. Because of other commitments, Garner fell out of the action halfway through the season, but he is anticipated this year.

Chris Bennett enjoyed two second place finishes last year, but he is also in the process of moving up to the B Modified division. Bennett reported last year that he's not through with racing Hobby Stocks until he gets his first win in the Bob Hanson tribute car. Another of the newer drivers in the field was second-generation racer Haley Gomez. Haley looked very impressive one night in leading 19 1/2 laps before mechanical issues put an end to her bid for a first career win.

Longtime Antioch Speedway racer Bob Brown still brings his two cars to the track now and then and gets behind the wheel of one of them. Son Chris Brown and daughter Angela Brown have taken their turns behind the wheel as well. Past Top 10 Street Stock racer Dave Hill made his return to the Hobby Stocks, and rumors suggest we may see two-time Street Stock champion Troy Shirk and past Antioch and Merced champion Rick Petruzzi back in action at some point this year. As the Hobby Stock division has evolved to become the Street Stock division of the early 1990s, this move certainly does make sense.

The lineup of great racers in this division includes longtime speedway supporter Natalie Perry in the Steve Perry car, Anthony Vigna, past division runner-ups Lindsey Buirch and Jordan Swank, James Thomson, past champions Brad Myers and Melissa Myers, the returning Judy Allison Arth, Ken Rhoades, George Silva, Jake Mercieca, Travis Tabucchi, Russell Shearer, Philip Oreta, Don Phillips and Ed Letterman.

Of the three divisions, the Hobby Stocks will be featured on the All Star Series program 19 times this season. This will include the March 30th season opener. Limited Late Models will be there 17 times, including their first race on April 6th. The Late Models will be there nine times, including the key dates of April 27th at the Larry Damitz Memorial race as well as October 5th at the Donna Soares Memorial event. On any given weekend, the fans will get to enjoy at least one of these fendered Stock Car divisions.

It's all part of a great season of racing as John M Soares of Oval Motorsports kicks off his 22nd season at the helm of the speedway, which enters its 59th consecutive year of racing. For further information about these divisions and other happenings at the track, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks Return 

To Petaluma Speedway

Petaluma, CA...The longest-running division at Petaluma Speedway is the Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks. The heritage of this division stretches back to the mid 1970s, making it over 40 years in which a champion has been crowned. The McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds have been crowning champions at the speedway since 1988, a year after the division was launched.

When then promoter John P Soares reached a deal with David Vodden to bring the displaced Baylands Raceway competitors to Petaluma, the Mini Stocks and PitStopUSA.com Winged 360 Sprint Cars were part of the deal. They both began racing at Petaluma in 1989. In the case of the Mini Stocks, they have a heritage that goes back at Fremont Speedway to the mid 1970s with champions being crowned every year.

Back in those days, you had everything from the stock Mini Stocks to the exotic Outlaw Sprint Buggies. The Mini Stocks and Super Mini Stocks were the two classes that came to Petaluma, but the Super Mini Stocks folded a few years later. At that time, the Volkswagen Beetle was still allowed in the field. The Super Mini Stocks at times were dominated by the Beetle of Jeff Mauldin. The Mini Stock class had such notable VW Beetle drivers as David Critchfield and the husband-and-wife team of John and Lily Campanile.

Jake's Performance Hobbies has signed on as the title sponsor for the Mini Stocks again this year as they begin their 31st championship season at Petaluma Speedway. The division has been a gateway for some drivers to get started. The very first champion in 1989 with Scott Wininger, who ended up moving up to the Modified division. After back-to-back championships in 1991 and 92, Victor Gonella moved on to Modifieds and Late Models, where he had more success.

Gonella was joined by John Moore, George Dennis and Rick Paull as the only two-time champions in the division. What's interesting is that all four drivers won back-to-back championships. After winning his title in 1999, Brett Barney went on to run Sprint Cars. Another noteworthy statistic is that after Paull won his second championship in 2004, there have been 14th straight different champions. Past champions Larry Drew and Austin Ohlinger as well as Snazzy Duckworth have all moved up to the Super Stock division in recent years. 2015 champion Eden McCormick is now in a Spec Sprint, and Mini Stock graduate William Fatu was one of the Top 5 Winged 360 Sprint Car drivers last season.

In short, the Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks have been a nice launching pad to get drivers started in racing at Petaluma Speedway. Make no mistake, the racing in this class has been competitive. The newest champion is Tom Brown. Brown, who got his start running Mini Trucks at Antioch Speedway, had almost all Top 5 finishes and one win. He used that consistency to hold off David Spindell for the championship. Spindell was a five-time winner.

The Mini Stock division has a nice lineup of competitors, including Danny Manzoni, Roy Deering, Roberta Broze, Sophie Shelly, Anthony Miramontez, Randy Miramontez, Sean Hale and newcomer Jeremy Tjensvold. Tjensvold won a Main Event last season. Car count had been down a bit in recent years, but they were back in double digits last season with 19 different competitors earning points.

Quietly, and without much fanfare, the Mini Stocks have been a part of racing at Petaluma Speedway for half of the track's existence. They may not get the glory of the Sprint Cars, Super Stocks or Modifieds, but they manage to deliver entertaining and exciting races for the fans. This should again be the case this year. They are scheduled to appear at the season opener on March 30th along with the Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks and Santa Rosa Auto Body Micro Sprints. The Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series headlines the show. For further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com.

Past Petaluma Mini Stock Champions

1989    Scott Wininger
1990    Loren Hill
1991    Victor Gonella
1992    Victor Gonella
1993    Dixon Cheal
1994    Joshua Bevan
1995    John Moore
1996    John Moore
1997    George Dennis
1998    George Dennis
1999    Bret Barney
2000    Dan Williams
2001    Jim Arnold Jr.
2002    Steve Griffin
2003    Rick Paull
2004    Rick Paull
2005    Danny Potts
2006    Brandon Mattos
2007    Justin Mattos
2008    Larry Drew
2009    Kenny Drew
2010    Michael Drew
2011    Keith Benson
2012    John Veeninga
2013    Josh Williams
2014    Jake Fernandes
2015    Eden McCormick
2016    Darien Balestrini
2017    Austin Ohlinger
2018    Tom Brown

Hardtop Revival Set to Begin 12th season

Placerville, CA...The California Hardtop Association and the Bay Area Hardtops begin the 12th season of the revival of this form of racing in California with a schedule of 12 Saturday nights of racing. On only one occasion will the racers have to make a choice on where to go as there is a conflict in July between Placerville and Antioch.

The California Hardtop group began in 2008 with dates at Antioch Speedway. It went through leadership changes and is currently headed up by President John Philbert. Working with Jason Armstrong, Philbert recently released a nine race dirt track schedule that includes visits to Placerville Speedway 4 four times, Orland Raceway three times, Marysville Raceway once and Chico Silver Dollar Speedway once.

Meanwhile, Antioch Speedway promoter John M Soares gave the Bay Area Hardtop group four races, including the Larry Damitz Memorial race on April  27th, the 17th Annual Chet Thomson Memorial on September 15th and the Donna Soares Memorial on October 5th. There was some speculation about whether Bay Area leadership might pursue a visit to Petaluma, and it was also pointed out that Philbert might be able to add more dates to the California Hardtop schedule.

