Porter, Nelson, Joaquin Merced Winners, Liggett, Papenhausen, Teves Win At Antioch

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On Sale At Reduced Price

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

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

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

Short Track History Project at Gofundme 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

The Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway

The buzz probably hasn't been out there about the late June Summer Nationals races at Antioch Speedway, but here's what is on the schedule:

June 26 (Friday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals –  IMCA Modifieds,  Limited Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods (no    track points but there will be national, regional, and state points), Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars.

June 27 (Saturday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals – DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods.  

NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace will be driving a Modified and a Late Model that weekend and is willing to drive any other race car made available to him.  He'll compete in every class he can.  The track traditionally runs a big race on the weekend of the Sears Point NASCAR race, and this is no exception.

Questions were asked to this reporter about the purse, and this is the word we got from John Soares Jr. at Antioch Speedway.  The Friday night IMCA Modified race will pay $1500 to win and a minimum of $125 to start, which could end up being $150.  The Sport Mods will race for $500 to win.  Expectations are for good car counts in both classes, and we are already hearing rumors of cars coming down from Oregon for this event.

The Saturday night IMCA Modified feature will pay $2500 to win and will pay the same to start as mentioned above.  Sport Mods get $750 to win.  The Late Models get a minimum of $1500 to win and $150 to start regardless of car count.  John would like to pay $2000 to win if he can get 20 cars, and I'm thinking that will include an increase in the start money, though I didn't get clarification on that part.  However, these two races should be big.

For more information, go to the official Oval Motorsports Website.

A Brief Preview Of Summer Nationals At Antioch Speedway

June 26th and 27th are the dates you will want to mark on your calender.  It's the Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway.  This is the weekend NASCAR comes to Sears Point Raceway and it's traditionally the weekend Promoter John Soares Jr. likes to book something special at Antioch Speedway.  Last year, it was a $3000 to win Winged 360 Sprint Car race, won by Bradley Terrell, but frequently Late Models and Dirt Modifieds are part of the show.  Soares and Oval Motorsports loves to do things up big for the drivers.

For that weekend, Soares has booked NASCAR racer and personality Kenny Wallace to compete and will be providing him with a ride in the House Late Model for the Saturday race.  That Late Model show will pay $1500 to win regardless of car count and will grow to $2000 with a 20 car field.  Wallace may have his eyes on the prize, but among the drivers who will likely be going for the big win are Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger and Paul Guglielmoni.

Unconfirmed rumors have Bobby Hogge IV considering an appearance.  Only two drivers have won more Main Events than Hogge in Antioch Speedway history, and he won two Late Model features there last season.  You never know who will compete in this race, but a bigger than usual field in the 16-20 car range is anticipated.

The IMCA Modifieds will race for $2500 to win on Saturday and $1500 on Friday.  Interestingly enough, point leader Scott Busby has a more difficult time getting wins at Antioch when the big money is on the line, though he has won 61 times in this division at his home track.  Can he bag some of the big bucks this time?  In addition to this season's top point runners, such as Bobby Motts Jr., Carl Berendsen II, Dustin Humes, Alex and Kyle Wilson, Chis Elby and Jeff Thomas, several top names from other tracks are anticipated.

Petaluma point leader Nick DeCarlo, six time Petaluma champ Michael Paul Jr., Watsonville point leader Bobby Hogge IV and the Burke brothers, Cody and Austin, are others who could show.  Troy Foulger, a four time Antioch champion, is rumored to be planning to compete, as is past Antioch champion Kellen Chadwick, who has a knack for winning the big races.

The IMCA Sport Mods also have two nights of racing that weekend.  They even get extra money as they run for $500 to win on Friday and $750 in Saturday.  When you hear big Sport Mod race at Antioch, you suddenly think Fred Ryland will be getting a little extra for his wins.  Ryland leads the Antioch, State and National point races with several wins along the way.  However, he can expect some stiff competition for this event.  The monkey wrench in all of this is that Ryland is competing for points at Watsonville, but there is an out as Antioch's Friday race is being specified as a non track point race.

This means Ryland will likely not be at Antioch, opening the door for a new winner if the scheduling holds true.  Top candidates from the point list include Keith Brown Jr., Ron Brown, Chuck Golden and Megan Ponciano on Friday, and F. Ryland, Patti Ryland, Paul Mulder and Al Sotomayor can be added to the mix on Saturday.  From Marysville, stars like Jimmy Ford and Alan Furuta could be on hand for this, and other names to watch for include Jeremy Hoff, Bruce Nelson, Anthony Guiliani and possibly 2014 IMCA State champion Nick Spainhoward.

The Friday portion of the show will also include Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars and will be a regular point race for all three divisions.  Adding to the interest is the report that Kenny Wallace is willing to drive any and all divisions that are a part of the show.  For further information, check the official Oval Motorsports Website.

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Porter, Nelson, Joaquin Win Merced Main Events

Ryan Porter won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Merced Speedway.  Porter started back in the fourth row of the Main Event.  Robby Jeppesen and Bob Williamson shared the front row for the feature, and Jeppesen set the early pace.  Bill Egleston and last starter Porter were soon in the lead battle.  The third generation of Porters to race at Merced soon grabbed the lead and sped home to his second win of the season.  Egleston got his title hopes back on track with a second ahead of Jeppesen, IMCA State point leader Alex Wilson, Kyle Wilson, last week''s winner Karl Rose, Williamson, and John McDougall, who had his worst finish of the season.  Heat race wins went to K. Wilson ahead of Egleston and Rose in front of Williamson.

After coming as close as second this year, hard charger and two time Hobby Stock champion  Bruce "Bubba" Nelson bested a 14 car Sport Modified field for his first win of the season at Merced.  Nelson had his hands full early with Bakersfield's Jared Tickel jumping out to an early lead through a myriad of early yellow flags.  However, Nelson made the low groove work well enough to take the lead by lap six of the 20 lap event.  Once in front, Nelson led the rest of the way and brought it home to a well earned victory.  Tickel settled for second and Mark Odgers out dueled point leader Josh Hensley for third.  Tim Cecil turned in a good effort in fifth as Gary Tucker, Matt Pedroni, Eric Rose, Alan Pace and Chase Thomas completed the Top 10.  Nelson gave a preview of things to come by beating Tickel to win his heat race.  Young Nick Tucker held off Odgers to win his heat race.

Kevin Joaquin had two wins earlier this year, but he has settled for four of his five second place finishes in recent Hobby Stock action.  This time around, the point leader was on a mission to get his third 20 lap feature win of the season, and failure was not an option.  Joaquin made a charge from eighth starting and battled Shannon Nelson and three time winner Kristie Shearer at the front.  Joaquin would prevail for his third win as Shearer settled or second.  Austin Van Hoff turned in another great effort in third as Nelson settled for fourth.  Rookie Jennifer Corder rebounded from recent bad luck for a much needed fifth place finish as Bobby Williams, Ty Shelton, Richard Ragdsale, George Silva and Jesse Ruckman completed the Top 10.  The Hobby Stocks had two heat races, and recent Chowchilla winner Silva won his heat race ahead of Nelson.  Ty Shelton won the other heat race ahead of 15 year old Cody Parker.

Point leader Marcus Lung bested a short field of Sportsman drivers for another feature win ahead of Kenny Birdsong and Mike Palmberg.  Lung also won the heat race.

Merced Speedway will be dark for a couple weeks before returning for the Ted Stofle Classic on the second weekend of July.  IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods headline that event along with Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks.  Further information can be found on the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Liggett, East Win Sprint Car Races At Antioch Speedway

Making his first start of the year at Antioch Speedways, Austin Liggett impressed with a $1250 win in the 25 lap Northern All Stars Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event.  Placerville star Eric Humphries made a rare appearance and came home a strong second.  In a race that saw all of the other leaders have various problems, James East won his first 20 lap Wingless Spec Sprint feature.

The growing Winged 360 Sprint Car effort at Antioch produced a 12 car field, and Humphries won his heat race ahead of title hopeful Art McCarthy.  Dustin Golobic won the other heat race over Kurt Nelson.  Only Chico Economy Sprint point leader Brandon Powell was unable to start the feature after rear end damage in his heat race.  Jeremy Burt was back for the second time this season and set the early Main Event pace ahead of Liggett and Chase Wood Sr.  Kurt Nelson gained third on lap two, and Humphries was running fourth by lap five.  Working lap eight, Liggett got a good run on the outside of Burt in Turn 4 and raced by for the lead.  Burt suffered mechanical issues and pitted in the infield on lap 11, and a Turn 2 tangle involving point leader Shawn Arriaga, McCarthy and Wood brought out a lap 13 caution flag.  Liggett led Nelson and Humphries on the restart, and the battle between Liggett and Nelson heated up.  In a battle of the slide jobs, Nelson's move through Turns 3 and 4 on the 15th lap put him temporarily into the lead.  Liggett made the same move in Turn 2 a lap later, but with slight contact to the front of the Nelson car.  As Nelson held on and slipped back to fourth, Liggett led Humphries and McCarthy.  Even with a late yellow flag for an Arriaga spin in Turn 3, Liggett proved unbeatable.  Liggett brought it home to a well earned victory ahead of Humphries.  Nelson made a lap 23 pass on McCarthy to claim third as McCarthy settled for fourth.  Arriaga was fifth at the line.  Wood and Gonderman were lead lap finishers in sixth and seventh, respectively.  Brayden McMahan, Ricky Brophy and Burt rounded out the Top 10 as all drivers received a minimum of $150 to start.

The Wingless Spec Sprints were still feeling the effects of the ugly race they had last time.  The wreck that ended the previous race left two cars out of this week's action and forced point leader Kyle Bakkie to bring a backup car to maintain his point run.  Marcus Smith won his first heat race ahead of John Clark, while Alan Miranda won his heat race in front of Bakkie.  Smith had a front row start for the Main Event and led the opening lap.  Unfortunately, he spun in Turn 4 a lap later, handing the lead on Clark ahead of Miranda and East.  Working lap eight, Clark came up on lapped traffic. Problems with a slower car resulted in a Clark spin on the back stretch for a lap eight caution flag.  Miranda now led East and previous winner Jimmy Perry III.  Perry made an outside pass on the front stretch on lap 11 to take over second, and he ended up passing Miranda for the lead on lap 13.  Miranda spun from second for a lap 15 yellow flag, and Perry had a right rear flat tire.  Suddenly, East was the leader ahead of Bakkie and Smith.  Smith made a low pass in Turn 2 of the 18th lap to take second and chased East the rest of the way.  However, East made no mistakes and won the race ahead of Smith, Bakkie, Rick Panfili and Miranda.  Non finishers Perry, Clark and Chase Wood Jr. were scored in that order.

Racing returns next weekend for the two day, Summer Nationals event.  Friday night racing will feature IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  The Saturday night show will have DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds.  NASCAR Star Kenny Wallace will be driving an IMCA Modified on both nights and a Late Model on Saturday night..  Further information can be found on the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Papenhausen Stretches Antioch Point Lead With Fifth Win

Taking the lead with a brilliant thread the needle move between two cars, point leader Richard Papenhausen went on to win his fifth 20 lap DIRTcar Late Model feature Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.  Papenhausen will stretch his point lead aboard the Mohawk Trading/Papenhausen Construction #4p car as Jeff Decker finished last.  Point leader Kimo Oreta survived a mid race duel with Danny Jones to win his fifth 20 lap Northern All Stars Hobby Stock Main Event.

