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Hunt Series, Hobby Stocks Lead Exciting Lineup At Antioch Speedway Saturday Nigh

Antioch, CA...After a rain out and a week off, racing returns to Antioch Speedway this Saturday night with five divisions competing on the 3/8 mile clay oval. The Hunt Magnetos Wingless Spec Sprint Tour, Presented By Transport Products Unlimited, makes their first of four scheduled appearances for the Randy Larson Memorial race.

After what was probably the race of the night at the season opener, the Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks return along with the IMCA Stock Cars, Mini Stocks and Dwarf Cars. It was also announced last week thanks to Contra Costa County Fairgrounds CEO Cheyenne Erickson that parking will be free for the remainder of the season.

After successfully winning last season's Hunt Series championship in the Mark Dolner owned entry, Elk Grove's Jake Morgan has returned to Winged 360 Sprint Car racing. This left the seat available in a very fast race car. It didn't take Dolner long pick last year's USCS Sprint Car champion Jacob Tuttle of Oakley as his new driver, keeping the team in the championship battle.

The series has competed at Marysville, Placerville and most recently Petaluma so far, and Tuttle has been very consistent with a third place finish and a pair of seconds. This has given him a one point lead over Josh Young of Roseville. Young opened the season with back-to-back victories at Marysville and Placerville and finished sixth last week at Petaluma.

The battle is close with Tuttle leading Young by one point, 590-589, going into Saturday night. With runner-up finishes in the 2022 and 2024 point races, Young is in pursuit of his first Hunt Series championship. He picked up a pair of feature wins at Antioch last season, but Tuttle knows a thing or two about winning at Antioch. He won the track's 2024 championship. Anthony Bruno of San Jose is also familiar with Antioch. He currently holds third in Hunt Series standings by a 16 point advantage over rookie Matthew Kaiser of Napa, 530-514.

Josh Wooten of Yuba City has been a strong supporter of the series in recent years and is only eight points behind Kaiser in the standings. Wooten finished fifth in points last season. Making up the balance of the Top 10 in the standings coming into the night are Carson Hawkins of Vacaville, Paul Vandenberg of Sacramento, rookie Chance Hawkins of Santa Rosa, Morgan Hill's Jimmy Christian and Tony Soper of Penngrove.

Following his thrilling victory over Hunter Hammett of Oakley in the Hobby Stock season opener, Oakley's Aidan Ponciano was not making any grand predictions about points. Last season, the team was hoping to contend for the championship, but a series of motor issues and a hard crash early in the season derailed all of that. He ultimately won three feature races to finish fifth in the standings, but the fourth-generation racer has the talent to be a contender.

With a week off, Hammett and Antioch's Jewell Crandall both headed to Watsonville to compete against one of their biggest regular season car counts in recent years. Hammett finished a respectable fifth, while Crandall placed second behind Watsonville's Lily Mead. With a sixth place finish in the Antioch opener, last season's championship runner-up Crandall also has her eyes on a title run this year.

As with the Hunt Series, the Hobby Stocks are likely to have a car count in the twenties this week. Among those anticipated this week are 2020 champion James Thomson of Pittsburg, last season's top rookie Daniel Braudrick of Vacaville, Oakley's Brody Garner, Jesse Paladino of Brentwood and the talented ladies who finished eighth through tenth at the season opener, Haley Gomez of Antioch, Maddie Motts of San Pablo and Benicia's Nicky Skidmore.

At the season opener a few weeks ago, 2024 IMCA Stock Car champion Troy Foulger of Oakley and Rio Vista's Jason Robles battled for the lead early in the feature race. Robles had won the heat race that night, but he wasn't quite able to keep up with the flying Foulger, who collected another victory. The duo came into the season as early favorites in the championship battle.

Last season's champion, Fred Ryland of Brentwood, was mired in an early battle with Dave Hill of San Francisco. By the time he grabbed third, the leaders were out of range. Ryland went to the big money race at Watsonville last week and ended up fourth at the checkered flag. He'll be out for a better finish this week. Others to watch for include Hill, division rookie Todd Gomez of Antioch, Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista and 2024 State champion Scott Foster of Oakley.

Santa Rosa's Tom Brown comes into the new season as the driver to beat in the Mini Stock division. Last season, he won his fourth championship at Antioch and leads the division's all time winners list with 23 victories. At his home track in Petaluma, however, Brown has found a serious challenger in fellow Santa Rosan Randy Miramontez. The Super Stock competitor has won both races there this season with Brown settling for second twice.

Last season's Rookie of the Year Ryder Holmen of Antioch turned in a solid performance last week at Petaluma with a fifth place finish. Holmen and grandfather Rob Waldrop are teaming up again this year in the truck that propelled Ryder to second in points last year. In fact, the team also owns the former Jackie Price car, and we will likely be seeing it at Antioch Speedway soon.

Oakland's Matt Wirth and teammate David Dupuis of Danville put a new coat of paint on their car and changed the number from 27 to 72 this year. Wirth has picked up three-straight Top 5 finishes on the circuit so far this season, including a third place finish and heat race win at Watsonville last week.

When Danny Wagner of Bay Point returned at the Dwarf Car season opener, he collected his 39th Antioch victory in that division, second only to Hall of Famer Ricardo Rivera. Wagner had motor issues that night, but he still managed to hold off fellow three-time champion Travis Day of Concord to claim the victory.

This season, Travis is being joined by his brother Trevor Day in Travis's old car. Trevor didn't take the checkered flag last time, but he'll be out to improve this week. Last season's top rookie, David Hays of Brentwood, finished third at the opener.

The Hunt Series always puts on a great show at Antioch, and this event is also a special occasion paying tribute to a great supporter of the group. With the always entertaining Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks on the card, fans will have a good reason to come back to the track after the two-week break.

The gates will open at 5:00 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 http://www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.

Picture Info
Josh Gillis #18, MacKenzie Newton #17n, Shawn Jones #14 and Shannon Newton #2n in a Hunt Series race last season. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Hobby Stock racers Daniel Braudrick #19, Grayson Baca #31b and Charlie Bryant #11a battle for position in the season opening Main Event. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Jason Robles #78, Dave Hill #15a and reigning IMCA Stock Car champion Fred Ryland #7j. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Last season's Mini Stock Rookie Of The Year Ryder Holmen #777, Hana Powell #3 and Matt Wirth #27. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Rookie Trevor Day #8 and reigning Dwarf Car champion Travis Day #88. Photo by Katrina Kniss

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