Something For Everybody Saturday Night
At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...The All Star Series Antioch Speedway racing season is almost at the half way point, and it has been very competitive in all of the divisions on the fast 3/8 mile clay oval. On Saturday night, six divisions will take their turns on the John M. Soares prepared track, including the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Wingless Spec Sprints, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and California Hardtops.

A few drivers are licking there wounds after a Winged Sprint Car show last week that was just a little bit rough. At the start of be 25 lap Main Event, third place point runner Dan Gonderman ended up flipping in an incident that also eliminated second place point competitor Billy Aton. This was all good news to point leader Art McCarthy. McCarthy drove to a second place feature finish, which allowed him to stretch his point lead over Aton.

Meanwhile, it was yet another driver picking up a feature win last Saturday night as past Northern Auto Racing Club star Bobby McMahon drove the Jarrett Soares car to victory. With five races now in the record books, there are five different Main Event winners. Drivers seem to be coming from everywhere to take their turns on the fast racing service. McCarthy and Aton count themselves as track regulars with victories along with McMahon, Koen Shaw and Shawn Conde.

Partially because there was a Civil War Series race happening at Petaluma and King Of The West  race at Stockton last week, car count was down just a bit, but it is hoped that those numbers will pick up this week. Drivers with work to do on their cars, however, include reigning champions Shawn Arriaga and Gonderman. Art's son Adam McCarthy finished third last week.  Adam is anticipated this week along with Matt Barber, Rick Brophy and 2014 champion Chris Magoon.

The Wingless Spec Sprint drivers have work to do to keep up with point leader Jim Perry Jr. Perry became the first repeat winner in the division this season with his victory over Barry Pries Jr. last week. A close battle behind Perry finds five drivers within 12 points of each other as veteran Rick Panfili sits in second in the standings.

Panfili is hoping to win his first Main Event this season. Like Perry and occasional competitor Dan Gonderman, Panfili is an original from this division's roster back in 1999. Don't look now, but Marcus Smith is closing in fast on Panfili.  Despite a blown motor this year, Marcus is riding two points behind Panfili as the one time winner finished third last week.  Other hard chargers to watch for this week include Shannon Newton,  past Chowchilla champion Brandon Burd, James East, Roy Fisher, rookie Adam Teves and Alan Miranda.


The fact is, you never know who could be the next Main Event winner at the competitive speedway. To illustrate that point, second year B Modified racer K.C. Keller recorded his first Main Event win last week. Keller enjoyed an intense battle with three time winner Trevor Clymens at the prior race before mechanical issues sent him pitside. He knew he had a car capable of victory, and his first win came ahead of Ocean Speedway point leader Jim DiGiovanni and Clymens.

The reality is that the B Modifieds are in a year of transition. With Fred Ryland choosing to race elsewhere this year, the field seems very equal in the quest for victory. Point leader Al Johnson has earned his ranking through consistency as a three time second place finisher so far this year. With Clymens not very far behind him, Johnson knows he needs to get a win at some point this year. He will be after it this week along with Danny Jones, Randy Brown, Shane DeVolder and Loyd Cline.

Last season, third generation racer Mark Garner finally gave his family their first track championship at Merced. Mark's father, Jerry Garner, is the 1969 State Stock Car champion. Though Jerry raced for many seasons at Antioch Speedway and was Top 5 ranked on multiple occasions, a track championship eluded him. This season, Mark would like to bring an Antioch championship trophy back home to the family mantle place. To do that, he knows who he has to beat.

At this stage of the season, it is a three car battle for that championship, involving rookie Kimo Oreta and 87 year old veteran Larry Damitz. Damitz is the reigning four time division champion and point leader.  Garner won the last time, but Damitz wasn't far behind him. Still, it is a close battle in the standings between the three drivers. Oreta hasn't earned his first win yet, but the three time Hobby Stock champion has scored more feature wins than anybody else in the history of that division.

