Monday, February 15, 2016

2015 Antioch, Merced And Chowchilla Speedway Season Reviews

First of all...

On Sale At Reduced Price




Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback



Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover


Also...

If You Like Reading Our Articles, Visit The Tip Jar at Go Fund Me to support our efforts

 DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE




 Antioch Speedway 2015 Season In Review

There were some really good moments throughout the season last year.  In fact, we can't really get into it as in depth as we would like, because it would cover enough ground to fill a book.  However, we can take a look at it, division by division, and capture some of what made it such a special year.


Busby Joins Five Timer's Club
With IMCA Modified Championship

There is one name that rises above the others in IMCA Modified history at Antioch Speedway.  That is Scott Busby.  Busby won his first Main Event in this division back in the first season in 1990.  He liked it so much that he did it another 61 times in the next 25 seasons.  This included four wins in 2015 for the man who had four championships in this division through the years.  Would this be the year he added another championship trophy to the mantel?

Promoter John M. Soares prides himself on trying different things and making big waves of excitement in racing.  For 2015, he celebrated the addition of Chowchilla Speedway into the Oval Motorsports family by holding a four race, West Coast Nationals, event in the heart of winter from January 1-4.  The first two events were the somewhat successful races at Antioch.

Some heavy hitters were in attendance, including one time champion Kellen Chadwick and four time champion Troy Foulger, who respectively won the first two races.  Foulger's win paid $2500, and suddenly, Foulger, Nick DeCarlo and Busby emerged as the favorites to win the championship.  Foulger opted to run occasionally, while DeCarlo headed to Petaluma to repeat as champion there.

So, Busby was headed for a cake walk, right?  Wrong.  Past Street Stock champion Bobby Motts Jr. emerged as a serious contender to Busby with one win and a third during the first half of the season.  He hit a road block at the Friday portion of the Summer Nationals, won by Busby ($1500), while Motts failed to transfer from the B Main.  He was never able to close in on Busby, who was always just a few positions within Motts in the one point per position IMCA format.

Busby and Motts' numbers suffered because of an IMCA invert formula that generally didn't let them start any closer than the fourth row of the Main Event.  Busby's four wins only included one other Top 3 finish in third as Motts only had the two Top 3 finishes.  Getting back to the big Saturday race in the Summer Nationals, Foulger struck again in the Bowers Racing Modified for another $2500 victory.  That was his second of three wins, and it came after a spirited duel with Bobby Hogge IV.

One thing about Hogge is that you can't keep him down for long.  The three time Antioch Modified champion backed up the strong second to Foulger that night by winning the last two races of the season.  Once again, he pocketed the big money in the Delta Valley Classic.

Carl Berendsen II was following up his championship season in a car he purchased from Aaron Crowell.  He was hoping for his first win and came close twice before being spun out on both occasions.  In addition to being a heat winner, Carl finished as high as one second and one third.  Berendsen ranked third in the standings.  Back, to Crowell, some bad luck in the Summer Nationals put him up front for future Main Event inverts.  He responded with back to back wins, but a bid for three in a row was thwarted by DeCarlo's back of the pack drive to victory.

The teaming of car owner Jim Reid and Shawn DeForest produced a fourth place ranking on the strength of a win and a second.  Alex Wilson won the IMCA State championship and would rank fifth in the Antioch standings with a second and a third.  Not too far behind him with three seconds and a win was his brother Kyle Wilson.

Other notable finishes included a win for Jeff Thomas, one second each for many time Petaluma champion Michael Paul Jr., Brian Cass, Paul Stone and Terry Kaiser and thirds for Sean O'Gara, Oreste Gonella, Nick Viscusi III, Darrell Hughes II, Chester Kniss and Duane Cleveland.  Gonella, another Petaluma champion, did it twice.


Ryland Dominates For IMCA Sport Mod Championship

When you're a Top 5 driver in IMCA Sport Mod National points, you are a force wherever you race.  Fred Ryland has been a winner in every division in which he has competed.  Only one driver came anywhere near him in points last season, Keith Brown Jr., and he fell by the wayside down the stretch.  With eight wins, three seconds and two thirds, Ryland was head and shoulders above the rest as the champion.  Highlights included extra money wins on the Saturday portion of the Summer Nationals and the season finale Delta Valley Classic.

Al Johnson didn't have flashy numbers, but he was there about every week and had multiple heat wins.  Johnson's high water mark was a pair of third pace finishes to end the season.  Closing in fast before settling for third was the division's top rookie and wife of the champion, Patti Ryland.  Patti had a habit of winning heat races, but she also earned one feature win to go with her division leading four seconds and one third.

Chuck Golden and Paul Mulder rounded out the Top 5 in points.  Mulder had been in contention for second before missing some races, but he did grab one victory and three thirds.  Golden earned one season high second place finish.

Merced drivers dropped by for a few victories.  Bruce "Bubba" Nelson won the January opener, while past Antioch champion Jeremy Hoff grabbed the big $1750 win a night later.  In the opening night of the Summer Nationals, Merced ace Darren Thomas grabbed the victory.  Speaking of wins, Watsoville star Anthony Giuliani collected four wins as one of the hottest drivers down the stretch.

Trevor Clymens made his division debut and was a feature winner and a one time second place finisher.  Steering issues resulted in a late spin, or he may have had two wins.  Marysville racer Jason Ferguson was a surprise feature winner during the Summer stretch, while Marysville Mini Stock champion Jimmy Ford returned to his Antioch roots for a second place finish.

Not to be denied, two time Limited Late Model champion and long time Antioch racer Ron Brown drove his beautiful #3 car to three second place finishes.  Keith Brown Jr. had one second place finish and three thirds.  Al Sotomayor and Watsonville champion Matt Hagio each had one second, while season best thirds were earned by Rick Diaz, Megan Ponciano and K.C. Keller.


Oreta Rises Above The Competition 
For Hobby Stock Three Peat

When the season started for the Hobby Stocks, the consistent Kimo Oreta had his sights set on a third straight championship.  He faced two tough challengers in past champion Melissa Myers and the much improved Nick Baldwin.  The controversy over rules greatly effected this battle as these three hard chargers shot out of the gate like a cannon and were all early feature winners.

Myers had three wins early on as the point leader.  After she dropped out of the battle, she returned later for a third place finish.  When she dropped out, Baldwin showed no signs of slacking off.  Baldwin won the second race and was third in three of the first four races.  However, the rules issue reared its ugly head, and Baldwin ended the season in Placerville, where he ranked Top 10 despite a late start with one feature win.

This left Oreta, and the reality is that it would have been difficult to beat him regardless.  He had one of his eight wins during the first seven races to go with the three seconds he had in the first seven races.  Oreta had four seconds and five thirds to give him an amazing 17 top 3 finishes in 23 starts.  That gave him the championship by over 200 points, and he ends his Hobby Stock career as the all time feature win leader in division history.

The battle for second pitted hard luck racer Danny Jones against the brother in law duo of Michael Cooper and Jordan Swank.  With much more experience, Jones racked up a division leading seven second place finishes, but a plethora of problems always struck whenever he got a whiff of victory.  That would drop him to a disappointing fifth in the standings.

Cooper appeared to be the driver to beat in the second place battle when Jones faltered, but work and car problems ended that.  Despite that, he was a heat winner during the season and earned his season high second place finish ahead of Melissa Myers.  Swank was making laps at the back as the Mini Stock graduate gradually learned the ropes, got faster as the season progressed and also became a heat race winner.  Jordan also had a second place finish, and two of his three third place finishes happened in the final four races to propel him to a solid second place ranking.

Meanwhile, the steady Frank Furtado may not have had a Top 3, but he had multiple Top 5 finishes to slip past Cooper at the end of the season for third in the standings.  Cooper had a shot at second in the finale, but his blown motor in preliminary action ended his evening prematurely.  He nonetheless had a career best fourth place ranking ahead of Jones.

Kevin Joaquin would have to be classified at the Oval Motorsports Series champion.  He made three appearances at Antioch down the stretch and won all three races.  Kevin won three races each at all three tracks as well as winning the Merced and Chowchilla titles.  Past champion Chris Sorensen returned and was Top 10 ranked on the strength of two wins and one second.  One of those wins came in a "race of the year" worthy performance ahead of Jim Robbins and Oreta.

Jason Jennings was Top 10 ranked for a while and had one win each in his car and his brother's car before motor problems ended his season early.  Chase Templeton returned in the former Patti Ryland car and grabbed a win, as did past champion Dan McCown and Chico visitors Todd Cooper and Brian Cooper.

Not to be forgotten in the mix was sixth ranked Natalie Perry in her beautiful #40 car.  In addition to grabbing a heat win, she had a few Top 5's, including a season best third place finish.  Other notable finishes included season best second place finishes for Jeremy Jennings, Merced ace George Silva, Placerville visitor Jay Bryant and Chris Long in the former Bob Ackerman car.  Steven Rogers, Calvin Louis Jr., Brent Curran and Robert Niven each had one third place finish as did Long.


At 86 Years Old, Damitz Still The Class Of 
The Limited Late Model Field

When the Limited Late Models ran their first race on January 1st, defending champion Larry Damitz showed no signs of slowing down.  The 86 year old veteran of over 60 years of racing won his first of eight races that night.  In fact, he had three second place finishes and two thirds and only missed a Top 3 finish once in 14 races, due to motor issues that forced him to just take the green that night.

With Damitz winning his fourth championship in the last five seasons, the battle was for second, and it was a three car race between division all time winner Mike Gustafson, Mark Garner and 2014 runner up Mike Hynes.  After runner up finishes in two of the first three races, Hynes struggled a bit, but he had two more seconds later in the season and a big win down the stretch to retain his runner up status.

It was a difficult season for third generation racer Garner, who cherished every moment with his legendary father, Jerry "The Maverick" Garner.  Jerry only had a short time remaining, but Mark collected his two feature wins with his dad watching and led the class in heat race triumphs.  He also had one second and one third, which enabled Mark to earn an Antioch career best third place ranking.  Fourth ranked Gustafson, meanwhile, managed to add three wins to his career totals as well as two seconds.

With all of the wins going to the Top 4 drivers, though Eric Berendsen did cross the line first one night in a slower car, only to be disqualified in tech, there were still a few other notable accomplishments.  Season best second place finishes were collected by Paul Hanley, Lori Brown and the truck of Ryan Cherezian.  2013 champion Jim Freethy topped this group with three seconds to cement fifth in the standings.  John Keith, the steady John Evans and Jay Bryant each had one third.


Perseverance Pays Of For Decker In DIRTcar Late Models

Richard Papenhausen was a dominant force in DIRTcar Late Models.  It seemed a foregone conclusion that the track and Regional titles would be his.  He won an impressive seven Main Events along with two seconds and two thirds.  However, there was one driver shadowing him all season long, and that was Jeff Decker.

Decker actually led the field in seconds with seven, while winning twice and earning one third.  Decker was leading the standings when Papenhausen was involved in a crash on the second to last week.  Track procedures disallowed his return to the race after work was done on his car in the infield as the tow truck left his car there.  The crew threw a wheel and jack over the fence to make it possible for him to pit.  That may not have ultimately mattered, but it would have been closer going into the finale.  Decker ran a great season and earned the championship, while Papenhausen was a disappointed second.

Likewise, rookie Danny Malfatti and David Newquist had a season long battle for third.   With one third place finish, Newquist had the position until Malfatti collected his season best second with one race to go.  Malfatti ended up third with Newquist settling for fourth.  Chester Kniss stepped up his game a bit in his sophomore season, and his season best third place finish helped earned him fifth in points.

Paul Guglielmoni had one of the best wins of the season ahead of Decker, while Foulger grabbed his first two wins in this division to go with two thirds and a $100 Dash For Cash win.  Bobby Hogge IV grabbed the big $2000 win during the Summer Nationals with a dominating effort, while past champion Andy Obertello won a thrilling three car duel with Hogge and Papenhausen to win the finale.

Anthony Restad turned in one of the better Crate Late Model efforts with two seconds and a third in a four race span.  Guglielmoni teammate Randy Shafer had one second and one third, while Duane Cleveland had a pair of thirds.  Guglielmoni also had two thirds.


Teves Father-Son Duo Goes 1-2 in Dwarf Cars

Danny Wagner came into the season as the back to back champion of the Dwarf Car division.  Out of the gate, the man they call "Captain Chaos" won three races and earned three seconds in his first seven races, but he wasn't putting too much distance between he and the father-son duo of David and Adam Teves.

David started the season with a second and three thirds.  When he switched to the new car, David went on a tear that grabbed him the point lead with eight straight Top 3's.  At the height of it all, David grabbed four of his five wins in a row and seemed unbeatable.  He had two seconds and three thirds as he went on to his first championship.

Meanwhile, Adam Teves had his best season yet with two wins of his own to go with two seconds and two thirds.  This gave Adam second in the standings as Wagner skipped some races and ended up third.  Wagner's totals included four wins, four seconds and two thirds.

Mike Corsaro had two wins, including one very dominant performance.  He also had two seconds and three thirds to grab fourth in points ahead of Kevin Miraglio.  Miraglio came on strong late in the season with four thirds in the last seven races as he seems poised for a breakout year in 2016.

Matt Sargent won the Dwarf Car show on the final World Of Outlaws visit of the season.  Jack Haverty also had a win, but a hard crash and a violent tumble made this a season he'd rather forget.  Other notable finishes included a second and a third for Thomas Leiby and one second each for Travis Dutra, Pat Urdahl and Josh Miller.


Arriaga Grabs Winged 360 Sprint Car Crown

The track continued its commitment to building a Winged 360 Sprint Car division, and Art McCarthy and Shawn Arriaga were two drivers to get on board in a big way.  McCarthy won the opener and the closer, and he had two seconds in the first four races to get the early lead.  However, as McCarthy stumbled, Arriaga got consistent.  The third generation racer used two wins and three seconds to win the championship.  His win in the second to last race made the title pretty much his going into the finale.

Another second generation racer, Jake Haulot, made it three drivers with two wins.  Haulot also had a second and a third to have a good hold on third in the standings.  Defending champion Chris Magoon had a second at the opener, but it was all down hill from there. Dan Gonderman had a season best second, and what looked to be a victory in the finale ended as he was taken out in a crash with a slower car on the back stretch.  Gonderman would finish fourth in the standings ahead of Magoon.

