Antioch, CA — Antioch Speedway is getting ready for a special occasion this Saturday night. It’s the Fifth Annual Dean Cline Classic, which will pay $1,000 to the winner of the Pacific Coast Hobby Stock Main Event. The night will also feature the IMCA sanctioned Sport Modifieds, Modifieds and Stock Cars along with the Dwarf Cars.
Dean Cline was a legendary competitor at Antioch Speedway and a first ballot Hall of Famer. He competed in several different divisions from the time he started racing there in the 1960s to the point when he retired around 2010. Championships were never his aim, and he proved that by selling his car twice when he was leading the point standings late in the season in 1968 and 1975. He eventually won the 1979 Stock Car title.
Though he won over 40 Main Events in his time racing such divisions as Late Model Stock Cars, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Mini Trucks, it was more about being a part of everything. Dean enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow racers and was a true sportsman. You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who had a mean thing to say about him. He was also quite skilled at building a race car, a trait he passed on to his own son Lance.
In 2022, the Dean Cline Classic was created. It ran in October that year. Past track champion Larry McKinzie Jr of Discovery Bay collected the victory on that occasion with Rio Vista’s Kenneth Robles winning it a year later. Last season, Pittsburg’s Jared Baugh won his second-straight Cline Classic, this time trailed by Jewell Crandall of Antioch, who had a third place finish in this race two years earlier.
To make this race even more of a special occasion, Promoter Chad Chadwick has worked a deal with Watsonville Speedway Promoter Rob Gallaher on a weekend series, similar to the series the two tracks did for the IMCA Modifieds in June. Both tracks are set to pay $1,000 to win as Watsonville has its Seventh Annual Terry Traub Tribute 33 lap race on Friday. Both tracks initially announced $100 minimum to start. However, Watsonville, as of now, has upped it to $150 to start on Friday, and Antioch was working on doing the same as of press time.
The two tracks have put in $500 for a weekend point champion with $500 to the winner, $300 for second and $200 to third. Furthermore, several other contingencies have been added to the race for various things, and the winner of the point series automatically has an entry to the Sixth Annual Pacific Coast Hobby Stock Nationals at Antioch as well as the Hobby Stock portion of the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial at Watsonville in October.
With three feature victories and nine Top 5 finishes each to their credit, Hunter Hammett and Aidan Ponciano, both of Oakley, lead the charge as top local contenders. Hammett is the current Antioch point leader by 14 tallies ahead of Crandall, 26 over James Thomson of Pittsburg and 30 ahead of Ponciano.
Watsonville’s Lily Mead leads her track’s championship race with three victories and a 25 point lead over multi-time champion Joe Gallaher of Manassas, Virginia. Gallaher has picked up two wins. Both drivers have been to Antioch several times in recent years. Currently, Watsonville residents Dakota Keldsen, Adriane Frost and six-time champion Sam Kennedy make up the balance of Watsonville’s Top 5 in the standings. Frost may be another driver to look for at Antioch this week as is Martinez resident Taylor DeCarlo, who finished second in Lovelock, Nevada last week. DeCarlo has one Antioch win this year.
The IMCA Sport Modified drivers know that due to the nature of the sanctioning body’s point structure, every race is important. Brentwood’s Fred Ryland collected his third win of the season last week, but with Danny Wagner of Bay Point finishing second on that occasion, the lead is only five points. Wagner, who also leads the Watsonville standings, has two wins at Antioch and a four point advantage over Trevor Clymens of Brentwood in a close race for second. These three drivers, along with Al Johnson of Antioch, are very much in the Antioch title chase. Johnson finished fourth last week, making it his division-leading sixth Top 5 finish.
After the recent race, James Graessle of Antioch moved into fifth in the standings by 15 points ahead of California State point leader Jeff Bentancourt of Brentwood. Bentancourt had a heat race win and fifth place feature finish last week. Mark Garner of Antioch, new father Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley, Antioch’s Alfred Johnson and Trent Golden of Pittsburg round out the Top 10 going into this week.
Likewise, the IMCA Stock Car championship battle is close. Jason Robles of Rio Vista was working on his fifth second place finish last week when mechanical issues sent him to the pits. Had it continued the way it was going, it’s possible Robles would have gained the point lead from reigning champion Fred Ryland of Brentwood. With Ryland finishing third, he increased his advantage over Robles to seven points, but it’s still a battle between these two.
Oakley’s Troy Foulger scored a division-leading third feature win last week despite overheating issues threatening to send him to the pits before the checkered flag waved. His win put him three points ahead of Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista in the race for third, while Dave Hill of San Francisco is 25 points back in fifth. State point leader Justin Villanueva of Atwater had his best Antioch effort of the year last week in second.
There’s much uncertainty in the IMCA Modified division. Nobody knows who might show on any given week, nor do we know who might be the point leader at season’s end. With a second in the Soares Memorial and a $1,000 win last week, Andrew Pearce and fellow Oakley resident Troy Foulger are tied for the point lead. Foulger has three wins to his credit. Eric Berendsen of Antioch moved back into third in the standings after last week, 22 points ahead of Ryan McDaniel of Olivehurst and Matt Kampfraat of Granite Bay. Two points behind that duo is Tyler Browne of Antioch, while Jim Pettit II of Prunedale is three points behind them.
Danny Wagner’s busy season finds him racing for Dwarf Car championships at Antioch and Watsonville as well as the Sport Modified title at both places. The Bay Point resident picked up his sixth Antioch win in Dwarf Cars last time and maintains a 14 point advantage over Travis Day of Concord. Both drivers are three-time champions looking for #4 this year.
Meanwhile, second year racer David Hays of Brentwood turned in a solid performance last time with a heat race win and third in the feature race. He’s got a strong hold on third in the standings but is 46 points behind Day due to his absence from one race when he went to Merced and finished third that night. One-time winner Toby Brown of Pleasanton is fourth in the standings, followed by rookie Trevor Day of Concord and Discovery Bay’s Tommie Piantanida.
After the playing of the National Anthem this Saturday night, the track will hold a special Memorial Lap in honor of Tom Fraser. Fraser has been involved with multiple championship teams at the track since the 1970s and was a strong supporter of the track. Family, friends and fellow racers will pay tribute to him with the Memorial Lap on Saturday, and there will also be a Memorial Service for Tom at the Antioch Fairgrounds on August 16th.
The Dean Cline Classic should attract some of the top Hobby Stock drivers from Watsonville and elsewhere, along with the local stars. With all of the IMCA divisions and Dwarf Cars on hand, there will be plenty of excitement and action to enjoy at the track on Saturday night.
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
- Aug 4, 2026 – Pearce, Ponciano, Ryland, Foulger, Zuffa Win at Antioch Speedway
- July 28, 2026 – Tuttle Scores Hunt Series Victory at Antioch Speedway
- July 21, 2026 – Baca, Archibald, Wagner, Carlson Share Antioch Speedway Winner’s Circle
- June 30, 2026 – McDaniel, Baca, Ryland, Wagner, Freethy Win Soares Memorial Races at Antioch Speedway
- June 16, 2026 – Kenneth Robles Dedicates Win To Tom Fraser, Hammett, Clymens, Mentch, Foulger Other Winners At Antioch Speedway
- June 9 –Speir Wins Graunstadt Memorial at Antioch Speedway
- 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 – 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
