Antioch, CA — Saturday night at Antioch Speedway offered something for everybody. There was a big bike giveaway for the kids during intermission and new and familiar faces in the winner’s circle.
Point leader Billy Aton rebounded with a win in the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event, while Jim Perry Jr. protected his Wingless Spec Sprint point lead with a 20 lap victory of his own. Point leader Larry Damitz caught a break late in the race to win the 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event. Frank Furtado also benefited from the leader’s misfortune to win his first career 20 lap Hobby Stock feature. Two drivers from the Marysville area came to town and won as Duane Cleveland (A Modifieds) and Phillip Shelby (B Modifieds) won their 20 lap features. Stock Car veteran David Rosa won his first career 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event.
Billy Aton won the 20 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. Aton needed a big night after he lost a wheel while leading last week and fell out of the running. This time around, Aton got the lead and went on to score a much needed second win of the season. Driving for Brett Lay, reigning champion Shawn Arriaga made a charge from the fifth row for a season best second place finish. Burt Foland Jr. wrapped up his best night of the year by adding a third place finish to his heat win from earlier in the evening. Art McCarthy and Dan Gonderman rounded out the Top 5. Petaluma racer Roberto Kirby won a heat race and was leading the Main Event early before flipping. He wasn’t injured, but he was out of the race.
Open wheel racing veteran Jim Perry Jr. #15p pretty much wrapped up his second Wingless Spec Sprint championship with his third win of the season, Photo by Paul Gould
Jim Perry Jr. pretty much wrapped up his second Wingless Spec Sprint championship by winning his third 20 lap feature of the season. The stage was set for drama early on. After Shannon Newton won his heat race, Perry was black flagged from his heat for exceeding the state mandated DBA limit. Title hopeful Marcus Smith was looking for the win, but instead he blew a motor in the Richard Basden owned car. That gave rookie Adam Teves his first career heat race win. Teves graciously stepped out of the Smith owned car, though Smith made no such request.
Smith started last in the Spec Sprint Main Event, which was led early by Newton before Perry went charging by. Perry went on to victory from there. Newton held down second until Smith finally made his move late in the race. Officials ruled that Smith would only be allowed to race for money and not points as he was not competing in the car he started the evening with. Newton settled for third ahead of Roy Fisher. Brandon Burd rebounded from a hard flip last time out to finish fifth ahead of Rick Panfili. Chris Magoon flipped his car on the opening lap of his heat race to end his night.
Duane Cleveland beat a competitive field of A Modifieds for the 20 lap feature win. A past Chico champion, Cleveland led most of the race to become the tenth different feature winner of the season. Second generation racer Sean O’Gara stayed in the Top 3 point battle with his season best second place finish as division legend Scott Busby came from the back to finish third. Trent Wentworth and point leader Carl Berendsen II rounded out the Top 5. Four time champion Troy Foulger and Nick Viscusi III were the heat race winners.
Larry Damitz won his fifth 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event, but he had luck on his side. Rookie Kimo Oreta won the heat race and set a rapid pace up front for most of the Main Event. Coming out of Turn 4 with just five laps to go, Oreta lost power and coasted to a stop. Damitz had managed to grab second from Lori Brown, and he found himself in the lead at that point. Damitz led the rest of he way. Brown surrendered second to Jeff Kendrick as she had a flat tire. Mike Gustafson finished third as Brown limped home to a fourth place finish.
In the B Modified division, three time Marysville Stock Car champion Phillip Shelby made his first visit of the season and went home with a 20 lap Main Event victory. After winning his 11th heat race of the year, point leader Trevor Clymens had his sights set on another Main Event win. However, Shelby drove a great race for the victory as Clymens settled for second. The Main Event had a red flag early on after a spectacular flip by Chuck Golden in Turn 3. Fortunately, he was not injured. Al Johnson kept his title hopes alive with a third place feature finish ahead of Shane DeVolder and Kevin Brown.
Frank Furtado #81 won his first career Hobby Stock Main Event. Photo by Paul Gould
Frank Furtado has been a Hobby Stock competitor at Antioch for several seasons, but that 20 lap feature win had eluded him until Saturday. It was rookie Anthony Vigna who set the pace up front from the start. Vigna was running a great race ahead of Futado when motor problems put an end to what could have been a victory on lap 17. Vigna’s blown motor caught fire, but he was not injured. Suddenly, Furtado had the lead. Furtado held off Cameron Swank over the final three laps for the popular victory. Point leader and heat winner Guy Alhwardt rebounded from a spin to finish third ahead of Lindsey Buirch and Chris Sorensen.
Stock Car veteran David Rosa #68 has won nearly 60 Main Events in his Antioch Speedway career, but this was his first Dwarf Car win. Photo by Paul Gould
Two time Street Stock champion David Rosa finally collected his first career 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event victory. Rosa started his night by joining South Bay Dwarf Car visitor William Belfield in winning a heat race. Come Main Event time, Rosa proved to be just a little too fast for Belfield as he led him for the 1-2 finish. Buddy Kniss had third before spinning and ending up sixth. David Michael Rosa finished third ahead of Tim Reeder and Timmy Ryan.
After a week off, racing returns to Antioch Speedway on Saturday night, September 10th. The All Star Series program will include Winged 360 Sprint Cars, A Modifieds, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Hardtops. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Unofficial Race Results, August 27
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Roberto Kirby, Burt Foland Jr. Main Event (20 Laps)-Billy Aton, Shawn Arriaga, Foland, Art McCarthy, Dan Gonderman
A Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Troy Foulger, Nick Viscusi III. Main Event (20 Laps)-Duane Cleveland, Sean O’Gara, Scott Busby, Trent Wentworth, Carl Berendsen II.
Wingless Spec Sprints
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Shannon Newton, Adam Teves. Main Event (20 Laps)-Jim Perry Jr., Marcus Smith, Newton, Roy Fisher, Brandon Burd.
B Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Trevor Clymens, Nick DeCarlo. Main Event (20 Laps)-Phillip Shelby, Clymens, Al Johnson, Shane DeVolder, Kevin Brown.
Limited Late Models
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Kimo Oreta. Main Event (20 Laps)-Larry Damitz, Jeff Kendrick, Mike Gustafson, Lori Brown, Orerta.
Hobby Stocks
Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Guy Ahlwardt. Main Event (20 Laps)-Frank Furtado, Cameron Swank, Ahlwardt, Lindsey Buirch, Chris Sorensen.
Dwarf Cars
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-William Belfield, David Rosa. Main Event (20 Laps)-Rosa, Belfield, David Michael Rosa, Tim Reeder, Timmy Ryan.
Information Provided by Don Martin II