Multi time Petaluma champion and third generation racer Alissa Geving had an impressive win early in the season with young Austin Liggett also a winner.  Other season best efforts included seconds for Justin Sanders, Eric Humphries and Robby McMahon and third place finishes for Dustin Golobic, Kurt Nelson and Jeremy Burt.


Bakkie Goes The Distance For Spec Sprint Title

There were five drivers who started the Wingless Spec Sprint season going for points even after the rule changes had effected car count.  Kyle Bakkie and division veteran Rick Panfli were the two who seemed the most committed, but a rookie named Marcus Smith, Alan Miranda and Ryon Siverling were also early contenders.  Roy Fisher grabbed a pair of early wins, but his plans were never to race for points.

Bakkie and Panfili started strong with three straight Top 3 finishes, but Bakkie had enough of an advantage that even a mid season flip that left him struggling for a couple races could not stop him.  Bakkie won an impressive four features and had four seconds and two thirds to bring home a well earned championship.

Panfili's back to back thirds were the best finishes of his 20 year career, but he took it up a notch with two second place finishes and his first heat win.  He held second until the finale, when Smith used his third second place finish to pass him for second in points and win top rookie honors as well.  Smith also had two thirds.  Panfili can still be proud that his second straight third place season was his best effort ever and "Most Improved Driver" worthy.

Miranda, meanwhile, had the heartbreak of the year as he led 19 and a half laps before the second place driver made an aggressive move in the final turn that sent both drivers spinning.  He was also a member of the rollover club.  On the positive side, he had one second and one third place finish.  Despite a late start, past champion Jimmy Perry III had four wins and one third to rank fifth in the standings.

Jeff Lee and two time champion "Bullett" Billy Macedo each had two feature wins, while James East was also a feature winner.  Siverling was in contention early on the strength of his one second place finish.  Jeremy Newberry had a second and a third as his best efforts, while Brian Azevedo, Al Ghiorso and past champion Jim Perry Jr. each had one third.  Division original Keith Shipherd closed the season with a third and a fourth before announcing his retirement.


2015 Merced Speedway Season In Review

This would be the sixth and final season for Merced Speedway under the Oval Motorsports banner.  After a bumpy mid season that saw race days changed from Saturday to Sunday, things ended on a strong note, particularly with the Hobby Stock division.  Oval Motorsport's crowning achievements will always be saving the track from closure in 2010 and much needed track improvements that made the racing surface much safer.


Alex Wilson Hits Stride In 
IMCA Modified Championship Season

It was a three car battle for the IMCA Modified championship throughout the first half of the season between IMCA State champion Alex Wilson, Bill Egleston and the surprising John MacDougall.  MacDougall made the decision to race for the championship after winning the second race of the season, and he would lead the battle for several weeks as he collected a second and a third along the way.  Past champion Egleston was in the hunt with two seconds and a third early on.

Alex Wilson may have been the one racing for points, but it was his brother Kyle Wilson making the most noise with his wins early on.  Then, MacDougall crashed at Petaluma and bent his frame in the process, ending a season in which he was leading the points at Merced.  Egleston never really hit stride, but Alex Wilson put things together in a big way as the season wore on.   With four wins, three seconds and two thirds, Alex pulled away to a well deserved championship.

As Egleston missed some races, second generation racer Ricky Thatcher found himself in second.  Thatcher was a heat race winner and had two third place finishes, but it was late starter Kyle Wilson closing in fast.  As Kyle won three races to go with two seconds and three thirds, the season would end with K. Wilson and Thatcher tied for second.  Egleston and two time champion Bob Williamson rounded out the Top 5 in points.  Williamson had one second place finish as his best effort.

Ryan Porter turned in perhaps the win of the season with a victory ahead of the always fast Bobby Hogge IV.  Porter had two wins and three seconds for a solid Top 10 season.  Les Fiend was a surprise winner, and 2014 champion Paul Stone had two wins, one driving for Jack Mounce.   Karl Rose and Troy Foulger were also feature winners.  It was Duane Cleveland opening the season with a $2500 win in the West Coast Nationals and Hogge closing it with a $2000 win in the Delta Valley Classic.

Season best second place finishes were turned in by Kellen Chadwick, Randy Brown, Mike Villanueva and Ethan Dotson.  Tom Berry, Joel Myers, Michael Shearer, Dereck Colvin, past Hanford champion Jimmy Reeves and past Merced champion Ramie Stone each had one third place finish.


Rookie Season For Henlsey Nets Him IMCA Sport Mod Title

There was a bit of unrest in the air at Merced Speedway going into the season, and nowhere was that more evident than the IMCA Sport Mod division.  Racers were not happy that Doug Williams was no longer the track's GM as he had treated them well.  Therefore, some of the biggest names in the class did not race for points and car count took a hit.

Josh Hensley came into the season with an old car and the hopes of winning top rookie honors.  Midway through the season, he switched cars and won two races to go with one second and two thirds.  Josh made every race and earned a much deserved championship.

State champion Fred Ryland opened the season with a $1750 win in the West Coast Nationals in January.  That was his first of a division leading seven wins to go with two seconds.  Ryland might have ended up second in the standings, but he opted to race elsewhere a few times instead of Merced.

The battle for second ended up being a good one between Dwayne Short and Mark Odgers.  Odgers decided later in the game to go for second, and he had to cut Short's lead of over 30 points.  After the finale, Odgers managed to overtake Short for runner up honors.  Odgers had one win, four seconds and two thirds, while Short had two thirds.

Two time winner Gary Tucker managed to pass Ryland for fourth in points while Bruce "Bubba" Nelson grabbed sixth with three wins of his own.  2014 champion Rick Diaz was a four time winner, while Nick Spainhoward, Jeremy Hoff, Garrett Jernagen and Chris Falkenberg also had feature wins.

Other notable finishes included two second place finishes for past champion Shawn Bryant and two for Keith Brown Jr.  D.C. Brown and Jarred Tickel each had one.  A long list of drivers with third place finishes included past champion Neill Barcellos, Josh Gish, Mark Squadrito, John Fore Jr., Matt Hagio, Tim Cecil, Jason Nation and Kelly Wilkinson.  Gish actually had two seconds.  Two young second generation racers, Chase Thomas and Nick Tucker, both made their division debuts and had Top 5 finishes during the season.


Joaquin Stakes Claim On Hobby Stock Championship

There were just two drivers who appeared to be competing for a title, and one of them was three time winner Kristie Shearer.  Shearer also had three seconds and a third, but it was another three time winner running even stronger as Shearer faded.  That would be third year competitor Kevin Joaquin

Kevin was generally one of the cleaner racers out there.  He might get caught up in a wreck here or there, but he was back running strong the next week.  With three feature wins to go with another division leading seven second place finishes and two thirds, Joaquin won the championship by a wide margin.

The other big story of the Hobby Stocks was an incredible 16 different winners in 23 races.  The race that everybody wanted to win, the 89 lap Ted Stofle Classic, went to Michael Shearer ahead of his wife Kristie and Syd Finn.

Joining K. Shearer and Joaquin as repeat winners were two time winners Austin Van Hoff, past champion Ryan Hart and 15 year old Cody Parker.  With two wins, one second and three thirds, Van Hoff would finish third in the standings.  Rookie Dexter Long made a steady charge after a rough start to finish fourth in points ahead of K. Shearer as Long had one season high second place finish.  Not to be forgotten in her rookie season was second ranked racer Jennifer Corder.  Corder had four third place finishes during the season.

Other drivers on the winner's list included Joe Willoughby, Mini Stock ace Darren Miguel in the Josh Hensley car, Shannon Nelson, Gary Hildebrand, Marc Key, Kodie Dean and Chris Mayer.  Ty Shelton had two seconds in the first three races, and William Kennedy, Jill Merlin, Travis Avilla, George Silva, Robbie Loquaci and Andrew Krumm each had one second place finish.

Syd Finn's season best third place finish came in the Stofle Classic, which he led for several laps.  Other thirds were earned by Jake Jones, Chris Brown, Dwayne Short, Josh Hensley, Jeff Lacy and Phil Vaughn.


Miguel Outduels Corder For Mini Stock Honors

The closest battle at the track was between defending champion Chris Corder and the dominant Darren Miguel for the Mini Stock title.  Corder had a good start, and the low car count worked in his favor when Miguel went on a roll with six of his wins in a seven race span.  Eventually, Miguel overtook Corder as he continued to run strong with 11 wins, two seconds and one third.

After Miguel passed Corder in the standings, Corder bought the car of past champion Alex Odishoo, inheriting that car's problem of a persistent engine miss that would start about five laps from the finish.  Corder dialed things in and would win before switching cars again before the end of the season.  Corder didn't start winning until six races remained and would win four of those races to go with nine seconds and three thirds.  Despite a strong finish, Corder fell two points short of the new champion, Miguel.

Dennis Copus had his sights set on third in points until the track switched to Sundays and he had to work.  However, he made appearances in the last two races to claim third in points ahead of rookie Natalie Waldrop and Kelly Campanile.  Copus had one season best second place finish, while Waldrop had two thirds and Campanile had two seconds and a third to go with multiple heat race wins.

Kevin Lockerby struggled to get his car, nicknamed Sandy, up to speed, but he was in the hunt early on before missing some races.  Lockerby had one win and two thirds.  Dan McCabe and Robert Alger each had one win.  McCabe, a past Mini Stock champion, also had two seconds.  Other notable finishes included one second each for George "Speedy" Davis and Mike Germait and third place finishes for Mat Schlessinger, Mike Congdon, Alex Odishoo, Joy Alger, James Stockton and Jason Womack.  Germait and J. Alger each had two third place finishes, but a blown motor dropped Alger from the third place point battle midway through the season.


Garner's Limited Late Model Title Was All For A Reason

Though Mark Garner's legendary father, Jerry "The Maverick" Garner, was the 1969 State Stock Car champion, he never won a track championship.  Mark set his sights on winning the Merced championship for his ailing father.  Four of his six wins came in the first five races as well as his one second.  With several heat wins to boot, there was never a doubt that Garner would win it all.

Scott Van Gelder was shooting for second in points and had a second and a third place finish.  Unfortunately, he was injured in a heat race crash with rival Buddy Thatcher and would fall to fourth in the standings.  Thatcher used two seconds and two thirds to claim second in points.  Two time champion Roy Hart Jr. had two wins and one second to earn third in the standings.

Mike Hynes made a lone appearance and would win that race.  Other notables included a career best second and a third for fifth ranked Peggy Sue Jarred and seconds for Paul Hanley and Jeff Kendrick.  John Evans had a pair of third place finishes.


Drake Drives To Dwarf Car Title

Oval Motorsports decided during the season to try to establish a Dwarf Car division, and Mike Drake threw his hat into the ring immediately.  A rookie with the NCDCA, Drake won three times, finished second twice and third once in the seven races.  He easily won the title ahead of Chuck Weir and rookie Buddy Kniss.  Weir had two second place finishes, while Kniss had one third.

With $1000 on the line in a special fair race, Dwarf Car ace Shawn Jones collected a win ahead of Danny Wagner and Adam Teves.  Past NCDCA champion Ryan Winter and Mike Corsaro were also feature winners.  Corsaro holds the distinction of winning Dwarf Car features at all three Oval Motorsports tracks as he won the lone Chowchilla race.  Corsaro crossed the line first in the first Merced race, only to be disqualified for not going to tech.  Buddy Olschowka had a second place finish, while Chris Kenner, Brian Gray and Lyonel Francis each had one third.


Lung The Unofficial Sportsman Champion

Disappointed with car count, Oval Motorsports pulled the Sportsman point race during the season and did not honor a champion for the eight race series, making this the first year since the class restarted in 1999 in which a champion was not crowned.  With five wins, a second and a third in his seven starts, Lung would have been the champion ahead of two time runner up Kenny Birdsong.  One time winner Jeff Bristow ranked third.  Eric Sealy won two features, including the Legend's Night race, to hold down fourth in points.  Fifth ranked Mike Palmberg had two seconds and two thirds, while Mark Odgers had a third in his one start.



2015 Chowchilla Speedway Season Review

Oval Motorsports added another track to its ranks last season with Chowchilla Speedway.  Though it only lasted a year, the record books will show that champions were crowned in four divisions, and the track opened in January with the big money West Coast Nationals event.  It also meant that every year since the track opened in 2000, there has been at least one race.  Management made the decision to end the point season two races early after moving Merced to Sunday afternoons, which had been Chowchilla's time to race.


Luukkonen Surprises As IMCA Modified Champion

Though Danny Luukkonen is a past Chowchilla Modified Mini Stock champion, it's not likely that he thought he would win the IMCA Modified championship when the season started.  Ryan McDaniel picked up the $2000 win in the West Coast Nationals opener, and Billy Wilker was second in the next race to take the point lead.  After running one more race, Wilker bowed out.  At that point, Santa Maria champion Josh Vogt was in the midst of a three race winning streak and taking the point lead.

Miscommunication in the pits led to Vogt not being able to return after a pit stop during the fifth event.  He was then forced to choose between a rare Saturday at Chowchilla or the more competitive battle at Santa Maria.  He chose his home track, believing there would be three more races for him to reel in a lead of about 18 points for Luukkonen.  Luukkonen didn't get a Top 3 that night or at any point in the season, but the seventh race was declared the final race by Oval Motorsports.  Vogt had his lone second place finish that day, but it was not enough for him to regain the lead from new champion Luukkonen.

Another Southern California sensation, Cody Laney, grabbed a pair of victories, while Tim Clark debuted a new car with a win of his own.  Laney also had a second place finish in the big January race, and season high seconds were also earned by Karl Rose, Bill Egleston, Troy Foulger and Harley Turner.  Turner also had a third, while fourth ranked Kyle Wilson had two thirds.  Third ranked Ray Mayer, Paul Stone, Jeff Streeter and Robby Sawyer also had third place finishes.


Ryland Dominates For Chowchilla 
IMCA Sport Mod Championship

Only one driver came anywhere near Fred Ryland in IMCA Sport Mod points, and that was Keith Brown Jr.  However, with Ryland winning six times and finishing third once, it was a futile endeavor.  Ryland won the $1500 West Coast Nationals in January as he went on to Chowchilla and State championships.

Brown did manage to break through for his lone win of the season and had a second place finish late in the season as he settled for second in points.  Josh Hensley's rookie season saw him get a win as he ranked third ahead of Marisa Odgers and Nastasia Dodd.  Both Odgers and Dodd did have top 5 finishes.

