Hetrick To Be Remembered With $2500 To Win Modified Race At Antioch Speedway

In the late 1970's, he sped around the quarter-mile clay oval at Antioch Speedway in his fast #9a Gremlin bodied Sportsman.  He wasn't a high dollar competitor, but he was fast.  His name was Jerry Hetrick, and he was a Top 5 point competitor, feature winner and track qualifying record holder in the popular Sportsman division. Anybody who knew him through the years had nothing but good things to say about him.

In the years that followed Jerry's retirement from racing, his son Gary started racing in Street Stocks and A Modifieds.  Jerry got to enjoy watching his son race and pitted for him as well.  The community was saddened by the news of his passing earlier this year.  Promoter John M. Soares raced against him and had respect for what he was able to do with the equipment he had.  John wanted to honor him.

Therefore, Soares and Oval Motorsports has announced the Jerry Hetrick Memorial Race on July 9th.  Throughout the almost 19 seasons that Soares has been promoting Antioch Speedway, he has held some of the biggest paying Modified races on the West Coast.  It has been confirmed that it will be the standard entry fee.  We're still awaiting details on purse breakdown, but the A Modified race will pay $2500 to win and will probably pay in the area of $1000 to $1500 for second. Soares knows how to do these races up right, and a field reaching into the 30's is very possible.

After scoring one of the biggest Antioch victories of his career last week against NASCAR racer Kenny Schrader, Scott Busby is hungry for victory.  Nobody has won more Modified races at Antioch Speedway than the five time champion  Busby.  He is fast approaching another Sportsman legend, J.D. Willis, as the track's all time win leader.  Though he has won some big money races throughout the West Coast, the big win at Antioch has been elusive.  His $1500 triumph on Preliminary Day of last year's Summer Nationals was his biggest paycheck at the track.  Scott has more incentive to win this race.  He raced against Hetrick early in his career as he had just moved up to the Sportsman division in 1980.

Another name people will need to watch for is Bobby Hogge IV.  Everybody knows what a legend Bobby's father is, but only Willis and Busby have more wins than him at Antioch Speedway.  Hogge is also a three time Antioch champion with Late Model and Modified feature wins at the track this year.  The $2,500 first prize is sure to grab Hogge's attention, and he probably won't come alone.

Another talented racer to watch for will be second generation superstar Kellen Chadwick.  Kellen is a past Antioch champion, but he just accomplished an impressive feat of winning four races in seven days to capture the 2016 Wild West Speedweek Series championship.  Like Hogge, Kellen is known for going where they pay the big money, and he's claimed his share of winner's prizes through the years.

It's difficult to say who might show up to make a run for the money, but one local champion who will hopefully have a motor together in time to compete will be Aaron Crowell.  Aaron is a feature winner at Antioch this season.  Point leader Carl Berendsen II is another driver we anticipate as he goes for his first win in the division on the biggest stage of them all.

Third generation racer Darrell Hughes II is developing a reputation for showing up anywhere they pay the big purses and running very competitively.  He had a strong second place showing in the Roger Haudenshild Tribute Race at Southern Oregon Speedway and recently got a win at Antioch.  You can believe that Antioch will be well represented by racers like Raymond Lindeman, Trent Wentworth, Sean O'Gara, Mikey Slaney, Anthony Slaney and John MacDougall, and there is sure to be a host of top talent from other tracks looking to pay Antioch a visit.

Details are still being put together, and we will have more information in the days ahead.  You can also keep track of the latest announcements via www.antiochspeedway.com.