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Open Wheel And Stock Car Excitement On Tap This Saturday At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...Antioch Speedway wraps up the summer portion of the racing season with an exciting lineup of six divisions this Saturday night. It will be a nice combination of open wheel and fendered Stock Car racing that is sure to bring the excitement.

On the heels of an exciting night at Merced Speedway in memory of Wayne Albright, the BCRA Lightning Sprints make their second and final appearance of the season. Late Models are back, supported by the Xtreme Late Model Series in what has been a close championship race for them. The always exciting Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks, the Wingless Spec Sprints and 600 Micro Sprints will wrap up their point races this week with the Mini Stocks rounding out the lineup.

In the Hobby Stock division, Grayson Baca of Brentwood has clinched his second division championship in three seasons. Despite motor problems sidelining him before the second Main Event of the season, Baca quickly hit his stride. Once he got the point lead, he would not let it go. His fourth win of the season last week was also his division-leading 11th Top 5 finish. Though the title may not be on the line this week, Grayson will be out to see if he can get his fifth win.

Baca's girlfriend, Jewell Crandall of Antioch, hasn't been running quite as strong during the last couple of weeks, as evidenced by her eighth place finishes. However, she maintains a 22 point advantage over Oakley's Hunter Hammett in the race for second. Hammett suffered a DNF last week. With the car count the Hobby Stocks usually have, this battle could still go either way. Both drivers will be hoping they've saved their best for last in their bids to claim runner-up status in the standings.

After recording his eighth Top 5 finish last week, Charlie Bryant of Oakley has closed to within 13 points of Hammett in the race for third. It's interesting to note that, like Crandall and Hammett, Bryant hasn't won a Main Event yet this year, but he leads the trio with three second place finishes. Every time Charlie has been ready to make a move in points, his luck has turned sour.

Bad luck is something Aidan Ponciano of Oakley can relate to. He's had one of the fastest cars all season, but a crash early in the season and motor problems have kept him out of the title chase. His third win of the season two weeks ago moved him into fifth in the standings, and the second place finish he had last week will make it hard for him to lose that position if he at least starts the Main Event.

James Thomson of Pittsburg, Jesse Paladino of Brentwood, Oakley's James East, Maddie Motts of San Pablo and rookie Daniel Braudrick of Vacaville make up the balance of the Top 10 going into the finale. The highly competitive division has had eight different drivers win Main Events over 14 races.

Brentwood's Bob Newberry used his third place finish last time out to clinch his third Wingless Spec Sprint championship. With his fifth place finish last time out, Steve Maionchi of Sonora moved into second in the standings, 32 points ahead of Anthony Bruno of San Jose.

Third place could be the battle as Brentwood's Jeff Scotto is just six points behind Bruno, while MacKenzie Newton of Elk Grove is eight points out of third. Last time out, MacKenzie Newton and her father Shannon Newton of Elk Grove both experienced motor problems. Shannon wasn't even able to start the feature race, and MacKenzie's car caught on fire. Fortunately, she wasn't injured.

Last time out, two-time Antioch champion DJ Johnson of Stockton returned and won the Panfili Cup ahead of past Antioch champion Ryon Siverling of Concord. It's interesting to note that there have been four different winners in the last four races as Newberry, Josh Young of Roseville, Jimmy Christian of Morgan Hill and Johnson have each taken their turns in the Winner's Circle.

Reigning champion Greg Dennett of Livermore leads the BCRA Lightning Sprint point race. Last week at the Wayne Albright Memorial in Merced, Dennett used a third place finish to score a narrow victory in the four-race BCRA versus CLS Civil War Series. Dennett has been pretty dominant this year with five victories, giving him a 118 point lead over past champion Matt Land of Elk Grove.

If Dennett doesn't stumble, he's likely to win the title again this year. Wins are the name of the game at this stage. After a pair of seconds and thirds as his best efforts so far this season, Land would like to grab a victory this week. Likewise, Bradley Schmidt of Placerville and Jason Schostag of Hangtown have both logged a pair of thirds as their best efforts. Cody Dayton of Placerville is currently fifth in the standings with a third as his best outing to date.

