Modified Classes Highlight All Star Series Lineup Saturday At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...The All Star Series championship battles are in high gear as Antioch Speedway is in the month of May. The A Modified and B Modified divisions will be headlining the show this weekend along with Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.

Don't look now, but reigning A Modified champion Bobby Motts Jr is currently sitting atop the point ladder by 16 points ahead of Nick DeCarlo. Despite the fact that DeCarlo opened the point season with back to back victories, Motts has been more consistent in his finishes. Last weekend, Motts won his heat race and rolled to his third Top 3 finish in four point events. DeCarlo didn't fare too well as he was out of the race early.

2017 runner up Sean O'Gara is holding down third in the standings by 18 ahead of five time division champion Scott Busby. Busby found himself in a battle with rookie Buddy Kniss last week, but Busby prevailed to finish second behind the flying Kellen Chadwick. Busby still remains tied with JD Willis atop the all time winners list with 72 career Antioch wins. Kniss, meanwhile, finished further back in the Top 10 as he maintains sixth in the standings in his bid for top rookie honors. Other drivers to watch for this week include Raymond Lindeman, David Zeiter, Bobby Montalvo and Shawn DeForest.

A talent heavy B Modified division has a familiar name at the top of the point list. It's 2016 champion Trevor Clymens. Clymens has a win and a second so far this year and leads 2016 Hobby Stock champion Guy Ahlwardt by 12 tallies. Ahlwardt is still searching for his first win in this division, but he already has a second and a third in point competition. Another driver who has run really well this year is Tommy Fraser. Tommy has two Top 5 finishes to hold third in the standings, 20 behind Ahlwardt and 16 ahead of rookie Ryan DeForest.

Last time out, it was a crowd pleasing battle at the front of the pack that saw Nick Spainhoward make a last turn pass on reigning champion KC Keller for the victory. Keller has missed races and sits further back in the standings. Rookie Brent Curran is sixth in the standings and has already won a Main Event this season. Other drivers to watch for this week include past Modified champion Aaron Crowell, past Street Stock titlist Todd Gomez, Kevin Brown and Chuck Golden. We have also received word that Australian Mini Stock champion Randall Fuel is taking the wheel of the Kenny Neu #99 car to compete against the locals this week.

Despite not finishing the most recent Limited Late Model Main Event, Mark Garner finds himself leading the standings after three events. However, it's too close for comfort. Reigning champion Kimo Oreta picked up the win in the Sundrop Racing #15 car last week to move to within two points of Garner. Garner won the prestigious Larry Damitz Memorial Race earlier this season and finished second a week later to Mike Walko. Walko is making this a good battle up front as he is only six points out of the lead in third. Other drivers to watch this week are Ryan Cherezian, who is only 16 points out of the lead, John Evans, Chad Hammer and two time division champion Mike Gustafson.

Thus far in the season, it appears to be a two-car battle for the lead in the Hobby Stock division. Michael Cooper claimed the victory last week, making him the first three-time winner of the season. However, two-time winner and 2010 champion Chris Sorensen is only four points behind. Running strong so far in his rookie season is John Wacht. Wacht earned his second third place finish last time out to hold third in the standings by 30 points ahead of reigning champion Cameron Swank. Swank has missed a race, but he enjoyed his second runner-up finish of the season last week.

It's been an eventful season already for fourth generation racer Billy Garner. Despite some of the bad like he's encountered, Garner still holds fifth in the standings, two points behind Swank. Billy is one of a pack of hungry newer competitors looking to get his first feature win. Other drivers to watch for this week include Erik Pitschner, Joey Ridgeway, Brianna Troen, Haley Gomez, Luke Brignoli and Chris Bennett. Sid Smith Jr enjoyed his second Top 5 finish of the season last time as well as a heat race win.

Mike Corsaro is off to a flying start in his bid to repeat as Dwarf Car champion. Corsaro came from deep in the pack once again to win an eventful Main Event last time out. It was his second point season victory and third of the year at Antioch Speedway, giving him a 34 point lead over David Michael Rosa. Rosa has finished as high as third, but he is still looking for his first career feature win. At the moment, he is tied with ageless veteran Charlie Correia for second in the standings, six points ahead of his father, David Rosa.