The Late Models had two heat races, and Anthony Restad started a good night for him with a heat win ahead of Decker.  Papenhausen dominated his heat race ahead of Duane Cleveland.   Pole sitter Danny Malfatti raced into the early lead in the Main Event with David Newquist and Cleveland right behind him as Papenhausen started back in tenth.  A lap two caution flag flew when a spin collected Decker and Papenhausen.  Both restarted in the back, but Decker's problems saw him limping around the track as Malfatti continued to lead Newquist and Cleveland.  Papenhausen was already in fourth when a lap four caution flag slowed the pace.  On the restart, Newquist and Malfatti were running side by side through Turns 1 and 2.  Papenhausen saw an opening between the two as they exited Turn 2 and made his move.  After a brief three abreast moment, Papenhausen had the lead on the back stretch and proceeded to pull away.  Restad quickly grabbed second from Newquist in Turn 4 and set about the futile task of trying to catch Papenhausen.  Cleveland's strong run came to an end by lap 10 as Malfatti and Newquist continued their side by side battle for third.  Limited Late Model point leader Larry Damitz ran fifth with a three car race for sixth behind him.  The flying Papenhausen had a straightaway lead over Restad by the checkered flag.  Newquist won the battle with Malfatti for third.  Randy Shafer finally won the battle behind Damitz and then passed the 86 year old lead foot for a fifth place finish.  Damitz settled for sixth as Terry Kuntz, Rob Norris, Mike Hynes and Cleveland rounded out the Top 10.

Kimo Oreta won the Hobby Stock heat race ahead of last week's feature winner, Chris Sorensen.  Oreta had the pole for the Main Event, meaning it would be difficult for anybody to challenge him for the victory.  Oreta raced into the lead ahead of Danny Jones and Michael Cooper, but a lap two caution flag flew for a Jessica Jones spin in Turn 2.  The hood of Natalie Perry's car flew up, and that was fixed to enable her to restart.  Oreta maintained the lead on the restart as last starter Sorensen took second from D. Jones.  An inside move on the front stretch regained D. Jones second from Sorensen on lap five.  J. Jones again spun, this time in Turn 4 on lap seven.  She got going, but a yellow flag flew, resulting in her being black flagged for causing two yellow flags.  Oreta continued to lead D. Jones and Sorensen on the restart, and the lead three cars ran closely.  A low move in Turn 4 of the ninth lap gained D. Jones the lead, but he nearly spun in Turn 2 to surrender the lead back to Oreta.  Sorensen limped to the pits with a flat tire as Cooper was running a strong third.  D. Jones shadowed Oreta's every move.  As they hit slower traffic, Oreta made the right moves and brought it home to victory.  D. Jones settled for his fifth second place finish of the season with Cooper and Perry enjoying season best finishes in third and fourth, respectively.  Jordan Swank, Frank Furtado, Sorensen and J. Jones rounded out the finishing order.

Racing returns next weekend for the two day, Summer Nationals event.  Friday night racing will feature IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  The Saturday night show will have DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds.  NASCAR Star Kenny Wallace will be driving an IMCA Modified on both nights and a Late Model on Saturday night..  Further information can be found on the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Teves, Mulder Collect Antioch Victories

Charging up from tenth starting, point leader David Teves posted an impressive 20 lap Northern All Stars Dwarf Car Main Event win Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.  The win was the third of the year for Teves, who also won his heat race.  Paul Mulder won an exciting 20 lap IMCA Sport Mod Main Event for what was his first win of the season.

The Dwarf Cars had three heat races with Mike Corsaro winning his heat race ahead of Dillon Hume.  David Teves collected a heat race win ahead of 2013 Petaluma champion Travis Dutra.  Pat Urdahl won the third heat race ahead of two time defending champion Danny Wagner.  Wagner had the pole for the Main Event, but he was surprised by fellow Antioch Mini Truck alumni Travis Dutra, who charged into the lead.  Hume brushed the wall to lose third to Urdahl on lap two.  Jenna Frazier, Brian Gray and Robert Coe tangled in Turn 2 for a lap four caution flag.  Dutra chose the inside on the restart and continued to lead Wagner as Corsaro was now third.  D. Teves was now fifth, and Frazier spun in Turn 2 for another caution flag on lap seven.  Dutra continued to go with the outside and led Wagner on the restart as D. Teves was now third.  After another caution flag for Frazier, D. Teves slipped past Wagner for second on a lap nine restart as Dutra continued to lead the way.  A low move in Turn 2 of the 11th lap gained D. Teves the lead.  Despite a lap 19 caution flag for Gray, Tim Reeder and Hume in Turn 2, D. Teves would not be denied.  D. Teves led the rest of the way to win ahead of Dutra, Wagner, Urdahl, Mark Biscardi, Josh Miller, Miranda Chappa, Reeder, Coe and Hume.

The IMCA Sport Mods had a good turnout and ran two heat races.  Keith Brown Jr. won his heat race ahead of Mulder.  Ron Brown won the other heat race ahead of Megan Ponciano.  Ron Brown and Chuck Golden shared the font row for the Sport Mod feature, and Golden raced into the early lead ahead of Brown.  K. Brown hit the wall at the Turn 1 exit and was in turn hit by K.C. Keller to end the race for both drivers.  Golden chose the inside and surrendered the lead to R. Brown on the restart.  Patti Ryland was third, and point leader Fred Ryland spun to avoid an incident.  He got going at the back without a yellow flag for him, but Megan Ponciano did bring out a yellow flag.  R. Brown chose the outside, only to lose the lead to Golden on the restart.  P. Ryland slipped past R. Brown for second.  Again, F. Ryland was caught in another incident where he spun and got going before a yellow flag.  P. Ryland made a strong move past Golden for the lead on the back stretch on lap eight, only to get sideways in Turn 2 to drop to third.  Golden regained the lead with Mulder now second.  R. Brown and Al Sotomayor tangled in Turn 4 for a lap 10 caution flag.  Golden stayed with the inside on the restart, but he slipped back to third as Mulder now led Watsonville ace Matt Hagio.  Despite the near misses, F. Ryland managed to work his way into the Top 5 by then.   F. Ryland soon made it a three car battle up front with Mulder and Hagio.  Mulder led Hagio and F. Ryland through a pair of quick caution flags, the second of which actually negated a Hagio pass for the lead on lap 15.  Mulder led Hagio and F. Ryland on the single file restart.  F. Ryland managed a low pass in Turn 4 for second on lap 19, but he could only chase the leader as Mulder won ahead of F. Ryland, Hagio, Golden and P. Ryland.  Ponciano was sixth ahead of R. Brown, Jimmy Lipke, Sotomayor and Cline.

Racing returns next weekend for the two day, Summer Nationals event.  Friday night racing will feature IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  The Saturday night show will have DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds.  NASCAR Star Kenny Wallace will be driving an IMCA Modified on both nights and a Late Model on Saturday night..  Further information can be found on the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Liggett, Papenhausen Impress With Antioch Speedway Victories

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

Short Track History Project at Gofundme 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

The Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway

The buzz probably hasn't been out there about the late June Summer Nationals races at Antioch Speedway, but here's what is on the schedule:

June 26 (Friday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals –  IMCA Modifieds,  Limited Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods (no    track points but there will be national, regional, and state points), Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars.

June 27 (Saturday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals – DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods.  

NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace will be driving a Modified and a Late Model that weekend and is willing to drive any other race car made available to him.  He'll compete in every class he can.  The track traditionally runs a big race on the weekend of the Sears Point NASCAR race, and this is no exception.

Questions were asked to this reporter about the purse, and this is the word we got from John Soares Jr. at Antioch Speedway.  The Friday night IMCA Modified race will pay $1500 to win and a minimum of $125 to start, which could end up being $150.  The Sport Mods will race for $500 to win.  Expectations are for good car counts in both classes, and we are already hearing rumors of cars coming down from Oregon for this event.

The Saturday night IMCA Modified feature will pay $2500 to win and will pay the same to start as mentioned above.  Sport Mods get $750 to win.  The Late Models get a minimum of $1500 to win and $150 to start regardless of car count.  John would like to pay $2000 to win if he can get 20 cars, and I'm thinking that will include an increase in the start money, though I didn't get clarification on that part.  However, these two races should be big.

For more information, go to the official Oval Motorsports Website.

A Brief Preview Of Summer Nationals At Antioch Speedway

June 26th and 27th are the dates you will want to mark on your calender.  It's the Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway.  This is the weekend NASCAR comes to Sears Point Raceway and it's traditionally the weekend Promoter John Soares Jr. likes to book something special at Antioch Speedway.  Last year, it was a $3000 to win Winged 360 Sprint Car race, won by Bradley Terrell, but frequently Late Models and Dirt Modifieds are part of the show.  Soares and Oval Motorsports loves to do things up big for the drivers.

For that weekend, Soares has booked NASCAR racer and personality Kenny Wallace to compete and will be providing him with a ride in the House Late Model for the Saturday race.  That Late Model show will pay $1500 to win regardless of car count and will grow to $2000 with a 20 car field.  Wallace may have his eyes on the prize, but among the drivers who will likely be going for the big win are Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger and Paul Guglielmoni.

Unconfirmed rumors have Bobby Hogge IV considering an appearance.  Only two drivers have won more Main Events than Hogge in Antioch Speedway history, and he won two Late Model features there last season.  You never know who will compete in this race, but a bigger than usual field in the 16-20 car range is anticipated.

The IMCA Modifieds will race for $2500 to win on Saturday and $1500 on Friday.  Interestingly enough, point leader Scott Busby has a more difficult time getting wins at Antioch when the big money is on the line, though he has won 61 times in this division at his home track.  Can he bag some of the big bucks this time?  In addition to this season's top point runners, such as Bobby Motts Jr., Carl Berendsen II, Dustin Humes, Alex and Kyle Wilson, Chis Elby and Jeff Thomas, several top names from other tracks are anticipated.

Petaluma point leader Nick DeCarlo, six time Petaluma champ Michael Paul Jr., Watsonville point leader Bobby Hogge IV and the Burke brothers, Cody and Austin, are others who could show.  Troy Foulger, a four time Antioch champion, is rumored to be planning to compete, as is past Antioch champion Kellen Chadwick, who has a knack for winning the big races.

The IMCA Sport Mods also have two nights of racing that weekend.  They even get extra money as they run for $500 to win on Friday and $750 in Saturday.  When you hear big Sport Mod race at Antioch, you suddenly think Fred Ryland will be getting a little extra for his wins.  Ryland leads the Antioch, State and National point races with several wins along the way.  However, he can expect some stiff competition for this event.  The monkey wrench in all of this is that Ryland is competing for points at Watsonville, but there is an out as Antioch's Friday race is being specified as a non track point race.

This means Ryland will likely not be at Antioch, opening the door for a new winner if the scheduling holds true.  Top candidates from the point list include Keith Brown Jr., Ron Brown, Chuck Golden and Megan Ponciano on Friday, and F. Ryland, Patti Ryland, Paul Mulder and Al Sotomayor can be added to the mix on Saturday.  From Marysville, stars like Jimmy Ford and Alan Furuta could be on hand for this, and other names to watch for include Jeremy Hoff, Bruce Nelson, Anthony Guiliani and possibly 2014 IMCA State champion Nick Spainhoward.

The Friday portion of the show will also include Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars and will be a regular point race for all three divisions.  Adding to the interest is the report that Kenny Wallace is willing to drive any and all divisions that are a part of the show.  For further information, check the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Liggett, Papenhausen Impress With Antioch Speedway Victories

Austin Liggett impressed with a 25 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event win Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.  Liggett engaged in a thrilling battle of slide job passes with Kurt Nelson midway through the race.  For a couple of laps, Nelson and Liggett traded the lead in each turn.