However, Hardtop racers are excited about the opportunity to go racing on the dirt with a schedule that isn't too taxing on the racer's budgets. There's also a bit of exciting news in the works. The Good Old Boyz band made a viral video called Hangtown Speedway, paying tribute to the Placerville track a year ago. The Hardtops were among the cars in that video.

Word is that the band is looking to shoot a sequel to that video, and additional on the track footage may be taken at a Hardtop race at a track and date to be named later. Hardtop coordinator Ken Clifford revealed that four of the racers have passenger seats and extra fire suits, which will be made available to band members if they want a little bit of on the track experience. Jason Armstrong is helping coordinate this.

The Armstrong shop has been the home of several different race cars for the group in recent years as Jason helps get them repaired and ready to go. He and his father Dennis Armstrong are both Main Event winners on the circuit and began their racing careers at Placerville Speedway. The Clifford family also owns three Hardtops. Ken Clifford just purchased a car from the McCaslin Racing Team down in Bakersfield. Ken and son Jason Clifford have both won with the group in the past.

After his primary car was damaged in a crash at Merced Speedway last year, Ken Clifford seemed to be just a little bit off the pace, but what he lacked for speed on the track he made up for in enthusiasm. Ken remains the group's biggest booster online with his sometimes viral videos of footage from the various race tracks that the group supports. Look for both Ken and Jason to go racing at various times this year, and with three cars at their disposal, you never know what cars they may show up with.

Ron Ruiz, Tom Grady, Joe Shenefield and Dave Reed are all feature winners with the group. Shenefield finally notched his first win last year, while Grady got the win on Fan Appreciation Night at Orland last season. Reed, unfortunately, saw his season cut short with a blown motor. The California Hardtop group also has such supporters as Rhett Lange, Dan Whitney, Mario Romano, Larry Wells, Joe Hopp and Roger MacShain.

Ken Retzloff came close to winning a California Hardtop race last year, but he did win the first Bay Area Hardtop race at Antioch Speedway. Driving a car with the body from Southern Oregon Racing Hall Of Famer Harold Hardesty, Terry DeCarlo picked up a pair of wins at Antioch after a battle with Jason Armstrong the first time and a battle between he, Dave Mackey and Kimo Oreta at the prestigious Chet Thomson Memorial race.

DeCarlo may prove to be the driver to beat this year, but Retzloff is hoping to have something to say about that. Mackey, meanwhile, has been busy working in Texas. However, he's putting a new motor in his car and hopes to get his old motor into the #66 car of Pete Paulsen so that that car may return to the racing action. Doug Braudrick has the famed "Junkyard Dog" ready to go, and another racer with the Vallejo Speedway ties, Tommy Thomson, is ready to go as well.

Thomson was a part of the revival of this effort back in 2008 as he and DeCarlo shared the driving duties in the popular "Green Hornet" #39 car. Though the chassis has been changed over, the body is that of the car that Tommy raced in the final few seasons at Vallejo Speedway. The Hardtop effort in the Bay Area includes such supporters as Steve Cloyes, Gene Haney, Kimo Oreta and Dan Williams.

The Hardtop effort in Northern California is alive and well, rivaling the Bakersfield effort that continues to run strong at Bakersfield Speedway and Kern County Raceway. The Northern California roster stretches into the 20s in available race cars, meaning that there can be some big turnouts during the course of the season. It is hoped that as the season doesn't have a saturation of races, this will aid the group in getting a bigger turnout on the nights in which they are booked.

For more information on the happenings of the groups, you can look for the California Hardtop Association page on Facebook or the Bay Area Hardtop page, also on Facebook.

NCMA Returns For 32nd season

Modesto, CA...The Northern California Modified Association has evolved from its humble beginnings in the late 1980s. The Sprint Car Tour races on various pavement tracks. Despite some difficult times in recent seasons, the remaining members have been dedicated to keeping this series alive. They will compete at four different tracks for a total of five races this year. At press time, there was a possibility of a date or two still being added.

The NCMA was the brainchild of founder Mike Johnson. After coming back from racing Sprint Cars across the country, Johnson found that there wasn't a style of open-wheel racing in Northern California that he could afford. After a trip down to Santa Maria to watch the unveiling of the new California Dirt Car division in 1986, Johnson began planning to start his own effort in the Northern California area.

He labeled it Northern California Dirt Cars and attempted to get dates in 1987, drawing criticism from some in the racing community who felt he was taking away from the Santa Maria effort that Doug Fort had put so much effort into. Fort actually paid the first 10 drivers who showed up at his track $500 each. Johnson competed at some races in Santa Maria, but he remained committed to starting something closer to his home in Concord.

The change in management at Antioch Speedway prior to the 1988 season offered Johnson his opening. After a successful pitch at a pizza parlor meeting that he had organized, Johnson was given the dates he needed at Antioch Speedway. Management at the time saw the California Dirt Cars as a nice new division to add to the roster. Johnson had a meeting in his own garage and formed the Northern California Modified Association prior to the beginning of the season. After taking a lot of heat from fans who wanted the new Dirt Modified division that Petaluma was offering, Johnson won the inaugural championship and was unceremoniously run out of the club a year later.

Prior to the 1990 season, Jim Booth proposed a body style rule for the class to an old style Coupe and Sedan look. This was because some of the Dirt Car bodies on the cars were less than appealing. The membership approved, and by 1991, everybody was running the new style. In-fighting nearly ripped the club apart, but the election of Booth as president in 1991 had a calming influence. The NCMA began to gather momentum, which was only heightened due to rule changes at Merced Speedway that ran off some of their Cal Mod competitors to the NCMA.

The club had such a successful season in 1996 that there were some B Mains needed. Despite the management change at Antioch Speedway in 1998, the group still managed to get the most dates they had had at that track since 1989, but a year later, Promoter John M Soares brought in Don O'Keefe Jr to create a set of rules for a new Spec Sprint Series. This proved to be successful, and within a few years, several tracks were running a similar division.

Seeing the writing on the wall, the NCMA would move away from the old Coupe and Sedan body styles to the Sprint Car look. They were soon booking races on the pavement, starting with Altamont Raceway. Prior to the now popular Hunt Series, the NCMA created the Select Series that brought together some of the best Spec Sprint drivers for big shows. This proved to be a success. At its height, the NCMA was crowning Overall, Dirt, Pavement and Select Series champions. They ran their final dirt races in 2009 as they were getting plenty of good offers to run on the pavement.

The NCMA Sprint Cars have evolved to allow a little bit more in the rules than your basic Spec Sprint Car, but they have also been the place for up-and-coming drivers like Audra Sasselli and Justin Kawahata to get into Sprint Car racing before moving up to the Gunslinger Series.

The most decorated champions in NCMA history are Daryl Shirk, Scott Holloway and David Goodwill. Holloway won six championships, while Shirk and Goodwill both won five titles. In fact, Goodwill won five in a row from 2008-2012. In the current decade, nobody has won more Main Events with the group than Goodwill, who leads Sasselli and current back-to-back champion Denny Burrell.

At the beginning of the decade, there seemed to be no shortage of race dates. The group ran mainly at Madera, Stockton and Roseville with some visits thrown in at Lakeport and Ukiah. Eric Humphries won the 2013 championship, and Sasselli picked up back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. During her run, Sasselli proved to be very difficult to beat.

