A little bit of unofficial hype for Antioch...

Five divisions will be in town to entertain racing fans Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.  John Soares' three-eighths mile clay oval track has been fast all season long, and DIRTcar Late Models are ready to make their seventh appearance of the season.  Also in action will be the IMCA Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars and Vintage Hardtops.

Because heat race points are so important, Morgan Hill's Jeff Decker managed to take the Late Model point lead from winner Richard Papenhausen of Chico after his second place finish last time out.  Decker won his heat race that night.  He is a one time winner to three wins for Papenhausen, but he consistently finishes in the Top 3.  The Decker lead is a not too comfortable two points in front of the defending champion Papenhausen.

Hayward's Danny Malfatti used a fourth place finish last time to grab a four point advantage over David Newquist of Chico in the battle for third.  Newquist has been keeping himself busy racing at Chico, where he also ranks second.  These four drivers, along with Vacaville's Paul Guglielmoni, Chester Kniss of Antioch, Antioch's Rob Norris and others are also anticipated for this race.

After winning for the third time last week, Antioch's Scott Busby increased his IMCA Modified point lead to six points.  The reason for such a little gain was the third place finish that second ranked Bobby Motts Jr. of San Pablo earned.  Busby seems to have hit his stride, and the pressure will be on Motts to come up big.  These two lead foots and others are aiming for the big show at the end of the month.

Billed as the Summer Nationals, this two day event at Antioch Speedway (June 26-27) boasts a $2500 first prize that Saturday and $1500 to win the night before.  There is also a big Late Model race on Saturday that pays $1500 to win and will be increased to $2000 at 20 cars.  IMCA Sport Mods race for $500 to win that Friday (June 26) and will get $750 to win the next night.  NASCAR competitor and personality Kenny Wallace will compete in a Late Model and IMCA Modified that weekend.

Getting back to this week, Carl Berendsen II of Antioch is coming off of a fourth place finish last week and that enabled him to increase his lead to 16 points over Dustin Himes of Manteca in the battle for third.  Last week boasted a 16 car field, and some of the competitors anticipated this week include Mike Salazar of Antioch, Jeff Thomas of Petaluma and Chris Elby of Livermore.

Kimo Oreta won for the third time in a row last week, and when the Vacaville driver did that, he took the lead on the All Time Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock win list with 17 victories.  Oreta's lead over Castro Valley's Danny Jones is now a whopping 167 points, and he would have to walk away at this point to not win his third straight division championship.

Jones has just a one point lead over Bay Point's Michael Cooper and a ten point advantage over rookie Jordan Swank of Concord in the battle for second.  His car was so damaged after last week, that Jones is unsure if he can make it this week, though he is going to try.  Frank Furtado of Antioch had a career best fifth place finish last week to maintain fifth in the standings.  Other divers we're anticipating include Cameron Swank and Robert Niven of Concord and Antioch's Brent Curran.  The 2014 Four Banger champion Curran finished third in his season debut last week.

After three weeks off, the Dwarf Car drivers are anxious to get back out and race.  With three wins this year, you'd think two time defending champion Danny Wagner of Bay Point would be leading the race, but he isn't.  Wagner trails one time winner David Teves of Concord by just two points.  His son, Adam Teves, won his second Main Event last time and is just 24 points out of the lead in a good battle.

Tracy teammates Mike Corsaro and Charlie Correia, who recently turned 77, rank fourth and fifth in the standings.  Corsaro is 32 points out of the lead and still very much in the hunt.  Others to watch for this week include Pleasaton's Kevin Miraglio, Thomas Leiby of Copperoplis, Jerry Doty of Hayward and Miranda Chappa of Martinez.  All four drivers rank inside the Top 10 in the standings.

The Vintage Hardtops are coming to town to give the fans a dose of racing that hearkens back to the 1950's and 1960's.  This class features old Sedans and Coups, and a field of competitors that includes Jim Perry Jr. of Concord in a car built by Dave Mackay, San Leandro's Thommy Thomson in a car he actually drove and won Main Events with at Vallejo Speedway in the late 1970's, Placerville's Dennis Armstrong, Mike McClure, John Philbert, Dan Williams and others is anticipated.

