Antioch, CA — Spring is in the air and racing is in full swing at Antioch Speedway. The track will be offering more family fun this Saturday night with the annual Easter Eggstravaganza event and five divisions of racing on the 3/8 mile clay oval.
During the intermission, which takes place after the heat races have concluded, the kids will be allowed on the infield for the Easter egg hunt. The candy hunt and other giveaways has been a traditional part of the program at the track on Easter Weekend for years, and the racing community has come together to make this a special night.
On 10 different occasions this season, the IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars are scheduled with the Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks, and this is the second of those events. Also competing on Saturday will be the popular Late Model division.
Last time, the IMCA Modifieds featured a good early battle between two of the division’s biggest stars, Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas and Troy Foulger of Oakley, along with Matt Kampfraat of Granite Bay. Hogge made a big move around both cars near the midway point of the race and sped on to his 70th career IMCA Modified win at the track. Hogge is also approaching 80 combined feature wins, and it’s a race between he and Foulger to see who will get there first.
The third generation racer Hogge has been off to a solid start this year. After six starts on the circuit, Bobby has only missed the Top 3 once with a pair of second place finishes at Watsonville, a third at Bakersfield and a win last week at Merced. Bobby isn’t always in the lineup at Antioch, but he’s a threat to win when he is.
Hogge hasn’t declared if he’s racing for points, though in recent years he’s shied away from that. However, he is leading the IMCA State point race, a title that Kate Robertson of Reno, Nevada and Kampfraat are both in pursuit of. At the last Antioch race, Robertson ended up third fourth behind runner-up Foulger and reigning State champion Jacob Mallet Jr of Oakley.
The IMCA Sport Modified division, meanwhile, seems a bit clearer. Reigning Antioch champion Kenny Shrader of Pacheco took it up a notch from his runner-up finish at the opener by battling Tommy Clymens Jr of Oakley to win the Main Event. Shrader is in a new car this year, and he seems to be faster than ever. After two races, he holds a three point advantage over last season’s runner-up, Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley, and a five point lead over Trevor Clymens of Brentwood.
In the early stages of the season, Trevor Clymens and Bay Point’s Danny Wagner have both done a bit of traveling and find themselves in a race for the State point lead. Wagner made his first appearance at Antioch last week in fifth, following a second at Watsonville. Clymens had a pair of thirds on the weekend, keeping the State battle close.
A couple of drivers are making bigger challenges for their first Sport Modified wins. Fourth ranked Joseph Pato of Oakley had a fifth place finish at the opener, and Tommy Clymens Jr’s second place finish last week matched his best effort yet in the division. These two drivers could make things interesting, and others to watch for this week include Kelly Campanile of Oakley, James Graessle of Antioch, Jeff Bentancourt of Brentwood and rookie Alfred Johnson of Antioch.
The Pacific Coast Hobby Stock division continues to produce good numbers, and their 25 car field at the opener required a B Main. When the numbers are up this much, drivers have to earn their way into the feature race, and that makes it a competitive show from start to finish. When the checkered flag waived at the opener, Bakersfield Nicholas Johnson was the winner. He’d made a late decision to come and arrived just in time to make a couple of hot laps. He dominated the night with wins in the his heat race and the feature.
After taking a year off, Brentwood’s Grayson Baca has returned and declared his intent to race for points. He piloted the Dave Baca car to a heat win and second in the recent Main Event, followed by Antioch’s Chris Long. It’s obvious that several of the drivers in the field have stepped up their games, and that means Hobby Stocks are going to be a very competitive division this season.
Wingless Spec Sprint star James East of Oakley has gotten into the Hobby Stock division after finishing second in Spec Sprint points, and he’s already made starts at multiple tracks this year. Much like long time Street Stock and Hobby stock racer Charlie Bryant, East is a potential threat for victory. Bryant has a new car this season, and his fourth place finish last time out shows that he’ll be a factor.
The opener wasn’t kind to 2020 champion James Thomson of Pittsburg, Frank Furtado of Martinez or Aidan Ponciano of Oakley, and the trio will be out to turn their luck around this week. Some of the drivers to watch for include Colten Haney of Brentwood, 2021 champion Larry McKinzie Jr of Discovery Bay and Oakley’s Hunter Hammett.
After settling for second at the Modified opener, Oakley’s Troy Foulger jumped into his IMCA Stock Car and picked up the Main Event win in that class. Foulger is the first driver in the division’s short history to reach 20 feature wins, while Rio Vista’s Jason Robles ranks second In the win column. Robles had second for a while at the opener before Fred Ryland of Brentwood drove by to claim the position.
This is the fifth season for the Stock Car class, and they had a better turnout at the opener than they did on average last season. This has led to some optimism for a continued increase in the numbers. Some of the drivers to watch for this week include Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista, Scott Foster of Oakley, Mitch Enos of Manteca and Nick Caughman Jr of Richmond.
Last time out, Late Model veteran Shawn DeForest of Livermore impressed by winning both the division’s heat race and Main Event. In the winner’s circle, he indicated that he plans to compete in all eight Antioch races. DeForest has been one of the top drivers through the years, but a championship this season would be his first.
Another driver who has looked impressive so far this year is Auburn’s Ray Trimble. Ray didn’t do so well at the Antioch opener in fifth. However, he had a Marysville win back in March and won last week’s Tilford Tribute race in Placerville. He finished second in last season’s Antioch points race behind champion Rod Oliver of Yuba City. Oliver was the one chasing DeForest in second at the Antioch opener, followed by Vacaville’s Paul Gugielmoni. Guglielmoni is a past Petaluma Speedway Late Model champion, and his team competes in IMCA Modifiefs as well as Late Models.
Antioch’s Joey Ridgeway has moved up from the Super Stock division and made his first Late Model start in the opener. He’ll be a Late Model rookie this season, and other drivers to watch for this week include Belmont’s Tim Yeager and Andrew Odgers of Mariposa.
Saturday will feature a great lineup of divisions and some family fun with the Easter egg candy hunt during intermission. It’s sure to be an enjoyable night from start to finish.
The gates will open at 4:00 with the first race starting at 6:00.
Adult tickets are $15, 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.
Previous
- April 15 – Young, Shrader, Catucci, Mentch, Gillard Win at Antioch Speedway
- April 8 – Bobby Hogge Scores 70th Win at Antioch Speedway
- April 4 – New Championship Season Begins Saturday At Antioch Speedway