Other notables include three seconds and a third for Rick Diaz and second place finishes for Patti Ryland, Eric Rose and Oregon visitor Jorddon Braaten.  Wayne Dotson, Chris Falkenberg, Paul Mulder, Jeremy Hoff and Billy Simkins each had a third place finish.  Josh Gish had a third place finish and ranked third after a few races before he fell out of the action.


Joaquin Rises To Occasion For Hobby Stock Crown

Kevin Joaquin came into the year hoping to win two Hobby Stock track championships, and his back to back wins to start the season left little doubt that he would do it at Chowchilla.  Kevin had three wins and three seconds, and it might have been four if not for a mistake that cost him a win.  Local favorite Austin Van Hoff had a pair of second place finishes to keep a good hold on second in points ahead of fellow Chowchilla resident Kodie Dean, Gary Hildebrand and rookie Bobby Williams.  Hildebrand had one second and two thirds, while Williams had two thirds.

Bruce "Bubba" Nelson jumped into the Kristie Shearer car for back to back wins during the season and then piloted Michael Shearer's car to a third win to close the season.  Joe Willoughby grabbed a win, and George Silva used Joaquin's Turn 4 mistake to win a Main Event.  Michael Shearer had two second place finishes, and season best thirds were earned by Dexter Long, Robbie Loquaci, Alvin Ince and Syd Finn.


Corder Conquers Chowchilla Mini Stocks

With a win in January to start things out, Chris Corder was firmly established as the driver to beat in the Mini Stock ranks.  Corder won four times and had a second and a third to cruise to the track championship, further highlighted by a sweep of heat, dash and feature at the end of the season.

Mike Congdon out lasted Alex Odishoo for second in the standings.  Odishoo struggled to finally get a feature win and two thirds before selling his car to Corder.    Congdon had two seconds, but his season highlight had to be when he showed up and ran with and beat a couple of Hobby Stocks.

Merced champion Darren Miguel won two Main Events, and 2014 Antioch champion Brent Curran was also a winner on one occasion.  Other notables include a pair of seconds for Jadon Harrington and one second each for Robert Huckaby Jr., Brian Widdowson and James Stockton.  Justin McPherson, Joy Alger and Mike Germait each had one third.


Final 2015 Antioch Speedway Top 10

Late Models

Jeff Decker 920
Richard Papenhausen 895
Danny Malfatti 729
David Newquist 695
Chester Kniss 531
Paul Guglielmoni 514
Rob Norris 467
Troy Foulger 465
Dennis Souza 438
Terry Kuntz 360

IMCA Modifieds

Scott Busby 553
Bobby Motts 536
Carl Berendsen II 436
Shawn DeForest 357
Alex Wilson 321
Kyle Wilson 284
Troy Foulger 255
Kellen Chadwick 255
Nick Viscusi III 245
Nick DeCarlo 226

Winged 360 Sprints

Shawn Arriaga 390
Art McCarthy 374
Jake Haulot 332
Dan Gonderman 280
Chris Magoon 264
Ricky Brophy 172
Jeremy Burt 132
Chase Wood 130
Brandon Powell 112
Dustin Golobic 86

Limited Late Models

Larry Damitz 726
Mike Hynes 656
Mark Garner 650
Mike Gustafson 648
Jim Freethy 600
John Evans 437
Lori Brown 357
John Keith 213
Ryan Cherezian 206
Paul Hanley CA 166

IMCA Sport Mod

Fred Ryland 643
Al Johnson 578
Patti Ryland 532
Chuck Golden 531
Paul Mulder 492
K.C. Keller 440
Al Sotomayor 376
Anthony Giuliani 360
Trevor Clymens 334
Ron Brown 298

Hobby Stocks

Kimo Oreta 1150
Jordan Swank 843
Frank Furtado 806
Michael Cooper 802
Danny Jones 792
Natalie Perry 642
Robert Niven 573
Cameron Swank 433
Chris Sorenson 430
Russell Shearer 402

Wingless Spec Sprints

Kyle Bakkie 730
Marcus Smith 650
Rick Panfili 632
Alan Miranda 592
Jim Perry III 506
Roy Fisher 464
James East 405
Chase Wood Jr. 332
Jeremy Newberry 272
Peter Carlotto 196

Dwarf Cars

David Teves 686
Adam Teves 628
Danny Wagner 584
Mike Corsaro 564
Kevin Miraglio 558
Miranda Chappa 464
Tim Reeder 412
Brian Gray 412
Thomas Leiby 345
Jerry Doty 314


Final 2015 Merced Speedway Standings

IMCA Modifieds

Alex Wilson 694
Kyle Wilson 567
Ricky Thatcher 567
Bill Egleston 516
Bob Williamson 399
Ryan Porter 326
Paul Stone 322
John MacDougall 321
Karl Rose 232
John Osgood III 218

IMCA Sport Mods

Josh Hensley 799
Mark Odgers 646
Dwayne Short 637
Gary Tucker 531
Fred Ryland 512
Bruce Nelson 445
Keith Brown Jr 275
Jeremy Hoff 271
Nick Tucker 242
Tim Cecil 228

Hobby Stocks

Kevin Joaquin 952
Jennifer Corder 782
Austin Van Hoff 678
Dexter Long 560
Kristie Shearer 544
George Silva 465
Shannon Nelson 396
Ty Shelton 361
Bobby Williams 311
Cody Parker 278

Limited Late Models

Mark Garner 484
Buddy Thatcher 298
Roy Hart Jr 250
Scott VanGelder 189
Peggy Sue Jarred 144
John Evans 132
Donny Richardson 130
Jeff Kendrick 94
Mike Hynes 54
Paul Hanley 48

Mini Stocks

Darren Miguel 932
Chris Corder 930
Dennis Copus 393
Natalie Waldrop 388
Kelly Campanile 384
Kevin Lockerby 323
Mike Germait 268
Joy Alger 264
Steve Johnson 254
Jennifer Corder 219

Dwarf Cars

Mike Drake 352
Chuck Weir 264
Chet Kniss 132
Tim Reeder 116
Danny Wagner 108
Mike Corsaro 104
Alan Heeney 90
Thomas Leiby 76
Brian Gray 72
Charlie Correia 72

Valley Sportsman

Marcus Lung 374
Kenny Birdsong 284
Jeff Bristow 272
Eric Sealy 216
Mike Palmberg 204
Chris Birdsong 96
Mark Odgers 46
Mike Friesen 44


Final 2015 Chowchilla Speedway Standings

IMCA Modifieds

Daniel Luukkonen 196
Josh Vogt 181
Ray Mayer 169
Kyle Wilson 127
Alex Wilson 99
Billy Wilker 98
Troy Foulger 92
Paul Stone 75
Cody Laney 75
Michael Shearer 71

IMCA Sport Mods

Fred Ryland 304
Keith Brown 247
Josh Hensley 235
Marisa Odgers 234
Nastasha Dodd 233
Patti Ryland 133
Josh Gish 122
Rick Diaz 110
Chris Falkenberg 104
Eric Rose 102

Hobby Stocks

Kevin Joaquin 354
Austin Van Hoff 308
Kode Dean 216
Gary Hildebrand 181
Bobby Williams 136
Dexter Long 121
Robbie Loquaci 106
Bruce Nelson 104
Michael Shearer 96
George Silva 92

Mini Stocks

Chris Corder 354
Mike Congdon 272
Alex Odishoo 236
Darren Miguel 152
Jadon Harrington 102
Brian Widdowson 98
Jennifer Corder 78
Joy Alger 78
Bobby Huckaby Jr. 52
Brent Curran 52


2015 Main Event Podiums

Antioch Speedway

IMCA Modifieds

1  Kellen Chadwick, Troy Foulger, Nick DeCarlo
2  Troy Foulger, Nick DeCarlo, Kellen Chadwick
3  Scott Busby, Nick DeCarlo, Sean Ogara
4  Troy Foulger, Michael Paul Jr., Oreste Gonella
5  Bobby Motts Jr., Mike Salazar, Carl Berendsen II
6  Scott Busby, Troy Foulger, Alex Wilson
7  Jeff Thomas, Kyle Wilson, Scott Busby
8  Scott Busby, Kyle Wilson, Bobby Motts Jr.
9  Kyle Wilson, Carl Berendsen II, Nick Viscusi III
10  Scott Busby, Ryan McDaniel, Randy McDaniel
11  Troy Foulger, Bobby Hogge IV, Randy McDaniel
12  Shawn DeForest, Kyle Wilson, Michael Paul Jr.
13  Aaron Crowell, Terry Kaiser, Nick Viscusi III
14  Aaron Crowell, Alex Wilson, Darrell Hughes II
15  Nick DeCarlo, Shawn DeForest, Oreste Gonella
16  Bobby Hogge IV, Brian Cass, Chester Kniss
17  Bobby Hogge IV, Paul Stone, Duane Cleveland

IMCA Sport Mods

1  Bruce Nelson, Jeremy Hoff, Keith Brown Jr.
2  Jeremy Hoff, Fred Ryland, Bruce Nelson
3  Fred Ryland, Al Sotolmayor, Paul Mulder
4  Fred Ryland, Jimmy Ford, Keith Brown Jr.
5  Patti Ryland, Ron Brown, Keith Brown Jr.
6  Fred Ryland, Chuck Golden, Paul Mulder
7  Fred Ryland, Ron Brown, Patti Ryland
8  Paul Mulder, Fred Ryland, Matt Hagio
9  Fred Ryland, Keith Brown Jr., Jeremy Hoff
10  Darren Thomas, Fred Ryland, Brian Cooper
11  Fred Ryland, Trevor Clymens, Anthony Giuliani
12  Anthony Giuliani, Patti Ryland, Paul Mulder
13  Jason Fergersun, Ron Brown, K.C. Keller
14  Anthony Giuliani, Jeremy Hoff, Megan Ponciano
15  Anthony Giuliani, Patti Ryland, Fred Ryland
16  Trevor Clymens, Anthony Giuliani, Rick Diaz
17  Anthony Giuliani, Patti Ryland, Trevor Clymens
18  Fred Ryland, Patti Ryland, Al Johnson
19  Fred Ryland, Matt Hagio, Al Johnson

Limited Late Models

1  Larry Damitz, Mike Hynes, John Keith
2  Mark Garner, Larry Damitz, Mike Hynes
3  Larry Damitz, Mike Hynes, Lori Brown
4  Mike Gustafson, Larry Damitz, Lori Brown
5  Larry Damitz, Mark Garner, Jim Freethy
6  Mike Gusafson, Jim Feethy, Larry Damitz
7  Larry Damitz, Paul Hanley, John Evans
8  Larry Damitz, Jim Freethy, Mike Hynes
9  Mark Garner, Larry Damitz, Mike Gustafson
10  Larry Damitz, Mike Hynes, Mike Gustafson
11  Mike Hynes, Jim Freethy, Larry Damitz
12  Mike Gustafsoon, Mike Hynes, Lori Brown
13  Larry Damitz*, Lori Brown, Mark Garner
14  Larry Damitz, Ryan Cherezian, Jay Bryant

* Eric Berendsen DQ after apparent win

DIRTcar Late Models

1  Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Randy Shafer
2  Jeff Decker, Richard Papeenhausen, Duane Cleveland
3  Richard Papenhasen, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger
4  Paul Guglielmoni, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger
5  Troy Foulger, Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker
6  Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Duane Cleveland
7  Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Chester Kniss
8  Richard Papenhausen, Anthony Restad, David Newquist
9  Bobby Hogge IV, Randy Shafer, Anthony Restad
10  Troy Foulger, Jeff Decker, Richard Papenhausen
11  Richard Papenhausen, Anthony Restad, Troy Foulger
12  Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Paul Guglielmoni
13  Jeff Decker, Danny Malfatti, Paul Guglielmoni
14  Andy Obertello, Bobby Hogge IV, Richard Papenhausen

Wingless Spec Sprint

1  Jeff Lee, Kyle Bakkie, Rick Panfili
2  Roy Fisher, Kyle Bakkie, Rick Panfili
3  Kyle Bakkie*, Rick Panfili, Brian Azvedo
4  Roy Fisher, Ryon Siverling, Marcus Smith
5  Kyle Bakkie, Jeremy Newberry, Marcus Smith
6  Jimmy Perry III, Marcus Smith, Al Ghiorso Jr.
7  Kyle Bakkie, Roy Fisher, Rick Panfili
8  Jimmy Perry III, Alan Miranda, Jeremy Newberry
9  James East, Marcus Smith, Kyle Bakkie
10  Jimmy Perry III, Rick Panfili, Marcus Smith
11  Jeff Lee, Kyle Bakkie, Jimmy Perry III
12  Jimmy Perry III, James East, Kyle Bakkie
13  Billy Macedo, Kyle Bakkie, Alan Miranda
14  Kyle Bakkie, Roy Fisher, Keith Shipherd
15  Billy Macedo, Marcus Smith, Jim Perry Jr.