Miranda Chappa and Josh Miller have both been fast and appear to be on the verge of victory. Other drivers to watch for include Mario Marques, Chris Becker, Roberto Monroy, Troy Stevenson and 2010 champion Jerry Doty.

Saturday night will be another great lineup of All Star Series divisions from start to finish. The Modified classes have been putting on great shows, and the Cooper-Sorensen battle in Hobby Stocks has been very entertaining. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

BCRA Midget Lites Join Hobby Stocks To Headline Merced Speedway Show Saturday Night

Merced, CA...After an exciting Ted Stofle Classic, Merced Speedway has another great lineup of racing for the fans this Saturday night. The Bay Cities Racing Association Midget Lites will be competing along with the track's regular Hobby Stock, Mini Stock and California Sharp Mini Late Model divisions.

Fans who have seen the BCRA Midget Lites know that they bring the speed every time they come to town. This show should be no different. The group is coming off of their third event of the season at Placerville Speedway last week, which was won by young Bradley Dillard ahead of Scott Kinney and Steve Brown. Dillard is part of a close championship battle with Dakota Albright and Hunter Kinney, and there were just six points separating the three heading into last weekend.

The Midget Lites run a 1200cc engine. Much like the popular Dwarf Car division, these competitors were first seen racing in Northern California on the smaller one-eighth mile ovals, such as Delta Speedway in Stockton. Once they got a taste of bigger tracks, the drivers organized and began running a circuit. Eventually, BCRA, which is the oldest California based sanctioning body, took over sanctioning of the Midget Lites.

Albright and Aidan Lange are the other feature winners so far this season. Other competitors to watch for this week include Hunter Kinney, Terry Bergstrom, Gus Carcione, Brandon Leedy, Danika Jo Parker and Dan Foster.

Reigning Hobby Stock champion Kodie Dean may be hitting his stride, which would be bad news for the rest of the competition. Last week, Dean picked up a win ahead of Ocean Speedway champion Rob Gallaher. However, the consistent Shannon Nelsen has all Top 3 finishes in her four starts to maintain an eight point advantage over Dean going into this race. Nelson picked up another third place finish last week as she is in search of her first Main Event win since 2015.

Robbie Loquaci set the early pace in the most recent race before settling for a fourth place finish. Robbie won the previous race, but some bad luck already this year has him 41 tallies out of the lead. However, it's still early enough in the season that anything can happen. Mike Germait is having a good year so far in fourth, eight points behind Khristie Shearer for third. Other drivers to watch for this week include James Stockton, Austin Van Hoff, John Hensley and 2016 champion Michael Shearer.

The Corder name still sits on top of the Mini Stock point list after three events, but it's Jennifer Corder in the lead. This is because three-time reigning champion Chris Corder had mechanical issues in is heat race and didn't start the most recent Main Event. It was Robert Jackson giving the division a new winner in that race. The point list finds 26 points separating the Top 10 drivers, and anybody has a chance to get a win.

The remarkable news is that the Mini Stock division has seen multiple car counts of over 20 so far as several new drivers have joined the excitement this season. Jennifer Corder only has a one point advantage over Allen Neal and a two point lead over the tied Lee Ragsdale and Bryant Desaire. Tyler Jackson and Jennifer Rogers round out the Top 6, all within eight points of the lead. Only Jennifer Corder is a feature winner among those drivers. It appears that there is change in the air in the Mini Stocks, and it's very likely that we will see some first time winners in the weeks ahead.

As promised at the end of last season, promoter Ed Parker has added a point list for the California Sharp Mini Late Model division. This class is offering a gateway for the Outlaw Kart racers into racing on the bigger track. These Mini Late Models are a smaller-scale version of Late Models with a 600cc engine, and Michael Shearer and FND Motorsports is the official car dealer in California, helping to establish this class.

Tim Crews picked up the season opening victory and followed that up with a second place finish in the most recent event to maintain a four point advantage over Riley Jeppeson and Carson Guthrie. Jepprson was a feature winner last season and is very much in contention to win again this year. The most recent winner was Jesse Burks, but a bad night at the opener has him 39 points out of the lead. Second generation competitor Ian Shearer is only six points out of the lead and another driver hungry for victory.

