Antioch Speedway News June 21

Antioch, CA...The All Star Series Limited Late Models return to Antioch Speedway as part of a five division program this Saturday night. The popular B Modifieds will be there along with the Winged 360 Sprints, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. We're about at the halfway point of the season, but there's still plenty of racing to be seen on the John M Soares promoted 3/8 mile clay oval.

We pretty much expected the continuation of the battle between reigning champion, Kimo Oreta and Mark Garner for the Limited Late Model championship. To that extent, we certainly have not been disappointed. Both drivers have come out strong this season. Oreta became the first two-time winner of the season when he won the most recent race. His other starts have resulted in just one other Top 3 finish. Garner, meanwhile has done slightly better in preliminary action and has one first, one second and one third so far. He sits atop the point list by just eight points ahead of Oreta.

The driver in the middle of that battle is Mike Walko. Mike has all Top 3 finishes with one win, two seconds and two thirds. It's probably because his preliminary efforts haven't been so good that he trails Garner by eight points in the battle. Mike started his racing career at Antioch over 35 years ago. He has spent recent seasons competing at Marysville Raceway and was second in the standings last year. Also in the hunt is the fast pickup truck of Ryan Cherezian, who counts one second and one third as his best efforts so far. He is very much in the hunt for his first ever win in the division. Other drivers to watch for this week include Chad Hammer, John Evans, two-time champion Mike Gustafson and Jon Haney.

Last week, Trevor Clymens scored his fourth win in the last five races and fifth of the season. We've been saying that he has won more races at the speedway in the past three years than anybody else, and last week was his 20th B Modified win. Clymens holds a commanding lead in the championship battle with the race very much for second at this point. Rookie Ryan DeForest, who is a past Mini Truck competitor at the track, holds an 18 point lead over Tommy Fraser. Both are looking for their first wins.

Another driver looking to get his first Antioch victory is fourth place competitor Guy Ahlwardt. Guy won recently at Watsonville and is coming very close to getting a win at his home track. He trails DeForest by just 24 points in the battle for second. Another driver climbing the ladder very rapidly after a late start is Kenny Shrader. Shrader is 52 points out of second but still very much in the hunt. Other racers to watch for this week include Chuck Golden, Todd Gomez, Kevin Brown and past A Modified champion Aaron Crowell.

Art McCarthy has stepped into the Winged 360 Sprint point lead, but probably not the way he would have preferred. Two time winner Matt DeMartini missed the most recent race, and two-time reigning champion McCarthy is still looking for his first win of the season. It was Billy Aton winning last week in a short field of racers.

Tim Burcher is the unlikely second place competitor, but his lead over DeMartini is only four points with Aton six points back. Another driver who has just joined the battle at Antioch is Geoffrey Strole. Strole has been competing in Wingless competition with USAC in recent seasons, and he was the heat race winner last time out. The count was down noticeably last week, but it's hoped that such competitors as David Dias, Burt Foland Jr and Jacob Tuttle come back to race again this week.

In the Hobby Stock division, reigning champion Cameron Swank is on a roll. Swank won his third race of the past four weeks, and the previous three weeks of that streak have been all second place finishes. That's the good news. The bad news is Swank is trailing point leader Chris Sorensen by nearly 100 points. Sorensen has been off to an impressive start and has four feature victories to show for it in his car that came from the shop of Baker Motorsports. Chris finished second last week despite a spin earlier in the race. Meanwhile, Michael Cooper continues to struggle with just one Top 5 finish in his past six starts. Cooper was battling for the lead last time when he had to pit with a flat. He leads Swank by just 17 points in the race for second.

Fourth generation racer Billy Garner continues to do well. Billy has notched three Top 5 finishes in the last four races with a season high third during that time. He's closing in on his first career win, and that could happen this week. Newcomer Anthony Wellborn has been making waves with back-to-back Top 5 finishes as well. These two drivers will be hoping to win, but you can expect good competition from others, such as Anthony Vigna, Tanis Rangel, Breanna Troen and Joey Ridgeway.

It's not surprising to see David Michael Rosa shoot back into the second position on the standings. Winning two straight Main Events will do that for you. He still trails reigning champion Mike Corsaro by 52 points. Corsaro was leading midway through the most recent race when he pitted with mechanical issues. Rosa has the hot hand right now, but can he make it three wins in a row?