* Klint Simpson DQ after apparent Win

Hobby Stocks

1  Melissa Myers, Kimo Oreta, Nick Baldwin
2  Nick Baldwin, Melissa Myers, Jeremy Jennings
3  Melissa Myers, Kimo Oreta, Nick Baldwin
4  Kimo Oreta, Danny Jones, Nick Baldwin
5  Jason Jennings, Jeremy Jennings, Calvin Louis Jr.
6  Melissa Myers, Kimo Oreta, Jason Jennings
7  Jason Jennings, Danny Jones, Chris Long
8  Kimo Oreta, Danny Jones, Robert Niven
9  Kimo Oreta, Brad Myers, Jordan Swank
10  Kimo Oreta, Chris Sorensen, Brent Curran
11  Chris Sorennsen, Danny Jones, Kimo Oreta
12  Kimo Oreta, Danny Jones, Michael Cooper
13  Todd Cooper, Chris Long, Kimo Oreta
14  Chase Templeton, Chris Sorensen, Kimo Oreta
15  Chris Sorensen, Jim Robbins, Kimo Oreta
16  Kimo Oreta, Jordan Swank, Calvin Louis
17  Dan McCown, Kimo Oreta, Natalie Perry
18  Kevin Joaquin, Kimo Oreta, Danny Jones
19  Kimo Oreta, Michael Cooper, Melissa Myers
20  Kevin Joaquin, George Silva, Jordan Swank
21  Kimo Oreta, Jay Bryant, Steve Rogers
22  Kevin Joaquin, Danny Jones, Kimo Oreta
23  Brian Cooper, Danny Jones, Jordan Swank

Winged 360 Sprints

1  Art McCarty, Chris Magoon, Shawn Arriaga
2  Alissa Geving, Justin Sanders, Jake Haulot
3  Jake Haulot, Art McCarthy, Shawn Arriaga
4  Shawn Arriaga, Art McCarthy, Dustin Golobic
5  Austin Liggett, Eric Humphries, Kurt Nelson
6  Jake Haulot, Dan Gonderman, Chris Magoon
7  Shawn Arriaga, Jake Haulot, Jeremy Burt
8  Art McCarthy, Robby McMahan, Shawn Arriaga

Dwarf Cars

1  Danny Wagner, Travis Dutra, Mike Corsaro
2  Jack Haverty, Thomas Leiby, David Teves
3  Danny Wagner, David Teves, Mike Corsaro
4  Adam Teves, Danny Wagner, Thomas Leiby
5  Danny Wagner, Mike Corsaro, David Teves
6  David Teves, Danny Wagner, Mike Corsaro
7  Mike Corsaro, Danny Wagner, Tavid Teves
8  Adam Teves, David Teves, Kevin Maraglio
9  David Teves, Danny Wagner, Adam Teves
10  David Teves, Travis Dutra, Danny Wagner
11  David Teves, Adam Teves, Kevin Miraglio
12  David Teves, Pat Urdahl, Adam Teves
13  Mike Corsoro, Josh Miller, Kevin Miraglio
14  Danny Wagner, Mike Corsaro, Kevin Miraglio
15  Matt Sargent, Adam Teves, Danny Wagner

California Hardtops

1  Larry Damitz, Rob Waldrop, Tommy Thomson



Merced Speedway

Hobby Stocks

1  Joe Willoughby, Ty Shelton, Jake Jones
2  Kristie Shearer, Kevin Joaquin, Ty Shelton
3  Kevin Joaquin, Ty Shelton, Jennifer Corder
4  Darren Miguel, William Kennedy, Gary Hildebrand
5  Kevin Joaquin, Jill Merlin, Jennifer Corder
6  Shannon Nelson, Travis Avilla, Chris Brown
7  Gary Hildenrand, Austin Van Hoff, Dwayne Short
8  Marc Key, Kevin Joaquin, Kristie Shearer
9  Kodie Dean, Kevin Joaquin, Jennifer Corder
10  Chris Mayer, Kevin Joaquin, Kristie Shearer
11  Kristie Shearer, Kevin Joaquin, Shannon Nelson
12  Kristie Shearer, Chris Mayer, Austin Van Hoff
13  Kevin Joaquin, Kristie Shearer, Austin Van Hoff
14  Michael Shearer, Kristie Shearer, Syd Finn
15  Cody Parker, Kristie Shearer, Kevin Joaquin
16  Austin Van Hoff, Dexter Long, Jennifer Corder
17  Chris Falkenberg, George Silva, Austin Van Hoff
18  Ryan Hart, Kevin Joaquin, Josh Hensley
19  Austin Van Hoff, Robbie Loquaci, Jeff Lacey
20  Shane Hausmann, Marc Key, Kevin Joaquin
21  Bruce Nelson, Kevin Joaquin, Robby Loquaci
22  Ryan Hart, Andrew Krumm, Cody Parker
23  Cody Parker, Austin Van Hoff, Phil Vaughn

IMCA Sport Mods

1  Fred Ryland, Nick Spainhoward, Neill Barcellos
2  Rick Diaz, Fred Ryland, Josh Gish
3  Fred Ryland, Keith Brown Jr., Mark Squadrito
4  Fred Ryland, Keith Brown Jr., Josh Gish
5  Nick Spainhoward, Jeremy Hoff, Bruce Nelson
6  Gary Tucker, D.C. Brown, John Fore Jr.
7  Rick Diaz, Fred Ryland, Jeremy Hoff
8  Fred Ryland, Mark Odgers, Shawn Bryant
9  Jeremy Hoff, Shawn Bryant, Josh Hensley
10  Josh Hensley, Shawn Bryant, Keith Brown Jr.
11  Garrett Jernagan, Mark Odgers, Josh Hensley
12  Rick Diaz, Bruce Nelson, Jeremy Hoff
13  Bruce Nelson, Jarred Tickel, Mark Odgers
14  Rick Diaz, Bruce Nelson, Matt Hagio
15  Bruce Nelson, Fred Ryland, Gary Tucker
16  Mark Odgers, Josh Hensley, Dwayne Short
17  Gary Tucker, Mark Odgers, Dwayne Short
18  Fred Ryland, Mark Odgers, Tim Cecil
19  Bruce Nelson, Gary Tucker, Mark Odgers
20  Fred Ryland, Bruce Nelson, Jason Nation
21  Josh Hensley, Andy Welch, Jarred Tickel
22  Fred Ryland, Chris Falkenberg, Kelly Wilkinson
23  Chris Falkenberg*, Rick Diaz, Nick Spainhoward

* Fred Ryland DQ after apparent win

IMCA Modifieds

1  Duane Cleveland, Kellen Chadwick, Tom Berry
2  John MacDougall, Bill Egleston, Les Friend
3  Ryan Porter, Bobby Hogge IV, Ricky Thatcher
4  Les Friend, Paul Stone, John MacDougal
5  Kyle Wilson, John MacDougall, Joel Myers
6  Kyle Wilson, Randy Brown, Alex Wilson
7  Paul Stone, Mike Vilanueva, Kyle Wilson
8  Karl Rose, Alex Wilson, Ricky Thatcher
9  Ryan Porter, Bill Egleston, Michael Shearer
10  Ryan Porter, Kyle Wilson, Karl Rose
11  Kyle Wilson, Troy Foulger, Dereck Colvin
12  Paul Stone, Bob Williamson, Alex Wilson
13  Alex Wilson, Kyle Wilson, Bill Egleston
14  Troy Foulger, Alex Wilson, Kyle Wilson
15  Alex Wilson, Ryan Porter, Kyle Wilson
16  Alex Wilsom, Ryan Porter, Troy Foulger
17  Alex Wilson, Kyle Wilson, Ramie Stone
18  Paul Stone, Alex Wilson, Jimmy Reeves
19  Bobby Hogge IV, Ethan Dotson, Paul Stone

Mini Stocks

1  Dan McCabe, Chris Corder, Mat Schlessinger
2  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Kevin Lockerby
3  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Joy Alger
4  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Kevin Lockerby
5  Robert Alger, Dan McCabe, Chris Corder
6  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Mike Germait
7  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Mike Congdon
8  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Natalie Waldrop
9  Kevin Lockerby, Dennis Copus, Darren Miguel
10  Darren Miguel, Speedy Davids, Chris Corder
11  Darren Miguel, Kelly Campanile, Alex Odishoo
12  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Natalie Waldrop
13  Chris Corder, Kelly Campanile, Joy Alger
14  Darren Miguel, Chris Corder, Kelly Campanile
15  Chris Corder, Darren Miguel, Mike Germait
16  Chris Corder, Mike Germait, Jennifer Corder
17  Darren Miguel, Dan McCabe, James Stockton
18  Chris Corder, Darren Miguel, Jason Womack

Limited Late Models

1  Mark Garner, Buddy Thatcher, Peggy Sue Jarred
2  Mark Garner, Peggy Sue Jarred, John Evans
3  Mike Hynes, Mark Garner, John Evans
4  Mark Garner, Scott Van Gelder, Buddy Thatcher
5  Mark Garner, Jeff Kendrick, Scott Van Gelder
6  Roy Hart Jr., Mark Garner, Scott Van Gelder
7  Mark Garner, Roy Hart Jr., Buddy Thatcher
8  Mark Garner, Buddy Thatcher
9  Roy Hart Jr., Paul Hanley, Jeff Kendrick

Sportsman

1  Marcus Lung, Jeff Bristow
2  Marcus Lung, Eric Seely, Mark Odgers
3  Eric Seally,  Kenny Birdsong, Jeff Bristow
4  Jeff Bristow*, Marcus Lung, Mike Palmberg  ap1 19
5  Marcus Lung, Mike Palmberg, Kenny Birdsong May 2
6  Marcus Lung, Kenny Birdsong, Mike Palmberg mkk
7  Eric Sealy, Mike Palmberg, Marcus Lung
8  Marcus Lung, Eric Seely, Jeff Bristow

* Eric Sealy DQ in tech after apparent win

Dwarf  Cars

1  Mike Drake*
2  Shawn Jones, Danny Wagner, Adam Teves
3  Danny Wagner, Mike Drake, Chris Kenner
4  Mike Drake, Chuck Weir, Brian Gray
5  Mike Corsaro, Mike Drake, Lyonel Francis
6  Ryan Winter, Buddy Olshowka, Mike Drake
7  Mike Drake, Chuck Weir, Chester Kniss

*  Other five cars DQ for not going to tech


Chowchilla Speedway

Mini Stocks

1  Chris Corder, Robert Huckaby Jr., Justin McPherson
2  Darren Miguel, Brian Widdowson, Joy Alger
3  Brent Curran, Jadon Harrington, Alex Odishoo
4  Chris Corder, Jadon Harrington, Mike Congdon
5  Alex Odishoo, Chris Corder, Mike Congdon
6  Chris Corder, Mike Congdon, Alex Odishoo
7  Darren Miguel, Mike Congdon, Chris Corder
8  Mike Congdon
9  Chris Corder, James Stockton, Mike Germait

Hobby Stocks

1  Kevin Joaquin, Austin Van Hoff, Dexter Long
2  Kevin Joaquin, Gary Hildebrand, Robbie Loquaci
3  Bruce Nelson, Michael Shearer, Alvin Ince
4  Bruce Nelson, Michael Shearer, Gary Hildebrand
5  Joe Willoughby, Kevin Joaquin, Gary Hildebrabd
6  George Silva, Kevin Joaquin, Bobby Williams
7  Kevin Joaquin, Austin Van Hoff, Bobby Williams
8  Bruce Nelson, Kevin Joaquin, Syd Finn

IMCA Sport Mods

1  Fred Ryland, Nick Spainhoward, Wayne Dotson
2  Fred Ryland, Rick Diaz, Chris Falkenberg
3  Keith Brown Jr., Rick Diaz, Fred Ryland
4  Fred Ryland, Patti Ryland, Josh Gish
5  Fred Ryland, Jorddon Braaten, Paul Mulder
6  Fred Ryland, Rick Diaz, Jeremy Hoff
7  Josh Hensley, Keith Brown Jr., Rick Diaz
8  Fred Ryland, Eric Rose, Billy Simkins

IMCA Modifieds

1  Ryan McDaniel, Cody Laney, Paul Stone
2  Josh Vogt, Billy Wilker, Jeff Streeter
3  Josh Vogt, Karl Rose, Harley Turner
4  Josh Vogt, Bill Egleston, Kyle Wilson
5  Cody Laney, Troy Foulger, Robby Sawyer
6  Tim Clark, Harley Turner, Ray Mayer
7  Cody Laney, Josh Vogt, Kyle Wilson

Sportsman

1  Kenny Birdsong, Jeff Bristow

Dwarf Car

1  Mike Corsaro, Charlie Correia, David Michael Rosa

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Antioch And Merced Speedways Ready For 2016, Plus Banquet Report

First of all...



Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover


On Sale At Reduced Price




Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback


If You Like Reading Our Articles, Visit The Tip Jar at Go Fund Me to support our efforts

 DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE


2016 Antioch Speedway Schedule Has Been Released

Antioch, CA...February 13...The 2016 Antioch Speedway schedule was just released, and it details a season that begins with March 12 and 19 playdays, followed by the season opener on March 26.  Racing is booked nearly every week from then through September 24 with a race to be announced on October 8.  Generally, there will be five divisions on race night with the occasional six division show.

Notable on the schedule are the 25 races currently listed for the B "Sport" Mods and 20 races for the Hobby Stocks.  Those two divisions will be doing the "heavy lifting" for the speedway as the next most races are booked for the A Mods (15).  Dwarf Cars, Wingless Spec Sprints and Limited Late Models all remain on the schedule.  On alternate weeks, Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Late Models will headline the show, and California Hardtops have been scheduled five times.  The BCRA Midget Lites make two appearances.

Details of purse and point fund money for Winged 360 Sprints and Late Models are forthcoming.  Last year, and despite some low turnouts, the Sprint Cars still paid $1200 to win and $150 to start.  This year's schedule has 13 dates for the popular Winged Sprint Cars, five more than last year.

The real question is who will be supporting the class, and will car count increase?  Oval Motorsports has made a commitment to establishing this division at Antioch.  Defending champion Shawn Arriaga, past champion Art McCarthy, Dan Gonderman, Ricky Brophy and possibly two cars from the Haulot Racing Team are among those expected to return, and the potential is there to at least maintain 10-12 cars per race.

The Late Models, meanwhile, are coming off of a season in which they usually had no less than then ten cars throughout the 14 race schedule.  It's not anticipated that this will change for this 11 race season, but who will be coming back is the question.  Jeff Decker, Chester Kniss, David Newquist and Mike Hynes are anticipated, along with cars from the Guglielmoni racing stables, Rob Norris, Dennis Souza, Danny Malfatti and Troy Foulger.

B Mods are being put to the test with a heavy schedule.  Ryland Racing is expected to return with defending champion Fred Ryland and his wife Patti Ryland both racing.  Chuck Golden, Al Johnson, Ron Brown, Trevor Clymens, Keith Brown Jr., Megan Ponciano and K.C. Keller are others to watch for.  We should be seeing a few rookies in the class, including Jeremey Jennings and a car from the Swank Racing Team.

Some of the biggest buzz centers around the Hobby Stocks as 2015 champion Kimo Oreta moves up to Limited Late Models. This leaves the race wide open, and one question centers around how much racing past champions Brad and Melissa Myers will do this year.  Jordan Swank is anticipated to be one of the front runners along with Michael Cooper, Danny Jones, Natalie Perry, Robert Niven and Frank Furtado.

