Antioch

Cooper Wins Fourth Annual Hobby Stock Nationals at Antioch Speedway

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Brian Cooper #17c drove an impressive race to score the $3,000 Hobby Stock Nationals victory. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Antioch, CA — Brian Cooper of Yuba City picked up the victory in the 50 lap Pacific Coast Hobby Stock Nationals Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.

The fourth annual event boasted a purse of $15,000, and Cooper’s big victory netted him a $3,000 payday. Cooper runs a different set of rules at Chico and Marysville, but he converted his car over to be legal for this race. The past Marysville and State of California IMCA Sport Modified champion led all the way in victory.

The Hobby Stocks had a turnout of 58 competitors from throughout California, making this the biggest field of cars for this class in the history of the track. The drivers ran two sets of heat races with points setting the grid for a seven lap Dash that would line up the first five rows of the Main Event. Cooper scored the victory in that race.

Cooper shared the front row with Jared Baugh of Pittsburg and immediately took the lead. The duo battled fiercely for a few laps before Antioch champion Ryan Hart of Dos Palos went low on the front straightaway to grab second on the fourth lap. After winning one of the 10 lap B Mains, Taylor DeCarlo of Martinez lost a motor in Turn 2 to force a Lap 6 yellow flag. Cooper continued to lead Hart and Bakersfield’s Nicholas Johnson on the restart. Johnson and Nick DeCarlo of Martinez were battling fiercely for third when a yellow flag waved for Brentwood’s Fred Ryland in Turn 1 on Lap 11. Nick DeCarlo settled into third behind Cooper and Hart on the ensuing restart. They ran in that order through three more restarts and to the halfway point on Lap 25.

Terry DeCarlo Jr of Martinez headed to the pits on Lap 27, and a yellow flag for debris slowed the pace on Lap 33. Cooper continued to lead Hart and DeCarlo on the restart. Cooper held a half-straightaway lead with five laps to go, but he caught traffic on the 49th lap. However, there was no stopping Cooper as he brought it home to the big victory. Hart pocketed $1,200 for second with Nick DeCarlo a $1,000 third, followed by Johnson and Les Friend of Galt, Merced champion Lance Hurst of Madera, 2023 Antioch champion Grayson Baca of Brentwood, Baugh, Antioch’s Todd Gomez and Chester Kniss of Antioch.

The Hobby Stocks ran two sets of eight lap heat races with points being calculated. The Top 10 point earners would run the seven lap Dash to set the first five rows of the grid for the feature race. As the high point earner, Baugh picked up a $200 bonus from Bacaspeed. The first round of heat race wins were collected by Cooper, Hart, Friend, Johnson, Baugh, 2020 Antioch champion James Thomson of Pittsburg and Andrew Peckham of Grass Valley. The second round of heats went to Chester Kniss, Bobby Motts Jr of San Pablo, Baca, Ryland, Baugh, multi-time Watsonville champion Rob Gallaher of San Jose and Chris Long of Antioch. Baugh was the only double heat race winner.

With 10 drivers locked in, it was decided to run two 24-car, 10-lap B Mains that would transfer the Top 4 into the show. The bigger fields in those two races produced numerous yellow flags. Jason Robles of Rio Vista set the early pace in the first B Main ahead of Nick Baldwin of Martinez. Following a Lap 5 yellow flag for Aidan Ponciano of Oakley, Lance Hurst raced into the lead and brought it home to victory ahead of Robles, Todd Gomez and Terry DeCarlo Jr of Martinez.

In the second 10 Lap B Main, Taylor DeCarlo led from the outset for the victory. Baca was an early second and held the position until falling back several positions on the final lap. Buddy Kniss of Oakley ended up second, followed by his father Chester Kniss and Watsonville champion Joe Gallaher of San Jose.

Drivers still had one more chance to make the show with the 10 lap LCQ races. The first one saw Tommy Clymens Jr lead from start to finish with Baldwin following him all the way in second. Motts just missed the cut in third.  The second LCQ race saw Charlie Bryant of Antioch lead a pair of laps before being passed by Baca. Baca would win ahead of Bryant. Clarence Holbrook III of Galt missed the cut in third.

Buddy Kniss of Oakley won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Kniss had picked up a win in the Late Model feature a week earlier and had two other Sport Modified victories earlier this season.

As the high point man of the night, Brent Curran of Twain Harte had the pole for the feature race and charged into the lead, followed by two-time IMCA State champion Trevor Clymens of Brentwood. Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley spun in Turn 4, but he kept it going rather than drawing a yellow flag. Kniss moved into the lead on the fifth lap with Chris Falkenberg of Turlock gaining third on Lap 10. Ryan steadily reeled in Falkenburg and made his move into third with two laps to go. Nobody was stopping Kniss as he won ahead of Curran and Ryan. Tommy Clymens Jr of Oakley and brother Trevor Clymens rounded out the Top 5

After making an oval track effort in the Anthony Vigna car, Terry DeCarlo Jr of Martinez was given permission to run the 10 lap Mike Conley Salute Figure 8 Race. He proceeded to score the victory, making him the third different winner in three races.

Tommy Clymens Jr of Brentwood had a front row start and took the early lead ahead of James Graessle of Antioch and Les Friend of Galt. The championship belt was on the line between David Rosa of Antioch and Brandon Carpenter of Galt. Unfortunately, both drivers were eliminated in a Lap 2 yellow flag. They ended up in a tie in points, but Carpenter won the tiebreaker as the winner of the second race. Clymens led DeCarlo and Graessle on the restart, and a Lap 3 yellow flag waved for Mike Conley Jr of Antioch, who also retired. DeCarlo raced past Clymens for the lead when the green flag waved. He proceeded to pull away as Friend raced past Clymens in the X on Lap 8 for second. DeCarlo won ahead of Friend, Clymens and Graessle.

This was the final race of the season. Track management will now begin making plans for next year and making various improvements around the facility. To keep up to date with what’s happening, go to the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page or go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com.

Race Results

Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks

Dash (7 Laps)-Brian Cooper. LCQ 1 (10 Laps)-Tommy Clymens Jr, Nick Baldwin, Bobby Motts Jr. LCQ 2 (10 Laps)-Grayson Baca, Charlie Bryant, Clarence Holbrook III. B Main 1 (10 Laps)-Lance Hurst, Jason Robles, Todd Gomez. B Main 2 (10 Laps)-Taylor DeCarlo, Buddy Kniss, Chester Kniss. Heat Winners Round 1 (8 Laps)-Brian Cooper, Ryan Hart, Les Friend, Nicholas Johnson, Jared Baugh, James Thomson, Andrew Peckham. Heat Winners Round 2 (8 Laps)-Chester Kniss, Bobby Motts Jr, Grayson Baca, Fred Ryland, Jared Baugh, Rob Gallaher, Chris Long. A Main (50 Laps)-Brian Cooper, Ryan Hart, Nicholas Johnson, Nick DeCarlo, Les Friend, Lance Hurst, Grayson Baca, Jared Baugh, Todd Gomez, Chester Kniss.

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Brent Curran, Jason Ryan Jr. Main Event (20 Laps)-Buddy Kniss, Brent Curran, Jason Ryan Jr, Tommy Clymens Jr, Trevor Clymens, Al Johnson, Chris Falkenberg.

Figure 8
Main Event (10 Laps)-Terry Decarlo Jr, Les Friend, Tommy Clymens Jr, James Graessle, Mike Conley Jr, David Rosa, Brandon Carpenter, Angela Brown DNS.

Previous Antioch Speedway Race Results:

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1 comment

Finally here! 11/05/2024 - 4:55 pm
Bye bye lamar

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