Antioch, CA...The action at Antioch Speedway has been as hot as the weather this month. The July action comes to a close this Saturday night with the second and final appearance of the season for the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series. This is billed as backpack night as the Hunt Series will be giving away some backpacks with school supplies for the kids.
The speedway has some close championship battles, and that continues to be the case for the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks. Both divisions are in action along with the Mini Stocks and the lone appearance of the WMR Midgets.
The 15th season for the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series continues as the tour makes its second and final appearance at Antioch Speedway. Last time out, past series champion Shawn Jones of San Jose collected the victory.
The night started off well for championship hopeful Shawn Arriaga of Antioch. Faced with having to qualify on the clock first, he set the fast time of the evening,. However, all was not well with the Dave Johnson owned entry as Arriaga retired early in the Main Event. After winning at Placerville recently, Oakley's Jacob Tuttle holds a nine point advantage over Arriaga in the title chase.
The series has four different winners so far, but third ranked Josh Young of Roseville isn't among them. He sits 16 points out of the lead and eight ahead of Merced winner and reigning champion DJ Johnson of Stockton.
Back in fifth, Ethon Lanfri of Milpitas leads Petaluma's Nick Larson by just three tallies. Seven points behind Lanfri is Roseville's Brent Steck, while Brentwood's Bob Newberry is 12 points back in the eighth position.
There's always plenty of excitement to be had at the IMCA Sport Modified division. After finishing second in the Wild West Speedweek Tour in Oregon, Oakley's Buddy Kniss returned and won the Main Event last week. Kniss had a spirited duel with early leader Joseph Pato of Antioch, who ended up third. Kniss became the sixth different winner in seven races.
Kenny Shrader of Pacheco managed to make a late charge into second, and that enabled the reigning champion to take a two point advantage over Oakley's Jason Ryan Jr in the hotly contested championship chase. Both drivers have picked up feature wins this year, which is something Brentwood's Tommy Clymens would love to do. The third ranked competitor is 15 points ahead of Kelly Campanile of Oakley, while rookie James Graessle of Antioch is fifth.
After the Dean Cline Classic didn't go so well for Clarence Holbrook III of Galt, Ryan Hart of Dos Palos moved to within four points of him in the Hobby Stock standings. Both drivers have picked up a pair of wins this season. Hart has already won two titles at Merced Speedway and is marking the commitment to try to bring home the glory at Antioch.
Petaluma point leadeer James Thomson of Pittsburg, who is the 2020 Antioch title winner, is third in the standings by a wide margin over Rick Rogers of San Pablo. 16 points behind Rogers in fifth is rookie Brandon Carpenter of Galt. Carpenter is still looking for his first oval win, but he picked up the Figure 8 victory two weeks ago. The Hobby Stock field could exceed 20 cars this weekend.
The Mini Stock division has been hit hard with mechanical issues for several of the drivers, but the battle of the Tom's continues at the front of the pack. Following his fourth victory last time out, reigning champion Tom Davis of Los Molinos gained a four point advantage over Petaluma point leader Tom Brown of Santa Rosa. Brown has one win at Antioch and several at Petaluma this year. Third belongs to Corning's Tony Quinonez, who trails Brown by 26 points.
David Dupuis of Danville has quietly worked his way into fourth in the standings as the top rookie in the group. He leads a trio of rookies in the standings with Tom Carse of Novato four points back and Antioch's Jackie Price 16 points out of fourth. Price is still repairing damages from her backstretch crash earlier this year.
The WMR Midgets have been doing their part to inject new life into the Midget racing effort in California for six years, This group has been showing what the Ecotec engines can do at tracks such as Watsonville, Ventura and Petaluma. Antioch has been a part of their schedule for the past few seasons, and they get an opportunity to host an event on Saturday night.
Following his $1200 win in the Howard Kaeding Classic at Watsonville, his fifth of the season, Bryant Bell of Oakley took a 40 point lead over Santa Cruz's Logan Mitchell. Mitchell has reached the winner's circle four times this season, including the Tom Manning Memorial. 30 points behind Mitchell in third is Ventura season opener winner Anthony Bruno of San Jose. Bruno leavds Adam Weisenberg of Santa Clarita by two points and Las Vegas, Nevada's Kyle Hawse by four in a close race for third.
Saturday night offers a wide variety of great racing action. Open wheel enthusiasts will appreciate the speed of the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprints and WMR Midgets. Fans of the local fare will enjoy what the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks have to offer. It's the perfect way to wrap up a great month of racing in July.
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 Jul 25, 2024
- Article Date: 7/24/2024 by Candice Martin, Photos by Katrina Kniss