Antioch, CA — Rain put a damper on the festivities last week, but the facility will dry off and the action will heat up at Antioch Speedway this Saturday night. This is the first big event of the season. The track is kicking off 5th Annual Central California Clash.
Featured divisions will include the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars. Joining them this Saturday night and in all six rounds of the series will be the West Coast Hobby Stocks.
This is also the track’s annual Easter Extravaganza. During the intermission, there will be an Easter egg hunt in the infield along with kids bicycle and Easter basket giveaways. It’s all part of the family fun offered at the speedway.
Considering California is where IMCA first invaded the West Coast, it was a bit baffling that there wasn’t a special series of any kind in the state. When COVID hit in 2020, Merced Speedway Promoter Doug Lockwood stepped up and created California Speedweek.
This series started with six events and continued the following year with a grueling eight race in eight days marathon. Lockwood rethought the strategy in 2022 and rebranded it as the Central California Clash. After two successful tours, Doug felt a change with needed again.
It can be a challenge for any race track to book an event during the week and attract the fans. While the drivers might get time off from work to compete in every race, the fans can’t always get away from work as easily, and attendance suffers at the midweek venues.
Therefore, it was decided that each track would get a Saturday night show. With the addition of Marysville, they will now be competing at six tracks this year, including Bakersfield, Tulare, Petaluma and the finale at Merced. Saturday kicks things off at the popular Contra Costa County racing venue.
Drivers in all four divisions will be competing for increased purse money, including $1,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds and $600 each to win the IMCA Sport Modifiers and Stock Cars. The Hobby Stocks get a $500 first prize. Furthermore, the Top 5 finishers in all four divisions will receive special IMCA.TV sponsored series point funds.
Antioch Speedway has been proud to be a part of all but the 2022 offering and is excited to host the action this weekend. Last season saw Bakersfield based competitors Tyler Bannister and Jerry Flippo pick up series championships in IMCA Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars, respectively. Troy Foulger of Oakley won the IMCA Modified series crown last year.
Some of the best drivers from throughout California and surrounding states compete in this series. Last season saw Oakley’s Jason Ryan Jr end up second in the Sport Modified series ahead of Galt’s Les Friend. Friend also fielded the IMCA Stock Car that propelled Flippo to that championship.
Foulger, meanwhile, came within four points a beating Flippo for the Stock Car crown. Merced star and two time Sport Modified title winner Rick Diaz ended up third ahead of two-time Antioch title winner Travis Dutra of Concord. Foulger’s banner year in Stock Car competition saw him win the Antioch and State titles.
Bakersfield star Troy Morris III gave Foulger a good run before settling for second in the Modified chase, while highly decorated champion Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas ended up third. Hogge also picked up the honors in the Antioch season opener two weeks ago.
The West Coast Hobby Stock Tour was an add-on this year. The series was founded by Brian Cooper of Yuba City, who also organized a successful season for the West Coast Sport Modified Tour a few years earlier. This series boasted fields in the 40 car plus range last year as everybody wanted a piece of the action.
Last season saw Bakersfield standout Nick Johnson pick up the $1,000 championship when he won the finale in Marysville. He won a nip and tuck battle with Cooper, while Steven Johnson of Bakersfield settled for third.
Fans of the IMCA classes and Hobby Stocks will want to be in Antioch on Saturday night to witness a who’s who of the top stars in action. Furthermore, the fact that Antioch is hosting a Saturday night show should see a nice increase in car count all the way around.
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 for this Central California Clash, go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.
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