Changes in management at some race tracks along with a more challenging time getting drivers has made it more difficult for the group to get race dates. As the NCMA entered its 30th anniversary season, Scott Holloway and others expressed an interest in helping get the group back on the dirt for some races again. However, the current membership felt that their commitment to the pavement needed to come first, and the idea has never really been pursued.

Burrell has proven to be the biggest star in the group recently with David Burchett his closest rival. Burrell finished second to Jerry Kobza in the 2016 championship race before outrunning Burchett for his back-to-back titles. The last remaining driver with a tie to the NCMA dirt track days is Rob Hammond, and he finished third last season ahead of "Rookie Of The Year" Andy Gleason and another past dirt track racer, Doug Emery.

As the group made its transition from dirt to pavement, it was Ed Amador and Pat Ariaz who were guiding the ship. Amador won four championships with the NCMA and was also a champion with the Limited Sprints at Merced Speedway prior to that. It's likely due to the leadership of these two that the NCMA survived to this point. They instilled enough of a love of this club in the group of drivers that are here now that they continue to fight for it. Burrell has worked hard to keep things going.

The NCMA continues to fight to keep this three-decade tradition alive. They remain the most affordable alternative for Northern California Sprint Car competitors to give pavement racing a go, but because the numbers have dwindled just a bit, they are working on other ideas to get newcomers to come race. How this is going to work out will be seen in the days ahead, but they continue their commitment to the keep the NCMA alive.

Every time somebody has counted this group out through the years, they've always fought back. Opening day is set for. Optimism is high that there will be more cars competing this year. For further information, go to www.ncmasprints.com.

NCMA 2019 Schedule

April 13 - Mardera Speedway
May 11 - Shasta Speedway
July 5 - Lakeport Speedway
July 6 - Ukiah Speedway
July 13 - Madera Speedway
Subject To Change

Northern California Modified Association Champions

1988- Mike Johnson     1989- Darryl Shirk     1990- Scott Holloway
1991- Darryl Shirk     1992- Darryl Shirk     1993- Darryl Shirk
1994- Scott Holloway     1995- Duane Watson     1996- Darryl Shirk
1997- Del Quinn     1998- Scott Holloway     1999- Del Quinn
2000- Scott Holloway     2001- Ed Amador      2002- Scott Holloway
2003- Scott Holloway     2004- Ed Amador     2005- Ed Amador
2006- Gary Koster     2007- Ed Amador     2008- David Goodwill
2009- David Goodwill     2010- David Goodwill     2011- David Goodwill
2012- David Goodwill    2013- Eric Humphries    2014- Audra Sasselli
2015- Audra Sasselli    2016- Jerry Kobza


Previous NCMA Feature Winners Since 2010

September 14, 2018:  David Buchettt - Madera
August 11, 2018:  Denny Burrell - Stockton
July 14, 2018:  Robb Hammond - Stockton
July 7, 2018:  Robb Hammond - Ukiah
July 6, 2018:  Denny Burrell - Lakeport
June 16, 2018:  Denny Burrell - Stockton
May 5, 2018:  Denny Burrell - Stockton
September 16, 2017:  Denny Burrell - Madera
August 28, 2017:  Jerry Kobza - Roseville
July 2, 2017:  Denny Burrell - Ukiah
July 1, 2017:  Denny Burrell - Lakeport
May 6, 2017:  Justin Kawahata - Madera
April 1, 2017:  Denny Burrell - Madera
October 8, 2016:  David Goodwill - Stockton
September 17, 2016:  Jerry Kobza - Madera
September 10, 2016:  Jerty Kobza - Roseville
August 20, 2016:  Jerry Kobza - Roseville
July 9, 2016:  Cody Jessop - Madera
July 3, 2016:  David Burchett - Ukiah
July 2, 2016:  Audra Sasselli - Lakeport
June 18, 2016:  Cody Jessop - Roseville
May 7, 2016:  Denny Burrell - Madera
April 2, 2016:  Denny Burrell - Madera
November 20, 2015:  Jeff Burrows - Madera
November 14, 2015:  Denny Burrell - Stockton
September 19, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
September 5, 2015:  Jerry Kobza - Roseville
August 22, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
July 11, 2015:  Eric Humphries - Madera
June 13, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
June 6, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
May 16, 2015:  Jerry Kobza - Roseville
May 2, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
March 28, 2015:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
November 21, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
September 13, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
August 23, 2014:  David Goodwill - Roseville
August 16, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
August 8, 2015::  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
July 26, 2014:  David Burchett - Stockton
July 19, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
July 12, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
June 14, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
June 7, 2014:  Eric Humphries - Madera
May 3, 2014:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
March 30, 2014: Audra Sasselli  - Madera
September 14 2013:  Denny Burrell - Madera
August 24, 2013: David Goodwill  - Roseville
August 10, 2013:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
August 3, 2013:  Eric Humphries - Roseville
July 20, 2013:  Gordon Rodgers - Stockton
July 13, 2013:  Audra Sasselli - Madera
June 22, 2013:  Audra Sasselli - Roseville
June 8, 2013:  Gordon Rodgers -- Madera
June 1, 2013:  David Goodwill - Stockton
May 18, 2013:  Eric Humphries - Stockton
May 4, 2013:  Eric Humphries - Madera
April 20, 2013:  Eric Humphries - Stockton
April 13, 2013:  Eric Humphries - Roseville
March 23, 2013:  David Goodwill - Madera
October 20, 2012:  David Goodwill - Stockton
October 6, 2012:  David Goodwill - Stockton
September 15, 2012:  Denny Burrell - Madera
October 8, 2011:  David Goodwill - Stockton
September 17, 2011:  Denny Burrell - Madera
September 10, 2011:  David Goodwill - Stockton
August 27, 2011:  David Goodwill - Roseville
August 20, 2011:  Justin Kawahata - Stockton
August 6, 2011:  David Goodwill - Madera
July 9, 2011:  Denny Burrell - Roseville
July 2, 2011: Denny Burrell - Stockton
June 11, 2011:  David Goodwill - Roseville
May 21, 2011:  David Goodwill - Stockton
May 14, 2011:  Ed Amador - Roseville
April 16, 2011:  David Goodwill - Madera
September 18, 2010:  David Goodwill - Roseville
September 11, 2010:  David Goodwill - Stockton
August 28, 2010:  David Goodwill - Madera
August 21, 2010:  Ed Amador - Roseville
August 14, 2010:  Ed Amador - Madera
August 7, 2010:  David Goodwill - Stockton
July 17, 2010:  Rob Hammond - Roseville
July 10, 2010:  Ed Amador - Madera
July 2, 2010:  David Goodwill - Stockton
June 19, 2010:  Jimmy Riddell - Stockton
June 12, 2010:  Ed Amador - Madera
June 5, 2010:  David Goodwill - Roseville
May 29, 2010:  Rob Hammond - Stockton
May 8, 2010:  David Goodwill - Roseville
May 1, 2010:  Rob Hammond - Stockton
April 17, 2010:  Rob Hammond - Stockton
April 3, 2010:  David Goodwill - Madera

Western Midget Racing Coming To Ocean Speedway

Watsonville, CA...Promoter John Prentice has added a new division to the schedule at Ocean Speedway in 2019. It's another class that is sure to excite open-wheel racing fans. Prentice reached an agreement with Mike McCluney for several race dates during the course of the season. Using the Chevy Ecotec motor, It is believed that this new Midget class will take away some of the cost and help breathe new life into the Northern California Midget effort.