It's a close race for third in the standings as Mario Marquez leads ageless veteran Charlie Correia by 14 tallies. Street Stock legend David Rosa holds down fifth, two points ahead of Chris Mello and four in front of Troy Stevenson. All five of these racers are still looking for their first wins of the season. It should be a great race this week as Dwarf Car veterans Jerry Doty and Tony Carmignani are part of a field that also includes such racers such as Lonnie Tekaat, Chris Becker and Timmy Ryan.

Saturday night's five division All Star Series event should be a good one from start to finish. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.




Antioch, CA...June 16...Bobby Hogge IV scored the victory in the 20 lap Jerry Hetrick Memorial A Modified race Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The win was his 72nd at Antioch Speedway, putting him in a three-way tie with Scott Busby and JD Willis at the top of the All Time win list.

Kellen Chadwick started out strong in the race as he led Hogge and Nick DeCarlo early on through a pair of yellow flags during the first 10 laps. It was during the final five laps when things got interesting. The leaders caught slower traffic, and Hogge was running a fast high line. Hogge put his car up on the outside as he exited Turn 2 of the 18th lap and passed two slower cars while taking the lead from Chadwick. Once he got in front, Hogge led the final two tours of the three-eighth mile clay oval to collect the big win. Chadwick settled for second, followed by DeCarlo, Jeff Decker and Richard Papenhausen.

Trevor Clymens scored his 20th career All Star Series B Modified Main Event victory. The current point leader set the pace from the waving of the green flag. Meanwhile, rookie Brent Curran started 10th and steadily worked his way to the front. Curran took second from Kenny Shrader on a lap 16 restart and gave Clymens some pressure during the final laps. Clymens kept his cool and won ahead of Curran, Shrader, Chuck Golden and Kevin Brown.

Reigning Hobby Stock champion Cameron Swank won his third 20 lap Main Event. Joey Ridgeway set the early pace. Ridgeway got out of shape down the backstretch on lap 7, allowing Anthony Wellborn to race into the lead ahead of Michael Cooper. Cooper made a low pass in Turn 4 to take the lead from Wellborn on lap nine. Swank gained second on a lap 10 restart and made an inside pass on Cooper in Turn 4 a lap later to gain the lead. The two drivers exchanged the lead in Turn 4 during the next two laps, but Cooper ducked into the pits on lap 13 with a flat tire. Swank had the lead at that point and held off point leader Chris Sorensen the rest of the way for the victory. Ridgeway settled for third, followed by Wellborn and Billy Garner.

David Michael Rosa won his second straight Dwarf Car Main Event. Rosa had to start back in tenth as the previous winner. Mario Marquez was the early leader ahead of point leader Mike Corsaro. Corsaro took the lead on lap seven, but he slowed and retired from the race two laps later. This put Michael Curry into the lead ahead of Marquez. Rosa found his way into the Top 3 by lap 10 and made a pass on Marquez for second two laps later. Rosa passed Curry for the lead on lap 16 and pulled away from there to the victory. Curry settled for second, followed by Tony Carmignani, Chris Mello and Lonnie Tekaat

Billy Aton won the 20 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. The 2016 champion bested a short field with point leader Art McCarthy finishing second ahead of heat race winner Jeffrey Strole and Tim Burcher.

Racing continues next Saturday night with the All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Cars, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Brian Cass, Bobby Hogge IV, Kellen Chadwick. Main Event (25 Laps)-Bobby Hogge IV, Kellen Chadwick, Nick DeCarlo, Jeff Decker, Richard Papenhausen, Brian Cass, Buddy Kniss, Bobby Motts Jr, Bobby Montalvo, Trent Wentworth.

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Brent Curran, Tommy Fraser. Main Event (20 Laps)-Trevor Clymens, Brent Curran, Kenny Shrader, Chuck Golden, Kevin Brown, Ron Brown, Nick Caughman Jr, Tommy Fraser, Joe Salvi, Ryan DeForest.

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Billy Garner, Cameron Swank. Main Event (20 Laps)-Cameron Swank, Chris Sorensen, Joe Ridgeway Jr, Anthony Wellborn, Billy Garner, Syd Smith Jr, Anthony Vigna, Breanna Troen, Michael Cooper, Prestyn Corral.

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Mike Corsaro, David Michael Rosa. Main Event (20 Laps)-David Michael Rosa, Michael Curry, Tony Carmignani, Chris Mello, Lonnie Tekaat, Charlie Correia, Jerry Doty, Timmy Ryan, Chris Becker, Mario Marquez.

Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Geoffrey Strole. Main Event (20 Laps)-Billy Aton, Art McCarthy, Geoffrey Strole, Tim Burcher.