Antioch Speedway
April 19, 2014
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FOULGER SCORES FIRST IMCA FEATURE WIN OF THE SEASON; HOFF SURPRISE WINNER IN IMCA SPORTMODS; DAMITZ, RYLAND REPEAT WINNERS IN LIMITED LATE MODEL AND HOBBY DIVISIONS



Oval Motorsports
ANTIOCH, Calif. (April 19) - Four time track champ Troy Foulger of Martinez scored his first victory of the 2014 season Saturday night at Antioch Speedway, after battling Vacaville’s Danny Dozier in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) main event.

Dozier quickly moved through the pack, fighting off challenges from Antioch’s Carl Berendsen in the modified stock car feature. Foulger and Dozier then fought side by side, with Dozier taking the lead on a restart with five laps to go.

“I thought the top of the track was faster, and he (Dozier) got me by staying low on the inside,” Foulger explained in victory lane. “He (Dozier) was racing great. It was fun to be alongside him in a good, clean race.”

Luckily for Foulger, there was one more caution flag, and he regained the lead in a thrilling finish.

“My car pushed through the corners a bit,” Dozier later explained. “He just rolled through the center of the turn a little better than I could.”

Chico’s Duane Cleveland, coming off of a Friday night win at Silver Dollar Speedway, chased the two leaders throughout the race, waiting for the right opportunity to pass.

“We just missed the shock (absorber) set-up,” Cleveland explained in victory lane. “We thought it would be smart to use our late model shocks in the modified, but the decision actually hurt us.”

Berendsen hung on for fourth, chased by Antioch veteran driver Dan Gonderman.

Local modified stock car favorite Scott Busby was missing from the speedway Saturday. Busby was injured in a work related accident and will undergo surgery on Wednesday. He will miss several races during his recovery.

Hoff Declared Winner After Finishing Second

IMCA SportMod track champ Jeremy Hoff of Copperopolis was the surprise winner in the division’s feature event, which had its largest car count to date.

Hoff battled alongside Morgan Hill’s Jim DiGiovanni for most of the race. DiGiovanni got in front of Hoff just before the checkered flag dropped.

As the cars were weighed after the race, DiGiovanni’s car was found to be too light, and he was disqualified. Hoff was awarded the win and All Sotomayor of Watsonville was moved up to second.

“It feels strange to win that way,” Hoff said in the infield. “Rules are always a factor. That’s part of racing.”

Damitz Proud to be “Old”

Racing in seven different decades has its benefits, and Larry Damitz of Vallejo was quick to point to that in the Limited Late Model division victory lane.

Competitors noticed Damitz had no problem handling the track’s condition in his heat race. While the others were scratching their heads, Damitz confidently prepared for the feature.

Damitz, 85, was untouchable in the feature event. Mike Hynes of Suisun chased him to the finish from several car lengths behind. Lori Brown of Antioch finished third.

When asked if experience was a factor, Damitz was quick to answer.

“Oh, yes,” he smiled. “Sometimes it pays to be old.”

Hynes was complimentary to Damitz.

“The master still teaches the kids how to run on this race track,” Hynes added.

Ryland a Force in Hobby Stocks

Don’t tell Brentwood’s “Peppermint” Patti Ryland that racing isn’t a sport. When the Hobby Stock feature event winner is running half-marathons, or climbing Mt. Diablo, she’s thinking of driving at Antioch Speedway.

“Running helps me prepare for racing. It improves a driver’s in-car performance,” Ryland explained in victory lane. “Driving a race car on dirt in a heat race, a trophy dash, and then a 20 lap feature is exhausting. It’s more exhausting than running a half-marathon, and I can attest to that.”

To win her second feature of the season, Ryland fought off the challenges of Oakley’s Nick Baldwin, who finished second. Baldwin, also an athlete outside of racing, fought hard in his challenge for the lead

“He was able to get by me on the good parts of the track,” Ryland said.

Baldwin was critical of his own performance.

“I just blew it,” he said. “I raced too hard into the turn and spun the car.”

Kimo “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Oreta came all the way back to third after heading to the pits to fix a damage from a first lap crash.

Wagner’s Last Ditch Effort Pays Off

Danny Wagner of Bay Point recovered from a spin out to take the Dwarf Car division main event at the finish line. His car was damaged when hit in the driver’s side by another car early in the event.

With dirt flying from his bright yellow car, Wagner rode to the wall to narrowly squeeze by Pat Urdahl of Concord.

“Pat just bobbled a bit coming out of the fourth turn,” Wagner said. “I just decided to go for it. I didn’t even know where the wall was – until I felt the car hitting it.

Wagner had to crawl through his car’s passenger door to accept his trophy in victory lane. Mike Corsaro of Tracy finished third.

Triple Header Saturday Night

The Northern All Star Late Model and Modified stock car divisions, plus the Northern All Star Wingless Sprint Cars headline a triple-header this Saturday night (April 26) at Antioch Speedway. The Hobby Stock and four cylinder “Four-Banger” division will also have a complete program of qualifying races and feature events.

Racing begins at 6 p.m. Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, 1201 W. 10th St., Antioch, Calif. Admission is $14 for adults, $10 for children 6-12, and $8 for senior citizens. A family four-pack of tickets is $40. Secure parking is available from the fairgrounds for $5.

IMCA Modifieds
1 4 49 Troy Foulger
2 5 25DD Danny Dozier
3 3 2C Duane Cleveland
4 1 88 Carl Berendsen
5 6 6 Dan Gonderman
6 8 93 Johnny Curtis
7 2 28 Chester Kniss
8 7 86U John Digiovanni
9 9 1C Aaron Crowell

Limited Late Models
1 7 15 Larry Damitz
2 1 5 Mike Hynes
3 4 65 Lori Brown
4 5 48 John Evans
5 6 67 Cecil Henry
6 3 76A Mark Garner
7 2 99 Jim Freethy

Sport Mods
1 2 5 Jeremy Hoff
2 6 65 Al Sotomayor
3 3 1 Rob Gallaher
4 11 2 Chuck Golden
5 9 19 Jason Ferguson
6 13 15 Anthony Giuliani
7 4 96M Paul Mulder
8 5 11 Lloyd Cline
9 10 27I Phil Indihar
10 8 5X Scotty Hoff
11 1 43 Al Johnson
12 12 4 Paul Martell
13 7 75X Jim Digiovanni

Hobby Stocks
1 6 7 Patti Ryland
2 8 17 Nick Baldwin
3 5 3 Kimo Oreta
4 9 11 Christopher Brown
5 1 2 Jason Coe
6 7 1 Dan Jones
7 3 57 Michael Cooper
8 4 25X Calvin Louis
9 10 90 Chuck Templeton
10 11 12 Bob Brown
11 2 24 Frank Furtado

Dwarf Cars
1 4 11D Danny Wagner
2 3 67 Pat Urdahl
3 7 0 Mike Corsaro
4 5 0 Charlie Correia
5 9 40 Kevin Miraglio
6 10 00X Duane Jordan
7 8 4 Brian Tilseth
8 2 55C Kurtis Craig
9 6 68 David Rosa
10 12 47 Mario Marquez
11 11 8 David Teves
12 1 10 Adam Teves
13 13 5N Tim Reeder