Racers will be familiar with Mike McCluney. In addition to his time promoting the Watsonville track prior to Prentice and his time promoting Hanford, McCluney has been actively involved in the USAC Focus Midget effort with an eye towards helping keep this newer Midget class affordable and competitive.

Mike has traveled up and down the road with his race car and has seen the lows in car count in California as well as the high car counts being offered on a regular basis by the Northwest Focus Midget group. Given his experience, he intends to be a part of sparking more interest and support for Midget racing in California.

The premise is simple. The basic Midget car being used by both BCRA/POWRi and USAC would still be legal. Where it differs is with the motor rules. The Western Midget Racing group will run a spec engine. It is a Chevy Ecotec 2.4l motor that McCluney estimates will cost the racer between $5,000 and $8,500.

One of McCluney's concerns with the fledgling Focus Midget effort in California is that the rules have produced more "follow the leader" racing than exciting battles at the front of the pack. He's been testing his cars with drivers such as Adam Lemke and Jimmy May behind-the-wheel at tracks in Madera and Ventura this year. Lemke, who is the 2018 USAC Speed2 Midget champion, has reached a developmental deal that will have him driving Stock Cars back east this year.

And that's part of the lure of this style of Midget racing. McCluney looks around at the young drivers coming in from Outlaw Kart racing and Micro Sprint racing, and they have a more difficult time making the next move up unless they have deep pockets. He is hoping that the WMR Midget group will help fill the void. We're still unclear on who all is on the roster at this point, but BCRA/USAC Midget competitor David Prickett has pledged to support the effort as much as he can.

McCluney did his best to create a workable schedule that drivers can support. Prentice gave him several potential dates to work with before he came up with the eight dates he has at Watsonville. After talking with management down in Ventura, the WMR Midgets will be allowed to go support the Focus Midget effort there. The schedule they have booked in Ventura is basically one race a month from April through October with two races in October for a total of eight races.

Ventura Raceway started their Focus Midget division as part of the USAC effort, but eventually, much like the group in the Northwest, they went out on their own. That's where they differ. Under the leadership of Carla and Galen Stewart, the support in Washington and Oregon with the Northwest Focus Midgets has skyrocketed, but it's basically flatlined in California at about a half a dozen to eight cars on any given night.

Ventura Raceway has continued to crown champions in the Focus Midgets, with Mike Leach Jr holding off Keoni Texeira and Randi Pankratz for the 2018 championship. A year earlier, it was Jet Davison winning the championship with Daniel Anderson and Gary Howard the title winners in the previous two seasons.

The WMR Midgets coming down to Ventura to support their Focus Midget effort will give the fans more of a show, and McCluney wants it known that the Focus Midget competitors will be welcome to support the Watsonville effort as well.

Through the years, there have been several different attempts to boost interest in the Midgets, particularly in Northern California. They've even gone as far as to create a special Midget division that ran within the established Midget division at one time with BCRA.

Micro Sprint veteran Ricky Young spent a couple of years fighting for another Midget effort which ran under the ASCS banner at tracks such as Chico and Placerville. Unfortunately, it never gained any momentum, peaking at about six cars before going away.

In Watsonville, McCluney has an ally in Prentice. Prentice has continued to show support for varying open-wheel divisions through the years and at one time was the promoter of the three top Northern California Sprint Car groups. Having a Midget division on the roster at Watsonville could prove to be useful in bringing new drivers into Watsonville's Ocean Sprint Car, presented by Taco Bravo, division.

McCluney has spent years researching the trends in Midget racing before coming up with the plan that is being put into place. There's much research and development still going on with these cars that will ensure for better racing in the WMR Midget class in the years to come. The first race of the eight race Ocean Speedway schedule will take place on March 29th. The first race at Ventura Speedway will be on April 13th. For further information on scheduling, go to www.racepmg.com or www.venturaraceway.com. You can also look up the Western Midget Racing page on Facebook.


Irwindale Speedway Race Results March 9, 2019
Sunrise Ford Opening Night
Late Models
Main Event #1
Ryan Vargas
Trevor Huddleston
Blaine Perkins
Jace Jones
Lucas McNeil
Dean Thompson
Dylan Garner
Nick Joanides
Kevin Furden
PJ Hernandez
Rodney Peacher
Glenn Schwenger
Takuma Koga

Main Event #2
Trevor Huddleston
Lucas McNeil
Blaine Perkins
Ryan Vargas
Jace Jones
Dean Thompson
Kevin Furden
Nick Joanides
Dylan Garner
PJ Hernandez
Takuma Koga
Glenn Schwenger
Rodney Peacher

Spec Late Models
Kenny Smith
Ed Cutler
John Watkinson
Troy Andersen

Trucks
Lucas McNeil
Andrew Porter
Jacob McNeil
Ron Peterson
Niko Mongenel
Dennis Arena
L.J. Billings

Enduro
Bory Molina
Bobby Ozman
Brad Stellman
Robert John Rice
Ian Rotundo
Mike McIntyre
Rick Conti
Robbie Salcido
Chris Voight
Joseph Bereiter
Todd Paperny
Cheryl Hyland
Robert Rice
James Bolinas
Kirk Kubik
Dwayne Wallace


Madera Raceway Race Results March 9, 2018
MAVTV Race #1 RPM Pro Late Model
RPM Pro Late Models
Main
Dylan Zampa
Logan Zampa
Jason Aguirre
Buddy Shepherd
Ross Strmiska
Jason Romero
Austin Herzog
Christian Roche
Matt Erickson
Brett Taylor
Barry Karr
Kolby Berry
Tyler Herzog
Carlos Vieira
Rick Thompson
Tim Skoglund
Toni Breindenger
Mike Beeler
Glen Cook
Erik Woods
Parker Malone
Shelden Cooper
Blaine Rocha
Ryan Phillpott
Eric Nascimento
Ryan Hart

B Main
Mike Beeler
Toni Breindenger
Glen Cook
Erik Woods
Aaron Haley
Mike Weimann
Tim Furin
Joey Brasil DQ

Jr. Late Models
Tanner Reif
Joey Iest
Seth Wise
Kabe McClenny
Kayla Eshleman
Jake Bollman
Kercie Jung
Jay Juleson
Kyler Berry
Austin Edwards
Calvin Hegje
Olivia Manke
Tyler Reif
Kasey Kleyn
Lilly Mead
Robbie Kennealy
Patrick Mullins
Jordan Walbridge
Cody Kiemele
Jesse Burks DQ


Bakersfield Speedway Race Results March 9, 2019
IMCA Modifieds
Ethan Dotson
Cody Laney
Robby Sawyer
Logan Drake
Bobby Hogge IV
Clint Reichenbach
Kollin Hibdon
Kyle Heckman
Ryan Daves
Trevor Fitz
Justin Schweitzer
Troy Morris Jr
Chris Crompe
Jake Pike
Troy Morris III
Heath Denney
Karl Noland Sr
Michael Scruggs
Roger Holder
Jerry Flippo
Dylan Thorton
Justin Dunn
Bryan Clark

