Roughly 50 Winners Honored After Ten Events at Antioch Spee

Antioch, CA...Antioch Speedway heads into their usual July 4th break on an optimistic note. The competition has been close in the All Star Series sanctioned divisions with nearly 50 drivers having earned Main Event winner's plaques on John Soares's fast 3/8 mile clay oval. You really don't know who is going to win on any given week.


The A Modified division has yet to see a repeat winner after 6 events. The drivers will be competing for a big paycheck after the one week break. When they return on July 9th, it will be the $2,500 to win Jerry Hetrick Memorial Race. Some of the best drivers in the state will be coming to town for a piece of the action.


So far, some of the winners include reigning champion Scott Busby, Oreste Gonella, Josh Combs, Bobby Hogge IV, Jeff Decker and Aaron Crowell. There has been no repeat winner in the division, and point leader Carl Berendsen II is chomping at the bit to record his first career victory. Consistency has made him the point leader and the 2014 champion, but he has a new car with victory in mind.


For the A Modified division alone, the price of next week's ticket will be worth admission. When you start talking about drivers like Hogge, recent Wild West Modified Speedweek champion Kellen Chadwick and two time Petaluma champion Nick DeCarlo coming into town, you know the competition level will be high. Plus, it's an opportunity for the racers to honor one of Antioch's local stars from the 1970's, Jerry Hetrick.


While Jeff Decker and Richard Papenhausen battle it out for the Late Model point lead, they are not the only two Main Event winners after four events. The record will show that Hogge and West Coast Late Model champion Clay Daly have also visited the Winner's Circle. On July 9th, there will be an opportunity for another driver to write their name onto the list, but they may have to get by Papenhausen to do it. Considering it will be a big A Modified show, it's just possible that four time Modified champion Troy Foulger and Hogge will be coming to town to try for double division wins. Foulger was close last time with seconds in Modifieds and Late Models that night.


The closest thing to domination has been seen in the Hobby Stock division, but you still never know who's going to win on any given week. Rookie Guy Ahlwardt scored his third victory last time out, and there have been five different feature winners, including Stock Car veteran Danny Jones, who is currently second in the standings, two time champion Melissa Myers, three time reigning champion Kimo Oreta and Chris Long. There are still some drivers looking to not only get a win this year but make it their first career victory, and high on that list are Michael Cooper, Natalie Perry and Cameron Swank.


In the Winged 360 Sprint Car division, there has been no repeat winners in six races. The battle continues to be between Billy Aton and Art McCarthy Both have feature wins. Aton gained the point lead after the last race when McCarthy failed to start the Main Event. The 360 Winged division seems to be an opportunity for new drivers to come in and get their first career wins, and last week saw Caleb Montgomery add his name to that list. Koen Shaw, Sprint Car veteran Bobby McMahon and Shawn Conde have also won races in this competitive class.


The Wingless Spec Sprint division continues to be led by past champion and division all time win leader Jim Perry Jr., the only repeat winner so far. He is joined in victory this year by Jason McIntosh, Dan Gonderman, Jeremy Newberry and Marcus Smith. One driver looking for his first career win has two season high second place finishes, including last race. That would be Rick Panfili, who had his name on the roster when this division first started back in 1999 and has supported it every year since. It is likely that you will see some more new winners before the season is over, and could Panfili be one of them?


The Limited Late Model division has been Larry Damitz's playground. Larry has won four of the last five championships in this class and is second only to Mike Gustafson on the division's all time win list. Both drivers have won Main Event's this year. Jim Freethy, the only driver to beat Damitz for the championship during his streak, and Mark Garner are the other winners. Garner is the only two time winner of the bunch. He currently sits a very close second behind Damitz in the standings. Rookie Kimo Oreta is also in the championship hunt and seems to be the next driver in line for a victory, but Lori Brown is long overdue to get her next win. Who will it be next week when the division returns?


The B Modified division has seen the steady Al Johnson lead the way, but he has no wins this year. With three second place finishes, Johnson is looking for his first career win. With three wins, the flying Clymnens is closing in fast on Johnson for the point lead. He joins other multi time winners, Fred Ryland and Anthony Giuliani on the list. Not long ago, K.C. Keller got his first career win, and A Modified racer Aaron Crowell jumped into the Paul Mulder car and won last time. Johnson is due for a win, but there's also the rapidly improving Shane DeVolder and double division racer Danny Jones who could step forward and join the winner's list.


You shouldn't forget about the All Star Series Dwarf Cars, because the competition is tough in that division. Kevin Miraglio has used consistency to grab the point lead, but in the most recent race, he scored his first victory to maintain the lead. Kevin joined several drivers with feature wins so far, and rival second place driver Mike Corsaro is also on the list. Reigning champion David Teves, who is competing for the championship at Watsonville this year, two time winner Mark Biscardi of South Bay and Thomas Leiby are other drivers on the winner's list. While some of the drivers have stepped aside this year or are racing elsewhere, this year is an opportunity for some new winners, and Tim Reeder could be the next winner on the list. Other drivers to watch include Josh Miller, Brian Gray , two time Street Stock champion David Rosa and past Hobby Stock champion Robert Coe.


The drivers get a one week break, and several of them might be enjoying time with the family or might be off racing someplace else. On July 9th, racing will continue at Antioch Speedway with the $2,500 to win Jerry Hetrick Memorial race for A Modifieds. DIRTcar Late Models, Limited Late Models, Wingless Spec Sprints, B Modifieds and Hobby Stocks will also be on the card. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.






Placerville, CA...The California Hardtop Association is back at Placerville Speedway Saturday night for more racing action. So far, the season has brought lots of excitement and interesting results as new winners have emerged. On the list so far are the father-son duo of Ken Clifford and Jason Clifford, Dave Mackey and Jason Armstrong. Mackey drove the Dudley Racing Family #1 Tribute Car to his second Antioch win last time out when mechanical gremlins struck heat race winner Rob Waldrop.


At the Roseville pavement race a week earlier, it was Jason Armstrong impressing with a clean sweep. The Armstrong family has been an important factor in the group getting races at Placerville and other tracks in the area. Jason and his father Dennis Armstrong have raced Stock Cars for years at Placerville Speedway, and Jason recently drove his Hobby Stock to a win at Orland on the same weekend of his Roseville Hardtop win. Both Armstrong's have been Hardtop winners in the past and come in as favorites this week.


The field will have a different look to it as a few drivers are sidelined. Ken Clifford will be out to try for his third win, but son Jason is out making repairs to the car he's driven to a pair of wins this year. Club president John Philbert is also out as his car is being prepared with some safety fixes. Rob Waldrop is also sidelined this week. Last time we saw Joe Hopp in Chico, he was scoring his best finish yet with the group in second. Hopp will be in Placerville along with Russ Kraft.


The steady John Turner will be competing in one of the first cars seen in the California Hardtop movement over a decade ago. Dave Mackey has confirmed that he will be in Plcerville for this race. We haven't heard if Rick Ruiz will be there, but word was at least a half dozen of these beautiful Hardtops will be on the quarter-mile clay oval in Placerville on Saturday. They will take to the quarter-mile banked paved oval of Ukiah Speedway on July 16th and the dirt of Chico on July 29th to end the month.