Antioch Speedway Top 5 In Points

DIRTCar Late Models

Jeff Decker    314
Richard Papenhausen 312
Danny Malfatti     244
Dave Newquist     240
Troy Foulger     207

IMCA Modifieds

Scott Busby     257
Bobby Motts Jr.    251
Carl Berendsen II 202
Dustin Himes    186
Alex Willson     143

Hobby Stocks

Kimo Oreta     530
Danny Jones     363
Michael Cooper    362
Jordan Swank    353
Frank Furtado    326

Dwarf Cars

David Teves     394
Danny Wagner    392
Adam Teves     370
Mike Corsaro    362
Charlie Correia    300

Notes:

I love Oval Motorsports' commitment to the Late Models.  I think it's good that there are commitments at both ends of the state and the potential for big races where both sides support. The Summer Nationals are coming up at Antioch on June 26th and 27th, and that show will include Late Models on the 27th.

As for the regular show, we've been getting 10-12 cars, and we could see a bump up in car count at any time.  Anthony Restad and Paul Guglielmoni have both looked strong out of town.  Paul recently got a second at Chico, and Anthony grabbed a win at Placerville,  Paul also has an Antioch win.  You know how strong Decker and Papenhausen will be, but who is the next racer ready to step up and go for a win?  I keep thinking if Kniss keeps things together, he's gonna surprise some people.  The important thing is Late Model racing lives on at Antioch Speedway.

I'm gonna interrupt the hype for a moment and get serious.  I just heard the word that Mike Ferry was badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  He and Bobby Motts Jr. are like brothers and have been up and down the road together in Street Stocks and Dirt Mods.  Mike has already battled back from a serious illness that doctors said he'd never recover from.  Bobby parked his car to be there for Mike last year, and I won't be surprised if he does that again.  There are more important things at a time like this.  Mike is one of the nicer guys out there, and my prayers go out to him.

Last week, we saw Jim Reid bring his car out there.  That car is now #72 and had the talented Shawn DeForest behind the wheel.  Jim and his brother Bart won a few championships through the years.  John Pierce was another driver who sort of showed up out of the blue last week and there were 16 cars.  Of course, Scott Busby has hit stride as his third win of the season would seem to indicate.  Carl Berendsen II and Mike Salazar were 4-5 at the finish last week, and I keep wondering when one of these two will win this season.  Salazar certainly impressed in winning a heat race duel with Busby last week.

Some cars were a little beat up in Hobby Stocks last week, and point leader Kimo Oreta had to come back from a spin.  That didn't stop him from winning.  This class is seeing drivers popping up out of the woodwork, but we are wondering if Danny Jones will have his car together after last week.  He is locked in a tight battle with Michael Cooper and Jordan Swank for third.  Oreta can't keep winning, or so you might think.  He will have to start tenth again, but he's won three in a row.  Much like the Modifieds, I'm guessing a dozen or so cars, but both classes could pop.

Dwarf Cars were a little rough at Merced, and we saw Charlie Correia injure his shoulder and some ribs on Thursday.  He's home resting, but he'll be out of the action.  David Teves and son Adam have been fast lately.  David gained the point lead after the last Antioch race, while his son won that race.  Danny Wagner was celebrating a birthday that night, but a DNF left him in a less than celebratory mood.  He has three wins this year, and #4 could come at any moment,  Likewise we have our eye on Kevin Miraglio in his pursuit of win #1.  He's been fast.  Car count could be down a bit, but we still anticipate double digits once again.

Hardtops are just a great class and a throwback to days of old.  They aren't just putting around the track. They race for wins.  Drivers like Jim Perry Jr., Tommy Thomson and Dan Williams have won races at Antioch, and all three are anticipated for this.  We suspect 10-12 cars will be there on Saturday.