Liggett finally made a Turn 2 pass on lap 16 stick as slight contact dropped Nelson back to fourth.  From there, Liggett maintained the lead to score a hard fought victory.  Eric Humphries was a strong second as a disappointed Nelson settled for third after making his way past fourth place finisher Art McCarthy.

Richard Papenhausen very quickly rebounded from an early tangle with Jeff Decker to win his fifth 20 lap Late Model Main Event.  On a lap six restart, Papenhausen went between early leader David Newquist and Danny Malfatti on the back stretch and emerged with the lead.  Once in front, Papenhausen pulled away to a straightaway advantage.  Anthony Restad was a solid second as Newquist out dueled Malfatti for third.

It was not a good night to be the leader in the 20 lap Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event as no less than four leaders had problems.  Three leaders spun, and Jimmy Perry III was on his way to his third win when he had to pit with a right rear flat tire during a lap 15 caution period.  Suddenly, James East had the lead.  East would lead the rest of the way to hold off Marcus Smith for the victory.  Point leader Kyle Bakkie was third at the checkered flag.

Paul Mulder took the lead from Chuck Golden midway through the 20 lap IMCA Sport Mod Main Event.  Once in front, he held off the pressure of Fred Ryland and Matt Hagio for the impressive victory.  Ryland had an eventful race that saw him spin twice without a yellow flag and still finish a strong second ahead of Hagio.

David Teves maintained his Dwarf Car point lead with a nice drive from 10th starting to win the 20 lap Main Event.  Teves took the lead from Travis Dutra on a lap nine restart and had his hands full holding off Dutra the rest of the way for the victory. Behind Teves and Dutra, it was  defending champion Danny Wagner finishing third.

Kimo Oreta won his fifth 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event of the season.  Oreta briefly lost the lead midway through the race to Danny Jones, but Jones got sideways in Turn 2 to fall back to second.  Oreta would hold off the constant pressure of Jones for the impressive victory as Michael Cooper and Natalie Perry enjoyed season best finishes in third and fourth, respectively.

Racing returns next weekend for the two day, Summer Nationals event.  Friday night racing will feature IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  The Saturday night show will have DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds.  NASCAR Star Kenny Wallace will be driving an IMCA Modified on both nights and a Late Model on Saturday night. 

Saturday Night, June 20, 2015
Race Results

DIRTcar Late Models
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Anthony Restad, Richard Papenhausen.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Papenhausen, Restad, David Newquist, Danny Malfatti, Randy Shafer.

Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Eric Humphries, Dustin Golobic.  Main Event (20 Laps)- Austin Liggett, Humphries, Kurt Nelson, Art McCarthy, Shawn Arriaga.

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Keith Brown Jr., Ron Brown.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Paul Mulder, Fred Ryland, Matt Hagio, Chuck Golden, Patti Ryland.

Wingless Spec Sprints
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Marcus Smith, Alan Miranda.  Main Event (20 Laps)-James East, Smith, Kyle Bakkie, Rick Panfili, Miranda.

Dwarf Cars
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Mike Corsaro, David Teves, Pat Urdahl.  Main Event (20 Laps)-D. Teves, Travis Dutra, Danny Wagner, Urdahl, Mark Biscardi.

Hobby Stocks
Heat Winners (6 Laps)- Kimo Oreta.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Oreta, Danny Jones, Michael Cooper, Natalie Perry, Jordan Swank.

IMCA Mods And Sport Mods at Merced, Late Models, Sprint Cars At Antioch

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

Short Track History Project at Gofundme 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

The Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway

The buzz probably hasn't been out there about the late June Summer Nationals races at Antioch Speedway, but here's what is on the schedule:

June 26 (Friday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals –  IMCA Modifieds,  Limited Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods (no    track points but there will be national, regional, and state points), Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars.

June 27 (Saturday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals – DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods.  

NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace will be driving a Modified and a Late Model that weekend and is willing to drive any other race car made available to him.  He'll compete in every class he can.  The track traditionally runs a big race on the weekend of the Sears Point NASCAR race, and this is no exception.

Questions were asked to this reporter about the purse, and this is the word we got from John Soares Jr. at Antioch Speedway.  The Friday night IMCA Modified race will pay $1500 to win and a minimum of $125 to start, which could end up being $150.  The Sport Mods will race for $500 to win.  Expectations are for good car counts in both classes, and we are already hearing rumors of cars coming down from Oregon for this event.

The Saturday night IMCA Modified feature will pay $2500 to win and will pay the same to start as mentioned above.  Sport Mods get $750 to win.  The Late Models get a minimum of $1500 to win and $150 to start regardless of car count.  John would like to pay $2000 to win if he can get 20 cars, and I'm thinking that will include an increase in the start money, though I didn't get clarification on that part.  However, these two races should be big.

For more information, go to the official Oval Motorsports Website.

A Brief Preview Of Summer Nationals At Antioch Speedway

June 26th and 27th are the dates you will want to mark on your calender.  It's the Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway.  This is the weekend NASCAR comes to Sears Point Raceway and it's traditionally the weekend Promoter John Soares Jr. likes to book something special at Antioch Speedway.  Last year, it was a $3000 to win Winged 360 Sprint Car race, won by Bradley Terrell, but frequently Late Models and Dirt Modifieds are part of the show.  Soares and Oval Motorsports loves to do things up big for the drivers.

For that weekend, Soares has booked NASCAR racer and personality Kenny Wallace to compete and will be providing him with a ride in the House Late Model for the Saturday race.  That Late Model show will pay $1500 to win regardless of car count and will grow to $2000 with a 20 car field.  Wallace may have his eyes on the prize, but among the drivers who will likely be going for the big win are Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger and Paul Guglielmoni.

Unconfirmed rumors have Bobby Hogge IV considering an appearance.  Only two drivers have won more Main Events than Hogge in Antioch Speedway history, and he won two Late Model features there last season.  You never know who will compete in this race, but a bigger than usual field in the 16-20 car range is anticipated.

The IMCA Modifieds will race for $2500 to win on Saturday and $1500 on Friday.  Interestingly enough, point leader Scott Busby has a more difficult time getting wins at Antioch when the big money is on the line, though he has won 61 times in this division at his home track.  Can he bag some of the big bucks this time?  In addition to this season's top point runners, such as Bobby Motts Jr., Carl Berendsen II, Dustin Humes, Alex and Kyle Wilson, Chis Elby and Jeff Thomas, several top names from other tracks are anticipated.

Petaluma point leader Nick DeCarlo, six time Petaluma champ Michael Paul Jr., Watsonville point leader Bobby Hogge IV and the Burke brothers, Cody and Austin, are others who could show.  Troy Foulger, a four time Antioch champion, is rumored to be planning to compete, as is past Antioch champion Kellen Chadwick, who has a knack for winning the big races.

The IMCA Sport Mods also have two nights of racing that weekend.  They even get extra money as they run for $500 to win on Friday and $750 in Saturday.  When you hear big Sport Mod race at Antioch, you suddenly think Fred Ryland will be getting a little extra for his wins.  Ryland leads the Antioch, State and National point races with several wins along the way.  However, he can expect some stiff competition for this event.  The monkey wrench in all of this is that Ryland is competing for points at Watsonville, but there is an out as Antioch's Friday race is being specified as a non track point race.

This means Ryland will likely not be at Antioch, opening the door for a new winner if the scheduling holds true.  Top candidates from the point list include Keith Brown Jr., Ron Brown, Chuck Golden and Megan Ponciano on Friday, and F. Ryland, Patti Ryland, Paul Mulder and Al Sotomayor can be added to the mix on Saturday.  From Marysville, stars like Jimmy Ford and Alan Furuta could be on hand for this, and other names to watch for include Jeremy Hoff, Bruce Nelson, Anthony Guiliani and possibly 2014 IMCA State champion Nick Spainhoward.

The Friday portion of the show will also include Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars and will be a regular point race for all three divisions.  Adding to the interest is the report that Kenny Wallace is willing to drive any and all divisions that are a part of the show.  For further information, check the official Oval Motorsports Website.

 Big $1000 To Win Hobby Stock Races At Hayfork Speedway

I had this note passed across my desk as we were going live with our previous audio show.  Hayfork Speedway, which features Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Enduro Cars this year, wants Hobby Stock drivers to come on up and race.  How badly do they want them?  They are offering $1000 to win on July 11th and August 8th.

Mike Rydman, who is a past Top 5 Hobby Stock racer at Antioch Speedway, recently spoke with Hayfork Speedway promoter Dwayne Brown.  They are hoping the extra money will attract racers from Orland, Chico, Placerville and maybe even further south.  Hayfork Speedway is in its fourth season, and they have already had a few big money Hobby Stock and Mini Stock races in their short history.

Hayfork Speedway has a Facebook Page for updates and in case you may have questions.  You can find it HERE.

DCRR Racing Radio Show

Weekend Preview Edition

DCRR Racing Radio Show: Episode 39 by GenWhat

IMCA Mods And Sport Mods at Merced, Late Models, Sprint Cars At Antioch

Oval Motorsports race tracks will be roaring with the sound of the engines and the cheers of the fans in two places this Saturday night.  At Merced Speedway, there will be IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks.  Antioch Speedway is going to be very busy these next two weeks, mentioned above is the Summer Nationals on June 26-27, but this Saturday night will be an action packed program as well.  The DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Northern All Stars Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Wingless Spec Sprints, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars will be part of the six division show this week.

Merced Speedway has featured one of the best IMCA Modified point battles you will find anywhere in the state, and two of the three contenders have never won a track championship before.  They are the drivers ranked first and second, John MacDougall and IMCA State point leader Alex Wilson.  You might think MacDougall is the dark horse in this particular battle when you look at things, but he's been very impressive so far this year.

The Wilson brothers, Alex and Kyle, come to the track with a nice rig and two very fast race cars.  Kyle Wilson is the defending IMCA State champion, currently second this year, but he has won a pair of recent Merced features.  Only a late start has prevented Kyle from being a part of this battle, but his efforts last week included a second in the Merced County Fair race and then a win a few nights later at Antioch that keeps him in the Top 5 battle at Antioch.

Alex is the one in fifth at Antioch, but a bit of a slump at Merced in recent starts cost him the lead to MacDougall.  John has been consistently in the Top 5 at the finish and is currently the only driver of the Top 3 with a feature win at Merced.  Currently, MacDougall leads A. Wilson by four points and Egleston by 13.  Egleston may be the one of the three who most needs that feature win.  With IMCA points a one point at a time deal, you don't want to be more than a few points out of the lead going into the last race.

Ricky Thatcher has twice nearly won the Main Event this year.  Both times, he led several laps after winning a heat race that night.  Both times, he fell back to third.  The second generation racer admitted that he just messed up coming out of Turn 2 at the Fair Race.  He had to gather it up in the infield, and that dropped him to third.  With veteran Bob Williamson further back in his under powered #19 car, Thatcher is two points ahead of him in the battle for fourth.  Really, if the three time Street Stock champion Thatcher can put together a consistent drive for all 20 laps, he is more than due for a feature win.

If the six drivers named above will be there, we anticipate that Karl Rose will be there as well in his fast #5r car.  Karl is on the verge of ranking Top 10 at Merced after his impressive Fair Time feature win.  Previously this season, he had finished as high as second on The Valley circuit.  Though he doesn't race full time this year, he is certainly a strong contender when he is there.  He is just three points behind tenth ranked Ryan Porter, a third generation racer with one very impressive feature win ahead of Bobby Hogge IV this season.  Porter put past Street Stock champion Robby Jeppesen behind the wheel of his car on Wednesday and watched him finish fifth.

