Saturday Night Racer

Saturday Night Racer
http://www.latemodelracer.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
Tracks >> ANTIOCH SPEEDWAY >> Antioch Speedway - 5/31 Results
http://www.latemodelracer.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1401606723

Message started by LMR on 06/01/14 at 12:12am

Title: Antioch Speedway - 5/31 Results
Post by LMR on 06/01/14 at 12:12am

Antioch Speedway
May 31, 2014
_______________________________________

GALLAHER TOPS RYLAND IN IMCA SPORTMOD FEATURE AT FAIR

Oval Motorsports
Antioch, Calif. (May 31) – Stock car driver Robert Gallaher of San Jose was so excited to win the Contra Costa County Fair main event Saturday night, he did a NASCAR-style “smoke show” at the finish line of Antioch Speedway– a sight rarely seen on a dirt track.

Gallaher fought hard for the lead, racing side-by-side with Fred Ryland of Brentwood for most of the 20 lap main event. Ryland held off Gallaherʼs challenges for five laps, when a spinning car brought out the caution flag with two to go.

At the waving of the green flag, Gallaher made his move, and was able to get ahead of Ryland coming out of the second turn. It was Gallaherʼs second win of the season in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) SportMod division. Gallaher had a special reason to celebrate in such style. His wife, Elise, was in the grandstands for the first time to witness his win. The second year SportMod driver in on a quest to win the IMCAʼs national title.

“I had to earn this win – I started from the back of the field,” Gallaher said. “It was an unbelievable race. To have another driver race so closely and have two cars be so competitive makes the win even bigger. He (Ryland) passed me and I got the lead back – fair and square.”

Ryland was disappointed.

“I missed the set-up,” a he explained after the race. “We tried something different setting the car up for the track, but it wasnʼt the right choice. Being a little off made the difference between winning or not winning.”

Lloyd Cline of Martinez brought home third place. Megan Ponciano of Oakley, who won the previous weekʼs event, was right behind the leaders to finish fourth.

“It wasnʼt the best race for me,” Ponciano said. “Iʼll take fourth – itʼs not that bad of a finish with the level of competition tonight.”

Hobby Stock Twists

The Hobby Stock feature event went to Dan Jones of Castro Valley. He left the feature early to repair a flat tire, reentering the oval as the pack of cars was rounding the third turn to take the green flag.

Jones, who won the Friday night “Boat Race” at the fair with the same car, worked his way all the way back to the front of the pack.

“Caution flags are the great equalizer in stock car racing,” he said in victory lane when asked if he thought he could win after being so far behind.

The four-wide action of the Hobby Stock feature, along with some banging and bumping, caused Michael Cooper to lose the front bumper of his car. The Bay Point driver lost his second place finish when his car did not make weight requirements after
the race.

Dan Smith of Vacaville and Brentwoodʼs Patti Ryland took second and third. Point leader Kimo Oreta did not make the show. He discovered engine problems and was unable to fix them by race time.

Oretaʼs not starting the event was costly. He not only gave up the lead to archrival Patti Ryland, but now is 22 points behind her in second place.

Curran Repeats in Four-Banger Feature

It was one year earlier that young Brent Curran of Antioch scored his first feature event win in the four-cylinder “Four-Banger” division at the speedway.

Curran won the Contra Costa County Fair race again, topping Michael Christopher and Jordan Swank, who chased him across the finish line.

Antioch driver Robby Senn was injured when his car hit the front stretch wall in the “Four-Banger” feature. Because he had possible neck and back injuries, the fire department was called to use the “jaws of life” to cut through the carʼs roll cage and safely remove Senn from the car.

Senn gave a “thumbs up” to the cheering crowd as he was wheeled to the ambulance.

Sport Mods
1 1 Rob Gallaher
2 7 Fred Ryland
3 11 Lloyd Cline
4 22 Megan Ponciano
5 2 Chuck Golden
6 65 Al Sotomayor
7 43 Al Johnson
8 5X Scotty Hoff
9 4 Paul Martell
10 5 Jeremy Hoff

Hobby Stocks
1 1 Dan Jones
2 57 Michael Cooper
3 4 Dan Smith
4 7 Patti Ryland
5 6 Robert Sharp
6 24 Mitchell Locicere
7 25 Steven Rogers
8 12 Ken Radabaugh
9 24A Frank Furtado
10 17 Nick Baldwin
11 11 Christopher Brown
12 25X Calvin Louis

4 Bangers
1 89 Brent Curran
2 11 Michael Christopher
3 73 Jordan Swank
4 28 Colin Nelson
5 3R Robbie Senn
6 66 Carlos Gonzalez
7 98 Janelle Barlow
8 26 Tayler Swank
9 69 Kelby Fuss