Chadwick, Papenhausen, Cooper Win At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...July 21...Kellen Chadwick won the 20 lap All Star Series A Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. He started back in the fifth row and had a little bit of luck on his side. Dwarf Car star Danny Wagner grabbed the lead on the second lap and proceeded to pull away while Trevor Clymens and Nick DeCarlo had a good battle going for second. Chadwick caught that battle by lap 11 and raced underneath both drivers to gain second on lap 13. A yellow flag slowed the pace moments later, but Wagner pulled ahead on the restart. It seemed to be smooth sailing for Wagner until mechanical issues arose as he stalled in Turn 4 on lap 17. Chadwick had the lead on the restart and led the rest of the way for the win. DeCarlo finished second ahead of Trent Wentworth, Chris Sieweke and Bobby Motts Jr.

Two-time champion Richard Papenhausen scored his second 20 lap DIRTcar Late Model Main Event win of the season. Papenhausen led from the outset, and point leader Jeff Decker moved into second on lap two. However, Papenhausen set a good pace and won comfortably ahead of Decker, Dennis Sousa, Rod Oliver and Kimo Oreta.

Mike Walko had some luck on his side in scoring his third 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event win. After winning his heat race, championship contender Mark Garner bolted out ahead at the start and set a blistering pace. By lap seven, Garner could see the battle for second ahead of him, but a broken rear axle would slow his pace on lap nine. Remarkably, Garner continued to lead the way as Walko led the rest of the pack behind him. Walko caught Garner by lap 13, but it wasn't until lap 17 when he made the pass on the inside down the front straightaway. The yellow flag flew for Garner in Turn 1. Walko led the rest of the way, and Mike Gustafson was a close second, followed by Kimo Oreta and Ryan Cherezian.

Michael Cooper posted his fourth Hobby Stock feature win of the season. Bob Brown made a surprise appearance and raced into the early lead ahead of Cooper. Cooper made an inside pass on the front stretch on lap nine to take the lead, and point leader Chris Sorensen moved past Brown for second on lap 12. A yellow flag flew moments later, but Cooper bolted ahead on the restart. Cooper pulled away just a little bit for the win, and Sorensen out-dueled Cameron Swank for second. Brown and Jimmy Robbins rounded out the Top 5.

Terry DeCarlo picked up the victory in the 15 lap Bay Area Hardtop Main Event. Jason Armstrong jumped into the early lead, and DeCarlo followed him in second as the lead two cars pulled away from third place Ron Ruiz. As they caught a slower car on lap 11, DeCarlo made his move around Armstrong for the lead in Turn 3. DeCarlo led the remaining four laps and Armstrong settled for second, followed by Ruiz, John Soares and Joe Shenefield.

Racing continues next Saturday night with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Wingless Spec Sprints headlining the show along with A Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Antioch Speedway All Star Series
Unofficial Race Results
A Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Chris Sieweke, Bobby Motts Jr. Main Event (20 laps)-Kellen Chadwick, Nick DeCarlo, Trent Wentworth, Chris Sieweke, Bobby Motts Jr, Trevor Clymens, Danny Wagner, Sean Wilson, Sean O'Gara, Danny Dozier, Anthony Slaney, Mikey Slaney NS.

DIRTcar Late Models
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Rod Oliver, Jeff Decker. Main Event (20 Laps)-Richard Papenhausen, Jeff Decker, Dennis Souza, Rod Oliver, Kimo Oreta, Mike Hynes, Rob Norris.

Limited Late Models
Heat Winner (8 laps)-Mark Garner. Main Event (20 laps)-Mike Walko, Mike Gustafson, Kimo Oreta, Ryan Cherezian, Mark Garner, John Evans NS, Terry DeCarlo NS.

Hobby Stocks
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Chris Sorensen, Bob Brown. Main Event (20 laps)-Michael Cooper, Chris Sorensen, Cameron Swank, Bob Brown, Jimmy Robbins, Anthony Wellborn, Breanna Troen, Ed Letterman, Mike Matheson, Chris Brown, Brad Myers.

Bay Area Hardtops
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Dave Mackey, Terry DeCarlo. Main Event (15 laps)-Terry DeCarlo, Jason Armstrong, Ron Ruiz, John Soares, Joe Shenfield, Steve Cloyes, Gene Haney, Dave Mackey NS, Dave Reed NS.


Sprint Cars Back At Antioch Speedway Saturday Night

Antioch, CA...The Sprint Cars are coming back to Antioch Speedway this Saturday night. The All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Cars and Wingless Spec Sprints will be racing along with the A Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. It's a program that is sure to offer lots of excitement for the fans.

We are five races into the All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Car season, but a familiar name sits atop the point ladder. It's two-time reigning champion Art McCarthy. McCarthy was struggling after a rough start last season, but he rallied late to get that championship. This year, he is still without a feature win, but he leads Matt DeMartini by 26 points and Tim Butcher by 30 points. While McCarthy has two third place finishes as his season best efforts, DeMartini has won twice.

Burcher has been making all the races this year, but he's still struggling to get things dialed in. Though he raced a bit last year, this is essentially still his rookie season. He has a 40 point advantage over David Dias in the race for third, while 2016 champion Billy Aton is 44 points behind him. Aton is a feature winter this year, and the two other Main Events have been won by past Watsonville champion Brad Furr and multi time Marysville champion Colby Wiesz. With the money on the line, you never know who will show up at Antioch from week to week in this class to go for the win.