Two past champions, Dan McCown and Chris Sorensen, and hard charger Chris Long are both anticipated to be on the highly competitive roster as well Steven Rogers, Chase Templeton, Mitchell Loccicere, Jim Robbins and at least one car from the Jennings Racing Team.  Also joining the fray are rookies like Billy Garner, Brent Curran, Guy Ahlwardt, Lindsey Buirch and Natalie Waldrop.  The fact is, the Hobby Stocks are poised for a big season since it appears as if the rules situation has settled down.

Speaking of rules issues settling down, the Wingless Spec Sprints should have a better season this year as well.  While champion Kyle Bakkie may not be racing as much as he concentrates on his studies, Rick Panfili, Alan Miranda, James East, Peter Carlotto and Jeremy Newberry are anticipated this season.

It gets better as Jimmy Perry III will be joined by his father, Jim Perry Jr., this year.  Perry Jr. and Perry III are both past champions and are first and third, respectively, on the division's all time win list.  After a runner up season in Dwarf Cars, Adam Teves is moving up to Spec Sprints to make a run at top rookie honors.

Furthermore, last year's top rookie, Marcus Smith, was preparing a car for the new season when he landed the ride in Richard Basden's #20 car, numbered in honor of the retiring division original Keith Shipherd.  Meanwhile, Smith's car will be driven by two time champion Dan Gonderman.  Speaking of two time champions, Billy Macedo is anticipated for the coming season as well.

The A Mod roster should remain competitive.  Aaron Crowell should be ready out of the gate this year, which could put him in line for his second championship.  Five time champion Scott Busby may have something to say about that.  Other drivers to watch for include Bobby Motts Jr., 2014 titlist Carl Berendsen II, Trent Wentworth, Nick Viscusi III, Troy Foulger, Shawn DeForest, Josh Combs, Mike Salazar, Clay Twigg and Ed Daviess.

David Teves will return to attempt to defend his Dwarf Car championship, but he can expect a challenge from two time champion Danny Wagner and hard charger Mike Corsaro.  Ageless veteran Charlie Correia should also be back, while Kevin Miraglio is poised for a breakout season.  Other hard chargers like Kurtis Craig, Miranda Chappa, Thomas Leiby, Tim Reeder, Brian Gray, 2010 champion Jerry Doty and Josh Nelson will make this another strong season for Dwarf Car racing in Antioch.

Not to be forgotten in the equation is Limited Late Models, where Larry Damitz has won four of the last five championships and just may be the driver to beat.  As he has dialed in the car he debuted last season, 2013 champion Jim Freethy may have something to say about that, and Mark Garner will be out to improve on last season's third place ranking.  John Evans will field the former Mike Hynes car, while Lori Brown, Eric Berendsen, Calvin Louis, Kimo Oreta, Jim Robbins, Gene Haney, John Keith, Ryan Cherezian and all time Limited Late Model feature win leader Mike Gustafson should also be on the roster.

The California Hardtops will get five races, making Antioch the track giving the Northern California vintage racing division the most races on dirt.  Mike McCann certainly assisted in the process of making this happen as he began discussions with John M. Soares.  CHA leader John Philbert was able to finalize the deal.  Rob Waldrop was the top dirt track racer last season in this group, driving for Bill McLaughlin, and he will be back this year.  Other drivers we'll be anticipating this season include Tommy Thomson in the car he raced at Vallejo Speedway in the late 1970's, Dan Williams, Ken Clifford, Jason Clifford, Dennis Armstrong, Jason Armstrong, Rick Ruiz, Dave Mackey, Larry Damitz and Doug Braudrick.

More details on the schedule should emerge, such as what is and isn't sanctioned and any special races.  March 26 is the opener and will feature Late Models, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Dwarf Cars and Hobby Stocks.  As always, the schedule is subject to change.  What is not subject to change is the fact that the 19th season of Oval Motorsports promoting Antioch Speedway should offer lots of excitement for the racing fans out there.  The official www.ovalmotorsports.com website will be updated soon for Antioch Speedway information.

2016 Antioch Speedway Schedule

March 12 Practice
March 19 Practice
March 26 Opening Day Late Models, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
April 2 Winged 360 Sprints, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks, BCRA Midget Lites
April 9 A Mods ($1000 to win), B Mods ($400 to win), Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
April 16 Late Models, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, A Mods, B Mods
April 23 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
April 30 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Spec Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
May 7 Winged 360 Sprints, Limited Late Models, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
May 14 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
May 21 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars, Hardtops
June 4 Late Models, B Mods, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
June 11 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
June 18 Late Models, Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars
June 25 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
July 9 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
July 16 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
July 23 Late Models, Spec Sprints, Dwarf Cars, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
July 30 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
August 6 Winged 360 Sprint Cars, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
August 13 Late Models, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars
August 20 Winged 360 Sprints, BCRA Midget Lites, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
August 27 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
September 3 Late Models, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars
September 10 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
September 17 Late Models, Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
September 24 Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
October 8 To Be Announced

* Schedule Subject To Change



Honoring Tradition A Part Of 
2016 Merced Speedway Schedule

Merced, CA...February 13...There were a lot of questions regarding the future of Merced Speedway this off season.  The track has operated continuously since 1950, and the racers wanted to know what the plans were for this season.  Ed Parker spent a few months negotiating the purchase of the track from previous contract holder, Oval Motorsports.  After that was handled, Merced County Fair Broad approval was needed, and that happened on Monday.

Just a few days later, the new schedule was released on the track's new website, www.racemerced.com.  It's a schedule that gives the Merced Speedway fans more of what they have enjoyed in recent seasons.  After March 19 and 26 playdays, the gates will open for a 20 race schedule on April 2.  The IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Mods headline that night, along with Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks.

The season ends on September 24 with a special event, the Matt Van Hoecke Memorial, Fight Against Cancer event, featuring the same four classes from opening day and double points for Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks.  Matt operated the parts truck at the speedway for many years and ran Matt & Glass race Car Bodies in Merced.  He sponsored many races and racers through the years and was a beloved figure in the racing community for several years.

On April 30, another traditional race, The Ted Stofle Classic, takes place.  This event was brought back to Merced Speedway three years ago thanks to the negotiations of returning General Manager, Doug Williams.  This season's format will call for 50 lap Main Events for each of the night's divisions, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks.  Double points will be on the line for Hobby Stocks.

On August 13, another important event returns, The Legends Of Merced Speedway Night.  IMCA Sport Mods headline the show along with Mini Stocks, Valley Sportsman and the second appearance of the season for USAC HPD Midgets (First night is May 21).  Last season, such legends as many time Sportsman champion Dennis Moomjean, open wheel ace Gordon Rodgers, Longtime promoter and racer Chuck Griffin and the voice of Merced Speedway for 60 years, Johnny Sass, were on hand.

The Sportsman division was brought back to Merced by Griffin back in 1999 and has been a part of the speedway ever since.  They have eight races this season.  Eric Seely won on Legends Night last year and is expected to be a part of things this year, along with Kenny Birdsong, Jeff Bristow, Mike Palmberg and 2015 champion Marcus Lung.  Other racers said to be competing at least a little bit this season include Jeanne Canepa, past champion Mike Friesen, Mark Odgers and Mike Hausmann.

The buzz in Merced this year is about the potential for a field of IMCA Modifieds loaded with talent.  If 2015 champion Alex Wilson and brother Kyle Wilson hope to continue their winning ways, they can expect some tough competition from many time champion Ramie Stone, who returned late last season.  Late Model veteran Derek Nance, many time champion Paul Stone, two time champion Bob Williamson and Sport Mod graduate Bruce "Bubba" Nelson should see at least some action this season.  Plus, three time 2015 feature winner Ryan Porter, 2015 point runner up Ricky Thatcher, Karl Rose, Dereck Colvin and past Hanford champion Aaron Barnell are some of the other big names to watch for during this division's 14 race season.

Last year saw some of the big names only racing occasionally in the IMCA Sport Mod division, but it is hoped that we may see them more often this season.  Defending champion Josh Hensley should be there along with the father-daughter team of Mark and Marisa Odgers and hard charger Dwayne Short, but then there are the big guns like Rick Diaz, Shawn Bryant, Jeremy Hoff and Neill Barcellos, all of them champions in this division.  Plus, veterans like Gary Tucker and Darren Thomas.  Gary's son Nick Tucker should be in action, as should Darren's sons, Chase and Tanner.

D.C. Brown, Tim Cecil, Street Stock champions Steve Stone and Tim Ragsdale, Danny Roe, Chris Falkenberg and Mark Squadrito are among others to watch for.  Dwarf Car champion Mike Drake will be driving for Geoerge Medeiros, while Mini Stock graduates and champions at that, Alex Odishoo and Chris Corder, will also be in what is looking like another field stacked with talent.  Sport Mods will have a 17 race schedule this year.

Hobby Stocks were a wide open race last year with 16 different winners in 23 races and a car count that continued to grow as the season came to an end.  Kevin Joaquin was said to be considering a move up to BCRA Midget Lites this year, but he still has his car.  However, a talented field of Hobby Stock drivers should include hard chargers like Austin Van Hoff, Cody Parker, Kodie Dean, George Silva, Dexter Long, Ty Shelton, Kristie Shearer, Michael Shearer, Shane Hausmann, Marc Key and several more.  This season will see the Hobby Stocks at Merced 17 times

The Mini Stocks could be a wide open race for a different reason.  While the Hobbys may have many of last year's feature winners, the two dominant Mini Stock drivers from last year, Chris Corder and champion Darren Miguel, are moving up, though both still have cars and will drop in occasionally.  Miguel will be running a Hobby Stock.  Who might step up to run for the championship is anybody's guess.  Teammates James Stockton and Mike Germait may be the favorites.  The always entertaining Steve Johnson, Dennis Copus, Alisa Caldwell, Joy Alger, Jeff Amos, Jason Womack and the debuting Destiny Carter are among others to watch for. Carter is realizing her lifelong dream of racing thanks to Corder Racing.  The division has 14 races this season.

This season will feature non stop action from April through September.  As Johnny Sass would say, "Action will be the attraction, each and every Saturday night."  If that's not enough, track management is considering a big Fall Nationals event, tentatively scheduled for October 21-22, and a few other surprises.  Stay tuned for more news on the www.racemerced.com website, and be there for the season opener on April 2!


Merced Speedway Schedule

* Races start 7pm - over by 10pm * Pits open at 2pm * Drivers Meeting 5:30pm *

MARCH  
    19    Test and Tune    Pits opens at 12 noon, track opens at 3 pm until dark
    26    Test and Tune    $20.00 car and driver. Crew, fans welcome in pits - $20 entry

APRIL  
    2    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks       
    9    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman 
    16    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks       
    23    Mods    Sport Mods    Mini Stocks    Vintage    Valley Sportsman   
    30    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks  
    TED STOFLE CLASSIC 50 laps Features - 2X Points for Hobby Stocks
    (IMCA classes draw - redraw for main event line up)

MAY
    7     Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks
    14    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
    21    Mods    USAC HPD Midgets    Hobby Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
    28    DARK IN OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY

JUNE
    4    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks       
    11     DARK
    15    SPECIAL EVENT - MERCED FAIR    Mods    Hobby Stocks
    25    DARK (or rainout make up race date if needed)

JULY
    2    SPECIAL EVENT  
        Mods     Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks
        (IMCA classes draw - redraw for main event line up)
    9    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks           
    16    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
    23    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks               
    30    DARK

AUGUST
    6    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
    13    SALUTE TO THE LEGENDS OF MERCED SPEEDWAY
        (2x points for Sportsman & Mini Stocks)
        Sport Mods    USAC HPD Midgets    Mini Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
    20    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks        
    27    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks           

SEPTEMBER
    3    DARK IN OBSERVANCE of Labor Day
    10    DARK IMCA – Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa
    17    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Vintage Valley Sportsman
        Last point race for Vintage Valley Sportsman 2X points
    24    MATT & GLASS Fight against Cancer (MATT VANHOECKE MEMORIAL)
        Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks
        Last point race of the season 2X points for Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks
        IMCA Championship night

OCTOBER        FALL NATIONALS
    21    TENTATIVE    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks
    22    TENTATIVE    Mods    Sport Mods    Hobby Stocks    Mini Stocks


 Oval Motorsports Celebrates 18th Season 
At Antioch With An Eye Towards the 19th

Antioch, CA...February 13...The 19th season of the Oval Motorsports era at Antioch Speedway kicked off in late January with the awards banquet that celebrated the 18th season.  Promoter John M. Soares is now just two seasons behind his father, John P. Soares, as the longest tenured promoter in Antioch Speedway history, and indications are that he intends to surpass his legendary father on that list.

The Oval Motorsports banquet also celebrated the sixth year for Oval Motorsports at Merced Speedway and the lone season at Chowchilla Speedway.  Oval Motorsports has sold their interest in Merced Speedway to local businessman Ed Parker, who received official approval from the Merced County Fair Board to run the track as of Monday.

All of the champions were on hand for the banquet to receive their trophies and championship jackets.  The banquet effort was spearheaded by local husband and wife racers Ron Brown and Lori Waggoner-Brown, who did an excellent job of putting things together with the help of some amazing sponsors and the help of some people in the racing community.

Champions on hand for the ceremonies included Antioch champions Scott Busby, (IMCA Modifieds), Shawn Arriaga (Winged 360 Sprints), Jeff Decker (Late Models), Larry Damitz (Limited Late Models), Fred Ryland (IMCA Sport Modifieds), Kyle Bakkie (Wingless Spec Sprints), Kimo Oreta (Hobby Stocks) and David Teves (Dwarf Cars).  Merced Speedway champions included Alex Wilson (IMCA Modifieds), Josh Hensley (IMCA Sport Modifieds), Kevin Joaquin (Hobby Stocks), Darren Miguel (Mini Stocks), Mark Garner (Limited Late Models) and Mike Drake (Dwarf Cars).  Chowchilla Speedway champions included Danny Luukkonen (IMCA Modifieds), Fred Ryland (IMCA Sport Modifieds), Kevin Joaquin (Hobby Stocks) and Chris Corder (Mini Stocks).

Ron Brown started the ceremony off as one of the three hosts, along with track Chief Steward Brad Coelho and announcer "Wylie" Wade Wilcox.  It was revealed that promoter John M. Soares was still in the hospital recovering from surgery, but he has recently gone home and begun the process of getting things ready for the coming season.

