ORETA, MIRAGLIO, COOPER, CLYMENS, SALAZAR, AND OFFILL SCORE OPENING NIGHT VICTORIES.
Antioch Speedway roared back to life Saturday April 22nd with an action packed six division show. The 360 Winged Sprints, A Mods, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars were all competing in their first points race of the year while the Hardtops made one of their many visits to the speedway this season. The Flyin’ Hawaiian Kimo Oreta, Kevin Miraglio, Michael Cooper, Trevor Clymens, Mike Salazar, and Kyle Offill would win their respective main events.
The night would start off with the Hardtops heat race. Dave Mackey would lead every lap to win the lone heat race over the only other competitor in the field Kimo Oreta, who seemed to have a bit of trouble with handling in the heat, spinning multiple times. Next would be the Dwarf Car heats. Kevin Miraglio would win heat 1, leading every lap. Dave Corsaro would finish second ahead of Charlie Correia. Heat two would see Chuck Conover take the lead on lap 2 and run away with the heat win. The 4 and 22 finished 2nd and third respectively. Unfortunately I didn’t get the name for those two drivers. Hobby Stocks would be next with their three heats. Cameron Swank would lead every lap of heat one and win over Brent Curran and Billy Garner. Chris Sorensen had ran second most of the race before a lap five spin. Heat two would again see someone lead every lap, as Joey Ridgway would win easily ahead of Anthony Vigna and Chris Bennett. In heat three, Chris Long made a lap two pass and proceeded to run away with the victory. Jordan Swank and Lori Brown would finish 2nd and 3rd.
The Sport Mods would be split into two heats, with Guy Ahlwardt using a lap 7 pass to win heat one over Chuck Golden and Trevor Clymens. Mark Garner would lead every lap of heat two to pick up the heat two victory over Doff Cooksey and KC Keller, who was debuting his nice new car. The A Mods would also be split into two separate heats. Mike Salazar would capitalize on an early mistake by Bobby Motts to win heat one, Motts and Sean O’Gara would follow behind. Scott Busby would win a competitive heat two, which saw three lead changes in the first three laps. Eric Berendsen and the 11 would finish second and third. The 360 Sprints would have one heat. It was announced early that one of the championship favorites, Art McCarthy was a scratch for tonight, which meant that anyone running for points would get a good chance to get up on McCarthy in the points battle. Rookie Kyle Offill would run away with it. Aaron Miller and Jenna Frazier would chase him across the line.
The Mains would start with the 10 lap Hardtops feature. Kimo Oreta would lead every lap in what was a competitive race early, before heat winner Dave Mackey would have mechanical issues.
The Second Main up would be the Dwarf Cars, which would have the best finish of the night. The race started with a three car wreck in turn one, which collected The 5, Jenna Frazier, and Mike Corsaro. Lap 7 would see Leader Kevin Miraglio get into the back of a lapped car and get sent to the back for rough driving. From there Mike Corsaro, who had worked his way back through the field after his earlier incident, would lead. Miraglio quickly worked his way back through the field and was back up to 2nd by lap 12. From there the battle was on. Miraglio trying everything he could to get around Corsaro, but having no luck until lap 17. A lap 18 spin by Devan Kammerman would set up the final battle between the two, as it looked like Corsaro had made the winning pass coming out of 4 on the last lap, but Kevin Miraglio had just enough momentum to squeeze by him on the outside at the line, winning by a matter of inches. Chuck Conover, Charlie Correia and Dave Rosa would complete the top 5.
The Hobby Stocks main was next. Pole sitter Chris Sorensen would lead the first 5 laps before Michael Cooper would get by. Early front runner Frank Furtado would have issues around lap 6 unfortunately, ending his night. From there it was all Cooper up front. Brent Curran who started way in the back, continued to work his way up through the field. Lap 17 would see the last caution, as Joey Ridgway and Lindsey Buirch would tangle in turn two, ending Ridgway’s night. Michael Cooper would go on to win the main event. Chris Sorensen, Chris Long, Brent Curran and Chris Bennett would round out the top 5.
The B Mod Main would go on 4th. Mark Garner would lead until lap 4, when Guy Ahlwardt would make a pass for the lead. Garner’s night would unfortunately come to an end next lap, breaking his rear end. From there Guy Ahlwardt would lead. There would be a lap 7 caution for Trevor Clymens and Doff Cooksey making contact in turn 4. Guy Ahlwardt would spin from the lead the next lap, surrendering the lead to KC Keller. A lap 12 spin by Randy Brown would bring out a caution, Ahlwardt would be moved back a few spots back for what was called as jumping the previous restart. KC Keller would continue to lead until lap 16, where Trevor Clymens would make the winning pass, picking up the victory ahead of Keller, Ahlwardt, Cooksey, and Chuck Golden.
The Next to last main would be the A mods. Bobby Motts would lead the first two laps before spinning from the lead on lap 3. There would be wrecks on the ensuing two restarts, the first collecting John MacDougall and the 11 car, and the second collecting Sean O’Gara and the 11 yet again. Salazar would inherit the lead from Motts and continue to hold off Scott Busby. Two spins on laps 8 and 10 from Eric Berendsen would end his night and bunch the field up. Once MacDougall had spun again on lap 11, officials decided to call the race. Reverting back to the previous lap, Mike Salazar would pick up the victory ahead of Busby, Motts, O’Gara, and the 11.
Last up would be the 360 Sprints. Pole sitter Kle Offill would take the lead earl and never look back. Despite spins and cautions for Bryan Grier and Aaron Miller, Offill would never be seriously challenged. Offill would pick up his first career sprint car victory. Burt Foland Jr, Bryan Grier, Marissa Pollizzi, Aaron Miller and Jenna Frazier would round out the finishing order.
Next week Antioch Speedway returns with Points Race number 2, Featuring the Wingless Sprints, Late Models, A Mods, Sport Mods, and the Hobby Stocks.