Merced Speedway is offering a variety of different classes in this weekend's event. We're also about a month away from the big WSDCA Dwarf Car Nationals event, which is scheduled for June 15th and 16th. For further information, go to www.racemerced.com.


Chadwick, Newton, Oreta Win Antioch Speedway Main Events

Antioch, CA...May 5...Kellen Chadwick scored the victory in the 20 lap All Star series A Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Chadwick was fast all night and also won his 8 lap heat race. After starting third in the feature, Chadwick managed to move into the lead early on. Once he got in front, there was no stopping him in posting the impressive victory. Scott Busby and rookie Buddy Kniss had a spirited dual for second late in the race, but Kniss spun and fell back as Busby finished second ahead of reigning champion Bobby Motts Jr, Jeffrey Faulkner and Sean O'Gara.

Shannon Newton won his first 20 lap Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event. Rick Panfili continued his hard-luck season as he spun in Turn 4 and collected previous winner Alan Miranda for a complete restart. With both drivers out of the event, Newton bolted past Roy Fisher for the lead at the green flag. Newton was fast and pulled away after two yellow flags during the first half of the race. On a lap 10 restart, Bob Newberry took second from Fisher. However, Newberry was no match for the flying Newton, who took the checkered flag in first. Fisher won a good battle with Brandon Burd to finish third as Kevin Box rounded out the Top 5.

Kimo Oreta scored his first win of the season in the 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event. The reigning champion drove the Sundrop Racing #15 car into the lead early on and set a blistering pace. Mark Garner spun early but managed to get up to second. Unfortunately, he stalled in Turn 4 with five laps to go, and Ryan Cherezian took up pursuit of Oreta. There was no stopping Oreta as he won ahead of Cherezian, Mike Walko, Chad Hammer and John Evans.

Michael Cooper won his third 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event of the season. Travis Rangel paced the first five laps before spinning in Turn 4, putting Cooper into the lead over Cameron Swank. Cooper and Swank had a good battle for most of the race, but Cooper began to pull away. Even a lap 18 caution flag couldn't stop Cooper from winning ahead of Swank, John Wacht, Chris Sorensen and Sid Smith Jr.

Mike Corsaro won an eventful 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event. This was his third win of the year. The race had difficulty getting started as heat race winner Miranda Chappa and Charlie Correia each spun after leading a lap. Corsaro started back in 10th, but he took the lead on the lap three restart. David Rosa quickly moved up to second, but he was no match for Corsaro, who led the rest of the way in victory. Correia came back to finish third ahead of Mario Marquez and 2010 champion Jerry Doty.

All Star Series racing continues next Saturday night with A Modifieds, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars all scheduled. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Unofficial Antioch Speedway Race Results
All Star Series
A Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Bobby Motts Jr, Shawn DeForest, Kellen Chadwick. Main Event (20 laps)-Chadwick, Scott Busby, Motts, Jeffrey Faulkner, Sean O'Gara, Raymond Lindeman, DeForest, Chris Sewieke, Buddy Kniss, Bobby Montalvo.

Wingless Spec Sprints
Heat winners (8 Laps)-Bob Newberry, Shannon Newton. Main Event (20 laps)-Newton, Newberry, Roy Fisher, Brandon Burd, Kevin Box, McKenzie Newton, Rick Panfili, Alan Miranda.

Limited Late Models
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Mark Garner. Main Event (20 laps)-Kimo Oreta, Ryan Chrezian, Mike Walko, Chad Hammer, John Evans, Mark Garner, Mike Gustafson.

Hobby Stocks
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Sid Smith Jr, Joe Ridgeway Sr, Anthony Vigna. Main Event (20 Laps)-Michael Cooper, Cameron Swank, John Wacht, Chris Sorensen, Smith, Vigna, Billy Garner, Don Phillips, Russell Shearer, Breanna Troen.

Dwarf Cars
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Miranda Chappa, Josh Miller. Main Event (20 Laps)-Mike Corsaro, David Rosa, Charlie Correia, Mario Marquez, Jerry Doty, Chappa, Chris Becker, Troy Stevenson, Roberto Monroy, Mike Silva.