Brown presented numerous special awards to various track officials for their work behind the scenes making things happen.  Notables included Jim Thomson, who received the Kimberly Myers "Real Hero" award for all he had done throughout the season in making good things happen.  Flagman Bob Kempf also received an award.  In addition to flagging, Bob coordinated the candy and Hot Wheel givaways to the kids every week.  Among the other "Team Players" honored for their behind the scenes efforts included Ron Floyd, Mike Gray, Rich Quadrelli, Andrea Coelho, James Thomson, Chrystal Wilcox, long time official Steve Sutherland, announcer Wade Wilcox and Chief Steward Brad Coelho.

A special award of appreciation was also presented to John & Donna Soares for making racing possible at three tracks in 2015 and for all of their hard work in promoting the sport through the years.  Donna Soares was there to accept as her husband was still in the hospital.

Brown received an award for his efforts from Coelho, who also presented him with his favorite picture of one of his old race cars, which had been painted by his brother, past Antioch racer Butch Coelho Jr.  A few other early special awards also went out to Aaron Crowell for "Hard Luck Racer", Troy Foulger for "Most Popular Driver", Sport Mod racer K.C. Keller for "Rookie Of The Year", Chester Kniss for "Most Improved Driver" and the humorous "Take Out Of The Year" award to Nick DeCarlo, which Coelho presented.  Brown also thanked several of the sponsors for their support and presented them with awards.  This included Pro Motorsports, Unique Breedz, Xtreme Racing Products & Graphics, Delta Transmission and Ryland Racing.

The traditional Antioch Speedway "Rookie Of The Year" awards went to Nick Viscusi III (IMCA Modifieds), Marcus Smith (Wingless Spec Sprints), Patti Ryland (IMCA Sport Modifieds), Ricky Brophy (Winged 360 Sprints), John Keith (Limited Late Models), Jordan Swank (Hobby Stocks), Miranda Chappa (Dwarf Cars) and Chester Kniss (Late Models).  Kniss quipped as he received his award that he had received it last season too.  Danny Malfatti, who was not in attendance, was the top rookie in that division.  Marisa Odgers received "Rookie Of The Year" honors for IMCA Sport Mods at Chowchilla.  Other rookie awards didn't go out, though top Merced IMCA Sport Mod rookie Josh Hensley, top Merced Hobby Stock rookie Jennifer Corder and top Merced Mini Stock rookie Natalie Waldrop were also on hand.

Several other trophies were presented for the top drivers in points in all of the divisions as attendance was well over 200 people for the banquet.  Brown had brought in many door prizes from various sponsors that were raffled off during the course of the evening.  All in all, it was a successful occasion that included a good meal, a D.J. and plenty of good conversation.  Many racers were heard talking about being ready for the coming season.  The official www.ovalmotorsports.com website will be updated soon for Antioch Speedway information, while www.racemerced.com is the new official web page for Merced Speedway.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

2016 Antioch Speedway Schedule

First of all...



Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover


On Sale At Reduced Price




Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback

DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE



2016 Antioch Speedway Schedule

March 12 Practice
March 19 Practice
March 26 Opening Day Late Models, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
April 2 Winged 360 Sprints, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks, BCRA Midget Lites
April 9 A Mods ($1000 to win), B Mods ($400 to win), Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
April 16 Late Models, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, A Mods, B Mods
April 23 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
April 30 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Spec Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
May 7 Winged 360 Sprints, Limited Late Models, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
May 14 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
May 21 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars, Hardtops
June 4 Late Models, B Mods, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
June 11 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
June 18 Late Models, Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars
June 25 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
July 9 Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
July 16 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks
July 23 Late Models, Spec Sprints, Dwarf Cars, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
July 30 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
August 6 Winged 360 Sprint Cars, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
August 13 Late Models, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Dwarf Cars
August 20 Winged 360 Sprints, BCRA Midget Lites, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
August 27 Winged 360 Sprints, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Hobby Stocks
September 3 Late Models, Spec Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars
September 10 Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops
September 17 Late Models, Winged 360 Sprints, A Mods, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
September 24 Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models, B Mods, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks
October 8 To Be Announced 

* Schedule Subject To Change

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Noland Wins Big In Turkey Shoot Out At Rocky Hill, Plus News & Rumors


First of all...




Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover


On Sale At Reduced Price




Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback


Also, what could be a series of informative books...

Short Track History Project at Go Fund Me 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE

The DCRR Racing Radio Show
Season Review Edition

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x3hkccr" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />href
="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3hkccr_dcrr-racing-radio-show-episode-65_sport" target="_blank">DCRR Racing Radio Show:  Episode 65 by href="http://www.dailymotion.com/GenWhat" target="_blank">GenWhat


Noland Wins Big In Turkey Shoot Out At Rocky Hill, Atchison, Corder Get Big Wins

A successful season at Rocky Hill Speedway in Porterville came to a close with the big money Turkey Shoot Out races on the weekend following Thanksgiving.  The Hobby Stocks competed for a $1500 first prize, and it was not a surprise to see the crafty veteran Karl Noland collecting the big victory.  One of the biggest fields of the year for Super 4 Mini Stocks saw the dominant champion Roy Atchison grab a big $800 dollar paycheck.  Some of the best Mini Stock drivers in the state competed for a $600 first prize with Chowchilla champion Chris Corder grabbing the biggest win of his career.  Enduro ace Rich Denman grabbed the $600 first prize with a win in the American Stock Main Event.  Dwarf Cars ran a pair of Main Events with wins going to Shawn Jones and Dan Zuger.  Street Stock veteran Keith Heaslet returned and won the Central Valley Tanks feature.  The Mini Dwarfs were also added to the program with Kercie Jung winning the Sr. Dwarfs feature and Jaden Butler winning the Jr. Dwarfs Main Event.  Roughly 80 drivers competed in the season finale event, which has become the biggest race of the year for the track.

K. Noland was the dominant driver in Hobby Stocks this season.  He had seven wins and the point lead before missing a couple races and falling to third.  However, Noland showed why he is still one of the best drivers in the state with the rich victory.  Michael Scruggs had won the point season finale this year, and he was a strong second ahead of Rich Denman, who had also won the American Stock Main Event. Kenny Chesterman made his first Porterville start of the year with a fourth place finish ahead of Dave Skyler.  Stefan Davies finished sixth in the 17 car field as two time Merced champion Andrew Krumm was seventh ahead of fellow Merced Speedway racers Gary Hildebrand and George Silva.  Gene Glover rounded out the Top 10.

Atchision won nine Super 4 Mini Stock features during the point season as he cruised to the championship.  His big victory on this occasion came ahead of Bob Davis, who was making his first Porterville start of the year.  Point season finale winner James Tamirez finished a strong third ahead of hard charger Darren Reed and Steve Golden,.  Kit Murphy settled for sixth ahead of Donovan Chilton, William Hughes, 2014 champion Adell Shelton and Robert Hunt.

Merced champion Darren Miguel had his sights set on a third Porterville Mini Stock win, having won the $1000 race earlier this season.  Miguel led most of the first half of the race before his rival, Corder, took over.  While still running in the Top 3, Miguel’s run ended with mechanical failure.  Corder, however, was not to be denied as he cruised to victory ahead of 2015 point runner up Andrew Boydstun and Misty Warren.  Warren had finished third in the race in late October as well.  Third ranked point racer Clinton Massey, who has bought a Hobby Stock for next season, finished fourth as Hanford racer Trisha Mezyk completed the Top 5.  Greg Noah was sixth ahead of late October winner Kylie Conway, Josh Nichols, Raymond Shoemaker and Bill Winchester.

Before placing third in the Hobby Stock feature, Denman turned in an impressive drive in collecting the American Stock feature win.  The Street Stock veteran also won the American Stock Main Event a night earlier in Bakersfield.  Bakersfield racer Dakota Brown finished second with Kevin Johnston grabbing the final podium position.  New champion Jeff Lloyd settled for fourth ahead of Kevin Shields, Mike Waters, Mike Conway, Brian Childress, John Apple and Bob Ellis.

Keith Heaslet returned in a Central Valley Tank (IMCA Stock Car rules) and won their Main Event ahead of 2015 IMCA State champion Troy Patee.  One of the biggest boosters of this division, Street Stock veteran Dave Bauer, finished third ahead of Gina Hendrix.  Bakersfield Hobby Stock ace Rick Childress competed, but he was disqualified.

Several CDCRA drivers competed in the Dwarf Car show, which had full programs on Friday and Saturday.  The Friday turnout was a bit bigger with Dan Zuger winning that Main Event ahead of Johnathan Henry and D.J. Lebow.  Matt Hagerman finished fourth ahead of Brandon Wiley, Tommy Velasquez, Gage Chek, Dan Zuger, Nick Velasquez and Ira Henry.  NCDCA Dwarf  Car star  Shawn Jones won the Saturday feature ahead of Haggerman.  Lebow made it a double third place weekend ahead of J. Henry, Ira Henry and Zuger.

The Mini Dwarf Car divisions were in action on Friday night.  In the Sr. Dwarf class for the older kids, Kercie Jung grabbed the victory ahead of 2015 champion Ryley Millard.  Austin Martin finished third ahead of Seth Wise, Madison Myers and Riley Massey.  Jaiden Butler won the Jr. Dwarf Main Event ahead of Trenton Eurto.  2015 point runner up Mallory Meyers finished third ahead of Tommy Swearingin, Andrew Martin and 2015 champion Allie Jung.

The track held a pair of races earlier in the month.  On November 7th, 2015 champion Raymond Noland won the Hobby Stock feature ahead of John Collins and Clinton Massey.  Robert Jackson collected his first Mini Stock feature win ahead of Shawn Schwartzenberger and Kit Murphy.  Roy Atchison won the Super 4 Mini Stock feature ahead of Kit Murphy and Adell Shelton.  There was also a Veteran’s Day race held during the week that followed.  Karl Noland won their Hobby Stock Main Event ahead of R. Noland and Gene Glover.  Andy Boydstun won the Mini Stock feature ahead of Clinton Massey and Schwartzenberger.  Atchison grabbed the Super 4 Mini Stock Main Event win ahead of Murphy and Gary Meeks Jr.

News & Rumors

With all due respect to my good friend Don O'Keefe Jr., I decided to borrow his column again.  The laptop is currently working, so I figured I would write something while I could.

The word just came out via Ron Brown on Facebook that the West Coast Nationals at Antioch Speedway is canceled this year.  Considering the race would have taken place on January 1 and there has been no publicity at all, this was the best decision.  The overall event last January was not a financial success.  It had been announced a couple months earlier, though not really hyped like it should have been back then.

There are a lot of rumors and very little news out there, which leads to lots of speculation.  The rumor mill has already circulated a few stories.  We can confirm that there had been negotiations between Oval Motorsports and an interested party to sell their stake in Merced Speedway.  Our own speculation is that no deal has been made, and we question whether the original two interested parties are even at the table any more.
However, a persistent rumor is that Ed Parker, a past Merced racer who's son Cody races Hobby Stocks, has in fact made the deal.  This was said to have taken place in a meeting recently in Reno, where Parker was reportedly also working to secure an IMCA sanctioning for the track.  Again, the continued silence is fuel for speculation and rumors.  Hopefully, the real news will be forthcoming.

While we wait on actual news regarding Merced, we've heard that Chowchilla became available to potential new promoters at the end of November.  There's been lots of speculation as to whether anybody would even take a shot at that track at this point.  It is a track in need of TLC and a leader who would be in it for the long haul.  As luck would have it, we just got the latest hot rumor regarding a promoter at Chowchilla. Like Jack Stanford, he is a local with a racing background.

Rumor has it that Joe Diaz Jr., a racer with an extensive back ground, has thrown his hat into the ring.  We do know that he has expressed an interest in this track in the past.  Does he want it now?  We also know that Joe is a successful racing promoter already as the man who established the successful Chowchilla Barn Burner racing series during the winter.  It is this writer's belief that it will take a local who is committed to the day to day routine and willing to work with the community to make the track pop.  We believe Joe to be a worthy promoter for the big track.

All this talk of Oval Motorsports potentially scaling back may fuel speculation of the retirement of John M. Soares.  While that is always a possibility, we don't expect that to be the case.  Considering the year John has had with the health scare of his wife Donna, it's amazing that he was able to focus on racing at all this past season.  John did good things in The Valley, including keeping Merced Speedway from closing, but there are reasons for him to pull out and let the locals take it from there.  He can concentrate on has track of 18 seasons, Antioch Speedway, while considering the possibility that he may getting another track, which is near and dear to him.

Another rumor, one that has been cleared up, is the cancellation of the West Coast Nationals race at Antioch and Merced.  As there is not currently a publicity person at Antioch and Merced, no word has been put about what would have been the second annual big money event.  Considering that we are a little more than three weeks away from that race, this was the best move.  We've heard the races last year did not make money, and this one had money loser written all over it.

We've been informed via Facebook by Ron Brown that a schedule for the Oval Motorsports tracks(s) will be forthcoming.  With the January race off the schedule, focus can now be placed on the January 23rd banquet and making it a success.  From everything we've been hearing, lots of tickets are being reserved, and we have to give a major assist to Ron Brown.

This will, of course, lead to speculation about rules and divisions and all of that.  It was pointed out by Brown that Soares will make rules announcements at the banquet, but we are hopeful that there won't be a bunch of big changes.  One thing people will be watching for is whether IMCA will be a part of Antioch and Merced (if Merced is still part of Oval Motorsports).  We've heard enough to know that the powers that be felt that they weren't getting enough bang for the buck for that sanctioning.  Plus, they felt that had they had the membership money from the two IMCA classes, the banquet they are having on January 23rd never would have been in doubt in the first place.

Would the lack of IMCA hurt the Modified classes at Antioch?  That is a matter of opinion.  There were a lot of people at Antioch racing for IMCA points, and most of the ones racing for points would have been doing so regardless of the IMCA sanctioning.  Our guess is that car count would not be adversely effected by the lack of an IMCA sanctioning.

A picture posted on Facebook a few days ago has caused some speculation about two "rival" promoters working together again for the good of racing.  In the picture, John Prentice of Prentice Motorsports Group and John M. Soares of Oval Motorsports are sitting together and clowning around a bit.  The date in which this picture was taken was not mentioned, fueling speculation as to when it was taken and could it be recent.

