Late Models, Wingless Spec Sprints Roar Into Antioch Speedway Saturday Night

Antioch, CA...Coming off of a wild and exciting race last week, there's a full slate of All Star Series racing scheduled for this Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The DIRTcar Late Models kick off their track and West Region point seasons this week, and the Wingless Spec Sprints begin their 19th season of racing at the track. Also on the card this week will be the A Modifieds, B Modifieds and Hobby Stocks.

The two names who have battled for supremacy at the top of the DIRTcar Late Model point ladder at Antioch Speedway in recent seasons are Richard Papenhausen and Jeff Decker. You won't find a Late Model driver with more wins in the last 30 races at Antioch Speedway than Papenhausen, who enters the season as the reigning Antioch and West Region champion. Those two championship honors belonged to Decker in 2015, and Decker has two Antioch championships along with multiple championships at both Petaluma and Watsonville.

Antioch is the only full Late Model program in Northern California, and beating Papenhausen and Decker means you truly earned the victory. After back to back Top 10 seasons, past Dirt Modified champion Rob Norris is looking to take a step into the Top 5, and this battle could be very competitive. He'll have to contend with past Top 5 driver David Newquist, last season's "Rookie Of The Year" Mike Hynes, and the man who finished third last year, Dennis Souza. Top 10 competitor Chester Kniss is confirmed for this race as well. Kimo Oreta will be running for top rookie honors this year in the Sun Drop Racing Team #03 car. These are just some of the stars of Late Model racing that will be in Antioch this week.

When Don O'Keefe Jr. led the effort for John M. Soares to start the Wingless Spec Sprint class in August of 1998, there were people who thought the idea of a wingless, self starting, 360 cast iron motor Sprint Car class wouldn't fly. The class never had less than 12 cars that first year, and now it enters it's 19th season in Antioch. Jim Perry Jr., Rick Panfili and Dan Gonderman were three racers on that roster back then. Perry has since won more races than anybody in division history at the track and is coming off of his second track championship. Panfili was Top 5 in points once again last season, and after several second place finishes, the popular local competitor has his first win in his sights.

Gonderman has won two championships, but he's stepping out of the car to get the third generation of his family into the division. She's Abigail Gonderman, and she competed for a few seasons in the old Four Banger division. While Abigail joins past track official Josh Floyd on the list of rookies, Marcus Smith enters his third season in Spec Sprints. He hasn't finished below second in points and lost a heart breaker last season thanks to a blown motor at the second to last race. Alan Miranda is hoping to get his first win this season and has come close on several occasions. With James East, Shannon Newton, Brandon Burd, ageless veteran Roy Fisher and Boy Moniz on the list, this should be a great night of racing. They will see Moniz coming this time after the Hawaii native won the season finale in his first start at the track last year.

Two drivers shot out of the gate like a cannon ball last week in the A Modified division. Five time champion Scott Busby was looking for his Antioch leading 65th career feature win in the division and 71st overall, but he had to battle long time competitor Mike Salazar. A Top 3 ranked driver in the past, Salazar has been through his share of adversity, but he's always bounced back with a great attitude. Salazar seemed to be on his way to a victory last week, but he and Busby tangled in Turns 3 and 4 late in the race as a yellow flag flew for another car. Initially, Salazar was awarded the win, but it was later determined that his car would not be able to continue with the blown motor he suffered. Busby made it back to the line for the yellow and was eventually declared the winner. If he gets one more win, which seems likely, Busby will tie J..D. Willis as the all time feature win leader at Antioch Speedway.

You also can not forget Bobby Motts Jr. Motts quietly creeped to a second place finish last week, and the 2015 championship runnerup is not to be counted out. In his Street Stock career, Motts racked up over 20 wins and a track championship at Antioch. Eric Berendsen had a good run going last week, but his rear end broke to end a possible Top 3 finish for the rookie and brother of two time champion Carl Berendsen II. Two time Top 3 competitor Sean O'Gara, John MacDougall and Trent Wentworth are other drivers to watch for this week.

There are a few eager racers hungry to dethrone reigning B Modified champion Trevor Clymens. Clymens had an eventful Main Event last week that saw him spin early before coming all the way back to the front for an impressive victory. Mark Garner was riding along in the lead when his night ended on the tow truck hook, but rookie Guy Ahlwardt and K.C. Keller were there to make it a good battle for the lead. Keller is hoping to make a move on the championship this season, and his second place finish last week still earned him good points in that quest. Ahlwardt might not be a regular, but he will be fast when he's there. Hard chargers like Randy Brown and brother Kevin Brown, Chuck Golden and Doff Cooksey will make this an exciting show for the B Modifieds this week.

Michael Cooper has the experience and the capability to be the Hobby Stock champion. Last week, Cooper held off 2010 champion Chris Sorensen and Chris Long to win his second career Main Event. Sorensen has a B Modified that isn't ready, and he enjoys racing his Hobby Stock. Long has been racing Hobby Stocks for years in a black #99 car that pays tribute to his Figure 8 hero, Brian Holden. Long won the New Years Bash on January 1st, and all three of these drivers have what it takes to be champion at Antioch Speedway.

The Hobby Stocks are blessed with a nice group of rookies, and that helped make a 17 car field last week. Brent Curran showed that he can wheel his Hobby Stock just as well as he could his Mini Stock. The 2014 Four Banger champion finished fourth last week, while Chris Bennett piloted his Bob Hansen Tribute Hobby Stock from the back to a fifth place finish. Frank Furtado retired his old #81 car, but he had the former Mitchell Locicero car last week with a new number and paint job. He should be back this week along with Cameron Swank, Anthony Vigna, Joey Ridgeway, two time Top 3 racer Jordan Swank and Lori Brown in her Kimberly Myers Tribute Car.

The All Star Series lineup this week is stacked from top to bottom. DIRTcar Late Models, Wingless Spec Sprints, A Modifieds, B Modifieds and Hobby Stocks make this a show you won't want to miss. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.