Antioch, CA...On the heels of an emotional and exciting Hall of Fame weekend, racing continues at Antioch Speedway this Saturday night. More championships are yet to be decided. The occasion will also include some top-notch open wheel racing.
It's the third and final round of the BCRA Midgets Triple Crown Series, and the occasion also salutes living legend Floyd Alvis of San Carlos. This race will pay $6,018 to win. The BCRA Lightning Sprints will add more to the open wheel theme, and Wingless Spec Sprint championship night will punctuate things as the driver's compete for a cup trophy in memory of Rick Panfili.
Not to be forgotten in the mix are the Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stocks, who have been an MVP player on the schedule all season long. The Print Club Mini Stocks have proven to be entertaining to the crowd all season, and the night will end with the first visit in two months for the exciting and crowd-pleasing Figure 8.
The Bay Cities Racing Association is the oldest California-based sanctioning body in motorsports. They started back in the 1930s with Roadsters and quickly evolved to Midgets. In the late 1940s, they even added a Hardtop division. Simultaneously, that meant that there were top-notch Midget and Hardtop circuits running at tracks everywhere in California throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.
The Midgets have endured through all that time, and this year the Triple Crown Series was introduced to breathe some life back into the division. Last time out, it was Caden Sarale of Stockton picking up the Doug Bock Memorial victory, and Jake Andreotti of Grass Valley picked up the win at the first Antioch visit.
Sarale has a 23 point lead over the tied Blake Bower of Brentwood and Bryant Bell of Oakley coming into the night. 33 points out of the lead is Michael Snider of Kelseyville, while Oakdale's Danika Jo Parker trails by just 34 tallies in a close Top 5 battle.
This is the 25th championship season for the Wingless Spec Sprints at Antioch Speedway. This is where the division got it's start in California, and last week saw division founder Don O'Keefe Jr, formerly of Union City, get inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Whoever wins the championship this year will be a first time champion. With two wins to his credit, Jarrett Soares of Gilroy holds a 54 point lead over James East of Oakley. Soares is one of the favorites in contention for the Panfili Cup.
Last time out, two-time champion Bob Newberry of Brentwood collected his 22nd career win and first of the season. He could make a play at East for second in the standings. However, he may not be there for this race. That would open the door for Jacob Tuttle of Oakley. The three-time winner is just 14 points behind Newberry in fourth. Jeff Scotto of Brentwood is battling Sonora's Steve Maionchi for fifth and leads by just 18 points.
The Spec Sprints have been putting on some good races all season long, and last week's battle between Newberry and second place finisher Ethon Lanfri of Milpitas was no exception.
If Ken Johns of Antioch falls short in his quest to win the Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock championship, it won't be through lack of effort. Ken won his third Main Event last week, keeping him 54 points behind Grayson Baca of Brentwood in the title chase. Baca has four wins to his credit and looked for a time like he might win last week.
Kevin Brown of Oakley had motor issues end his race early last week, and now he finds himself only two points ahead of fellow Oakley resident Aidan Ponciano in the quest for third. Ponciano had a fifth place finish last time out. He put 22 points between himself and Colten Haney of Brentwood, who also had mechanical issues last week.
These five are all anticipated along with such hard chargers as Jared Baugh of Pittsburgh, Jess Paladino of Brentwood, James Graessle of Antioch, the resurgent Maddie Motts of San Pablo and Jewell Crandall of Antioch.
The BCRA Lightning Sprints have had race dates at Antioch Speedway throughout most of their existence. 12 races into the season, Dakota Albright of Waterford maintains a 79 point advantage over Livermore's Greg Dennett. Albright has five wins, while Dennett has picked up three this year. Unfortunately, Dennett scratched from the previous Antioch race, helping Albright increase his advantage.
Albright was going for it last time and seemed headed for a win until a late yellow flag opened the door for Matt Land of Elk Grove to steal the glory. Drivers like Cody Meyer of Placerville, Hunter Kinney and Scott Kinney, both of Citrus Heights, and rookie Jason Schostag of Diamond Springs will make this an interesting show for sure.
The Print Club Mini Stock championship will be heading to Los Molinos. Four-time Orland Raceway champion Tom Davis didn't hesitate to make Antioch his home track in the Delbert Rios owned entry when his home track shut down for the season. He's picked up an impressive eight victories this year.
Tom holds a 126 point advantage over teammate Tony Quinonez of Corning. Tony's car is under the care of Rios, but Mamie Burrows is listed as the car owner. Tony holds a 30 point advantage over two-time champion Tom Brown of Santa Rosa in the race for second.
Others to watch for this week include top rookie David Carson of Antioch, Patrick Kelley of Clovis and Laina Bales of Antioch.
A Figure 8 point list hasn't been released, but DJ Keldsen of Newman is the obvious leader. The third-generation racer is continuing a lineage of family excellence in this form of racing that goes back to his grandfather, Lloyd Keldsen Sr. He has won all three races.
The runner up finishes have gone to three different people so far, most recently Terry DeCarlo Jr of Martinez. Chester Kniss of Antioch and Jimmy Robbins of Concord also have runner-up efforts this year.
Other drivers who have been supportive of the show include Mike Conley Jr, Angela Brown and Steve Perry, all of Antioch.
Add in some beautifully restored Vintage Midgets that will put on an exhibition, and Saturday night promises to be a show that you won't want to miss.
The gates will open at 4:00 with the first race starting at 6:00.
Adult tickets are $20, Senior/Military $15, Kids (5-12) $15 and kids four and under free.
For further information, go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page
- Wylie Wade on Sep 22, 2023
- Article Date: 9/22/2023 by Candice Martin