Antioch, CA — Antioch Speedway hits the midway point of August with an exciting, six-division lineup of racing on the 3/8 mile clay oval. The BCRA/WMR Midgets California Super Series makes their second and final appearance at the speedway, joined by the popular Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks and IMCA Sport Modifieds.
For the Hobby Stocks and Sport Modifieds, the championship battles are heating up, and it’s anybody’s guess who will come out the winner in the end. Also in action on Saturday will be the IMCA Stock Cars, Valley Sportsman/Hardtops and the Mini Stocks.
Last week, the BCRA held their annual Tom Manning Memorial race at Petaluma Speedway. The prize money offered was $1,250 for the winner. There was also news that incoming point leader Caden Sarale of Stockton would not be in attendance. Sarale was in Santa Maria, where he won the USCS Sprint Car Main Event in exciting fashion.
This opened the door for a new winner to emerge in the series, and reigning WMR champion Logan Mitchell of Santa Cruz would come through for the biggest win of his career. Mitchell is often the lead EcoTec Midget in the field, and he became the first winner of a BCRA Main Event for the WMR group. As a BCRA member, however, Mitchell is competing for championships in both groups.
Last season, Mitchell finished third in the final BCRA standings. A current point update has not been made as of press time, but it’s possible that Mitchell has moved into the point lead. Consistency has been at the heart of Logan’s effort from the start with six Top 5 finishes in seven BCRA races.
The update for the WMR standings hasn’t been made yet, but Mitchell should still be the leader as Nick Leonard Jr of San Jose and Isak Johnson battle for second with Nathan Moore of Santa Cruz. Leonard has been having a good year with BCRA and is currently being shown in third ahead of Hall of Famer Floyd Alvis of San Carlos and Cody Gray of Auburn.
Multi-time BCRA champion Sarale has wins at Marysville, Santa Maria and the first Petaluma race this year, but his start in the Ken Graunstadt Memorial at Antioch earlier this year is one he’d just as soon forget. He ended up 15th with a DNF after battling up front early. It was Connor Speir of Fillmore getting the win on that occasion ahead of open wheel ace Jake Andreotti of Castro Valley and Cody Gray.
The lack of points for last week’s Pacific Coast Hobby Stock race made it possible for several drivers to take the week off in the middle of their seven-week stretch of races. While three-time winner Aidan Ponciano of Oakley was finishing second at Antioch and James Thomson of Pittsburg was snapping a four-race winning streak for Brentwood’s Colten Haney at Petaluma, Hunter Hammett of Oakley and Antioch’s Jewell Crandall were taking the week off.
Hammett, who has three wins of his own this year, leads Crandall by 14 points coming into Saturday night’s race. Both Hammett and Ponciano have nine Top 5 finishes in the 11 point races held so far. Ponciano is just four points behind Thomson for third and 30 points out of the lead in the close, four-car battle. Thomson will be hoping his Petaluma luck from last week follows him back to Antioch, where he’s been in a two-race slump.
At the last point race, two-time reigning champion Grayson Baca of Brentwood suffered motor issues and didn’t start the Main Event. This enabled Charlie Bryant of Oakley to take a 62 point advantage in the battle for fifth. Currently, Maddie Motts of San Pablo, Brentwood’s Jesse Paladino, top rookie Nicholas Garner of Antioch and Nicky Skidmore of Benicia rank seventh through 10th in the standings.
Management just clarified that the IMCA point races will wrap up by the end of August, meaning the Sport Modifieds only have three point races left. Following his second-straight win and fourth of the season, three-time champion Fred Ryland of Brentwood maintains an eight point advantage over two-time winner Danny Wagoner of Bay Point. Given the nature of the IMCA point system, everybody trailing Ryland really needs to make up some points this week.
Three-time champion Trevor Clymens of Brentwood has been running fast recently as he searches for his second win of the season. He may need it this week as he’s 14 points behind Ryland and one ahead of Al Johnson of Antioch. Johnson hasn’t won yet this year, but he’s the only driver of the four with Top 5 finishes in every point race. He’s coming off of a third place finish behind current California State point leader Jeff Bentancourt.
Bentancourt used his good finish to move to within nine points of Antioch’s James Graessle in the battle for fifth. Currently, Mark Garner and Alfred Johnson, both of Antioch, Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley and Atwater’s Tanner Thomas make up the balance of the Top 10 in the standings.
The IMCA Stock Car championship battle has three races remaining, but Brentwood’s Fred Ryland has put himself in a position where just starting those races will likely clinch him his second-straight championship. Ryland scored his third win of the season last week, while Jason Robles of Rio Vista was sitting out the week due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Robles still has second in the standings but is 45 points out of the lead. That distance cannot be made up in one night as the most points a driver can get for winning an IMCA race is 40.
Past IMCA Stock Car champion Troy Foulger is a three-time winner in the division this year and trails Robles by 27 tallies. He’s also 32 points ahead of Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista. Past State champion Scott Foster of Oakley moved back into fifth in the standings after last week, five points ahead of Dave Hill of San Francisco and 22 over current State point leader Justin Villanueva of Atwater. Jake Archibald of Oakley trails Foster by 29 points and is also third in the State.
For the Hardtop and Sportsman division, this week will be their opportunity to pay tribute to Antioch Speedway Hall of Famer Bill Bowers. They were unable to be moved to the September makeup date as the night was already pretty full. The trophies for the evening will be sponsored by MTZ Auto.
Reigning champion Joel Hannagan of San Jose has won the last two races aboard the Doug Braudrick-owned Junkyard Dog, giving him an eight point lead over Mike Gillard of Atwater. Gillard won the season opener for the class. Gillard is a two-time Merced Sportsman champion, while Hannagan is closing in on his second Merced championship. Running third in a tie with Tim Porter of Atwater is Antioch’s Damien Curl. This is the rookie season for Curl, who is driving for his grandfather, Brad Coelho.
Despite the small turnout last time, there was plenty of excitement in the Mini Stock Main Event. When point leader Tom Brown of Santa Rosa and rookie Brandon Rodgerson of Napa tangled in the fourth turn, that caused a one-lap shootout to the checkered flag. David Dupuis of Union City found himself in the lead at that point and managed to hold off Rogerson for his first career victory. The win proved to be very popular with the crowd, and Dupuis admitted the win came with a fair amount of luck on his side.
Brown has a firm hold on the point lead at Antioch and also leads at Petaluma. Despite no wins at Petaluma, he has seven second place finishes to keep him at the top. He has two wins at Antioch, giving him a 72 point lead over Ryder Holmen of Antioch. In the former Pete Paulsen truck, Rogerson and Petaluma title contender Randy Miramontez of Santa Rosa are tied for third in the standings, two points ahead of Trevor Rodriguez of Rohnert Park.
Saturday night’s show features a nice variety of open wheel and fendered racing action. As the point season gets closer to the end, the championship battles in the Hobby Stocks and IMCA Sport Modifieds are heating up. It’s anybody’s guess who will ultimately come out the winner. Add in the final appearance of the BCRA/WMR Midgets California Super Series, and this will be a night you won’t want to miss.
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 11, 2026 – Steven Johnson Grabs $1k Prize In Dean Cline Classic at Antioch Speedway
- 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