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Nicholas Johnson Wins Hobby Stock Nationals At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...October 18...Nicholas Johnson of Bakersfield won the 50 lap Hobby Stock Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the Fifth Annual Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Nationals, and the win for Johnson paid $3,000. Johnson was running a strong second to previous Nationals winner Brian Cooper of Yuba City when Cooper blew an engine with nine laps to go.

New track champion Grayson Baca of Brentwood set the early pace ahead of Johnson and Cooper. Cooper maybe an outside pass on the back stretch on Lap 8 to take second from Johnson. Baca led a Lap 13 restart ahead of Cooper as Charlie Bryant of Oakley slipped pass Johnson for third. However, an inside move in Turn 4 of the 15th lap regained Johnson third as the lead three cars pulled away from the pack. By the 22nd lap, the leaders were working heavy traffic, and Cooper made an outside pass on the front stretch to lead Lap 24 with Johnson following into second. It was a blanket race in the Top 3, and Baca seemingly gained the lead as they were working lap 26, but a yellow flag waved. With no racing to the yellow flag, it reverted to Lap 25 as Cooper led Johnson, Baca, Bryant and Adriane Frost of Watsonville.

Cooper stayed with the outside on the restart and continued to lead Johnson and Bryant. The lead duo pulled away from the pack with Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista joining Bryant and Baca in a spirited battle for third. A Lap 34 yellow flag waved for Jared Baugh of Pittsburg. Cooper continued to lead Johnson and Baca. Once again, Cooper and Johnson were running well ahead of the pack when Cooper's motor expired with nine laps to go. Johnson would lead a pair of restarts in the final eight circuits to win with Bryant a strong second, followed by Robles, James Thomson of Pittsburg and Joseph Pato of Antioch.

The 37 drivers ran two sets of eight lap heat races with points based off of those races putting the Top 10 into a seven lap Trophy Dash. That race determined the first five rows of the feature race, and Johnson led all the way for victory. Clarence Holbrook III of Galt ran second for three laps before being overtaken by eventual runner-up Baca with Bryant finishing third.

The Top 4 finishers in each of the 12 lap B Mains advanced to the Main Event. Nick Baldwin of Oakley led the first race for three laps before mechanical issues sidelined him. Daniel Braudrick of Vacaville led a pair of laps before Josh Appelbaum of Antioch took the lead. Appelbaum surrendered the lead to eventual winner Brodie Garner of Oakley on a late restart. Appelbaum faded to fourth behind runner up Aidan Ponciano of Oakley and Robles.

The second B Main saw Taylor DeCarlo of Martinez and Jewell Crandall of Antioch run 1-2 the entire way as Jesse Paladino of Brentwood held off Baugh and James Thomson of Pittsburg to finish third. Thomson made his way into the feature by leading all 10 laps of the Last Chance Qualifier ahead of Matt Kile the San Jose, Jim DiGiovanni of Morgan Hill and Anthony Vigna of Concord.

Troy Foulger of Oakley won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. This was his fifth win of the season in the Bowers Motorsports Stock Car, and it earned him a $1,000 payday.

The race was destined to go without a yellow flag, and Jason Robles of Rio Vista took the early lead ahead of Scott Foster of Oakley. Foulger slipped past Foster for second on Lap 2. Robles was setting a good pace, and Foulger lost ground when he got out of shape in Turn 2 on Lap 6. Foster had his hands full with Fred Ryland of Brentwood in the race for third, but Foulger closed in on the back bumper of Robles by Lap 14. An inside move on the front stretch on Lap 16 gained Foulger the lead, and he went on to victory ahead of Robles, Foster, Ryland and Mitch Machado of Rohnert Park.

Tom Brown of Santa Rosa won the 15 lap Mini Stock Main Event. His eighth win of the season was worth $400 and clinched him his fourth Antioch Speedway championship.

After winning the heat race, Brown started up front and proceeded to lead the race through two yellow flag slow downs all the way to the checkered flag. Rookie of the Year Ryder Holmen of Antioch held second until a yellow flag waved for Hana Powell of Lodi on Lap 5. Matt Wirth of Oakland took second from Holmen on the restart, and Powell went inside Holmen in Turn 3 on Lap 7 for third. Powell made a brief challenge on Wirth in the later stages of the race, but it would be Brown winning ahead of Wirth, Powell and Holmen at the checkered flag.

Adriane Frost of Watsonville won the 10 lap Denise McCown Memorial Ladies Race. This was a race for ladies who had raced in the Hobby Stock division. Frost picked up the $500 first prize in the race that pays tribute to the past Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock champion.

Jewell Crandall of Antioch set the pace at the start ahead of Frost and Taylor DeCarlo of Martinez. A red flag waved after five laps for a tangle between Nicky Skidmore of Benicia and Angela Brown of Antioch that saw Brown getting into the front wall. Nobody was hurt, and Crandall's crew had to replace the gas cap on her car. This put Crandall at the back of the pack for the restart as Frost led DeCarlo. However, DeCarlo spun in Turn 4 for the final yellow flag on Lap 6. Frost led the restart ahead of Patti Ryland of Brentwood and Crandall. Crandall went high around Ryland in the final turn to grab the $250 second place finish as Frost scored the victory. Aniyah Scott of Brentwood and Megan Ponciano of Antioch rounded out the Top 5.

Racing season concludes next Saturday night with the annual Track or Treat event, which will include a candy giveaway to the kids in the infield during intermission. The Hunt Wingless Spec Sprints return along with the Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks, Late Models, Super Stocks and Antioch's 10th running of the Chet Thomson Memorial Hardtop race. For further information, go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.

Race Results
Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks
Dash (7 Laps)-Nicholas Johnson. Heat Winners Round 1 (8 Laps)-Nicholas Johnson, Clarence Holbrook III, Nick Baldwin, Grayson Baca. Heat Winners Round 2 (8 Laps)-Charlie Bryant, Adriane Frost, Hunter Hammett, Aidan Ponciano. Last Chance Qualifier (10 Laps)-James Thomson, Matt Kile, Jim DiGiovanni. B Main 1 (12 Laps)-Brodie Garner, Aidan Ponciano, Kenneth Robles. B Main 2 (12 Laps)-Taylor DeCarlo, Jewell Crandall, Jesse Paladino. Ladies Race (10 Laps)-Adriane Frost, Jewell Crandall, Patti Ryland. Main Event (50 Laps)-Nicholas Johnson, Charlie Bryant, Kenneth Robles, James Thomson, Joseph Pato, Adriane Frost, Josh Appelbaum, Matt Kile, Jesse Paladino, Grayson Baca.

IMCA Stock Cars
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Troy Foulger. Main Event (20 Laps)-Troy Foulger, Jason Robles, Scott Foster, Fred Ryland, Mitch Machado, Dan Gonderman.

Mini Stocks
Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Tom Brown. Main Event (15 Laps)-Tom Brown, Matt Wirth, Hana Powell, Ryder Holmen

Picture info:

Bakersfield star Nicholas Johnson #11 returned to Antioch and won the $3,000 prize in the Hobby Stock Nationals. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Troy Foulger #49 made a late move for the $1,000 IMCA Stock Car victory. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Tom Brown #3r used his eighth Mini Stock victory to wrap up his fourth Antioch championship. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Adriane Frost #22 won the $500 prize in the Denise McCown Memorial Ladies Race. Photo by Katrina Kniss

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