We anticipate 10-12 cars for the Modifieds and are hoping for at least that in the IMCA Sport Mods.  There were 16 drivers on Wednesday as four of the fast guys who don't show up all the time, 2014 champion Rick Diaz, Bruce "Bubba" Nelson, Jeremy Hoff and Neill "Mayhem" Barcellos were all there.  While Diaz was leading Nelson and Hoff in the Top 3 for his third win of the season, past champion Barcellos had problems in his heat race to end his night.  We can never be sure when any of these guys are racing, but we know they are hard chargers when they are there.

Josh Hensley is working hard to show what a true champion he is becoming.  At the start of the season, he struggled to even get a Top 5 finish, but his fortunes have changed with his move over to a former Shawn Bryant car.  Josh has one Merced win in that car and a commanding point lead.  Last Saturday, Hensley led all the way for an impressive victory at Chowchilla.  The Hensley team has been a strong supporter of Merced and Chowchilla this season, including bringing the car Josh won several races with on his way to Top 5 rankings in Hobby Stocks at Merced and Chowchilla last year.  Then, there is the #86 Mini Stock of cousin Daren Miguel, who leads the Mini Stocks.

The points will show the steady Dwayne Short has taken over second ahead of Keith Brown Jr., who had a fifth place finish at Merced and a second at Chowchilla last week.  However, Brown will be at Antioch this week, and Hoff and Mark Odgers are both within striking distance of third.  Hoff may or may not be there, but the two time winner is only three points behind Brown for third in points, while Odgers is just 19 points back.  Odgers would be in second now at the very least if he were racing for points, but his goal is to race and have fun.  He was absent last week, but he's anticipated this week as he closes in on a possible win in the oldest car in the field.

Veteran Street Stock and Sportsman racer Gary Tucker is a feature winner this season, but he's been focusing on his son Nick Tucker's effort in the #84t car.  Nick just picked up a Top 5 finish at Chowchilla Speedway as he continues to improve.  Another newcomer to the racing wars, second generation racer Chase Thomas, had a Top 10 finish last week and has Top 5 finishes in his two previous starts at Merced and Chowchilla.  Thomas and Tucker could be there this week along with Tim Cecil, recent winner Garrett Jernagan and two time champion Shawn Bryant.

Teenager Kevin Joaquin has been doing a great job in Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks this season as he leads the point standings at both Merced and Chowchilla.  He's even talking about going to Antioch at some point this year.  Last Saturday, Kevin seemed to have his third win in hand when he made one mistake in Turn 4 and ended up with his second straight second place finish.  He has five seconds and two wins at Merced and a good hold on the Merced point lead.

Rookie Jennifer Corder has a good hold on second in points, but a little more bad luck in her blue #13 car, and she'll have to deal with a couple of feature winners.  Shannon Nelson and three time winner Kristie Shearer are 90 and 91 points behind her, and Shearer is coming off of back to back wins in her fast #73 car.  This may be the first time ladies have ranked second through fourth in a Merced point race, and all three have definitely earned these honors.

Dexter Long has fifth in the standings, just 16 points ahead of "Mr. Excitement" George Silva.  Long's rookie season has seen him struggle at times, and after his Chowchilla crash, it's questionable as to whether he will be in Merced this week.  After coming home with heat race and Main Event honors at Chowchilla last week, Silva is anxious to get back to Merced and go for another one.  At one point, he was third in the standings, but a run of really bad luck dropped him out of the Top 5.  He is only 18 points ahead of Austin Van Hoff, who has one second place finish at Merced this year.

We're thinking most of the Top 7 drivers should make this race. Rookie Bobby Williams should be there to race as well.  Bobby made some good laps at Chowchilla last week and ranks Top 10 at both Merced and Chowchilla this season.  It's questionable if two time fourth place finisher Adam Reed will make it after his crash at Chowchilla last week, but he'll be there if he can.  With over 50 different cars having competed at Merced so far this season, you never know who will race on any given week, but car count should be in the 10-14 car range for this week.

Where have all the Sportsman cars gone?  That is the question.  There have been roughly 20 different cars to compete at the track during the last five years.  Though you don't see them all showing up on race day, it used to be that you could get six to ten cars on any given night.  This season, they seem to get two or three cars and have only had two five car nights.  Obviously, that has caused concern that the division that is now in its 17th year since the 1999 revival might not last much longer.

Driver rep and long time track supporter Mike Palmberg has said he thinks there will be six cars on Saturday, which would mean at least one season debut may be possible.  Marcus Lung is the point leader with a 30 point advantage over Jeff Bristow.  Kenny Birdsong is another 36 points behind Bristow as he has split seat time with Chris Birdsong.  We anticipate that these three drivers, and possibly fourth ranked Eric Sealy and Palmberg will be there.  As to who else might decide to make a season debut, we can only speculate, but we want to see every car we can for this race.

Back at Antioch Speedway, it seems as if Richard Papenhuasen has hit stride in the DIRTcar Late Models, which may be bad news for the competition.  Papenhausen is coming off of back to back feature wins and leads the division with four wins in seven races.  The only driver coming close to him now is Jeff Decker, who has one win and mostly all second place finishes to stay within four points of him.  However, Decker knows he will need to get another win.  The big race is coming up in a week, and right now, 2014 champion Papenhausen is the driver to beat in his Mohawk Trading #4p car.

Beyond Papenhausen and Decker, you have a field of drivers trying to get things figured out with varying degrees of success.  Chester Kniss seems like he is very close in his Delta Transmission #28 car, and his third place finish last week moved him into a 19 point lead over Rob Norris in the battle for fifth.  Norris is still struggling a bit, but Kniss seems like he is one good break away from shocking the field with a feature win.  That may sound like a long shot, but Chet has wins in Dirt Modifieds and Limited Late Models and he can do this too.

A bit ahead of him in the battle for third, David Newquist leads Danny Malfatti by just four points.  Kniss is 50 points behind Newquist and not completely out of things if he can start stringing some good finishes together.  Newquist may be feeling the effects of trying to keep two Top 3 efforts going as he ranks second at Chico.  Malfatti also keeps busy on Friday nights as he runs a Winged 360 Sprint Car at Watsonville.  Can either one of these drivers grab a feature victory?  At this point, it seems likely that either Papenhasen or Decker will win, but we anticipate that the Top 6 drivers will be there this week.

Beyond that, we'll just have to see who shows up.  The numbers will show that 20 different divers have competed in Late Models at Antioch so far this year, which is actually not bad when you consider the times we are in now.  Paul Guglielmoni and teammate Terry Kuntz were not in action last week.  Paul had a second place finish in a recent race at Chico, while Anthony Restad won a Main Event at Placerville two weeks ago.  Anthony made his season debut at Antioch two races ago with a third place finish.  The 8-12 car count number seems reasonable here.

If the numbers at Chowchilla and Watsonville show anything, it's that Fred Ryland is due to get beat at Antioch again.  After Bruce Nelson and Jeremy Hoff won the first two races back in January, the only driver to beat the four time winner is his wife, rookie Patti Ryland.  Fred is closing in on 20 wins in his bid to win the IMCA National championship, and he needs every one of them.  So, if we are to ask who that driver may be that finally beats him this week, there are some good candidates.

A driver with the last name of Brown is a good bet.  Ron Brown is a little further down the point ladder, but he has two second place finishes in his last three starts.  However, Ryland's closest rival in the standings is third generation racer Keith Brown Jr.  Keith has been fast all season, though a bit unlucky every time he gets a glimpse of a possible win.  Only 26 points out of the lead at Antioch, Keith hasn't completely given up on the idea that he can win this championship.  He also leads Al Johnson by ten points in the battle for second.

There are a few drivers locked in that battle for fourth in the standings who are capable of winning.  Not the least of which is fourth ranked Paul Mulder, who already has a third place finish.  Paul is five points ahead of Al Sotomayor and six in front of Patti Ryland.  Another driver capable of grabbing a win is Chuck Golden.  Like Sotomayor, Chuck already has one second place finish and is 13 points out of third, while rookie K.C. Keller is 20 points behind.  R. Brown is in ninth, and we anticipate the Top 9 will all be there among the field of 10-12 drivers that are anticipated.

One of the neat things about the Winged 360 Sprint Car division that Antioch Speedway is establishing is that there is nobody really dominating it.  Art McCarthy is the closest with one win and two seconds, but he finds himself ranked third in the standings.  Both drivers in front of him, Shawn Arriaga and Jake Haulot, have feature wins, and Arriaga made an impressive late pass on McCarthy to take the win in the most recent race.  Arriaga and McCarthy are both past Petaluma Sprint Car champions, while McCarthy also has an Antioch title.  Haulot is only a couple seasons into his Sprint Car career, but he's learning fast.  Arriaga leads Haulot by 12 points and McCarthy by 14 in this close battle.

The driver in the most need of a win right now is Chris Magoon.  The defending champion is coming off of a dismal finish last time out and has slipped to 28 points behind Arriaga in fourth.  We've had four different winners in four races, so the numbers might favor Chris in his quest for victory.  At this point, fifth ranked Dan Gonderman would settle for a decent finish.  When he gets that #8 car dialed in, Dan has the skills needed to win a Main Event.

A check of the point list finds Gonderman leading Chase Wood by just 16 points in the battle for fifth.  Wood had been pitting for his son's Spec Sprint effort, but when he saw that the class needed cars, he figured he'd get his black #6 car back out there.  Only 20 points behind Gonderman, and a Top 5 feature finisher this year, Chico Winged Economy Sprint point leader Brandon Powell is also in the hunt for fifth.  He missed the last race due to a conflict with Chico scheduling, but will he be at Antioch or in Marysville for the Economy Sprint race there?

Antioch's commitment to this class has seen them pay $1200 to win and $150 to start even when there were seven cars in the field.  Management wants this class to flourish and will pay $1500 to win for a 16 car Main Event.  Ricky Brophy wants to be in that show, but he's struggled mightily with his car.  His father, Doc Brophy, has stepped out of his ride in favor of his son and will take the wheel of the #11 Spec Sprinter.  A third generation racer, Ryan Timmons was reportedly planning to be at this race, and beyond that, we can only speculate.  A two time Antioch feature winner in 2009, Jeremy Burt was in action last time, along with the debut of Brayden McMahon and Dustin Golobic, who finished third.

The Wingless Spec Sprints had a brutal 12 car Main Event last time that saw just two cars running at the end.  Plus, four cars flipped, including point leader Kyle Bakkie.  With attrition like that, it's anybody's guess what car count will be like as the class returns from a one week break.  Bakkie will be back as he very much wants this championship after his 2014 runner up season.  Kyle has three wins this year and a 30 point lead over the still winless Rick Panfili.  A Panfili feature win after all these years would be popular with all of the people who have been around to see him compete in this division through the years.

Marcus Smith was a flip victim last time out, but it didn't stop him from heading to Stockton last week to run the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint race.  With a second place finish as his best effort so far this year, the rookie leads Alan Miranda by just 14 points in a close battle for third.  Miranda had that spot for a while until a flip caused him to miss a race making repairs and then he was spun out of a sure victory on the last lap.  His second place finish last time out seems to indicate that Alan may be closer to getting that elusive feature win.

Roy Fisher has both a Winged and Wingless Sprint Car, but he's chosen to go wingless the last two times both classes were at the track.  He was part of the race ending melee last time, though he was still credited with a Top 5 finish.  He already has two wins and may feel that the possibly of a third win is more attractive than running the other class.  Hopes of a third victory will probably get Jimmy Perry III back to the track this week.  Perry is also closing in on the battle for sixth after winning last time out.

