Antioch, CA — Antioch Speedway enters the month of June with some great racing on the schedule. Each Saturday night will be special, and it starts this week with the Ken Graunstadt Memorial for the BCRA Midgets Super Series.
Coming off of a thrilling Hobby Stock race last week, that division is back in action along with the Wingless Spec Sprints, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Dwarf Cars and BCRA Vintage Midgets.
The BCRA has a storied past in motorsports promotions throughout the last several decades, and Midgets have been at the center of those promotions. track management is excited to be able to feature one of the biggest BCRA Midget races of the year this weekend. Not only is this race offering a big purse, but it’s remembering a respected member of the racing community.
Ken Graunstadt fielded championship winning race cars and also sponsored several races and competitors. In fact, he specifically sponsored big events that Antioch has had in recent years. When he passed away in 2024, Antioch Speedway hosted his memorial race last season, and Shane Golobic of Fremont won the race ahead of three-time reigning BCRA champion Caden Sarale of Stockton.
This year, the Ken Graunstadt Memorial race is offering $3,014 to win and a minimum of $214 to start. Each of the 30 Main Event laps has $100 in lap money sponsored to the leader, potentially doubling the winner’s pay for the night. This payout is sure to attract a few more open wheel racing stars.
Sarale enters the race as perhaps the biggest threat among the regular BCRA competitors to pocket the prize money. After finishing third in the series season opener at Marysville behind Preston Norbury of Chino Valley, Arizona and Dane Culver of Riverside, he won the next two races at Marysville and Merced.
Sarale holds a 47 point lead over WMR Midget champion Logan Mitchell of Santa Cruz in the current standings. Mitchell is 28 points ahead of San Jose’s Nick Leonard Jr as Cody Gray of Auburn and Terry Nichols of Delano make up the balance of the Top 5 coming into the night. BCRA Hall of Famer Floyd Alvis of San Carlos is currently sixth ahead of last season’s point runner-up Dane Culver.
Some of the WMR Midget competitors have joined BCRA to run for their championship points, but they also earn points for their own series title chase. At the moment, Mitchell leads Leonard in that battle by 10 points. Isak Johnson is 12 points out of lead in third and six points ahead of Nichols. Mitchell, who finished third in BCRA Super Series points last season, has a fifth at Placerville and a second at Marysville so far this year.
The Pacific Coast Hobby Stock championship battle is in the midst of a crucial five-race stretch. With Hunter Hammett of Oakley not earning any points last week, Pittsburg’s James Thomson has taken a 32 point lead over him in the battle. Following her clean sweep performance last week, Antioch’s Jewell Crandall is only two points behind Hammett and 18 ahead of Oakley’s Aidan Ponciano. It’s interesting to note that despite finishing second in last week’s Main Event, Ponciano was still fighting mechanical issues.
The returning Brodie Garner moved back into fifth in the standings following another heat race win and ninth place feature finish. Maddie Motts of San Pablo, who ran in the Top 3 for most of the race last week, is only four points behind Garner in a tie with Benicia’s Nikki Skidmore. Frank Furtado of Martinez, and Oakley’s Charlie Bryant and James East round out the Top 10 and are within 18 points of Garner for fifth.
Hunt Series point leader Anthony Bruno of San Jose was noticeably absent from last week’s Wingless Spec Sprint race, but word is he could be back this week and possibly doing double duty in Sprint Cars and Midgets. With one feature win at Antioch, he’s only 12 points out of the lead. Brentwood’s Jeff Scotto holds a four point advantage over Oakdale’s Steve Maionchi in a close championship battle.
Rookie Stephen Hooker of Pleasant Hill is just six points ahead of ageless veteran Roy Fisher of Antioch and 10 in front of Concord’s Ryon Siverling in a close race for fourth. Siverling was in a backup car last week following his crash at the second race of the season. He didn’t miss a beat as he finished second in the Main Event behind Roseville’s Josh Young.
Reigning Antioch Speedway champion Mike Learn of Petaluma won the Shawn McCoy Memorial Super Stock race at Petaluma Speedway last week. The win gave him a 22 point lead ahead of Randy Miramontez of Santa Rosa as he tries to repeat as Petaluma champion. Miramontez, meanwhile, finished second in the Shawn McCoy Memorial. This week’s Super Stock race at Antioch will be the Larry Damitz Memorial for the division.
Learn is looking to get his first Larry Damitz Memorial Super Stock win. In the previous eight races, only Antioch’s Mark Garner has won it twice. Jim Freethy of Danville, who is anticipated this week, won the 2021 race. The standings coming into the night find Learn tied with Bakersfield’s Jerry Stewart for the Antioch point lead, eight points ahead of Matt Micheli of Live Oak, 10 in front of Freethy and 12 in front of the tied Joey Ridgeway of Brentwood and Buddy Kniss of Oakley.
Randy Miramontez of Santa Rosa won his fourth Mini Stock Main Event of the season at Petaluma last week, giving him a nine point lead over Santa Rosa’s Tom Brown, who finished second again. At the recent Antioch race, Brown had mechanical issues and didn’t finish. This put him 12 points behind Trevor Rodriguez of Rohnert Park going into this week’s race at Antioch.
Last time out, Rodriguez scored his first ever Main Event victory ahead of Miramontez, who had to pit with a flat tire during the race. Ryder Holmen of Antioch is currently 14 points out of lead in third in the Antioch battle. He’s tied with Kassidy Cagle of Santa Rosa and just two points ahead of Kimberly Ramirez of Petaluma.
The Dwarf Cars are back, and Toby Brown of Pleasanton would love to grab his second-straight feature win. Brown won last week ahead of three-time reigning champion Travis Day of Concord. Day assumed the point lead by 22 tallies ahead of Brentwood’s David Hays, while Danny Wagner of Bay Point is 34 points out of the lead in third. Wagner has won three Dwarf Car races, but he was in Merced winning the South Bay Dwarf Car race there last week.
A few of the beautifully restored BCRA Vintage Midgets will round out Saturday’s program. These are the cars the BCRA featured in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of the drivers in the group include Jim DeJong of Pacifica in a Chevy 2, David Ansted of Merced in a v8-60, Steve Cossey of Rohnert Park in a VW and Rich Scettrini of San Rafael in a Chevy 2.
A strong field of BCRA Midgets and Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks is anticipated this week, and this exciting seven-division lineup offers a little something for everybody. It’s just the beginning of a June that will have $5 Fan Appreciation Night on the 13th, the Cameron Martin Memorial Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series race on the 20th and the annual Soares Memorial race on the 27th.
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.
For further information, go to http://www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.
Previous
- June 2, 2026 – Crandall Takes $1300 Bounty, Hogge Wins 25 Lap Larry Damitz Memorial at Antioch Speedway
- May 5, 2026 – Jerry Stewart Wins Tri State Pro Stock Main Event, Five New Winners at Antioch Speedway
- April 28, 2026 – 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