Let's skip past the the talk about why these two were at odds and get to the good speculation.  We've always made no secret of the fact that we are for track unity and the idea that Antioch, Watsonville, Merced, Petaluma and Chowchilla have a history of accomplishing good things when they have worked together through the years.  Obviously, Prentice is the man to go to as the one who runs the King Of The West, Civil War and Hunt Sprint Car Series.  Soares, meanwhile, has a good reputation of putting on big Modified races and is the last person standing in the Bay Area with a Late Model program.  They both have something to offer each other, and the fans and racers would be the winners.

The black mark against Prentice from his detractors is that he could care less about Stock Car racing.  We don't necessarily believe that, but the cryptic announcement placed on the Ocean Speedway Facebook page during the Pat Pettit Memorial race weekend, announcing an All Star Modified Series, suggests that he is looking to do something for those racers.  The fact that he chose "All Star" as a name in light of the fact that Oval Motorsports uses All Star in the sanctioning of its other classes, raises speculation that Prentice was looking to get the attention of Soares.

If Antioch and Merced have some drivers who might be interested in supporting a Modified series involving Watsonville (and possibly Petaluma and Stockton), Prentice has something Antioch fans want and Soares might be interested in.  That would be the KoW 410 Sprint Cars and Civil War 360 Sprints.  Perhaps the Spec Sprints of Antioch could get a date or two for the Hunt series, which is something we have endorsed all along.  Antioch needs Sprint Car dates after the apparent loss of the World of Outlaws.  The question is, was that really a recent photo, and whether or not it was, could these two promoters work together for the good of racing?

As we near the end of this speculative column, we want to again take a moment to appreciate some people who have been in racing for the long haul.  One division with two long time veterans in it at Antioch is Limited Late Models.  And, at the top of that division's win list you will find Mike Gustafson and Larry Damitz,  Damitz is 86 years old and the reigning champion.  His career started back in 1954, and he's been racing every year since.  Gustafson started racing at Antioch in the mid 1970's and remains a regular.

For that matter, the Limited Late Models chief instigator back in 2000, and the man helping spread the word about the Oval Motorsports banquet, Ron Brown, just reached retirement age this year.  Ron has been a part of the family at Antioch Speedway every year since he started racing back in the 1970's.  Dwarf Car veteran Charlie "The Hammer" Correia is 77 years old and goes back at least through the 1970's.  He was involved in a scary crash at Merced this year.

We don't take it for granted that they are racing.  We appreciate seeing them.  Certainly, Damitz is an inspiration to us all.  And, we can't help but smile when we see a name like Shawn McCoy still on the list at Petaluma, Bob Williamson at Merced, Brent Kaeding with KoC, Floyd Alvis at BCRA, Karl Noland at Porterville and other long time racers.  These are the guys you still see on the roster of your favorite track, even if you are gone for a few years.

It's been mentioned on this site before, but families are a vital part of racing.  There are many second, third and fourth generation families at these tracks, and they are a big reason the sport still lives.  And, that brings us back to the man we've written about many times, John M. Soares.  Now in his 70's, we marvel that he continues to do this promoting thing and has even gotten back behind the wheel again.  At some point, John and the other people of his era will retire.  Some will say good riddance or something negative, but we will just say thank you.

I don't take it for granted when I see Damitz wheeling his #15 car to another win.  I know I am witnessing something special, and I treasure my interactions with him.  I don't take it for granted all of the things Soares and his father and brother did for the sport.  They risk the money, they frequently take the blame for all that goes wrong but not a lot of credit for the good that happens.  Somebody has to take the financial risk to open a track, and the Soares family has been doing that for decades.

As somebody who respects tradition, I do see John as the last of an era.  A new leader will eventually have to emerge to guide things in a sport that has to adapt to a changing world.  I can see a few potential leaders at Antioch that give me hope that it will continue when John steps aside.  I believe they can do it.  Regardless of where I am when that day comes, I will always respect what John and his family have done for racing.  Though I won't ignore the negatives, I will not pretend all of the good things he's done through the years never happened either.

The column itself has been a bit of news and a bit of rumors, but we'll end with a few things and let you decide what they mean.


A past "Promoter Of The Year" award winner has his sights set on a track that he may be taking over in Oregon.

Management at Ocean Speedway will be taking steps to show the Stock Car crowd that that style of racing is important to them too.

The effort to bring racing to the Stadium Oval at Sacramento Raceway may have hit a snag.

The Nor Cal Hardtop effort may have a leadership shakeup.

We've been hearing of a few race tracks going year to year with threats, but we may finally lose one of them within the next two years.

The 305 Race Saver Sprint Cars will add at least one new track to the 2016 schedule as division continues to grow,

Two Bay Area tracks will be aligned by 2017.

Friday, December 4, 2015

The Pit Stops Column And More


First of all...



Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover


On Sale At Reduced Price




Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback


Also, what could be a series of informative books...

Short Track History Project at Go Fund Me 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE


The DCRR Racing Radio Show



The Editor's Viewpoint For Thanksgiving Can Be Viewed HERE

Thankful, Not Complacent On Thanksgiving Can Be Viewed HERE  

Saturday night IMCA Modified Main Event From Bakersfield Thanksgiving Thunder can be views at golivestream.tv HERE
 
Saturday Night Main Events From Porterville Turkey Shoot Races Can Be Viewed HERE:


Pit Stops

Two things attempted to derail this particular column.  The first was pretty big.  Since we spent the season using this laptop and carrying it around to hot spots at the track so we could file our articles after the races, it's pretty beat up.  Well, the screen just broke apart.  The part where you put it up or down broke last night, and now I must lean it against something to use it.  The OS has been acting up since the end of the season, so this laptop's days are numbered.  As I have no place to set up my work station, when this computer breaks, I am off line.

Secondly, As I was dealing with the first problem, I managed to lose the article I had written.  This should not have happened as I had saved it on my blog first, but it did.  I won't get into how it happened, but suffice it to say, I was not pleased.  So, I had to start over from scratch.

I am going to repost the link to the Go Fund Me page. 

It's http//www.gofundme.com/lbbgr4

I really hate doing this, but I can use any help I can get.  It will go towards essentials I need as I try to pull myself up back on my feet.  Things could be a lot worse right now, but they also aren't as good as they could be.  It's work in progress.  Anyway, funds will go towards essentials needed for my day to day and possibly replacing this laptop so I can keep writing.

In the meantime, there's a few things to talk about, including banquet news for Oval Motorsports, race track news and a bit regarding my future in racing.  Also, I managed to use my smart phone to successfully do a racing radio show, which is included  in the post along with a second column I had written about a week ago.


Pit Stops

With no publicity team in place at the moment, removal of the social media pages and a myriad of questions regarding next season, Oval Motorsports put the word out through Ron Brown on Facebook that there would indeed be a banquet celebrating this season's accomplishments.  Brown made the announcement that the banquet would take place on January 23rd at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds and would be an overall banquet that would include Antioch, Merced and Chowchilla drivers.

There have been questions as to why this was the case and some unhappy responses from the Merced area.  One of the biggest reasons was because having it all in one place would be easier to coordinate, plus the fact that last year's banquets were a money loser.  In fact, promoter John M. Soares wasn't planning to have a banquet at all this year but decided to give it a chance due to repeated inquiries from the racers.

Brown indicated that drivers needed to make their reservations by January 1st so that management could determine how much food to order and what awards to purchase.  He added that a low number of reservations could still mean a cancellation.  As of this writing, at least 40 tickets have been reserved so far, and that is probably a low estimation.  Antioch Speedway contact information is still available on the Oval Motorsports Page HERE for those looking to buy tickets to the banquet.

Brown also mentioned that any rules announcements would be made by Soares himself at the banquet.  Not much is anticipated in that area, but the banquet provides Soares with an opportunity to address the racers on the state of Oval Motorsports.

And, that is the big question on people's minds.  What is happening with Oval Motporsports?  It is anticipated that as of this writing Soares has declared his intentions to not return to Chowchilla Speedway.  The fairgrounds had given him until the end of last month to give them official word, and and fair management claimed that there had been interest expressed by others in running the track in 2016.  Whether Chowchilla holds at least some races for the 17th straight year remains to be seen.  If somebody is stepping forward to run the track, we should hear something in the near future.

The next question is about Merced Speedway.  Word is that there are two potential parties interested in buying Oval Motorsports out and taking over the track.  Negotiations have been ongoing with one of these groups since September.  As of this writing, no announcement has been made.  Will a deal even be done, or will Oval Motorsports return to Merced for a seventh season?  Again, if something is going going to happen here, a deal will need to be made soon.  Racing season typically starts in March, and that's not including all of the preparations that are needed to get ready.

There have been rumors concerning Oval Motorsports and an unnamed track.  What will happen there is still unclear, but a move to leave Merced might signal that something could happen in the not too distant future.  All of this is speculation, and that doesn't even address the questions about the schedule for 2016.  Word is that it is still in the works and could be announced at any time, likely before the banquet.  As mentioned before, Oval Motorsports is currently without a Publicity Director, which is effecting the release of information.

Getting back to the banquet announcement, one of the things that Brown suggested was the possibility that the drivers, crews and fans might get a chance to vote on awards for Best Appearing Car and Most Improved Driver.  Including the Rookie Of The Year Awards, that would make three special awards for the divisions.  For years, The DCRR made its announcements on who we thought deserved the awards, and we even sponsored awards at multiple banquets.  It's been a while, but here are our award winners for the Oval Motorsports tracks in 2015.  We'll just have to wait until January 23rd to see who officially wins.

Rookie Of The Year

These are the drivers who had great debuts in their respective divisions.  At Antioch, we had Marcus Smith (Wingless Spec Sprint), Danny Malfatti (DIRTcar Late Model), Nick Viscusi III (IMCA Modified), Patti Ryland (IMCA Sport Mod), Jordan Swank (Hobby Stock), Miranda Chappa (Dwarf Car), Ricky Brophy (Winged 360 Sprint Car) and Ryan Cherezian (Limited Late Model).

At Merced, we had Harley Turner (IMCA Modified), Josh Hensley (IMCA Sport Mod), Jennifer Corder (Hobby Stock), Natalie Waldrop (Mini Stock) and Chester "Buddy" Kniss (Dwarf Car).

At Chowchilla, Danny Luukkonen (IMCA Modified), Josh Hensley (IMCA Sport Mod), Bobby Williams (Hobby Stock) and Mike Congdon (Mini Stock).

Notably, Malfatti had rookie seasons simultaneously in Late Models and Winged 360 Sprints (at Watsonville) and did well in both classes.  Smith and Swank ranked runner up in their respective divisions, while Ryland ranked third in her division.  Corder followed up her Mini Stock runner up season by finishing second in Hobby Stocks, while Hensley was Merced's top rookie and track champion.  Waldrop came on late to make the Top 5 in points.  Like Hensley, Luukkonen was also a rookie champion.

Most Improved Driver

At Antioch, we had Bobby Motts Jr. (IMCA Modified), Al Johnson (IMCA Sport Mod), Mark Garner (Limited Late Model), Chester Kniss (DIRTcar Late Model), Adam Teves (Dwarf Car), Frank Furtado (Hobby Stock), Jake Haulot (Winged 360 Sprint Car) and Rick Panfili (Wingless Spec Sprint).

At Merced, we had Ricky Thatcher (IMCA Modified), Mark Odgers (IMCA Sport Mod), Austin Van Hoff (Hobby Stock) and Darren Miguel (Mini Stock).  At Chowchilla we had Nastasia Dodd (IMCA Sport Modified).

There were some drivers making really great strides this season, and some of these choices weren't easy ones.  Garner had an amazing season with his best ranking ever at Antioch, and he did it while his father, Jerry Garner, battled Cancer and passed away.  His efforts were dedicated to his dad, who was on hand to celebrate his Merced championship. Teves, Motts and Haulot were so impressive that they all could have won their respective championships.  Though Panfili was third a year earlier, this season saw him win his first heat race and enjoy a career best second place feature finish.

At Merced, Thatcher climbed from 13th to a tie for a second in the Modified standings as he emerged as a threat.  Miguel went from seventh to the most dominant Mini Stock racer at Merced this season, while Van Hoff climbed from 19th to third with a pair of feature wins.  Odgers ranking second was no big surprise, but it was his best Sport Mod season to date.

Hard Luck Driver

At Antioch, we had Danny Jones (Hobby Stock), Mike Salazar  (IMCA Modifed), John Keith (Limited Late Model), Jack Haverty (Dwarf Car), Dennis Souza (DIRTcar Late Model), Tim Hammett (IMCA Sport Mod), Chris Magoon (Winged 360 Sprint Car) and Alan Miranda (Wingless Spec Sprint).

At Merced, we had Scott Van Gelder (Limited Late Model), Tim Prothro (IMCA Sport Mod),Kevin Lockerby (Mini Stock), John MacDougall (IMCA Modified) and Robbie Loquaci (Hobby Stock).

At Chowchilla, we had Randy Brown (IMCA Modified), Keith Brown Jr. (IMCA Sport Mod), Gary Hildebrand (Hobby Stock) and Alisa Caldwell (Mini Stock).

Jones had a fast car and had several second place finishes.  However motor problems always ended his bid for victory and eventually dropped him from second to fifth in the standings.  Haverty had a hard crash and a flip sideline him for several weeks.  Miranda had a flip sideline him for a week and led a race for 19 and a half laps before being taken out by the second place driver.  Souza had all kinds of bad luck but came back most every race even after a rollover.  Hammett was a rookie who never could get a handle on his car.

Prothro probably would have been a regular at Merced, but a hard crash in Turn 4 destroyed the front end of his car.  Van Gelder lost second in points and fell out of the Top 3 after injuries sustained in a heat race crash.  MacDougall dropped out of the point lead after destroying his car in a crash at Petaluma.  At Chowchilla, K. Brown was the only driver with a shot at Fred Ryland, but his season ended when he blew his motor.  R. Brown had a nightmare night that saw him flip his car and take a piece of the pit gate home with him on the way out.  Caldwell was another driver who destroyed her car in a crash.

Best Appearing Car
This was difficult to pick with the beautiful cars we had out there in some classes

At Antioch, we had Natalie Perry (Hobby Stock), Ron Brown/Al Sotomayor (IMCA Sport Mod), Lori Brown/Jim Freethy (Limited Late Model), Billy Macedo/Keith Shipherd (Wingless Spec Sprint), Dan Gonderman (Winged 360 Sprint), Travis Mayerhoff (DIRTcar Late Model) and

At Merced, we had Rick Diaz (IMCA Sport Mod), Jeff Lacy (Hobby Stock), Jennifer Corder (Mini Stock), Bill Egleston (IMCA Modified) and Mark Garner (Limited Late Model).