One of the drivers going for the win in the Wingless Spec Sprint division is point leader and 2004 champion Bob Newberry. They call him "Racin" Bob Newberry, and he's driven just about everything through the years. He's a past Top 5 driver in both Street Stocks and A Modifieds at Antioch, and he also has a Spec Sprint championship at Silver Dollar Speedway. Newberry has set his sights on the Antioch Speedway championship. With four wins to his credit so far along with two seconds, Newberry leads Shannon Newton by 51 points.

Newton has been around for a few seasons, but this has been a breakthrough year for him. He has scored one feature win and three second place finishes, giving him a 15 point lead over long time division supporter Roy Fisher. Fisher usually gets a win just about every season, but his highest finish so far this year is a pair of thirds. Roy has been through some tough moments at the speedway through the years, but he always comes back and has the respect of his fellow competitors. He only leads Brandon Burd by eight points in a close battle for third.

Scott Martin has quietly moved into fifth in the standings, eight points ahead of James East. Martin has a pair of Top 5 finishes and seems to be on the verge of his first win. Other drivers to watch for in this the 20th season for this division at Antioch Speedway include two-time winner Alan Miranda, McKenzie Newton and Kevin Box.

The battle for the A Modified championship is heating up with the weather. When he opened up the point season with a pair of victories and added two more later on, Two-time Petaluma and one-time Watsonville champion Nick DeCarlo issued notice to the competition that he came to win that elusive Antioch Speedway championship. However, there's one driver standing in his way, and people tend to forget that he's racked up some impressive credentials through the years as well.

Just two points behind DeCarlo is reigning champion Bobby Motts Jr. Motts is also a past Street Stock champion at the speedway, and even if he hasn't won a Main Event yet this year, he has three seconds, two thirds and another three Top 5 finishes to his credit. Motts finished fifth last week, while DeCarlo was second. Factoring in his heat race win, Motts was able to keep the distance between he and DeCarlo to just two points. Though he hasn't won yet this year, Bobby is capable of striking at anytime.

Both drivers might be breathing a sigh of relief that Kellen Chadwick isn't chasing his second Antioch Speedway championship. Kellen won his third Main Event of the season last week and also has three runner-up finishes. Despite missing some races, he still only trails Sean O'Gara in the race for third by just 38 points. If Kellen is there this week, he will be tough to beat. Depending on baseball scheduling, top rookie Buddy Kniss could be back to try to keep his Top 5 point position. Kniss is only 14 points ahead of Trent Wentworth, who is coming off of a strong third place finish last week. Other drivers to watch for include David Zeiter, Raymond Lindeman and Sean Wilson.

Chris Sorensen continues his march towards his second Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock championship. With five wins his credit, Sorensen now holds a commanding 98 point lead over Michael Cooper in the championship battle. The problem with trying to catch Sorensen is that even when he's not winning, he is still in contention with five seconds and three thirds. Case in point, Cooper has gone nine races without a feature win, but he finally grabbed his fourth victory of the season last week. Finishing second to him was Sorensen. Without any bad luck happening to the #00 of Sorensen, he will be tough to beat as he is as fast as anybody on the track.

Speaking of fast, Cameron Swank was grabbing yet another podium finish last week in third. Swank now has four wins and four second place finishes to his credit. With these three drivers in the lineup, a Top 3 finish for anybody else in the field can almost be considered a victory. Swank is within 41 points of Cooper for second. Billy Garner is holding down fourth, but fellow one-time feature winner John Wacht is closing in fast, 28 points behind him. Garner has been dealing with motor issues in recent weeks. Wacht holds a commanding lead of nearly 100 points over Breanna Troen in the rookie battle.

What's nice about the Hobby Stock division is there are still some really good drivers lurking out there who show up from time to time. Case in point, past Hobby Stock champion Brad Myers and longtime Antioch Speedway competitors Bob Brown and Jim Robbins were all racing last week. Brown and Robbins we're renewing their old Figure 8 rivalry, and Brown held off Robbins for the fourth place finish. Robbins was wheeling the Anthony Vigna car. Other racers to watch for this week include Haley Gomez, Anthony Wellborn, Josh Leach and Joe Ridgeway.

The Dwarf Car division gets ready for their 10th point event of the season. Counting the non-point race in January, reigning champion Mike Corsaro leads the drivers with four feature wins along with three seconds. Cosaro's lead over David Michael Rosa is now 74 points. Rosa finally added his name to the Winner's List with a pair of victories, which has helped put him 20 points ahead of Mario Marquez in the race for second in the standings.

Like Rosa, Marquez was another one of those drivers knocking on the door to victory. He had a second at the fourth race this year, but he picked up the win in the most recent race and held off Corsaro to do it. The next close battle on the point list is for fourth, which is currently occupied by Street Stock legend David Rosa by 23 points ahead of Chris Becker and 26 points ahead of Troy Stevenson. Other drivers to watch for this week include 2010 champion Jerry Doty, ageless veteran Charlie Correia, Lonnie Tekaat and Tony Carmignani.

Racing this Saturday night Antioch Speedway should be good with this five division line up on the card to entertain the fans. Taking the cue from the Sharpshooter Series that was put out there for the B Modified division, the Lone Wolf Tournament has been added for the A Modifieds. The first event will happen Saturday night.  For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.