The Xtreme Late Model Series will once again be supporting the Late Model show this week, and they have a good battle going for their championship. In fact, the highly competitive series we'll see it's fourth different champion in as many seasons as Dan Brown Jr of Lincoln, Matt Micheli of Live Oak and Anthony Slaney of Martinez have won the last three series titles.

With much consistency after winning the first race of the season, long time Late Model competitor Shawn DeForest of Livermore leads the championship battle by six points over Auburn's Ray Trimble. Trimble has picked up a pair of victories. Unless something dramatic happens, the title will come down to these two. Antioch point leader Rod Oliver of Yuba City has a 17 point lead over Tim Yeager of Belmont in the race for third, while Slaney has a good hold on fifth.

Slaney is a new father this year and has missed a couple of races. However, he's claimed five wins and proven to be impossible to beat when he's there. Among Slaney's wins this year are the Larry Damitz Memorial and Soares Memorial races at Antioch and the Carnett Clash at Placerville. He enters this week as the driver to beat.

Oliver, meanwhile, is trying to successfully defend last season's Antioch championship. He's already claimed the Placerville title, and his lead at Antioch is 40 tallies ahead of Trimble. DeForest is four points out of second. Yaeger holds a six point lead over Slaney in the battle for fourth despite Slaney missing a race and letting brother-in-law Jake Dewsbury drive his car in the first race of the season.

The 600 Micro Sprints are proving to be the breakout division of the season as new drivers join and car count slowly increases. Entering their point finale, San Jose's Buddy Chappell is hoping to hold on to his 14 point advantage over four-time winner Payton Gentry of Santa Rosa. Gentry already claimed the Petaluma title a few weeks ago. Chappell hasn't won yet this season, but he does have three second place finishes. This battle could go either way.

Ryan Dotson of Fremont is third in the standings with Oakley's Devon Zuffa a solid fourth ahead of two-time winner Kyle Mentch of Alameda. Last time out, the drivers had their beat race of the season as Zuffa, Gentry and Matthew Linde of Pittsburg battled fiercely for the lead in the caution free race. Linde took the checkered flag for his first career win.

Mini Stock point leader Tom Brown of Santa Rosa had a bad night last time out with motor issues. The bad news for the competition is he still managed to make a last lap move on Petaluma champion Michael Valente of Penngrove to finish second. The star of the night, however, was Jason Higgins of Santa Rosa. Higgins added an Antioch win to his three Petaluma victories and moved into fourth in the standings as a result.

Oakley's Ryder Holmen has had a solid rookie season and sits second in the standings ahead of Oakland's Matt Wirth. Holmen also finished sixth in the competitive field at Petaluma this season. Wirth and teammate David Dupuis of Union City have had a string of Top 5 finishes between Watsonville and Petaluma this year. Pittsburg's Don Abitz currently holds fifth in the standings by 22 points ahead of Jackie Price of Antioch.

Saturday's show will offer a nice variety of divisions for the fans. Whether you're a fan of the fendered action provided by the Hobby Stocks, Late Models and Mini Stocks, or you like the speed of the open wheel divisions that you get from the Wingless Spec Sprints, BCRA Lightning Sprints and 600 Micro Sprints, we've got you covered. It'll be a good night at the races as more championships are decided.

The gates will open at 5:00 with the first race starting at 6:00.

Adult tickets are $15, Senior/Military $15, Kids (5-12) $15 and kids four and under free.

For further information, go to http://www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.

Picture Info:
Jared Baugh #07, Charlie Bryant #11a, James Thomson #18t and Brodie Garner #976 in close Hobby Stock action. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Wingless Spec Sorint champion Bob Newberry #36, Jimmy Christian #1c and Braidon Moniz #22. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Buddy Kniss #19k and reigning Xtreme Late Model Series champion Anthony Slaney #4x. Photo by Katrina Kniss

BCRA LIghtning Sprint point leader Greg Dennett #47 and Jason Schostag #22. Photo by Katrina Kniss.

Micro Sprint rookie Aniyah Scott #54 and Petaluma champion Payton Gentry #31. Photo by Katrina Kniss.

Recent Mini Stock feature winner Jason Higgins #2h, Petaluma champion Michael Valente #363, rookie Ryder Holmen #777, Antioch point leader Tom Brown #3r and Matt Wirth #27. Photo by Katrina Kniss

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