Antioch Speedway
May 21, 2011
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LARRY DAMITZ DUSTS LATE MODEL FIELD ON 82nd BIRTHDAY! BUSBY SCORES 460th CAREER WIN IN DIRTcar MODIFIED BATTLE WITH FOULGER

Mike Adaskaveg
Antioch, Calif. - The “Sun Drop Kid” is running like he did in the early 1950s.  Larry Damitz has won stock car races for six decades, and Saturday night he won the Limited Late Model feature event on his 82nd birthday.

“I’m sure it’s happened before,” Damitz said modestly in victory lane. “I’ve raced on my birthday weekend many times since 1953.”

Damitz, who walked away from the pack, attributed his recent success to the track.

“The surface has been just right for my car,” he laughed. “It’s just a great combination this season.”

Once Damitz got around Lori Brown of Antioch, he was unchallenged.  Brown was in a lap after lap duel with Jim Freethy of Danville, whose hopes of passing her and chasing Damitz ended when a wheel broke off his car, bounced into the fence, and came back and hit it.

For Scott Busby, his 460th career win did not come easy. He had to contend with a full 20-car field of DIRTcar’s best drivers. Young reigning champ “Tricky” Troy Foulger tried every trick in his book, passing Busby for the lead on a restart with just six laps to go. When another caution flew with two laps to go Busby regained the lead after a side-by-side battle.

Then, West Union, Iowa’s Kellen Chadwick got alongside Foulger in a battle to the finish line. The large crowd was brought to its feet as Foulger won by a wheel. Busby, Foulger and Chadwick received a long-standing ovation from the crowd.

“These old guys are hard to beat,” Foulger said in victory lane as he congratulated Busby. Foulger, who also is celebrating a birthday, turns 21 this week. He loves racing alongside California’s most winning driver, Busby.

“It was a great race - Troy races clean,” said Busby. “When he passed me on that restart I thought I would be chasing him the rest of the night. I just found the right groove and got by him again on the next restart.”

Chadwick found that groove on the last lap and made a hard charge for Foulger, despite having front brake problems.

“A couple of more laps and I would have got you, Troy,” he teased Foulger. “I wish I found the line I raced in on the last lap a lap earlier.”

Fourth place Nick DeCarlo raced with the lead pack despite a damaged car from a tangle with Chadwick.

“Sorry I tore the side of your car off,” Chadwick told DeCarlo after the race.

“You didn’t bend anything,” DeCarlo replied. “It’s all good.”

A large field of All Star Wingless Sprint Cars competed for the 20 car main event, which saw several crashes eliminate some top cars before hometown hero Dan Gonderman was able to take the lead.

Billy Macedo and Terry Shank chased smooth driving Gonderman at the finish.

The Dwarf Car thriller saw Nick Squatritto of San Jose maintain a lead over the full field of cars until a red flag came out for Travis Dutra flipping several times down the back stretch. Then, a caution with two laps to go almost changed things.

One of the division’s fastest drivers, Ricardo Rivera of Hollister, worked his way all the way from the back of the pack to challenge Squatritto at the finish. Squatritto won his first feature event by a less than car length at the drop of the checkered flag.

Gene Haney topped Jake Dewsberry in the Super Hobby Stock main event.

5/21/2011: Antioch Speedway Results:


DIRTcar West UMP Modifieds:
Heat Race 1
1.   73 Scott Busby
2.   10 Randy McDaniel
3.   82Sean O'Gara
4.   7X Kellen Chadwick
5.   68 Norman Beck
6.   80 John Pierce
7.   68X Jeremy Crebs

Heat Race 2
1. 49 Troy Foulger
2. 28 Chester Kniss
3. 4 Bill Wallace
4. 17 Nick Decarlo
5. 7 Sean Wilson
6. 29 Mike Salazar
7. 141 Trent Wentworth

Heat Race 3
1.-71 Rob Norris
2.-66 Kevin Fitzgerald
3.-16 Michael Paul
4.-4 Bill Wallace
5.-01 Terry Kaiser
6.-1K Clint Cardona

Feature Event:
1.-73 Scott Busby
2.-49 Troy Foulgers
3.-7X Kellen Chadwick
4.-17 Nick Decarlo
5.-29 Mike Salazar
6.-28 Chester Kniss
7.-68 Norman Beck
8.-4 Bill Wallace
9.-68X Jeremy Crebs
10.-7 Sean Wilson
11.-01 Terry Kaiser
12.-66 Kevin Fitzgerald
13.-82 Sean O'Gara
14.-16 Michael Paul
15.-10 Randy McDaniel
16.-4X Sean Deforest
17.-71 Rob Norris
18.-141 Trent Wentworth
19.-80 John Pierce
20.-1K Clint Cardona

All Star Wingless Sprints Feature:
1.-99 Dan Gonderman
2.-M1 Billy Macedo
3.-1 Terry Schank
4.-21 Roy Fisher
5.-24N Nick Larsen
6.-96 Arvo Backholm
7.-23K Rick Sharp
8.-2 Trevor Schimdt
9.-23 Tylen Henriques
10.-3F Tim Barber
11.-55 Danny Malfatti
12.-69 Ron Laplant
13.-55X Banbury
14.-98 Jeff Lee
15.-6 Joe Stormetta
16.-07N Zack Lynsky
17.-41 David Press
18.-00 Braedon Enos
19.-3 Bill Cornwell
20.-6N Gary Nelson Jr.


Dwarf Cars Main Event:
1. -96 Nick Squatritto
2.-45 Ricardo Rivera
3.-55 Jerry Dsoty
4.-00 Mike Corsaro
5.-0 Charlie Correia
6.-30 Joel Osias
7.-3 Duane Jordan
8.-34 Pat Urdahl
9.-12 Butch Liston
10.-3S Chuck Golden
11.-22 Travis Dutra
12.-4 Joe Trammel
13.-02 Nick Davis
14.-47. Mario Marquez
15.-1N Clayton Dortzbach

Limited Late Models Main Event:
1.-15 Larry Damitz
2.-65 Lori Brown
3.-3 Danny Mendes
4.-7 Fred Ryland
5.-2 Mike Gustafson
6.-05 Mike Hynes
7.-99 Jim Freethy
8.-83 Michelle Newman

Super Hobby Stocks Main Event
1.-45 Gene Haney
2.-28 Jake Dewsberry
3.-69 Victoria Rosa
4.-18 Dan McCown