Last time out, NFL alumni Jeremy Newberry and Bakkie both flipped to end the race, and Newberry was credited with a third place finish.  Jeremy now leads rookie Chase Wood Jr. by four points and Perry by 42 in the battle for sixth.  All eight drivers are anticipated for this race, and other possibilities include James East and the long awaited return of another division original, Keith Shipherd.  Shipherd was at the opener, but he blew a motor and has been out making repairs.  He finally made his return at the recent Hunt Series race in Stockton.

Kimo Oreta is pretty much on cruise control when it cones to the Northern All Stars Hobby Stock championship battle.  With four wins already, he knows that he would pretty much have to walk away to lose this championship, which will be his third if and when it happens.  Kimo's three race winning streak was snapped by Chris Sorensen last week as Kimo settled for third.

The battle at this point is between Danny Jones, Michael Cooper and rookie Jordan Swank for second.  Jones might be getting tired of second after his fourth second place finish, but considering things were bad enough with his car leading into that race, he'll take it.  He wasn't even sure he'd make the race.  Jones is 11 points ahead of Cooper, who impressed with his first heat race win last week.  Cooper needs all the points he can get as he is just nine points ahead of Swank.  It's likely that at least one of these three will get a feature win before the season is over, but the question is who?  Jones seems to be the likely candidate, but Swank is getting faster with each start.

It seems unlikely, but the steady Frank Furtado is closing in on Swank for fourth.  Furtado had a Top 5 finish two weeks ago and might have been thinking he's a comfortable fifth in the standings.  However, that would be a mistake.  Robert Niven has logged three Top 5 finishes in the last four races, and he now trails Furtado by 32 points in the battle for fifth.  Even though Oreta looks like the champion this year, nothing else in the Top 6 is settled just yet.

The Hobby Stocks have been bolstered by the season debuts of Jessica Jones and Brent Curran in recent weeks.  Curran had a third place finish in his first start and won a heat race last week, but that's really not a surprise for the 2014 Four Banger champion.  We're not sure if Curran may be trying to preserve his rookie status for the 2016 season, but we do anticipate that Jessica Jones, Cameron Swank, Sorensen and Top 10 ranked Natalie Perry will be among the competitors in action this week.  We think 10-14 cars is a reasonable expectation.

Switching to the Dwarf Car ranks, it wasn't a bad week for the Three Nuts Racing Team.  Point leader David Teves and his son Adam headed to Merced and didn't do too badly.  David may have had a second place finish if not for a flat tire.  He managed to come back to fourth behind Adam.  Back at Antioch, Adam did one of the things he does so well and won his heat race again.  In the main, it was David equaling his son's win total at two as he was chased across the line by Danny Wagner and Adam.  Wagner also finished second at Merced for a good week, and he trails David by just six points in a close battle.  Adam is 26 points behind his father and by no means out of the title chase.

Mike Corsaro grabbed another Top 5 finish and stays within 40 points of the lead.  However, his teammate, Charlie Correia, was not in action last week after a double barrel roll on the front stretch Thursday night left him with a shoulder injury.  Kevin Miraglio has taken over fifth in points, 34 ahead of Correia.  Kevin may be the most likely candidate of the drivers without a win to get one.  He may need that to keep fifth in points if Miranda Chappa keeps going the way she has been.  Miranda grabbed her first heat race win last week and finished sixth in the Main Event, keeping her 46 points behind Miraglio for fifth.

Attrition seemed to get the better of this division as a few drivers were missing after Merced.  Brian Gray, Toby Brown and Chuck Weir were out, and we still haven't seen Jack Haverty after his hard front stretch flip the last time he was at Antioch.  We still think the division can keep the car count in the double digit area with a few of the drivers missing last week back in action.  This division has been lots of fun to watch this year, and that championship battle seems like it may go down to the wire.

To recap, Merced Speedway will have a Saturday night race that will feature IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, Northern All Stars Hobby Stocks and the Valley Sportsman division.  A six division program at Antioch Speedway on Saturday will include the DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods, Northern All Stars Winged 360 Sprints, Wingless Spec Sprints, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  The big Summer Nationals will come to Antioch June 26-27 and is an event you won't wanna miss.  For further information, check the official Oval Motorsports Website.

Pit Stops

There was a question as to how many cars would show up for the Dwarf Car/Mini Stock program at Merced Speedway on Thursday.  Dwarf Cars are not a regular class at the track, though there are a few racers lobbying for that to change, and Mini Stocks have been in a bit of a slump as far as car count.  By the time the pill draw was done, the Dwarf Cars had a 17 car field, while the Mini Stocks had their best car count in weeks with ten cars.  All in all, it was a good night of racing.

The Dwarf Cars got a couple of heavy hitters from the South Bay Dwarf Car group in past champion Shawn Jones and current point leader Gene "Punky" Pires Jr.  Antioch's Top 3 point runners,  David Teves, Danny Wagner and Adam Teves, were there.  Second ranked Petaluma competitor Chad Matthias was also a part of the show.  Charlie Correia was there as well, but the veteran of 20 years of Dwarf Car racing took a nasty tumble on the front stretch to end up with a shoulder injury.

The winner would take the $1000 paycheck, and it's no surprise to see that it was Shawn Jones getting the money.  Shawn has won many Dwarf Car races and is also a front runner in Wingless Spec Sprints.  Once he got the lead, he never let go of it, leaving Pires, Wagner and D. Teves to battle for second.  Pires retired and Teves pitted with a flat, leaving Wagner to earn a $500 payday for second.  Adam Teves managed to hold off his father David for the $250 third place finish.  For anybody wondering, they paid as advertised.

The Mini Stocks got a bit of money as well.  Normally, it's plaques for the Top 3 finishers.  There was still some question as to who might come out and race, but there were ten competitors doing battle in front of the County Fair crowd.  Not surprisingly, Darren Miguel logged his biggest win yet at Merced with a $100 payday.  George "Speedy" Davis was back for this show and grabbed a $75 payday in second, while 2014 champion Chris Corder was a $50 third.

From Merced, we go to Chowchilla.  The increased Merced car count didn't carry over to Chowchilla.  In fact, a couple of racers who might have been expected did not show.  Dennis Copus was a bit upset after Merced and he later apologized for his reaction to what had happened to him.  Alex Odishoo had a Top 5 at Merced, but his motor started acting up again.  He was so frustrated that he no showed Chowchilla despite the fact that he had lobbied for a night off from announcing to race at Chowchilla.  Word is that he's considering a move to Sport Mods in the future, though that is unconfirmed.

Chris Corder switched to the #505 car in which he won the January race at Chowchilla, hoping it would get him another win over Darren Miguel.  Darren is not racing regularly at Chowchilla because he's trying to keep the car in shape for his Merced title run, but his car was definitely needed on Saturday.  Corder may not have wanted to see him there, but his problems even cost him second to new second place point runner Mike Congdon.  However, it was Miguel collecting his second Chowchilla win, which moved him into fourth in points at Chowchilla.

IMCA Modifieds at Antioch turned out to be quite a show.  Shawn DeForest drove Jim Reid's car into the lead early on, but he spun from the lead, moving Kyle Wilson to the front of the pack.  Soon, he had company in the form of point leader Scott Busby.  Unfortunately, Busby spun in an incident that ended the race for surprise visitor Bobby Hogge IV.  Carl Berendsen II needed to pit with a flat, but he made a charge back to the front for a career best second ahead of the equally impressive Nick Viscusi III.

That answered the question about the Wilson brothers as Alex Wilson was also in Antioch and finished fourth.  The race at Chowchilla was also without the incoming point leader.  As we reported last week, Josh Vogt chose to maintain his title contendership at his home track in Santa Maria, meaning he would surrender his point lead to Daniel Luukkonen at Chowchilla.  The question was, who would show up and who would win?

It wasn't a big field, but Luukkonen and third ranked Ray Mayer were there, battling for the heat win.  Mayer lost the lead to Luukkonen, who won his first heat race.  Ricky Thatcher, Harley Turner and Tim Clark Jr. were there as well.  Clark had a new car to put through its paces, and he chased Mayer for ten laps in the Main Event until Turner spun for a yellow flag.  On the restart, Clark got the lead and sped home to victory.  Turner grabbed another second place finish, and Mayer was third after Luukkonen was penalized a spot for his part in a Mayer spin on the lap 11 restart.

Now, Vogt may be thinking he could surrender the lead and get it back over the final three Sunday races, but will there be three more races?  Oval Motorsports revealed that the July race has been pulled.  They race on June 28th and will return on September 20th.  Weather the other race will be held after the 20th remains to be seen, but without it, Vogt may have a hard time regaining the lead.  We'll just have to see how this plays out.  Luukkonen does have a Modified Mini Stock championship at Chowchilla in the past.

There was a bit of uncertainty as to who might show up for the Limited Late Model race that was scheduled at Chowchilla last week.  It wasn't a points race as the division is not a regular part of the show.  There was no real incentive to race.  Roy Hart Jr., the two time defending Merced champion and past Chowchilla champion, was the only one who came.  Hart never took his car off the trailer as he wasn't interested in making hot laps if nobody was there to race him.

Hart was the first local driver to beat point leader Mark Garner in the most recent race at Merced, and he is encouraged by the increase in car count in the last two races.  There have now been ten different drivers to race at Merced with more cars still waiting to debut.  Hart is feeling good about his chances to win more races down the stretch.  Buddy Thatcher was in the pits with his son and revealed the reason his car wasn't there was because the part he needed still wasn't there yet.  Both drivers are expected to be a part of the July 11th show at Merced.

The change in leadership from the days of Conrad Cavallero may have hurt the current Hardtop effort in Northern California.  Unlike the Bakersfield based Okie Bowl Hardtop group, you just don't know how many cars will show when the Nor Cal Vintage Hardtops are booked.  Oval Motorsports had some reservations about booking the class that go back a couple years when a double booking occurred, but they continue to give this group race dates.  It was disappointing when only three cars showed.

In this writer's opinion, the group had a good thing when Cavallero ran the show.  Though he upset a few people along the way, he ran a steady ship and the class grew.  Immediately after his departure, it looked like things were popping as car count reached into the teens and new cars were being debuted.  Unfortunately, that bubble burst.  If the leadership doesn't get this thing under control, the whole effort could fall apart.  When you have a car count available at least in the high teens and only three cars show up to race, including a questionable Hardtop, you have problems.  If they do get a second chance at Antioch, they'd be wise to make the most of it.

We end this column on a sad note as Mike Ferry has been injured in a motorcycle accident and was not in good shape as of late last week.  Mike has teamed with Bobby Motts Jr. going back to Bobby's early days in Street Stocks, and the two won a championship together there.  Bobby moved up to Modifieds, but when Mike had an illness that nearly took his life, Motts opted not to race last year to be there for his friend.  We know Mike is a fighter and we want to wish him all the best.  He is in our thoughts and prayers.


And furthermore...


Friday night racing continues at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville with a four division show that will include Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Four Bangers, American Stocks and IMCA Modifieds.  Last week, Justin Sanders (Winged 360 Sprint Cars), Bobby Hogge IV (IMCA Modifieds) and Shawn Jones (South Bay Dwarf Cars) were the Main Event winners.

Also on Friday night, Chico Silver Dollar Speedway has Enterprise Car Rental/JP’s Paint And Auto Body Night night at the races.  The 410 Sprints headline this show along with Wingless Spec Sprints, Winged Economy Sprints, Limited Late Models and Street Stocks.  Jonathan Allard won the 410 Sprint Car Main Event last week as other winners were Ryan McDaniel (IMCA Modified). Chris Warner (Street Stock), Brian Compton (Hobby Stock) and Logan Seavey (BCRA Midget Lites).

On Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway, there are three divisions of IMCA classes racing as IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks, IMCA Stocks, California Lightning Sprints and NMRA TQ Midgets are all racing.  Feature winners last week included Nick Bartels (West Coast Late Models), Traci Childress (American Stocks), Zach Forester (Mod Lites), John Isabella (CDCRA Dwarf Cars), Jakob Carey (Sr. Mini Dwarfs) and Mason Ratcliff (Jr. Mini Dwarfs).

Also on Saturday night, Santa Maria Speedway will have an open wheel night of racing that includes USAC Sprint Cars, Santa Marta 360’s, Mini Stocks, American Stocks, WRA Vintage Sprints/Midgets, Mod Lites, Mini Dwarfs and Jr. Midgets.  Kenny Kirkpatrick won the IMCA Modified feature last week.  Other winners included Tom Grzincic (Hobby Stock) Justin Crockett (Pro Stock) and Billy Simkins (IMCA Sport Mod).

Rocky Hill Speedway in Porterville is back in action this Saturday night with their regular program that includes Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, American Stocks, Super 4 Mini Stocks and a Mechanic's Race.  Jared Plumlee (Mini Stocks), Karl Noland (Hobby Stocks), Jake Peters (American Stocks) and Roy Atchinson (Super Mini 4's) were the winners last time.

Petaluma Speedway has a Civil War Series Sprint Car race this Saturday night along with IMCA Modifieds and 600 Mini Sprints.  Geoff Ensign won the PitStopUSA.com Winged 360 Sprint Car feature last week, while other winners were Mitch Machado (Super Stocks), Nick DeCarlo (IMCA Modifieds), Darien Balestrini (Mini Stocks) and Sean Dodenhof (BCRA Midgets).

Sacramento Valley Speedway in Orland also has Saturday night racing with a regular Mini Truck, Hobby Stock, Wingless Sprint Car and Mini Stock event.  Nathan Skaggs (Mini Trucks), Tony Richards (Wingless Sprints), David Pierce (Hobby Stocks) and Nick Vidovich (Mini Stocks) were the winners last time out.

Marysville Raceway is having an open wheel night of racing this Saturday night.  410 Sprints headline the show along with Winged Economy Sprints, Nor Cal Dwarf Cars, Wingless Spec Sprints and Sport Mods.  Last time out, feature wins were scored by Justin Sanders (Winged 360 Sprint Car), Craig Holsted (BCRA Midget Lites), Jimmy Ford (Mini Stock) Jerry Bartlett (Stock Cars).

Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka is back in action on Saturday night. McDonald's Mini Stocks, Super Stocks, IMCA Sport Mods IMCA Modifieds, RWUB, Pitman Race and a Kid’s Bike Race are all part of the show.  The last regular show saw wins scored by Nick Trenchard (IMCA Modifieds), Jordon Braaten (IMCA Sport Mods), David Marble twice (McDonald's Mini Stocks) and Jeffrey Hudson (Outlaw Pro Stocks).

For pavement fans, there are a couple of options out there.  You can go to Madera Speedway for Race #4 of the $1,000 to win Loan Mart Open Late Models Series (split 50's). Also happening will be race #4 of the $500 to win Super Hobby Stock Series (split 30's), 360 Super Modifieds, Toyota Sedans, Legends of the Pacific, MSTs, Mini Cup and 4-Bangers.  Ukiah Speedway has Bombers, Jammers, Modifieds and Legend Cars.

Car Count Concerns In The Valley, Antioch Sprint Car Preview And More

First of all...

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

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

Short Track History Project at Gofundme 

Additional info on the Short Track History Project  HERE

The Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway

The buzz probably hasn't been out there about the late June Summer Nationals races at Antioch Speedway, but here's what is on the schedule:

June 26 (Friday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals –  IMCA Modifieds,  Limited Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods (no    track points but there will be national, regional, and state points), Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars.

June 27 (Saturday):

Antioch – Summer Nationals – DIRTcar Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods.  

NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace will be driving a Modified and a Late Model that weekend and is willing to drive any other race car made available to him.  He'll compete in every class he can.  The track traditionally runs a big race on the weekend of the Sears Point NASCAR race, and this is no exception.

Questions were asked to this reporter about the purse, and this is the word we got from John Soares Jr. at Antioch Speedway.  The Friday night IMCA Modified race will pay $1500 to win and a minimum of $125 to start, which could end up being $150.  The Sport Mods will race for $500 to win.  Expectations are for good car counts in both classes, and we are already hearing rumors of cars coming down from Oregon for this event.

The Saturday night IMCA Modified feature will pay $2500 to win and will pay the same to start as mentioned above.  Sport Mods get $750 to win.  The Late Models get a minimum of $1500 to win and $150 to start regardless of car count.  John would like to pay $2000 to win if he can get 20 cars, and I'm thinking that will include an increase in the start money, though I didn't get clarification on that part.  However, these two races should be big.

For more information, go to the official Oval Motorsports Website.

A Brief Preview Of Summer Nationals At Antioch Speedway

June 26th and 27th are the dates you will want to mark on your calender.  It's the Summer Nationals at Antioch Speedway.  This is the weekend NASCAR comes to Sears Point Raceway and it's traditionally the weekend Promoter John Soares Jr. likes to book something special at Antioch Speedway.  Last year, it was a $3000 to win Winged 360 Sprint Car race, won by Bradley Terrell, but frequently Late Models and Dirt Modifieds are part of the show.  Soares and Oval Motorsports loves to do things up big for the drivers.

For that weekend, Soares has booked NASCAR racer and personality Kenny Wallace to compete and will be providing him with a ride in the House Late Model for the Saturday race.  That Late Model show will pay $1500 to win regardless of car count and will grow to $2000 with a 20 car field.  Wallace may have his eyes on the prize, but among the drivers who will likely be going for the big win are Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Troy Foulger and Paul Guglielmoni.

Unconfirmed rumors have Bobby Hogge IV considering an appearance.  Only two drivers have won more Main Events than Hogge in Antioch Speedway history, and he won two Late Model features there last season.  You never know who will compete in this race, but a bigger than usual field in the 16-20 car range is anticipated.

The IMCA Modifieds will race for $2500 to win on Saturday and $1500 on Friday.  Interestingly enough, point leader Scott Busby has a more difficult time getting wins at Antioch when the big money is on the line, though he has won 61 times in this division at his home track.  Can he bag some of the big bucks this time?  In addition to this season's top point runners, such as Bobby Motts Jr., Carl Berendsen II, Dustin Humes, Alex and Kyle Wilson, Chis Elby and Jeff Thomas, several top names from other tracks are anticipated.

Petaluma point leader Nick DeCarlo, six time Petaluma champ Michael Paul Jr., Watsonville point leader Bobby Hogge IV and the Burke brothers, Cody and Austin, are others who could show.  Troy Foulger, a four time Antioch champion, is rumored to be planning to compete, as is past Antioch champion Kellen Chadwick, who has a knack for winning the big races.

The IMCA Sport Mods also have two nights of racing that weekend.  They even get extra money as they run for $500 to win on Friday and $750 in Saturday.  When you hear big Sport Mod race at Antioch, you suddenly think Fred Ryland will be getting a little extra for his wins.  Ryland leads the Antioch, State and National point races with several wins along the way.  However, he can expect some stiff competition for this event.  The monkey wrench in all of this is that Ryland is competing for points at Watsonville, but there is an out as Antioch's Friday race is being specified as a non track point race.

This means Ryland will likely not be at Antioch, opening the door for a new winner if the scheduling holds true.  Top candidates from the point list include Keith Brown Jr., Ron Brown, Chuck Golden and Megan Ponciano on Friday, and F. Ryland, Patti Ryland, Paul Mulder and Al Sotomayor can be added to the mix on Saturday.  From Marysville, stars like Jimmy Ford and Alan Furuta could be on hand for this, and other names to watch for include Jeremy Hoff, Bruce Nelson, Anthony Guiliani and possibly 2014 IMCA State champion Nick Spainhoward.

The Friday portion of the show will also include Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars and will be a regular point race for all three divisions.  Adding to the interest is the report that Kenny Wallace is willing to drive any and all divisions that are a part of the show.  For further information, check the official Oval Motorsports Website.

 Big $1000 To Win Hobby Stock Races At Hayfork Speedway

I had this note passed across my desk as we were going live with our previous audio show.  Hayfork Speedway, which features Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Enduro Cars this year, wants Hobby Stock drivers to come on up and race.  How badly do they want them?  They are offering $1000 to win on July 11th and August 8th.

Mike Rydman, who is a past Top 5 Hobby Stock racer at Antioch Speedway, recently spoke with Hayfork Speedway promoter Dwayne Brown.  They are hoping the extra money will attract racers from Orland, Chico, Placerville and maybe even further south.  Hayfork Speedway is in its fourth season, and they have already had a few big money Hobby Stock and Mini Stock races in their short history.

Hayfork Speedway has a Facebook Page for updates and in case you may have questions.  You can find it HERE.

DCRR Racing Radio Show

Weekend Review Edition

DCRR Racing Radio Show: Episode 38 by GenWhat

Car Count Issues At Merced, Chowchilla Speedway's Future

When I had The DCRR and wrote my Editor's Viewpoint column, I tackled controversial subjects.  I would get people upset with me just by going there.  I didn't even have to be critical of things to get the powers that be upset with me.  Simply having the discussion was enough.  However, my editorials were always written with the hope of seeing things get better.  That's why I wrote this.  I love both of the tracks I discuss here, but this is the elephant in the room.  People notice the car count and they are talking about what it all means for the future of the tracks.  I'm of the opinion that it can and will get better, but it starts by having this discussion...


The conversation in The Valley will ultimately turn to these two issues.  Where are the cars at Merced Speedway and Chowchilla Speedway, and what is the future of Chowchilla Speeedway?  For that matter, what about Merced Speedway?  What will happen there?

Currently, Oval Motorsports promotes both of these tracks.  When Merced Speedway closed in 2009, the idea that it might not open again became a serious possibility.  The old "soccer field" rumors returned, but the fact is the fairgrounds wanted racing to continue at the venue that has operated as a race track since 1950.

The previous Merced management talked about special events in 2010 if they actually did reopen the track, but they were really pretty much done at that point.  Two Bay Area promoters both looked at the track.  One was John Prentice, but he had grand plans and wanted a better deal than the fairgrounds was willing to give him.  Ultimately, he walked away.

This is where John Soares Jr. and Oval Motorsports entered the picture.  He was very interested in opening the track, and he had a plan to keep the track's streak of consecutive point seasons since 1950 in tact.  He would open the track to a 14 race season starting in July if he won the contract.  Ultimately, he did win in April of that year, and racing went on as scheduled in July.  Soares made a big investment in that track.

Chowchilla Speedway has had a difficult road.  The fairgrounds sat there for many years, but it wasn't until Tom Sagmiller and investors entered the picture in 2000 that Stock Car racing became a reality there.  This was never a big dollar operation.  The track did open in 2000 as an alternative to Merced Speedway for those who didn't like how Merced was being run by the management at the time.

Ultimately, Sagmiller realized that he needed this place to be about itself and not about hurting the other track.  In nearly eight seasons, Sagmiller managed to do great things at the track.  Racers who had parked for years returned, new drivers started racing and ultimately this led to good car counts at both race tracks.  The Steitz races, The Freedom Series, special Sprint Car shows and more things happened at Chowchilla.

Then, Merced promoter Chuck Griffin played the fairgrounds politics game, and Sagmiller was out before the 2007 season was over.  Griffin brought his CCMR program to Chowchilla as well as IMCA, but the racers pretty much rejected him.  The 2008 season didn't quite make it to the end.  This move proved to be part of Griffin's undoing at Merced, but he helped see to it that Kenny Shepherd would take his place in 2009.