Mod Lites
Zack Forster
Roy Maynard Jr
Anthony Balcazar
JD Brown
Kaden Cochrun
Kenny Cochrun
Deven Pearson
Jeff Thompson
Jakob Carey
Candi Varney
Tim Varney
Tristan Kanthack
Seth Poncetta
Cheyenne Flippo

Mini Stocks
Chris Rutledge
Raymond Noland Jr
Clinton Massey
Andy Boydstun
Clint Duncan
Matt Herod
Carter Cherry
Parker Cherry
Mason Conway
Matt Daniels
David Waller
Gary Anderson
Destiny Joplin
Brandon Wolford
David Wolford
Gene Glover
Paul Johnston

Sr Mini Dwarfs
Mason Ratcliff
Adam Nohl
Jett Yantis
Seth Hanson
Bransyn Speer
Deegan Bledsaw
Carson Conway
Mallory Meyers
Eric Vences
Brooklynn Palmer
Ethan Johnson
Kaden Cowan

Jr Mini Dwarfs
Wyatt Webb
Bryson Martin
Khloe Cotton
Emma McKellar
Blake Watson
Tom Stephens III
Travis Varney
Cameron Blankenship
Bradley Brink
Paislee Hughes
Landynn Childress

NMRA TQ Midgets
Anthony Lopiccolo
West Evans
Scott Niven
Ace Kale
Chris Thomas
Don Brashier
Kevin Kale


Tulare Thunderbowl Race Results March 9, 2019
King Of Thunder Winged 360 Sprint Cars
A Main
Mitchell Faccinto
DJ Netto
Justyn Cox
Shane Golobic
Cole Macedo
Danny Faria
Steven Kent
Grant Duinkerken
Scott Parker
Zane Blanchard
 Cole Danell
Jace Vanderweerd
Jesse Love
Nathan Rolfe
Landon Hurst
Geoffrey Strole
Tucker Worth
Mathew Moles
 Robbie Price
Rico Abreu
Bud Kaeding
Tanner Boul

B Main
Jesse Love
Danny Faria
Cole Danell
Landon Hurst
Zane Blanchard
Geoffrey Strole
Vaughn Schott
Joey Ancona
Jared Faria
Monty Ferriera
Kaleb Montgomery
Mauro Simone

World of Outlaw Sprint Cars
Main Event
Ian Madsen
Daryn Pittman
Sheldon Haudenschild
Brad Sweet
Tim Shaffer
Shane Stewart
Cory Eliason
Carson Macedo
Aaron Reutzel
Donny Schatz
Bud Kaeding
David Gravel
Kasey Kahne
Terry McCarl
Dominic Scelzi
Chad Kemenah
Chase Johnson
Brent Marks
Logan Schuchart
Tim Kaeding
Shane Golobic
Giovanni Scelzi
DJ Netto
Kraig Kinser
Colby Copeland

Last Chance Showdown
Kraig Kinser
Dominic Scelzi
Giovanni Scelzi
Chad Kemenah
Parker Price-Miller
Rico Abreu
Willie Croft
Mason Daniel
Greg Wilson
Jason Sides
Brian Brown
Logan Schuchart
Jacob Allen

The Editor's Viewpoint

To say the least, last week was a difficult week for trying to get anything out on the blog. I had 95% of the post ready to go on Sunday. That means I had seven columns written and ready to go, but of course the one I was wanting to write the most wasn't even done yet. There was no Antioch Speedway schedule available to me, which meant I couldn't put a schedule article together. To say the least, it was a bit frustrating.

I had spoken to John M Soares over a week before that, and the indication was that it was going to be out that weekend. However, that didn't happen, and then it just dragged on for a week. By the end of the week, I got key information from Orland Raceway and the Central Valley Mini Stocks, so I was getting things done. My hopes were that Saturday would be the day I'd see a schedule, but then I got the information that it might not be available until Tuesday.

The dilemma I had was whether or not to wait until Tuesday or just put out what I had. Because I had it in my mind that the next post had to include Antioch Speedway, I waited. Then, it started snowing on Sunday night, kept snowing, cut the power on early Monday morning and it went downhill from there. We didn't get power until Wednesday evening, and internet didn't come back until a couple of days later.

Just my luck, but the schedule went out while I had no way to see it. We didn't even get internet in town until Tuesday. Because I didn't need to be pecking away at a laptop and making all the noise I'm prone to do with my typing, all I could do was gather the information, catch up on messages and head back to the house on Tuesday. That still left me scrambling on Wednesday to put something out, and that even meant recording my audio show as I walked back to the library. At least that got done.

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't just a little bit frustrated with the way the schedule was rolled out, but there wasn't a lot that I could do from here. Being based in Oregon and dealing with a power outage meant that I could do even less then I might under other circumstances. There were a couple of things I looked at on the schedule that had me just a little bit disappointed. I'm hesitant to say anything on the grounds that people will think I'm being too critical.

When John and I spoke last year, he indicated that he was scheduling too many races and wanted to cut back. He indicated that he would rather focus on quality of race than quantity. I have to admit, I like that idea. Both the Hobby Stock division and the B Modifieds were booked too heavily last year, although the idiot John had working with him managed to screw things up so badly for the B Modifieds that some dates were pulled.

I'm still of the opinion that in 2019, you can't really book any of your regular classes much more than 14 times and expect to maintain a car count. Even at that, drivers will struggle to make every race. When John said 20 races, I had to smile. This would have been perfect in my opinion, because each division could run about 14 dates, everything could be shuffled with off nights for every class, and it would have filled a 20 race schedule.

I'm not sure what happened since then, but I have my theories. The fairgrounds still demands a high price for that rent. When you listen to the Fair Board meeting meeting that went down in February, even Mikey Slaney suggested that he and Jeremy Prince would have booked a 30 race schedule starting at the beginning of April. So, it's obvious what the fairgrounds expects. I still think you could have gotten the numbers in the pits and the grandstands up by running less races, but even then there's a lot of work involved. So what it comes down to is money. Running more races makes it easier to get the fairgrounds the money they want for the rent. Therefore, I might be disappointed, but I understand the decision.

I'm of the opinion that John had ample reason to tell the Fair Board that there were going to be less races this year because of the long and drawn-out process that it took to get him a contract renewal to run the track. Even being able to go into the pits and do things until mid-February didn't help, because of all the rain and the wet grounds. It's been difficult to get started. It was rightly pointed out to the Fair Board at the meeting that their dilly-dallying along in the process cost them races, but it looks like John has worked very hard to make it so that only a couple of races were lost at the most. Say goodbye to the New Year's race and maybe one, two at the most, March races.

From my way of thinking, you wipe March off of the calendar completely. You come back at it in April with a play day or two and the opener at the last or second to last Saturday in April. It still fits the 20 race window, and it gives you an opportunity to make sure everything is lined up and ready to go. Judging from some of the comments I've seen on Facebook, people were looking for information that they couldn't get their hands on as quickly as they would have liked. Everything has been sort of frantically rolled out because the team is under the gun. Racing season will start on March 30th at Antioch, and there will be two playdays before that. Ready or not, those gates are going open in March unless it rains.

