Antioch, CA — After two weeks off, racing returns to Antioch Speedway this Saturday night with a special program. It’s the 10th Annual Larry Damitz Memorial race, paying tribute to the iconic Hall of Fame racer who had a career spanning over 60 years and was a champion in his final racing season in 2016 at 87 years old.
The Xtreme Late Models will be making their first of three scheduled appearances, joined by the popular Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks. Also in action will be the Wingless Spec Sprints, Hardtops and Valley Sportsman and the Dwarf Cars. The night is also being billed as youth baseball, softball and soccer night, meaning kids 12 and under in their uniforms will get in for free.
While this is the first point race for the Antioch Late Model effort, it’s the fourth event at as many different dirt tracks this season for the Xtreme Late Model Series. The group has competed at Marysville, Placerville and Petaluma, and Oakley’s Buddy Kniss picked up Marysville and Petaluma wins, while finishing second at Placerville.
One-time Xtreme Late Model Series champion Anthony Slaney of Martinez scored the win at Placerville, but he currently finds himself third in a close battle behind Kniss and reigning Antioch Late Model champion Rod Oliver of Yuba City. Oliver has a pair of thirds and a second, though he has a win in a regular Placerville event this season. The standings find Kniss leading Oliver by 12 points and Slaney by 22.
Slaney has won the last two Larry Damitz Memorial races and is hoping that three will be a charm this week. Last season’s top rookie Andrew Odgers of Mariposa trails Slaney by 21 points and leads rookie Alan Pace of Riverbank by 26. Other drivers anticipated this week include reigning Xtreme Series champion Shawn DeForest of Livermore, past Series champion Matt Micheli of Live Oak, Vacaville’s Paul Gugliemoni and Terry Kaiser of Fairfield.
After four races with the Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks, Hunter Hammett of Oakley and James Thomson of Pittsburg have emerged as two top contenders for the championship. Both have all Top 5 finishes in the four races held so far. 2020 champion Thomson has one win to his credit, while Hammett has two seconds and won the two most recent events.
When Hammett went to the recent Petaluma race and scored his third win in as many starts, Thomson had an idea. He suggested to Hunter that they have a bounty on him for anybody who could beat him. Hammett was okay with the idea, but it took on a life of its own. Several contributors raised the bounty to $1,000, but then there was a question. Why can’t Hunter be eligible to collect on his own bounty?
The terms were changed, and Hunter is eligible for $1,200 if he wins. With some talk about whether Camaros are competitive, if somebody wins in a Camaro, they are eligible for an $1,100 bounty on Saturday. There’s also an additional $1,000 award if Hammett willingly starts in the last row and scores the victory. This is all on top of the track’s regular $400 to win prize, meaning there very well could be some visitors from out of town this week.
Coming off of back to back second place finishes at Antioch and Petaluma, Antioch’s Jewell Crandall is currently third in the standings by 12 points ahead of season opener winner Aidan Ponciano of Oakley. Ponciano was actually leading the most recent Antioch race when mechanical issues sent him to the pits. He’s 12 points ahead of Benicia’s Nicky Skidmore, who sits fifth in the standings.
Skidmore is on the hot seat for that fifth place spot as six drivers are within 24 points of her, including Frank Furtado of Martinez, Oakley’s James East, Phil Wilkins of Roseville, Jesse Paladino of Brentwood, San Pablo’s Maddie Motts and Charlie Bryant of Oakley. It’s anticipated that we will see the biggest Hobby Stock car count of the season for this event.
Following his win in the second race of the season, San Jose’s Anthony Bruno emerged with the Wingless Spec Sprint point lead at Antioch. Bruno has made the Hunt Series championship his primary focus and is in a close battle for that as well. Currently, Bruno leads Jeff Scotto of Brentwood by 28 points at Antioch. Scotto is coming off of one of his better finishes in third, and that puts him 10 points ahead of Steve Maionchi of Oakdale.
Rookie Stephen Hooker of Pleasant Hill is tied with Brentwood’s Blake Bower for fourth in the standings, four points ahead of Shawn Arriaga of Antioch and six in front of Colin Kirby of Pleasant Hill. Another division rookie will make his first appearance this Saturday night. Late Model star Anthony Slaney of Martinez will be behind the wheel of Roberto Monroy’s car.
After the original scheduling of the Bill Bowers Memorial race was rained out in April, the Hardtops and Valley Sportsman division will finally get to race this Saturday. For 20 years, this was the division of choice for Larry Damitz, and he had over a half-dozen wins in the revival of the Hardtops at Antioch. It’s a special occasion for the division, and Top 3 trophies this week will be sponsored by Hagin’s Automotive.
In an effort to increase car counts at both Antioch and Merced, long time racing promoter Mike McCann put together a point fund for a four-race series that will see the Top 8 finishers rewarded after the season finale Chet Thomson Memorial on October 24th. Saturday’s race will be the first before the next two take place on June 27th and September 12th at Merced.
San Jose’s Joel Hannagan is the three-time reigning champion at Antioch, and the only driver to beat him for a feature win last season was Mike Gillard of Atwater. Gillard is a two-time Merced Sportsman champion, and both drivers are anticipated for Saturday’s first Antioch race of the season. Hannagan has won all but one Merced race this year as he leads the standings there. Long time Merced racer Tim Porter of Atwater won the most recent Merced race.
Another driver making the trip to Merced recently and doing well was rookie Damian Curl of Oakley. Curl made his first start in grandfather Brad Coelho’s car and finished a respectable lead lap third in that race. Curl is looking forward to this week’s race. Other drivers anticipated this week include last season’s point runner-up Don Slaney of Martinez, Joe Shenefield of Roseville, Jeff Pike of Granit Bay, Gary Hildebrand of Turlock and three-time Merced Sportsman champion Rick Elliott of Manteca.
In addition to continuing to run strong in the IMCA Sport Modified division, three-time Dwarf Car champion Danny Wagner of Bay Point continues to make his presence known in that class. Wagner has swept three races at Antioch with Main Event and heat race triumphs. This has resulted in him leading three-time reigning champion Travis Day of Concord by 18 points in the standings.
Though car count hasn’t been strong at Antioch, Wagner has also picked up a pair of wins and a second at Watsonville and finished second in the recent Dwarf Car Nationals event at Summit Raceway in Elko, Nevada. Last season’s top rookie, David Hays of Brentwood, has had some bad luck this season, but he’s still within 18 points of Day in the battle for second.
After two weeks off, fans will be treated to five-consecutive Saturday nights of racing with lots of variety. BCRA has announced a $2,514 to win prize for the winner of the Ken Graunstadt Memorial race for the Midgets on June 6th. On the 13th, the popular Fan Appreciation Night will offer a $5 grandstand ticket and giveaways for a show that will feature the popular IMCA sanctioned divisions and Hobby Stocks.
The month of June will be exciting at Antioch Speedway, but before we get there, we’re sending May off with a special show paying tribute to Larry Damitz. Larry would appreciate that Late Models and Hardtops, two of his divisions of choice, will be in action. With Hobby Stocks, Spec Sprints and Dwarf Cars also on the bill and kids 12 and under in their youth sports uniforms getting in for free, Saturday’s show promises to be a good one.
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. Kids 12 and under in their youth sports uniforms will get in for free.
For further information, go to http://www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.
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- May 5, 2026 – Jerry Stewart Wins Tri State Pro Stock Main Event, Five New Winners at Antioch Speedway
- April 28 – Blake Bower Wins Randy Larson Memorial Race at Antioch Speedway
- April 7, 2026 – Foulger, Ponciano, Ryland, Gray, Wagner Score Season Opening Wins at Antioch Speedway