The Shepherd era at Chowhilla was the second most successful in the track's history.  Most of the track's races went on as scheduled, and the success he had with Sport Mods helped lead to the success it has had in the state.  Unfortunately, Kenny had to make a choice between Chowchilla and Madera, and he chose to focus on building up a nice program at Madera.  At the end of the 2011 season, he walked away.

Enter John Prentice in 2012.  He too had big plans.  He brought his Sprint Car classes to the track as well as his Late Models, but car count never really got going in those classes.  Like Griffin, Prentice couldn't get the track through a full season, and he pulled the plug by the time August came around.  The track still crowned two champions at the Watsonville banquet, while IMCA acknowledged its two Chowchilla champions.

In 2013, the track sat dormant until Jack Stanford came along to promote some races before the year was over.  With driver support behind hm, Stanford returned in 2014 with a successful January race and then had championship seasons for the two IMCA classes and Hobby Stocks,  Unfortunately, the money was running out and fan and driver interest had declined by the time September came along.  Stanford walked away.

The fairgrounds wanted racing, and Oval Motorsports came in with an offer they couldn't refuse.  The new era began with one of the richest purses the track had ever had in January of this year.  It began a ten race schedule.  Car count was decent for a January race, but the March return was less than stellar.  They have struggled even harder than Merced to get a car count, and this has caused speculation.

Will Chowchilla Speedway survive this season?  If so, will Oval Motorsports return for a 2016 season or walk away like four of the previous managements.  Only Tom Sagmiller has managed to really have any kind of success with this track.  Given the track record of Soares, it was hoped that he could do a little better.  He can't be happy with the results so far, and most people would not stick around with numbers like he has seen.

It was already announced that after the June 28th race at Chowchilla, they will not reopen until September.  There was only one other race scheduled to happen in that time frame, but any cancellation of race dates will cause speculation.  Will Soares walk away, or does he have a plan to turn things around in 2016?  There are good reasons to walk away from this track, which is now in its 15 Anniversary season.

If Soares walks, will anybody step in and take over?  Some have speculated that if he does close the gates, somebody may give it a try, and that somebody may not worry about cooperation with Merced.  If that were true, could Valley Racing survive another promoter feud?  The problems are big right now, and at some point it could get so bad that no promoter would find it profitable to open either track, regardless of how much either fairgrounds wants racing.

The fact is, the racers in The Valley have a reputation of either parking or towing a few hours down the road to take a stand against management.  In the past, other racers have stepped in to keep car count from getting so bad that racing just dies.  In 2015, there doesn't seem to be as many racers willing to do that.  Car count at Merced Speedway, the lead track of the two, is hurting.

IMCA Modifieds were not expected to be the strongest.  At 10-12 cars per race, they have been carrying the weight of the track.  They also have the best point race.  Even this car count isn't as strong as it was last year, and speculation of observers is that the departure of the previous GM is why car count has suffered. 

A look at the numbers in 2014 saw car count in the 20's for both Sport Mods and Modifieds, and the track paid Sport Mods better money than most places.  As the season wore on, car count declined as it often does.  Sport Mods still hovered in the 16-18 car area at times with Mods a little lower.  When the regular season returned in March of this year, the car count picked up at those numbers and has not gotten better.  Sport Mod car count has dropped under ten on multiple occasions as the drivers are not embracing things.

The two Modified classes were the highlight of 2014 as Mini Stocks struggled and Hobby Stocks regrouped.  The Limited Late Models struggled as the rules evolved, and the Sportsman class was good for about a half dozen cars.  The three support classes have not gotten much better, despite the attempt to create a "shoot out" between Antioch and Merced Limited Late Models and the cancellation of Mini Stocks at Antioch as a way to get more cars at Merced.

This has left management wondering where the cars are and how to get them back.  A typical show might see 10 Modifieds, 10-12 Hobby Stocks, eight Sport Mods, 4-6 Mini Stocks, 3-4 Sportsman cars and 4-6 Limited Late Models.  These numbers are a cause for concern.  It's known that the cars are out there, but they are not supporting the track.  If this doesn't improve, one has to wonder how long Oval Motorsports can even afford to operate the race track.

The Sport Mod division has seen over 50 cars so far this season.  At one point, an attempt was made to call the drivers and get their support in this class.  This was the week in which five drivers showed up.  Big names like Rick Diaz, Jeremy Hoff and Bruce Nelson are not regulars and only show up when the mood strikes them.  Several new drivers have joined, but they aren't supporting regularly.  Economy is the number one reason cited, but is there more at play here?

The Sportsman division frequently only has two cars from a known roster of 18-20 cars in the area.  Nobody expected this class to suddenly get all of these cars, but when it dropped below the 6-10 cars expected of it, it hurt the program.  You're not even getting a heat race and Main Event from this class. 

Sportsman Roster
2011-2015

1     Jeanne Canepa
4M     Mark Odgers
4H,    Gary Hildebrand
5     Ty Shelton
7    Neil Bedford
V8    Mike Henault
9     Jeff Bristow
10     Mike Palmberg
11     Marcus Lung
14P     Tim Porter
23     Tim Prothro
25     Kenny Birdsong
32    Buddy Thatcher
39    Ray Christensen
53    Duane Fast
55     Shane Hausmann
55M     Mike Hausmann
62    Eric Sealy
67J     Michael Shearer
69    John  Goodson
00     Mike Friesen

Back in 2011, the Sportsman division had an exciting ten car Main Event that can be viewed HERE

The Mini Stocks are equally cause for concern.  This is the "entry level" class, and one of the reasons it was dropped from Antioch was that it was felt that Merced needed the division more, given the budget of some area racers.  On multiple occasions, car count hit ten or better, including the Fair Race,  But, in recent weeks, 3-6 cars has been the norm.  That's not even a heat race.  If the Fair Race was indication of coming improvement, that would be good news, but is that the case?

The Limited Late Models limped out of the gate, but there has been encouragement as six cars have competed in the last two races, and ten different cars have been at the track during the season.  If they can produce a good heat race and Main Event from here on out, it's a positive for the track.  Indications are that this may be the case.

With Modifieds staying at double digits and Hobby Stocks doing so as well, these two classes have been the best at the track this year.  The closeness of the Modified point race and the ten different Hobby Stock feature winners so far have both been pluses for the track.  It's at a point where things can go either way as the track hits the stretch run.  Getting the Sport Mod drivers back on board would be the best thing that could happen.  It may be key to the whole thing.  They had 16 cars at the Fair Race.

What happens in the next couple months will greatly effect things in the future.  If car count begins to rebound, good things can happen.  Merced has enough drivers in these divisions to have big car counts without a lot of out of area driver support.  If that starts to happen, more big races can come, along with bigger purses.  Oval Motorsports has long since shown a desire to promote big races with big purses.  That would surely happen again if driver support improved.

From this observer's perspective, it seems possible that Sport Mods can at least average in the 10-12 car range from here on out.  Limited Late Models could go 6-8 cars per week and end the season strong.  Mini Stocks has some drivers on the sidelines with damaged race cars and without the funds to fix them.  When these cars start getting fixed, numbers could become more respectable.  The question is, when will that happen?  It's unclear what is going on with the Sportsman class, but reports are that more cars are coming his week.

People will speculate on what Oval Motorsports will do next, but planning is already beginning for the future.  This year, The Ted Stofle Classic, Legend's Night and The Delta-Valley Classic are still on the schedule, and more good things can come.  All options are likely to be considered as they try to promote a bigger and better 2016 season.  Stronger driver support will only lead to better rewards for the drivers.

That will still lead to the question we started with.  What is the future of Chowchilla Speedway?  Oval Motorsports has already penciled in a big race for January once again.  Does the dropping of the July race mean anything, or is it just a minor adjustment to be made up later?  We can only stay tuned for any future announcements.  Given the lower than desired car counts, it's understandable if some people are worried abut the track's future.

Winged & Wingless Sprint Cars Return To Antioch Speedway

The goal at Antioch Speedway this year is to establish the Northern All Stars Winged 360 Sprint Car division and rebuild the Wingless Spec Sprint class under the more affordable "Econo" rules package.  At the end of the season, two champions will be crowned, and both divisions have had good point battles so far.  On Saturday night, June 20th, both divisions will be back in action on the fast three-eighths mile clay oval.

Shawn Arriaga has his eyes on the big trophy, but he also knows he needs to win races to have a real shot.  In the fourth of eight scheduled races two weeks ago, Shawn made a late race pass and came home with the victory.  The pass was on 2007 champion Art McCarthy, who himself is a title contender this year.

A check of the points coming into this race finds Arriaga leading Jake Haulot by 12 points and McCarthy by 14.  Not surprisingly, these three drivers each have one win, and McCarthy was the one chasing the other two drivers in second on the nights in which they won.

Chris Magoon can feel things slipping away from him.  The 2014 champion had a bad week last time and has dropped 14 points behind McCarthy for third.  He has a pretty good hold on fourth, but he came to defend his championship.  He knows he will need to add his name to the winner's list to stay in the hunt as he is now 28 points out of the lead.

Dan Gonderman was back last time and reclaiming fifth in the standings.  The driver nipping at his heels now is Chase Wood, who is just 16 points behind him.  Wood has been pitting for his 16 year old son Chase Wood Jr's Wingless Spec Sprint effort, but he decided he'd get his car out there and support the cause.   Ricky Brophy is slowly creeping up the ladder and is set to take over his father's ride after struggling to get his own car to run.

At this point, there are seven drivers who seem to be on board with this effort and others who come and go from various tracks.  Roy Fisher has cars for both Sprint Car classes at Antioch, but thus far, his Spec Sprint has received priority treatment.  Word was that Ryan Timmons might be ready for this Saturday's race, and it's anticipated that 8-12 cars will compete.  The track has been paying $1200 to win and $150 to start and has indicated that the purse will grow to $1500 to win at 16 cars.

Last week was recovery time for some of the Wingless Spec Sprint drivers.  No less than four drivers flipped their cars at the previous race, and others crashed in a 12 car feature that only saw 2 cars running at the end.  This is the story of Kyle Bakkie's season.  He's either up near the front, winning or breaking.  Last time out, the point leader flipped his car in a melee that also saw Jeremy Newberry flip to end the race.

With three wins this year to go with the back to back seconds he started the season with, Bakkie's lead is now 30 points over Rick Panfili.  Panfili's latest start also ended early after a bout with the Turn 4 wall.  Panfili continues to search for his first career feature win as he leads Marcus Smith by 30 points for second.  Smith's race ended early last time as he flipped his car, but he was back and racing again in Stockton last week. 

Smith is only 14 points ahead of Alan Miranda, who finished second in the most recent Main Event.  Still within 40 points of Smith in fifth is two time winner Roy Fisher.  Roy was talking about running his Winged Sprinter again, but his Spec Sprinter has been running so well of late that he seems to be intent on grabbing another victory.

Even after his flip last time, Newberry has a four point lead over rookie Chase Wood Jr. in the battle for sixth, but Jimmy Perry III is closing in on both of them.  After winning his second feature of the year last time, Perry is 38 points behind Wood.  The Top 8 are all anticipated for Saturday's race along with whoever else may come out and race.  In the last two races, a dozen drivers have competed as new cars continue to debut.