I wish I could be down there to help the process right now as the road is a little bit bumpy and the critics are very vocal. Then came the announcement of the big race on October 11th and 12th. John had told me that he was planning to pay a $12,000 to win purse for the A Modifieds and even a nice purse for the B Modifieds at a big end-of-the-year shindig. The problem was that the bidding process forced him to give up on that idea last year, but he never completely gave up on this idea.

There are a number of ways of looking at this. What do you actually gain by paying $12,000 to win one race? It's a legitimate question. He has pulled off some $5,000 to win races for the Modifieds in the past, which was very generous as it is. These happened at a time when we didn't have B Modifieds dividing the car count. Honestly, these days a $3,000 to win race is more than generous, and if you're looking to make a statement, make sure the guys that earned starting spots in the Main Event get paid way above average. You could make it $300 to start and $3,000 to win, and everybody who can come will show up as long as it's on a night that they can support.

The point season ends on October 5th with the Donna Soares Memorial race. $1,500 to win has been advertised for the A Modifieds. What I don't know as it's not listed is whether or not this will be a double point affair. My hope is that if it's going to be that, it's listed on the schedule immediately. I don't think it's beneficial to the cause to decide a week before the race that it's double points. Just my opinion here. It's a nice way to end the season, but John had a big-money race listed a week later with a purse to be announced. This is where it started.

In a thread in which the schedule was posted on Facebook, it was pointed out that the race would pay $12,000 to win. I don't even think anybody was asking how much that race would pay, but it was posted. Now, I have a few problems with that. I don't know that it's the time to be paying $12,000 to win with the facilities having other needs. I'm not trying to be negative. It's always nice to give the drivers more money to run for, but I think people would understand if money was invested in other things and maybe the race was $3,000 to win. But let's just say it's happening and it's a good thing and there's no reason to be critical.

The problem with making the announcement in such a way is that most tracks would carefully craft a strategy for making such an announcement. This might mean a press release, a flier listing how much the purse is going to be, what the entry fee is and taking pre-registration. You want to build up the excitement, and you want to do it right. The problem was this led to rampant speculation about what was being offered, and initial comments were more negative than positive. The biggest reason for you to make an announcement of a big paying race is to get positive comments in return, and this failed.

So I believe that the initial announcement of this race was botched. What is the race called? What is the purse? What are the rules? What is the purse for the B Modifieds that night? Some of these questions remain unanswered. I'm not necessarily against having this race, even if I do believe that funds could be put towards more useful purposes for the facility itself. But what I am saying is the rollout of this race was not handled properly for the track. Most of this stuff can be fixed in the days ahead.

I'll just be honest with you. I'm against having this race on October 11th and 12th. Why? Down in Bakersfield, they've been doing the Budweiser Nationals. This is not some race that just popped up a few years ago. This is the 34th running of this race, and it's generally taken place at the same time every year. With the Late Models now off the card down there, the Modifieds and Sport Modifieds are the top two classes on the card. Has Bakersfield done something to hurt Antioch Speedway that I'm not aware of? I don't understand the booking of this race at this time when a week later would have been perfect.

I understand the argument for this race is pretty simple. You're going to book on top of somebody every week. It can't be helped. I understand that to a point. There are certain events established throughout a year that are just there. They've been there for years, and they can be avoided. At the end of the year, I definitely understand that tracks want to have their crack at a big money show. Traditionally, the first weekend in October has been the time for Antioch to have its big show. As it is these days, the last weekend of September belongs to Watsonville and the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial Shoot Out race. The Bud Nationals in Bakersfield happens the second week of October.

Merced has been trying to establish something at the end of the year, though the date has continued to move. It's the last week of October this year. I don't think that anybody else has a legitimate established claim to the third weekend of October if Antioch wanted it. This way here, Bakersfield gets to have their traditional big show and Antioch gets a shot at those cars a week later. Otherwise, the drivers are going to be waiting for Vegas in November for their next big show.

My only motivation for saying these things is not to be critical or to slam the track. The fact that you have John stepping up and willingly advertising big money for a race like this shows that he cares enough to give the drivers something special. At a time in which he was fighting to keep the race track, he's not just opening the gates to keep a show going. He's trying to do better things. There are some big shows scattered throughout the season with the big race in October wrapping it up. There are also some key improvements being planned for the facility itself.

I recognize that morale is at an all-time low right now in Antioch, and there are people that are going to pounce on good things and find the bad in them. There are people that are going to start whisper campaigns against the track to encourage others not to support. There are people who are only going to be happy if John fails, even if he's trying to do the right thing. There are people that will look at a success that John has and call it a failure. That's where the mood has gotten. To be sure, John's not innocent in creating that mentality.

But we can either look back at the past and criticize everything and ignore anything that's good because it doesn't fit the narrative, or we can just leave the past where it is and concentrate on the future. The fact is that the gates are going to open at Antioch Speedway for 27 scheduled races, possibly more. There are some big shows on the schedule and racers are going to have the opportunity to make more good memories. I say it's a good opportunity to move on and see if we can begin to right the ship.

People are going to talk about what could be if this person or that person were there. Well, you can close your eyes and imagine pretty much anything. That's the beauty of imagination. You can play "let's pretend" or even create programs on the internet to build the fantasy you wish was real. Or, you can move on and at the next opportunity take your next shot. That's where we are right now.

Sitting up here in Oregon and watching things unfold and not being on the ground doing what I can to help is a bit frustrating. It's even worse knowing that things were happening and I had no access to the information. As I write this, I ended last weekend with severe writer's block. I literally had plans to write articles for the entire weekend and couldn't even come up with a word. Then I had a burst of creativity Monday that will lead to a pair of blog post going out, starting with this one.

It's getting closer to racing season starting at all of the venues throughout the West Coast. Up here in Oregon, we are two months away from the first race of the season, but a lot of things need to be done from a publicity standpoint. Down in Antioch, there isn't even that much time before the gates will open for the scheduled playday on March 16th. If the weather holds out, there will be another playday the next week and it just continues from there.

What I'm reminded of as I struggled during the course of the weekend is that I am sort of running low on ambition and enthusiasm for what I do in racing. What I always rely on is that once the season gets going, I'm just all in. I'm engaged in the process and only have brief moments to take a break here or there before the next story or the next race comes up. My commitment to 2019 remains, and I'll see it through from the first green flag to the last checkered flag.

I'm excited about things that have been put in place for Southern Oregon Speedway as we head into our fourth season with KJE Enterprises and Mike McCann at the helm. There will be big races for several divisions this year and some divisions are going to have an opportunity to grab the brass ring, so to speak. There are improvements planned for the facility and changes in the way the races are presented. Having Cory Penefold and his crew from Moxie Media as part of the program this year is a huge gain for the race track as they bring in their experience in hyping and publicizing the sport.

It seems to me that while we've had to struggle here and there for the first three years, some things are starting to fall into place a little easier than they have before. I'm not sure how to take that, but it's a good thing. It's taken a little bit of the pressure off of me that I've had to deal with in the past, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are still things that I need to get done, but everything that I'm seeing right now points to a better year for the track this year as the goal to continue to improve the program each year seems to still be on course. 

