Two Nights Of Antioch Speedway Racing During Contra Costa County Fair

Antioch, CA...Racing will continue during the Contra Costa County Fair at Antioch Speedway.  Oval Motorsports has decided to have two All Star Series events, starting with Friday night's show of Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  On Saturday night, Wingless Spec Sprints and B Modifieds will be racing.  This will give racing fans an opportunity for a taste of auto racing and county fair activity prior to the Memorial Day Weekend break.

Perhaps the strongest division at Antioch Speedway so far this year has been the Hobby Stocks.  Over 20 different drivers have competed in the first three point races, including several new competitors.  Counting the non point New Year's Bash, we now have three different winners in four races, and rookie Brent Curran is the only two time winner in the group.  Curran was unstoppable in charging from 14th starting to victory last time out.  That was his second straight win.  Despite that, the 2014 Mini Stock champion trails Chris Long by two points in a close battle.  Long won the New Year's race and has been very consistent so far.

Consistency has also kept Cameron Swank in the battle.  The son of past Street Stock racer Glenn Swank, Cameron nearly won the second race of the season before getting sideways on the last lap and falling back a few positions.  Swank is in his third season at the speedway and still in search of his first win.  He's been fast since he started, and it's only a matter of time before that win will come.  At 16 points out, Swank is very much in title contention.  Sometimes you have to pay your dues before you finally get a victory.  Michael Cooper went four seasons before winning his first feature.  He also won the season opener this year to stay within 16 points of the lead.

Chris Sorensen is lurking, and that's bad news for the competition.  The 2010 champion is holding fifth in the standings, just 36 points out and six ahead of 2016 point runnerup Lindsey Buirch.  It's not a matter of if, but when Sorensen gets another feature win.  Chris is also preparing a B Modified, and we're looking forward to seeing him drive it when it's ready.  Don't count Buirch out.  This talented young lady has improved since her first few starts in 2015, and she's going to have a big moment out there soon.

Chris Bennett had a few people cracking jokes because this determined rookie is racing hard to finish further up in the pack and has spun a few times.  He probably would have had a Top 5 finish last time if not for a spin late in his battle with Sorensen.  Just as Bob Hansen won in that familiar #6 car that Chris pays tribute to, don't be surprised when he gets a win.  The field is filled with talented competitors like Joey Ridgeway, Jordan Swank, Billy Garner, Anthony Vigna, Ricky Foster, Frank Furtado and Lori Brown, and it should be a good race this Friday night.

Last Saturday night, young Adam Teves had the Dwarf Car competitors breathing a sigh of relief.  They don't have to contend with him or his two time championship winning father David Teves on a regular basis.  Adam jumped behind the wheel of the blue #08 car, nicknamed The Unicorn, and raced past reigning champion Kevin Miraglio for the victory.  It was Adam's first Antioch Dwarf Car start since 2015.  Miraglio lost second when he suffered a mechanical failure late and fell out.  Chuck Connover scored his second straight runnerup finish and has emerged as a championship contender.

Mike Corsaro and teammate Charlie Correia had a nice battle going at the front of the pack early on before Corsaro nudged ahead.  Unfortunately, Mike's motor gave up on him and earned him a disappointing DNF for the night.  Rookie Devan Kammermann, Brian Gray and Toby Brown were all making good laps last week, and they should be there to compete with other hard chargers such as David Rosa, Chris Becker, Roberto Monroy and Robert Coe this Friday night.

The Wingless Spec Sprints have an interesting battle in the works.  It looks like no past Antioch champions are in contention this season, and only two past Spec Sprint champions are making a run for it.  Not surprisingly, one of those drivers is Bryan Grier.  Grier is the 2014 Watsonville champion and leads the point race on the strength of his season opening victory.  There are five drivers within 16 points of Grier, led by NFL Pro Bowl Lineman Jeremy Newberry, past Chowchilla champion Brandon Burd, Rick Panfili, Alan Miranda and Roy Fisher.  Any of these drivers could write their name into the books as the 19th Spec Sprint champion of Antioch Speedway.  Only one of them, Panfili, has been a part of this division since it started.

Last time out, 2004 chanpion Bob Newberry made a surprise appearance and won both his heat race and the Main Event.  With Bob's impressive credentials going back to his days in a Street Stock, he's a threat to win any time he decides to come race.  Shannon Newton, Tyler Henriques and James East are others to watch.  The division also has a pair or rookies who haven't looked too bad in their first starts, Robert Floyd and Abigail Gonderman.  The Saturday Spec Sprint show should be another good one.

Trevor Clymens didn't have much luck in his West Coast Sport Mod Tour weekend effort, but the reigning Antioch B Mod champion alreday has a pair of victories.  This gives Trevor a slim two point lead over the consistent K.C. Keller going into Saturday.  Keller won twice last year, but he's looking to write his name onto the winner's list this season.  Randy Brown has a heat win this year, but he wants to put the Brown family name in the books as a B Mod feature winner.  Randy seems a bit faster this year, and the past Street Stock and Late Model racer could get a win at any time.  As it is, he's just 16 points out of the lead.

Only 18 points back are the tied Chuck Golden and Mark Garner.  Both of these drivers are more than capable of winning a Main Event.  Garner just grabbed a big victory in the Limited Late Model Larry Damitz Memorial last week.  His luck hasn't been so good in this class so far, but this is a new week.  Anything can happen.  Joining these Top 5 competitors this week should be hard chargers like Doff Cooksey, Kevin Brown and Mike Mates.    It's possible that we could see 2016 Hobby Stock champion Guy Ahlwardt and past Street Stock champion Todd Gomez as well.  Gomez won a Main Event earlier this season.

Fans have two opportunities to see some racing at Antioch Speedway during the Contra Costa County Fair.  Friday will be Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  Saturday night will be Wingless Spec Sprints and B Modifieds.  For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.