Antioch Winged 360 Northern All Star

Shawn Arriaga        196
Jake Haulot        184
Art McCarthy        182
Chris Magoon        168
Dan Gonderman        104
Chase Wood        88
Brandon Powell        84
Rick Brophy        68
Ricky Brophy        68
Justin Sanders        52

Last 18 Feature Winners

June 6, 2015:  Shawn Arriaga
May 16, 2015:  Jake Haulot
April 25, 2015:  Alissa Geving
March 7, 2015: Art McCarthy
August 2, 2014: Zack Lynskey
June 21 2014:  Bradley Terrell
June 10, 2014:  Chris Magoon
April 5, 2014:  Kurt Nelson
May 4, 2013: Shawn Arriaga
April 13, 2014: Chris Martin
September 17, 2011:  Billy Aton
July 30, 2011:  Craig Smith
September 15, 2010: Jeremy Burt
August 25, 2010: Craig Smith
April 24, 2010: Craig Smith
March  27, 2010: Craig Smith
March 20, 2010:  Ryan Risconi
September 26, 2009:  Jeremy Burt
August 29, 2009:  Jeremy Burt


Northern All Stars
Winged 360 Sprint Car Schedule

July 11
August 8
August 29

Wingless Spec Sprnts

Kyle Bakkie        390
Rick Panfili        360
Marcus Smith        330
Alan Miranda        316
Roy Fisher        290
Jeremy Newberry    234
Chase Wood Jr.        230
Jim Perry III        192
Ryon Sieverling    182
James East        158


Past Wingless Spec Sprint Champions

1999-Dan Gonderman
2000-Travis Berryhill
2001-Terry Tarditi
2002-Darrell Hanestad
2003-Darrell Hanestad
2004-Bob Newberry
2005-Scott Merrell
2006-Jimmy Perry III
2007-Jim Perry Jr.
2008-Billy Macedo
2009-Billy Aton
2010-Tommy LaLiberte
2011-Dan Gonderman
2012-D.J. Johnson
2013-Gary Nelson Jr.
2014-Billy Macedo

Packed Six Division Program Set For Saturday At Antioch Speedway

Just a week before Antioch Speedway's big two day Summer Nationals event (June 26-27), Antioch Speedway has a six division show that offers something or everybody.  Do you want Late Models?  They have them this Saturday night.  You want Sprint Cars?  They have Winged and Wingless Sprint Cars. Also on the card this week will be IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.

Last week, Richard Papenhausen of Chico made a move on Morgan Hill's Jeff Decker for the lead and brought it home to his fourth  Late Model feature win of the season.  Papenhausen now has four wins and his heat win would help give him a four point lead over Decker in a close championship battle.  This has been a nip and tuck battle as Decker has mostly seconds and one win to his credit and is hanging right in there.

David Newquist of Chico's fourth place finish kept him four points ahead of Danny Malfatti of Hayward in a close battle for third.  Meanwhile, Antioch's Chester Kniss enjoyed a season best third place finish last week and has moved into fifth in the standings, 21 points ahead of Rob Norris in another good battle.  This will be a final tuneup race for these drivers before June 27th's big money event.

The Winged 360 Sprint Cars have a good battle of their own.  Antioch's Shawn Arriaga became the fourth different winner in four races last time, and now he leads Cotati's Jake Haulot by 12 points and Art McCarthy of San Jose by 14 in the title chase.  All three have one win this year, while McCarthy also has two seconds. 

Antioch's Chris Magoon will be out to try and get a victory in the growing class.  The defending champion is 24 points out of third.  The division is slowly beginning to grow as the track has made a commitment to build this division.  Antioch's Dan Gonderman is fifth in points and has had nothing but bad luck so far.  He'll be trying to turn it around and is expected to be there this week along with Gilroy's Chase Wood, Antioch's Ricky Brophy and Ryan Timmons, also of Antioch.

Wingless Spec Sprints were an ugly affair last time as four of the 12 competitors ended up on their lids.  Point leader Kyle Bakkie's flip ended that race early, but the three time winner leads Antioch's Rick Panfili by 30 points in the championship battle.  Just 30 points behind Panfili in third is rookie Marcus Smith of Tracy, who also flipped last time out. 

Alan Miranda's Top 3 hopes improved after he finished second to Concord's Jimmy Perry III last time.  Miranda is just 14 points behind Smith.  Roy Fisher of Antioch is a two time winner and will either race his Wingless or Winged Sprint Car this week.  Antioch's Jeremy Newberry took a nasty tumble last time, but the NFL Alumni is anticipated for this event along with Gilroy's Chase Wood Jr. and James East of San Jose.

The IMCA Sport Modified division has only had two winners since March.  The wins all belong to Ryland Racing.  Brentwood's Fred Ryland has four wins, while his wife Patti has one.  Not surprisingly, F. Ryland holds a 26 point lead over Pittsburg's Keith Brown Jr.  Brown has managed to get some Top 3 success, but his luck nose dives any time the third generation racer gets close to the win.  In fact, Brown is only ten points ahead of Al Johnson of Antioch in the battle for second.

If Brown is the driver who may have the best shot at beating Ryland, Concord's Paul Mulder has also had some success with Top 3 feature finishes this year and should not be counted out.  Mulder is just five points ahead of Al Sotomayor of Watsonville, six ahead of P. Ryland and 13 in front of Chuck Golden.  Like Sotomayor, Golden has finished second in the Main Event this year.  Antioch's Ron Brown has two second place finishes and is anticipated for the coming race.  Can anybody beat F. Ryland?  We'll find out Saturday.

Kimo Oreta of Vacaville is already a four time winner and runaway point leader in Hobby Stocks.  The battle is for second, and Castro Valley's Danny Jones used his fourth second place finish of the season last week to maintain an 11 point lead over Bay Point's Michael Cooper.  Cooper won his first heat race and is nine points ahead of Concord's Jordan Swank in the race for third as any of these three drivers has a legitimate shot at second in points.

Antioch's Frank Furtado is fifth in points, but Concord's Robert Niven has been running strong lately.  Niven's latest Top 5 finish has moved him to within 32 points of Furtado for fifth.  Other drivers we're watching for this week include last week's winner Chris Sorensen of Antioch, Jessica Jones of Castro Valley, Concord's Cameron Swank and Natale Perry of Antioch.

The battle in Dwarf Cars continues to be between the father-son Teves team of Concord and Bay Point's Danny Wagner.  Both David and his son Adam Teves each has two wins, while Wagner has three.  A look at the points finds D. Teves leading Wagner by six points and Adam by 26.  At this point, David seems to have the fastest car, but Wagner and A. Teves were second and third last week.

Mike Corsaro of Tracy is still in the hunt, 40 points out of the lead, but he had to race without teammate Charlie Correia last week.  The 77 year old Correia is home mending after a flip at Merced last Thursday.  Other drivers we anticipate include Pleasanton's Kevin Miraglio, Brian Gray of Rancho Cordobva, Thomas Leiby of Copperopolis and Miranda Chappa of Martniez.  Chappa impressed last week with her first heat race win.

Saturday's race should be a good one.  Antioch Speedway is located within the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, 1201 W. 10th St. in Antioch, Calif. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, and $10 for children 6-12. Children under six years old are admitted free. A family four pack of tickets is $40. Secured parking is offered by the Fairgrounds for $5. Racing begins at 6:30 p.m.

Antioch Speedway Top 5 At A Glance

DIRTCar Late Models

Richard Papenhausen 368
Jeff Decker        364
Dave Newquist        288
Danny Malfatti        284
Chester Kniss        238

IMCA Sport Mod
Fred Ryland        244
Keith Brown Jr.       218
Al Johnson        208
Paul Mulder        185
Al Sotomayor        180

Antioch Winged 360 Sprint

Shawn Arriaga        196
Jake Haulot        184
Art McCarthy        182
Chris Magoon        168
Dan Gonderman        104

Wingless Spec Sprints

Kyle Bakkie        390
Rick Panfili        360
Marcus Smith        330
Alan Miranda        316
Roy Fisher        290

Dwarf Cars

David Teves        448
Danny Wagner        442
Adam Teves        422
Mike Corsaro        408
Kevin Miraglio        334

Hobby Stocks
Kimo Oreta        578
Dan Jones        411
Michael Cooper        400
Jordan Swank        391
Frank Furtado        362

IMCA Modifieds Headline This Saturday At Merced Speedway

The season is about halfway done at Merced Speedway, but the IMCA Modified championship battle is heating up with the weather.  The popular division headlines this Saturday night's show along with IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and the Valley Sportsman division.

Antioch's John MacDougall was a Top 5 driver at his own track last season, but when he won an IMCA Modified Main Event early in the season at Merced, he decided to start racing for points.  MacDougall has been consistent so far this season, and he finds himself leading IMCA State point leader Alex Wilson of Salinas by four points.  Atwater's Bill Egleston is only 13 points out of the lead.

While neither Egleston nor Wilson has won a feature so far this year, Alex's brother Kyle Wilson has two feature wins and was second at the County Fair race last week.  Merced's Karl Rose won that race for his first win of the season, but Mariposa's Ricky Thatcher probably should have won.  Thatcher made a mistake exciting Turn 2 and fell back to third at the finish.  Thatcher has a two point lead over Bob Williamson in the battle for fourth in points.

Josh Hensley of Atwater holds a commanding lead in the track's IMCA Sport Mod championship battle, and he is coming off of an impressive win at Chowchilla last Saturday.  The battle is now for second, and Merced's Dwayne Short holds down that position by a comfortable margin at this point.  With his Top 3 finish last Wednesday in the County Fair Race, Jeremy Hoff of Copperopolis has moved back into the Top 5 in the standings.

Mark Odgers of Mariposa isn't far behind Hoff and trails by just 16 points.  This division has seen several drivers make their debuts in recent weeks, including Nick Tucker of Hilmar and Chase Thomas of Atwater.  When 2014 champion Rick Diaz of Los Banos shows, he is a front runner.  He won the race last Wednesday for what was his third win of the season.

Sonora's Kevin Joaquin and Kristie Shearer of Los Banos each have more than one feature win this year from a list of an impressive ten different Hobby Stock winners.  Shearer has won the last two and is a three time winner, while point leader Joaquin has two wins and five seconds for a big point lead.  In fact, rookie Jennifer Corder of Modesto is a solid second at this stage of the season, leaving the battle for third.

One time winner Shannon Nelson has just a one point lead over Shearer in the battle for third, and both have been running strong lately.  Either one of these ladies are a threat to win when they show up.  Still looking for their first Merced wins are Dexter Long of Merced and George Silva, also of Merced.  However, Silva did win last week's Main Event at Chowchilla Speedway.  The Hobby Stocks have been competitive all season long, and you never know who will win next.

Mike Palmberg says we should have a half dozen Sportsman cars as drivers have been working to get their cars back to the track.  Marcus Lung leads Jeff Bristow by 30 in the point race with Kenny Birdsong 36 points behind Bristow.  All four of these drives are anticipated for Saturday, and you never know who else might show up next.

Merced Speedway is located inside the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Merced, Calif. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $8 for children 6-12. A family four-pack of tickets admits two children and two adults for $32. Racing begins at 7 p.m. The grandstand opens at 5 p.m.

Merced Speedway Top 5 At A Glance

IMCA Modified

John Macdougall     290
Alex Wilson         286
Bill Egleston         277
Ricky Thatcher         233
Bob Williamson         231

IMCA Sport Mod

Josh Hensley         437
Dwayne Short         319
Keith Brown Jr.     271
Jeremy Hoff         268
Fred Ryland         264

Hobby Stock

Kevin Joaquin         534
Jennifer Corder     402
Shannon Nelson         312
Kristie Shearer     311
Dexter Long         264

 Valley Sportsman

Marcus Lung         216
Jeff Bristow         186
Kenny Birdsong         150
Eric Sealy         112
Mike Palmberg         100