I look down in Yreka with interest because they have Kevin Barba as the promoter. He just got the keys to the facility on March 1st, and they have things to do to get it ready for some playdays later this month. Kevin is booking a busier schedule than the speedway has seen in recent years, and it will go all the way through October. There's a few things I'd like to see in the area of trying to develop car counts and certain divisions, but there are certain things they're working on now that should lead to more cars if they're done right.

I made mention in the last blog post that Orland Raceway has put a nice schedule together. When you're dealing with a track that doesn't have a bunch of money behind it and is your local mom-and-pop type of place, you might work on improving things a little bit each year, but you're not swinging for the bleachers. Rich Hood enters his fourth year and has brought stability back to that track. That right there is reason to be excited. He's going to keep the core divisions out there as this has been the bread and butter of the track for years, meaning Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and Mini Stocks, along with the Wingless Sprints and Micro Sprint classes.

Orland will add a few attractions to the schedule, which includes the first visits for the Winged Crate Sprint class. Along with their two visits, there will also be two B Modified visits and three appearances by the California Hardtops. The Dwarf Cars will even get a race, and I've wondered for a long time why this hasn't happened sooner.

Orland Raceway, in my opinion, is perfect for that. The Thomas Schmitke Race For A Cure, Kids Bike Night and Fan Appreciation Night continue to be staple events for the track. The Battle Of The Axles and more money on the line will close the season in October. In short, Orland Raceway is looking good.

I'd like to make a few other comments here and there on tracks more closer to my old stomping grounds, but I don't have a lot of information to go on. From what I've seen of the schedules from Petaluma Speedway and Merced Speedway, I have no reason to expect anything other than great years for both tracks. Merced should continue to be featured on the blog, and I may continue Petaluma as well as Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. I'll be busy.

It does get difficult to motivate myself to get started at the beginning of the year. I always tell myself I'll slowly work on stories so that I'm not crunched for time, but I end up doing nothing. Suddenly, I have to push more creativity out of myself in a limited amount of time. Somehow, the job gets done. It's just about time to get into the swing of things again, so I'm ready. I will continue to do what I can on the blogs and do my best to give you the coverage you've been getting since I returned to weekly racing coverage in 2015.

Before I close this column, I caught an interesting thing on Facebook. An NCMA member was on the Crate Sprint page trying to recruit drivers to this new division that the NCMA is trying to start. It really opens up a lot of opinions on this subject that I'm sure I could piss a few people off by expressing. So, why not?

I'll start with the Crate Sprints. In my opinion, this division never should have come to be. I know I'll piss some people off in Marysville by saying this, and I also know it was people from Marysville who were telling us how wrong we were when we started Spec Sprints way back in 1999. If we'd only put wings on the cars, it would be a good division. If we only got rid of the starters, it would be a good division. Whatever it was that somebody wanted that our rules didn't have.

There was a movement to go with wings, but it wasn't too vocal back then. Merced Speedway had their own Limited Sprint class for a decade, and it's only because Chuck Griffin allowed Mark Amador to take over his class that Merced stopped running it at the end of the 1998 season. Chuck had done a few things to shoot himself in the foot with that class through the years. I won't deny it had potential, but his allowance of Amador taking it to the pavement opened the door for the Sportsman division we have today. I'll call that a win.

I knew we had a winner at Antioch Speedway with Spec Sprints. Don O'Keefe Jr and I did what we could to guide it through a very turbulent first year for John. We had a great group of racers supporting it, so all of the naysayers and people who were out to hurt what we were doing ultimately had to suck on it. We made it happen for John, and he's done a good job of guiding this division for going on 21 seasons.

I knew somebody would want this class eventually, but I was blown away when it was Orland Raceway that became the first track to start its own division. Darrell Hanestad has taken heat from people. They would say he threw too much money at his car and other such nonsense. In fact, I've heard that theory put forth by somebody in recent days. Whatever. I ain't got time for the BS.

I know what an ambassador for the division Darrell was. People in the Sprint Car community respected him. He may have gone fast at Antioch, but he was also willing to help others and had a great attitude. He was also the one who lobbied the hardest to get this division added at Silver Dollar Speedway. He and legendary Promoter John Padjen would talk about this, and Darrell was insistent that this was going to happen eventually. John was just looking for the way to do it. The success we had at Tom Sagmiller's first Open Wheel Roundup at Chowchilla Speedway certainly helped in this cause.

In my humble opinion, there's not a promoter in Northern California who respected Sprint Car racing more than John Padjen. His reputation speaks for itself, and Silver Dollar Speedway simply has not been the same since he left. Look at the numbers and judge for yourself. He knew Winged 410 Sprint Cars were the ultimate. He knew the Winged 360 Sprint Cars were the heir apparent, but he didn't have to sacrifice the 410 Sprint Cars for that. He also knew what the Wingless Spec Sprint division was.

When he opened his gates to this division a few years later, he didn't say it had to be this or that. He knew what the rules were and why they were. He did what good promoters do. He promoted the class. It had the biggest races ever under his promotion. Yes, over 70 cars at one of his big events. Kyle Larson drove one of these cars. The Keading family was represented. This wasn't a joke to him. He did pretty good with the class in Chico.

The Marysville effort came along because the guys from the CSRA got things started. They were actually the next group following Orland to start this class, which is why I was urging John at Antioch to start what I called the Spec Sprint Revolution Series. The building blocks were there. This was 2003. On that little track in Sacramento, they began having Spec Sprint shows. It was gaining a foothold.

The sad fact about Sacramento was that the track owner had no appreciation for that little dirt track. It's all about drag racing there. In my humble opinion, that little race track could still be running a Friday night program and doing okay, but that's not what the owner wanted. The other thing was the Spec Sprint racers understandably wanted to run on bigger tracks. This is why they started doing the shoot out races that led to the Select Series really taking off with the NCMA at Chowchilla. This is why Marysville became an option. I believe the promoter at the time was Mel Hall, and he had been looking at this class as well according to my conversations with announcer Ron Albright.

By the time Mel got a hold of the class, he didn't want to run a club. He wanted a division at the track. Spec Sprints found another home. By then, you had several tracks in California embracing this division because of its simplicity. Much like the Sport Modifieds have come into fashion because of all the older cars that were sitting around out there and deemed uncompetitive in the Modifieds, you had an abundance of Sprint Car chassis that people felt were not competitive in the Winged 360s. This was the real time for Spec Sprint racing.

Now, at this time, Silver Dollar Speedway and Marysville Raceway we're doing okay with Spec Sprints. There was a year in there where the next Marysville promoter, Paul Hawes, didn't have a Spec Sprint point race, but otherwise the division would still be there. By the time Dennis Gage stepped in at both Chico and Marysville, the Crate Sprint division became a thing. The people wanting a wing on their Sprint Cars got their way.

I still stand by my criticism as expressed on the blog back in those days. There was no reason for this division. It simply was not needed, and I said it would serve to divide car count between the new class and Spec Sprints. Therefore, fans wouldn't see a class with double digits. They would see two divisions with half a dozen or so cars. Stupid move by the promoter in my opinion. I don't think it's something John Padjen would have done, but then John always promoted with intelligence. That seemed to be lacking after he left, or was forced out as the case may have been.

