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Tracks >> ANTIOCH SPEEDWAY >> DIRTcar Late Models Headline Show At Antioch Speedway
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Message started by C.W. on 05/07/15 at 7:59pm

Title: DIRTcar Late Models Headline Show At Antioch Speedway
Post by C.W. on 05/07/15 at 7:59pm

In an effort to get something out there, I thought I'd throw this quick piece together. Remember, I am unofficial. Just trying to support the cause :)

Round #6 of the Dirt Car Late Model season takes place at Antioch Speedway this Saturday night. It has been an exciting season for the class this year as we've had four winners in five races. Among the winners are two time Petaluma champion Paul Guglielmoni, multi time champion (at three tracks) Jeff Decker and most recently, Troy Foulger.

Richard Papehausen had his eyes on the prize last time, but the defending champion's plans were thwarted by the four time Dirt Modified champion Foulger. Even when he's not winning, Papenhausen is right there in the hunt, and he has two wins this year at Antioch. However, Decker has been up front all season too, putting these two drivers in a tie for the point lead.

After a late start, Foulger has steadily advanced up the point ladder into third. Foulger is one point ahead of the tied David Newquist and Danny Malfatti, both of whom have been strong supporters of the Antioch cause.

Newquist goes as far as bringing his backup car to the track for every race and putting Limited Late Model racer Mike Hynes behind the wheel. Hynes has actually beat Newquist with that car these last two races, and he is working on getting his own car out there. Newquist has had miserable luck at Antioch lately, but a recent fourth place finish at Chico has him second in the standings there.

Malfatti has been busy as he races Sprint Cars a Watsonville on Friday nights That's not enough to quench his need for speed as he loves racing his Late Model at Antioch. It won't be too much of a surprise to see Newquist or Malfatti grab a podium finish at some point, maybe even this week.

Dennis Souza could have had reason to skip the last race. He rolled his car at the previous race, but he still had his blue #83 car back and ready for more. He took a checkered flag in sixth last time out.

Local ace Chester Kniss would love to see a checkered flag. His last two attempts have seen him watching the finish from the sidelines, and that's not what he's there for. Two races ago, he was running in the Top 5 before his car had fuel pickup problems and he coasted into the infield. He'll be out to do better this week.

Rob Norris may have surprised some people when he bought the Shawn DeForest car to make a move up to Late Models, but it shouldn't be a big surprise. Rob is a past Dirt Modified champion an he's just looking for the next challenge. He took a checkered in seventh last time, and he'll be aiming for better this week. Word is that DeForest is working on a new car to debut at some point.

There have been several other racers to compete during this season, including Gugliemoni, past Petaluma champion Rod Arnold, past Petaluma Street Stock champion Dean DeVolder and Terry Kuntz. The division has stayed in the 10-12 car range for most of the season.

Fred Ryland's mission for IMCA Sport Mod domination continues as he leads the Antioch point list along with Chowchilla, Watsonville, the Nation and the State. Ryland won the most recent race at Antioch and has a growing 23 point lead over Keith Brown Jr. Brown has been fast, but he's had bad luck this year. In fact, three points behind him in the battle for second is Al Johnson. At this rate, the battle for second may be the highest point battle at Antioch.

However, Ryland isn't guaranteed wins, because there are some good racers in the pack. The battle for fourth sees five drivers within 16 points of each other, including Paul Mulder, Al Sotomayor, rookie Patti Ryland, Chuck Golden and K.C. Keller. In addition to several heat races, Patti has won a Main Event, and Golden won his heat race before finishing second last time out.

The Top 8 racers, and competitors like Ron Brown and Tim Hammett are anticipated for this race, and a field of 8-12 cars can be expected. That could grow bigger depending on who might be coming in from Marysville.

The Hobby Stock battle is all but over at this point, With three seconds and a win so far, Kimo Oreta leads his closest rival by 80 points. Oreta is going for his third straight division championship. The battle will definitely be for second, and it's an interesting one.

Its doubtful that Michael Cooper anticipated being second in points coming into the season, but there he is. Cooper grabbed another Top 5 finish last week and moved 18 points ahead of Melissa Myers for second. Myers is a three time winner this season and has two division championships to her credit. When she shows, she is a force on the track. Cooper's closest rival may be be the red, white and blue #66 car of Danny Jones.

Jones is a still reasonable 55 points behind Cooper in the point battle. He's currently fourth which is where he ranked last season. Danny drove to a second place finish last week after replacing a motor and missing the previous race. Jones only has a ten point lead over the improving rookie Jordan Swank, who won a heat race last week. 33 points behind Jones is the steady Frank Furtado.

The Hobby Stocks saw the debut of Jordan's cousin Cameron Swank last week and the return of Chris Long, who finished third. We could see both of them this week, and Jeremy Jennings has confirmed that his blue #42 car will be back this week. Jason Jennings was driving that car to a win last week but may be back in his own car this week. With others, like Natalie Perry and Robert Niven, in the pack this week, a field of at least 8-12 cars is anticipated.

When Mike Corsaro passed race long leader Danny Wagner to score the Dwarf Car victory last week, he drove his #00 back into championship contention. As a three time winner this year, Wagner leads one time winner David Teves by 20 points and Corsaro by 34. The rapidly run race had no yellow flags, making it a challenge for Teves to advance from tenth starting to a third place finish.

David's son Adam Teves has a 40 point lead over 2010 champion Jerry Doty in the battle for fourth. Doty's lead over veteran Charlie Correia is just 18 points. After changing from 12th to finish fifth last week, one time winner Jack Haverty is 30 points out of fifth.

The Dwarf Cars are in the midst of a six race run at Antioch, but the car count has held up to this point. With Miranda Chappa, Tim Reeder and Toby Brown among the others expected for this race, a field of 10-14 cars is anticipated, and that could grow with the addition of some Petaluma visitors.