At Chowchilla, we had Marisa Odgers (IMCA Sport Mod), Josh Vogt (IMCA Sport Modified), Alex Odishoo (Mini Stock) and Robbie Loquaci (Hobby Stock).

Really, there were several drivers who made the effort to have a nice looking car, and it's a shame that the tracks didn't do a Best Appearing Car contest at the start of the season, when the cars were not bent.  Any choices made for winners will upset some who felt there were better looking cars.  The fact is, there were several drivers who deserved this honor, and we gave it our best in making our choices.  A few times we couldn't make a decision and made it a tie.

Team Players
For efforts that helped make the season better

Destiny Carter, Zoe Sandoval, Jim Thompson, Robert Kempf, Carl Johnson, Brad Coelho, Dale Falkenberg, Jim Robbins, DNF Crew, Paul Gould, Sonora Sports Photography, Racing Edge Videos.

There are many people who play a part in making the show happen, and the fact is there are names we are probably forgetting here.  Still, we want to try to acknowledge some of them.  Carter and Sandoval were Merced and Chowchilla's two biggest boosters as these two posted pictures and news to spread the word and create some excitement.  Thompson was a man behind the scenes sponsoring things, often times anonymously, but it's people like him who make this sport successful.

Kempf was not just a popular flag man at Antioch, but he coordinated the candy and Hot Wheels giveaways at the track.  Falkenberg did the giveaways at Merced and is another person who has helped out several racers with sponsorship.  Johnson did more than just flag the races at Merced and Chowchilla, he was the go to guy in The Valley for Oval Motorsports.  Coelho's style as chief steward created a positive environment at all three tracks.  Robbins helped at all three tracks in addition to his work a maintenance man at Antioch and as somebody who lent a hand to help get cars to the track.

The DNF Crew worked hard at Antioch and in visits to Merced and Chowchilla to keep the races moving.  Gould and Sonora Sports Photography did a great job of documenting the action in pictures and video.  Racing Edge Videos was there to to take it up a notch with quality video of the action at Antioch and Watsonville as well.

Honestly, there are many other names that are probably worthy of mentioning, particularly down in The Valley, that we're not remembering.  Without each and every one of them, the show wouldn't have been as good as it was.  It takes a team to make it happen.

Sportsman Of The Year

Chester Kniss, Josh Hensley.

Kniss was one of those guys who stepped in and made a difference when called upon.  In addition to sponsoring a couple races through his Delta Transmission business, Kniss sponsored several race cars and generally brought a positive attitude to the races.  At Merced, Hensley's team fielded multiple cars every week, and he also sponsored several teams through his Main Street Garage business.

DCRR Award Of Excellence

Fred Ryland

Without the people who put the cars together and sell the parts, this sport wouldn't happen.  At Antioch, we have Ryland Racing.  Fred tries to make good deals for the racers to keep them coming back to the track, and he had an amazing season in the Sport Modified division.  The Ryland's have been a positive part of racing at Antioch since they started racing.

Lifetime Achievement

Jerry Garner, Debbie Clymens, Bob Williamson, Doug Williams

Racing lost a legend this year in Jerry Garner.  In addition to all his feature wins in Sportsman and Stock Cars and 1969 State championship, Jerry's legacy in racing continues with his son Mark in Limited Late Models.  Debbie Clymens started racing about the time her husband Tom retired in the late 1970's, and she had a reputation for not backing down to anybody.  A front runner in Street Stocks, Late Models, Dirt Modifieds and Figure 8's, Debbie has since retired, but her son Trevor still races and her grand daughters are just getting started.  As we often say, families are a vital part to keeping the sport alive today.

There's not a lot of fanfare behind Bob Williamson.  He's not really seen as the big star at Merced Speedway, but he's been running up front for years.  He started racing back in the 1970's, and his red and white #19 car is still a fixture in the Modified division, where he has won two championships among several Top 5 seasons. 

Doug Williams is a legend at Merced Speedway.  He's the only Merced Speedway regular to win a NASCAR Regional championship, and to this day, he is one of the most respected people in the area.  Doug's tenure as GM at Merced was very popular as judged by the high Modified and Sport Mod car counts he maintained in his last season.

These are the people high on our list for awards this season.  With the banquet coming up on January 23rd, we'll find out who takes them home.  We had intended to do an Oval Motorsports Yearbook, but we are unable to do so as our editing tools are not readily available at the moment.  In fact, given the state of this laptop computer, our updates on the blog could also come to a halt unless our situation changes.

At this point, most of the tracks are finalizing their schedules for the coming season and should be releasing them within the next few weeks.  The World of Outlaws recently announced their schedule for the new season, and no Antioch dates were listed.   There are also reports that the Gold Cup Race Of Champions could be moving from Chico to Calistoga next year, which could be a contributing factor as to why the September date at Antioch may not happen.  What role Sprint Cars will play at Antioch next year remains to be seen.

Perris Auto Speedway is the second California track to announce a 2016 schedule as Hayfork announced its schedule a few weeks ago.  PR man Mike Adaskaveg had hinted back in October that Oval Motorsports might release its schedule in November.  Negotiations regarding Merced and the Chowchilla decision may have contributed to the slight delay.   Last report was that no major changes in divisions competing at Antioch were forthcoming.  Time will tell.

The West Coast Nationals event also remains a mystery following Brown's Facebook post a couple weeks ago that suggested the January 1 race was still a go, weather permitting.  That is all we currently know about the race as this reporter is not officially involved as of this writing.  Two offers have been made for 2016, and once we get all of the details and make a decision, we will report it here.  Of course, lack of a working computer may prevent that.

For whatever reason, Porterville flew in under the radar in November.  We are still waiting for results from last week, but indications are that they did all right with the Hobby Stock-American Stock-Mini Stock program.  Merced Speedway was represented, and we can tell you that Chowchilla champion Chris Corder scored the big Mini Stock victory, while Merced champion Darren Miguel's race ended early after leading several laps.  The win for Corder, who was also the Merced point runner up, paid $600 and was the biggest win of his career as he prepares for a move up to Sport Mods.

There were several Merced racers in Porterville, but one disappointed racer was Steven Rodgers, who brought his yellow Mustang to the Hobby Stock show.  Rodgers has had his struggles this year and certainly wasn't expecting to set the track on fire.  He just wanted to have a fun weekend, but he was denied the opportunity to race by tech officials, who reportedly claimed his car was too unsafe.  We're all for building the racing program in Porterville, but this was a bid disappointing.  The Rodgers car was legal to race at several tracks this year.  By all accounts, however, the big Turkey Shoot race was once again a success, another bit of news we're happy with.


The Challenges Of Building Things Up 
Can Be Rewarding And Frustrating

One of the opportunities that is opening up for me, should I return for a 2016 season somewhere in racing, is sort of a project.  It's a racing program in need of a little TLC.  I'm hesitant to get too much into the details as of now, but it's a challenge with lots of potential.  I'll be honest with you, I like the challenge.  I know the risks involved.

First is the obvious.  You can fail and fall flat on your face.  People will laugh at you and say, "I told you so."  Some people will put you down every step of the way while you are doing it.  You're doing it wrong, you see.  Or, you screwed up somewhere, so it must have been intentional.  As they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."  I love the challenge of building something up, especially if nobody thinks it can happen.

The other thing that happens that I have first hand experience with is that people want to be on the bandwagon when it starts to take off.  It costs nothing to get on board once it's proven to be a good thing.  Some of those very "nay sayers" are the ones who want to enjoy the success.  The bad part is when they start pointing a finger at you as the person who is messing it all up when you were one of the ones in the trenches fighting the hardest to make it special.

I've written about this in Just A Kid From The Grandstands, so I won't go into it too heavily, but I was hooked on the NCMA from the moment Mike Johnson told me what could be.  I liked the rules set, the idea of open wheel racing for the working man and woman.  They only had two cars at the time.  There was no bandwagon then.  People hated Mike.  That's another story, but I admired Mike's tenacity, even if he gave me grief at times.  Mike was a racer and a hustler.  To race where he raced, he had to be.  I did it for no pay, and none was offered either.  I did it for the love of the sport.

What do you do when you have no cars?  How do you build it up?  I wrote a lot about any car, even the ones rumored to be coming.  I wrote about the ideas being proposed for the future.  I wrote about interesting things on the track.  Cars came.  Under the Jim Booth presidency, some of what Mike always talked about happened.  Cars started coming.  Jim's leadership made a difference.  Of course, this is where some of the disrespect started coming.  One of the racers brought a guy in from Nevada to report on the then record 20 car show.  I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't throw a fit about it the way another PR guy in the group would have a few years later.  I was happy knowing I played a part in building it up.

But, the NCMA was never quite what it could be.  Don O'Keefe Jr. had been called upon to start a class for John M. Soares at Antioch, and that, as you know, is the Wingless Spec Sprints.  But, it wasn't as simple as just taking over the NCMA.  It could have been.  There are some who wanted that group destroyed, but not Don and I.  We wanted a new class of Sprint Cars.  So, we started from the ground up.  Line by line, we wrote the rules.  Don and I had specific duties we needed to do from conception of the idea through that first season.  Plus, we had people trying to sabotage us.  I'm convinced that this would have failed had Don or I walked away that first year.

Why did we do it?  We wanted to make a positive difference in racing.  We wanted to make a class of Sprint Car that would appeal to Stock Car people too, a division for the budget minded.  I wanted to give Antioch Speedway something that would become a part of the track's great heritage.  I think we accomplished that and then some.  What eventually happened was Spec Sprints caught on at several tracks and are still there.  There have been some big races for this type of racing since then.  I'm very proud of what we did then, and I know the part I played in the PR department and announcing the first two seasons made a difference.

I watched Don pretty much get run out of the deal and have since heard his role in this thing down played by people who really know better.  I've even been told that I should "throw Don under the bus" to get ahead.  Sorry, I don't do that to my friends.  Besides, there would be no Spec Sprints without Don, plain and simple.  Who do you think came up with the name, which is still used in some places?  We didn't do this for ourselves.  We did it for racing.

My venture into The Valley was about making a difference at a time when I knew help was needed.  I knew Merced was in danger in 2001.  I attended the 18 car show in the stands with Tom Sagmiller.  But, I couldn't just laugh at the promoters and let a great tradition die.  I started writing articles then and started doing my audio calls until Matt of Matt & Glass got me the announcing gig with Johnny Sass.  My goal was to help make Merced a fun place to race again.  Car count more than doubled by season's end, attendance was up.  I'd like to think I played a part in that.

The sad part was being told before the 2002 season that my services were no longer needed.  I knew the war going on between the two tracks down there.  I just wanted to help them both and to heck with the feud.  I did it to make a difference in racing, not for the glory.  People wanted Merced to fail.  I didn't.  I wanted to be a part of the comeback.  I still announced there about once a month for the next two years and was to receive the Team Player Award in 2003.  Some people thought the track was inferior.  I heard the talk, and I strongly disagreed.

Chowchilla Speedway was the miracle that came in the wake of the loss of San Jose Speedway.  I took a lot of heat for going down there.  I was somehow betraying certain promoters for going there, even though it was my free time to use as I wanted.  I won't deny that I wanted to go there because it was fun at a time when I wasn't having much fun.  But, the idea that this track needed help to build up its name was my motivating factor.  Most of the surrounding promoters did not like this track or its promoter, but I saw the good in all of it.  Racing needed it.

The Valley was my racing sanctuary.  What undid it all for me was the feud that nobody would let go of.  We needed to get past it and build a working relationship between the two tracks for the good of racing.  That was one of my biggest disappointments in racing, that I couldn't help broker the peace.  I tried.  I wanted to build a two track series that would rival any place in the state.  It could have been big.  It should have been big, but it never happened.  Still, I'm proud to know I was a part in doing something good for racing.

Antioch is my home track, but going to The Valley showed that I could do what I do anywhere in racing and make a difference.  This is why anything is possible if I were to go elsewhere.  But, Antioch is the site of my biggest accomplishments.  Wingless Spec Sprints and the beginning of the Oval Motorsports era are my two proudest accomplishments.  Both didn't come easy and met with a lot of resistance.  Both were worth the effort.

People hated the loss of NASCAR and hated John M. Soares before he ever showed up to promote.  It was my job to show them that it would be alright.  John gave me a lot of good things to work with.  Those three years were the most successful time ever at that race track.  Record car counts, good crowds and even the nay sayers ended up getting on board in the end.  I loved the "us against them" vibe that first season, because we were building something they would become a fan of.  I was taking on more responsibility than ever, and I felt that what I was doing was an important ingredient in the track's success.  It drove me to work harder.

As I mentioned, it is when it becomes successful that others want to come on board and be a part of it.  In this case, people wanted me out of the picture because they had a guy they thought would make it better.  Of course, that didn't happen.  It started going down hill.  They found out two things.  It's not as easy as it looks, and it takes effort and passion to really make it pop.  I could be bitter about how it ended, but I'm not.  If I had it to do over again  (and I decided I was going down the racing path), I'd still do it.

The thing about building something up is that it's up to you to do the things that create the vibe that makes people want to be a part of it.  People aren't just going to come because it's there.  You have to give them a reason.  You have to make the right moves and you have to be ready to do what it takes, even when you may be getting tired or frustrated.  It can be exhausting, but when it's successful, it is an amazing feeling.  It's your reward.  The people that were in the trenches with you all share in that feeling of what you overcame to achieve the success.

There are some racing programs that need the TLC to get bigger and better.  I've been trying to help a few of them.  The offer that may be coming my way very soon is a definite challenge in a place I am not as familiar with.  However, I know what I would do to prepare myself for the challenge.  I've already formed a few ideas in my head, in case this is what I do.  It will take work, but the person I would be working with is good at what they do too.  Like me, this person tends to gravitate toward the challenges that people don't give a chance.  Sure, it could build my name if I am successful, but I look at it this way.  If we succeed, a racing program gets stronger.  Racers and racing fans could benefit from that for years to come.

I remain very proud of the good things I have been a part in helping create during my time involved in racing.  I believe I have more in me if the opportunity presents itself.  We'll just have to see what the future holds.