Meanwhile, the NCMA was forced to scramble for race dates after torching the bridge to Antioch Speedway. This necessitated the need in some of the leaders' minds to start racing on the pavement. They had not abandoned the dirt. That didn't happen until late in the first decade of the 2000s. Instead, they got people used to running the pavement, and they promoted a nice little series they called the Select Series to bring different groups together at certain dirt races. At some point, they gave up and said it was time to focus exclusively on pavement. It was a disappointing decision, and it led to some of the hardcore supporters finally walking away from it.

So, we arrived at the point we are now. The promoter at Chico and Marysville had to make a choice, and he decided to dump the Spec Sprint division and focus on the Crate Sprint class. Marysville is their primary home. I understand the decision, even if I didn't support the class initially. I think we need to take this time to finally see what this division can do. They don't need distractions, which is what they sort of got when the NCMA went calling on Crate Sprint drivers to take off the wings and try the pavement.

If it's going to happen for Crate Sprints, it's going to happen now. It's a nice schedule mainly at Marysville, with Chico and Orland thrown in for good measure at select dates. Plus, there are Nevada options. Let's see where this thing can go. Maybe this is the ticket.

I began getting messages from people a couple of years ago regarding the NCMA coming back to the dirt. It was on the eve of the 30th anniversary season, and quite frankly, the time was right. There were racers that wanted to try and get some dirt races, but the remainder of the NCMA frowned on the idea. They didn't want to divide their car count, which wouldn't have happened. The pavement drivers wouldn't have supported the dirt anyway.

Here's the deal. The NCMA was able to get about eight or ten pavement dates. This year, it's only five at the moment. Therefore, you have more than ten opportunities to try and get some dirt dates and racers willing to do it. Why? It's simple. The longevity of the NCMA is at stake. Nobody is saying dump the pavement. What they were saying is, if we can get some dirt races and be able to get the group a seat at the table in the Spec Sprint discussion, why shouldn't we?

The people lobbying for this to happen were those who actually understood the heart of what the Spec Sprint division is all about. It's always been about having affordable Sprint Car racing. Sort of an oxymoron, but a Spec Sprint is certainly cheaper to run than a Winged 360 Sprint Car or at least it should be. What we've had over the last half a dozen or so years is certain frontrunners pushing the envelope and trying to get rules changed so they can spend more money on horsepower and things of that nature.

Looking down the road, one can see the end of the Hunt Series as a Spec Sprint deal as they shift into Wingless 360 Sprint Car mode. Speculation is that this will happen within three years, leaving the door open for somebody to attempt to get a handle on things with a new Spec Sprint effort. There is still a market for traditional Spec Sprint racing, but it lacks leadership other than two promoters, John M Soares and Rick Faeth, who are keeping the flame alive at their respective tracks. The NCMA carries a 30 year plus history with them, and they are credible enough to take that seat at the table and help guide the ship.

I don't see it happening as long as certain people see going back to the dirt as a threat to the club. Also, I don't know if the people who were expressing interest to me a couple of years ago even want to take this on anymore. There's that question of what dates you can get, but you can get dates. In my mind, you don't shoot for the moon anyways. That is to say, you pick out a half a dozen or so races and promote them to the best of your ability. I think six dates, give or take one, are possible, and none of them would conflict with pavement. Then, the NCMA can crown dirt, pavement and overall champions again if they choose. It's a way to get new drivers in.

What you have to understand is because the Micro Sprint scene is healthy and there is still the Outlaw Kart scene, you have young drivers that are getting old enough to make the next move. Obviously, most of them went to go Sprint Car racing, but getting a competitive ride in a Winged 360 Sprint Car isn't so easy. They might have some sponsorship behind them that could put them in a competitive Spec Sprint. This division remains viable, even if tracks like Chico, Marysville and Watsonville have given up on trying to have a division of their own.

Tracks are always looking for an added attraction. Car count is a premium, and if you're telling some promoters that you can bring them a dozen or so cars, they are listening. Obviously, budget at the track is what it is, but the resourceful association promoter can bring something to the table too in terms of sponsorship. Where there is a will there is a way. So, I think the time and opportunity is still there for the NCMA to go after dirt again, rather than thinking they need to create another pavement class.

Right now, the NCMA and the Gunslinger Sprint Cars are the two options on the pavement, and both are struggling. Adding anything new is unnecessary and only divides things further. If the NCMA rules as they are are hurting the effort to build a car count on the pavement, then they need to look at their rules and ask why. It's not time to add something else. The Gunslingers are good for about ten or a dozen cars, and some of these drivers are graduates from the NCMA.

I know people will say I'm being negative, especially fans of Crate Sprints. I've never been a fan of divisionitis. That is to say, adding more and more divisions. Like when Antioch Speedway had a thriving Mini Truck division and added 4 Bangers. I questioned that. It divided the 4 Cylinder market in the area, and now neither class exists. But that's just one example as other tracks have done the same type of thing. There's always that driver that says if you will give me a class with this rule and that rule, I'll come race. A promoter relents. Next thing you know, we have a new division with six or eight cars when some of those drivers could have easily picked something else that the track had and built a car for that.

It's like Watsonville getting into Midget racing. Why? Watsonville has had open wheel racing forced on them since John Prentice became the promoter. I'm not knocking him for doing the right thing. In fact, Rick Farren should have brought Sprint Cars to Watsonville the moment San Jose Speedway closed. When John had people saying they'd bring sponsors and this and that, he would have been an absolute idiot not to do what he did. Sprint Cars do well at Watsonville.

But when we ignore the obvious Stock Car heritage of that track, we do it a disservice. It's like bringing in the San Jose Hall Of Fame Night to Watsonville when Watsonville has a Hall Of Fame of its own that needs to be restarted. It's like dropping the Tim Williamson Classic, which had a heritage going back to 1980. and it's like thinking you need to add another division and not looking at Limited Late Models or Super Stocks as the division to add. In my mind, nothing really needed to be added, but I certainly would have gone in that direction rather than Midgets.

I'm not somebody who's going to sit here and say you're blowing it. I want to see the Midgets get cars and prove me wrong. This is not a good time for Midget racing in California, and because the BCRA has struggled so much in recent years, other places are taking a look and thinking they can do it better. Thus, Watsonville and Madera now have their own deals. We shall see whether that works or not. Maybe BCRA aligning with POWRi will jump-start things?

One of the reasons you have seen an exodus from the speedway, and there are many, is because of the quality of the show. Back in the day, you might have had two divisions, but you had car count. Drivers got to qualify on the clock, run Trophy Dashes, heat races, a Semi Main and then you had the best drivers of the night in the Main Event battling for that win. It built up to something that the fans can get into. Now, you get a dozen drivers there, some of which would end up in a Semi Main if there were enough cars to put them there. Two or three drivers have a tendency to dominate some classes.

The whole process of how we got here took years. It didn't happen overnight. So, when I see us repeating the same mistakes by adding new divisions, I wonder why we haven't learned yet. It is what it is. We make the best of it. But, it gets frustrating when promoters don't stay the course with something and then throw another thing into the equation that screws it up worse. Two perfect examples are the Street Stock divisions at Antioch and Watsonville. Oh wait, neither track has them anymore. How did that happen? That would take a lot more time wriring than I need to do here.

I didn't want to drone on and on in this column, but I managed to do it yet again. So on that note, I'm going to end things. Until next time...