Antioch, CA — Josh Young scored the victory in the season opener for the Wingless Spec Sprint division Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The Roseville driver grabbed the lead near the midway point of the race and didn’t look back. Young was last season’s championship runner up in the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series, which will make their first of four visits to Antioch on April 26th.
San Jose’s Anthony Bruno had the pole for the feature race and jumped into the early lead ahead of Young and Brentwood’s Bob Newberry. They ran that way until Young made an inside pass in Turn 2 of the eighth lap to take the lead from Bruno. Newberry made a similar move on Bruno in Turn 4 to grab second. Moments later, Sacramento’s Paul Vandenberg spun out of fifth in Turn 4 for the only yellow flag of the race.
Young took control of the race on the restart ahead of Newberry. The leaders were in slower traffic during the final five circuits, and Bruno began giving Newberry serious pressure for second. As Young sped on to victory, Newberry managed to hold off Bruno for second. Kelseyville’s Daniel DeKeyser and Shannon Newton of Elk Grove rounded out the Top 5.
Kenny Shrader scored an impressive victory in the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. The two-time reigning champion was coming off of a strong second place finish in the season opener.
Tommy Clymens Jr of Oakley had an outside front row starting position for the race and bolted ahead at the green flag, followed by Oakley’s Kelly Campanile and Trevor Clymens of Brentwood. Shrader made a low pass in Turn 4 on the second lap to move into second with Trevor Clymens third. Tommy Clymens had built a little bit of a lead, but Shrader steadily reeled him in and began applying some pressure by the 10th lap.
The leaders caught a slower car, and Shrader made a low pass in Turn 4 of the 13th circuit to take the lead from Tommy Clymens. Trevor Clymens had Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley running closely behind him. Shrader would pull away from Tommy Clymens for the victory. Tommy Clymens had his hands full with his brother Trevor and Ryan running right behind him, but he matched his division best effort in second. An inside pass racing to the checkered flag gave Ryan third as Trevor Clymens settled for fourth ahead of Danny Wagner of Bay Point.
Alameda’s Kyle Mentch kicked off the 600 Micro Sprint season with a 15 lap Main Event victory. The third-generation racer is also a past Micro Sprint champion at Dixon Speedway, and he made his first Antioch start a victory in last season’s final race.
Lodi’s Hayden Saich made his first Antioch start by leading early in the Main Event, followed by Mentch and San Jose’s Buddy Chappell. Mentch kept it close before he was able to make an inside pass on the backstretch to grab the lead on the sixth lap. Santa Rosa’s Peyton Gentry settled into fourth on Lap 6 and made a backstretch pass for third on Lap 11. Meanwhile, Mentch began to pull away in the later stages of the race and won ahead of Saich, Gentry, Chappell and reigning champion Ken Carter of Santa Rosa.
Sean Catucci of Brentwood won the 20 lap season opener for the Dwarf Cars. Catucci won the final two races last season. After pushing exiting the final turn and losing the lead to Brandon Aylesworth of Benicia, Catucci found himself awarded the victory after Aylesworth failed to report to post race tech.
Antioch Speedway Hall of Famer David Rosa of Antioch had the pole after winning the eight lap heat race, and he raced into the early lead. Aylesworth was second, followed by Catucci, but Catucci made a Turn 4 pass on Lap 6 to claim second. Misfortune struck Rosa when he spun in Turn 4 for a Lap 7 yellow flag. Catucci led Aylesworth and David Michael Rosa of Antioch on the restart, but the older Rosa made a backstretch pass to move back into third on Lap 9.
Catucci was setting a blistering pace, and Aylesworth slowed on Lap 15, allowing both David Rosa and rookie David Hays to get by. Unfortunately, Hays suffered motor issues and brought out a Lap 17 yellow flag. Aylesworth slipped past Rosa for second as Catucci led the restart. Catucci seemed to have things in hand until pushing exiting the final turn, allowing Aylesworth to get by. With Aylesworth not reporting to tech, Catucci was elevated to victory ahead of David Rosa, reigning champion Travis Day of Concord, Hays and Russ Sieber of Elk Grove.
Mike Gillard of Atwater won the 10 lap Hardtop Main Event. Gillard was second in points at Antioch last season and won the Sportsman championship at Merced.
Misfortune struck Roseville’s Joe Shenefield in the heat race when he hit the wall exiting Turn 2 and rolled. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured, but his night was over. Heat winner and reigning champion Joel Hannagan of San Jose shared the front row with Gillard for the feature race, and Gillard bolted into the lead at the start. The battle was close between the duo before Hannagan suffered mechanical issues on the fifth lap and slowed before exiting two laps later. Gillard won ahead of Don Slaney of Martinez and Hannagan.
Racing resumes next Saturday with the annual Easter Eggstravaganza event. The IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars will be back along with the Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks and Late Models. There will also be an Easter egg candy hunt in the infield during intermission. For further information, go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.
Race Results
Wingless Spec Sprints
Fast Time-Bob Newberry 14.561. Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Bob Newberry, Josh Young. Main Event (20 Laps)-Josh Young, Bob Newberry, Anthony Bruno, Daniel Dekeyser, Shannon Newton, Eathon Lanfri, Josh Gillis, MacKenzie Newton, Jeff Scotto, Paul Vandenberg.
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Jason Ryan Jr, Kenny Shrader. Main Event (20 Laps)-Kenny Shrader, Tommy Clymens Jr, Jason Ryan Jr, Trevor Clymens, Danny Wagner, Joseph Pato, Kelly Campanile, Jeff Bentancourt, James Graessle, Alfred Johnson.
600 Micro Sprints
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Kyle Mentch. Main Event (15 Laps)-Kyle Mentch, Hayden Saich, Payton Gentry, Buddy Chappell, Ken Carter, Roberto Monroy, Ryan Dotson, Charlie Kight DNS.
Dwarf Cars
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-David Rosa. Main Event (20 Laps)-Sean Catucci, David Rosa, Travis Day, David Hays, Russ Sieber, Brandon Aylesworth DQ, David Michael Rosa DQ.
Hardtops
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Joel Hannagan. Main Event (10 Laps)-Mike Gillard, Don Slaney, Joel Hannagan, Joe Shenefield DNS.
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- April 8 – Bobby Hogge Scores 70th Win at Antioch Speedway
- April 4 – New Championship Season Begins Saturday At Antioch Speedway