Two other drivers on the list of winners, in addition to Garner and Damitz, are Mike Gustafson and Jim Freethy. Freethy is next in line in the standings back in fourth, but some bad luck has hindered his efforts. The division has had a few new competitors debut, and others we are looking for this week include Lori Brown, the steady John Evans, Calvin Louis and John Keith.

The Hobby Stock division at Antioch Speedway has been exciting to watch all season long with five different winners in six races. At the top of the heap in the overall standings and rookie points is Guy Ahlwardt. Ahlwardt won the most recent race, which was his second win of the season. He has a big advantage in the standings over another feature winner, Stock Car veteran Danny Jones. Jones is doing double duty as he is also racing B Modifieds.

Other than Ahlwardt and Jones, nobody else in the Top 10 in the standings has made it into the winner's column just yet. Natalie Perry is one of those drivers, and she is not far behind second ranked Jones in the standings as 19 points separate second through sixth.  Third ranked Cameron Swank, Michael Cooper, Jason Jennings, Steven Rogers, Lindsay Buirch and Russell Shearer are other drivers to watch this week.  We also saw the return of Robert Niven at the most recent race as he finished in the Top 5.  One time winner Chris Long is said to be preparing for a return this week.

The California Hardtop Association is also part of the program this week. Recently, it was announced that the group would hold the Chet Thomson Memorial Race at the speedway on September 10th, a week following their big show at Calistoga. Chet is a champion in Hardtops at the old Vallejo Speedway, who passed away in 1967. Vallejo Speedway ran a memorial race for him there until it closed at the end of the 1979 season.

The Hardtop division has enjoyed parody this year with 4 different winners in 5 races. This includes the father and son team of Ken and Jason Clifford. Recent Roseville winner Jason Armstrong and Dave Mackey are other drivers on the list. Mickey was the competitor who won the most recent Antioch race. He's also the one who has pushed for the race for Chet Thomson

There are some fast competitors who have yet to win in a Main Event this season, including Chet's son Tommy Thomson, long time in Antioch competitor Rob Waldrop and Dan Williams. Thomson competes in a car in which he won Main Events with at Vallejo Speedway.

The Hardtops are a neat division and put on a good show every time they are at the speedway. Antioch played a crucial role in establishing the California Hardtop Association nearly a decade ago. Drivers we anticipate this week include John Turner, John Philbert, Joe Hopp, Ron Ruiz and Stock Car veteran Dennis Armstrong.

The one thing Antioch Speedway is known for is hosting exciting racing programs every Saturday night. This Saturday night should be no different. With Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Wingless Spec Sprints, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and California Hardtops on the program, this will be an entertaining show to watch. For further information, check out www.antiochspeedway.com.

All Star Series Antioch Speedway Point Standings

Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Art McCarthy 248
Billy Aton 230
Dan Gonderman 178
Rick Brophy 134
Shawn Arriaga 137
Chris Magoon 126
Burt Foland Jr. 114
Adam McCarthy 102
Koen Shaw 100
Matt Barber 90

Wingless Spec Sprints
Jim Perry Jr. 240
Rick Panfili 206
Marcus Smith 204
James East 202
Shannon Newton 196
Brandon Burd 194
Alan Miranda 174
Roy Fisher 174
Kyle Bakkie 158
Adam Teves 158

B Modified
Al Johnson    414
Trevor Clymens     380
Shane DeVolder    364
Danny Jones    334
K.C. Keller    280
Lloyd Cline    184
Randy Brown    182
Brian Pearce    176
Fred Ryland    164
Lonnie Leonard    148

Limited Late Models
Larry Damitz    208
Mark Garner    196
Kimo Oreta    194
Jim Freethy    182
John Evans    168
Mike Gustafson    138
Lori Brown    95
Paul Hanley    40
John Keith    40
Donny Richardson 16

Hobby Stocks
Guy Ahlwardt    298
Danny Jones    227
Cameron Swank    224
Michael Cooper    216
Natalie Perry    215
Lindsey Buirch    208
Jordon Swank    178
Chris Sorensen     141
Rob Waldrop    128
Russell Shearer    120