Antioch, CA — A turnout of roughly 80 racers competed in the six division All Star Series event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.
The Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event saw Matt Barber become the 10th different winner in 13 races. Brian Cass earned his third A Modified Main Event victory, while Mark Garner got his fifth Limited Late Model win. Brian Pearce won his first 20 lap B Modified Main Event, while Fred Ryland became a double division winner after winning the 20 lap Hobby Stock feature. The California Hardtops made their fifth appearance of the season, and Jason Armstrong won the special Chet Thomson Memorial 20 lap race.
Matt Barber #58 became the tenth different Winged 360 Sprint Car feature winner with his first career win on Saturday night. Photo By Paul Gould.
The Sprint Cars had a solid 14 car turnout with visiting drivers again boosting car count. Matt Barber has made several visits and has finished as high as fourth this season. This week, Barber found himself battling for his first Antioch victory with another Outlaw Kart graduate, Kenny Allen, making his first visit. When the checkered flag flew, it was Barber leading the way in victory ahead of Allen. Shawn Arriaga drove the Brett Lay owned car to a third place finish ahead of Brent Dothage and Shawn Conde. Art McCarthy’s eighth place finish and heat race win closed the gap to less than ten points behind Billy Aton in the championship battle with two races left.
A field of 18 A Modified competitors were on hand to do battle in the 20 lap Main Event. Past Hanford and Watsonville champion Brian Cass had his hands full with the return of 2004 champion Aaron Crowell. Cass is one of two repeat winners in this division, and he became the first three time winner as he held off Crowell for the victory. Point leader Carl Berendsen II had one of his best finishes of the season in third as he closes in on his second championship in three seasons. Trent Wentworth and five time champion Scott Busby rounded out the Top 5 finishers.
Mark Garner is locked in a close battle with Kimo Oreta for second in Limited Late Model points. On this occasion, Mark had a side by side battle with the truck of Ryan Cherezian on the final lap before racing to his fifth 20 lap feature win of the season. Cherezian was a career best second ahead of likely champion Larry Damitz. Top rookie Oreta settled for fourth ahead of Mike Gustafson.
Brian Pearce scored his first career B Modified Main Event victory. Photo By Paul Gould.
Brian Pearce and B Modified point leader Trevor Clymens were battling for a victory earlier this season when Pearce lost the lead late and hit the front wall hard. It’s been a rough season for Pearce, but his perseverance paid off as he scored his first career victory. Clymens was attempting a pass for what could have been his eigth win when he spun on lap 13. This opened the door for rookie Shane DeVolder to grab his sixth runnerup finish ahead of Anthony Giuliani, heat race winner Al Johnson and Kevin Brown.
Fred Ryland is the reigning B Modified champion and a feature winner in that class this year. Ryland took the wheel of the Chase Templeton Hobby Stock for the 20 lap race. He proceeded to score an impressive victory with point leader Guy Ahlwardt not far behind him in second. Cameron Swank and Chris Sorensen crossed the line in third and fourth, respectively, but both drivers were disqualified in post race tech. Second place point runner Lindsey Buirch ended up third ahead of newcomer Syd Smyth and Frank Furtado.
Rounding out the program was the return of the Chet Thomson Memorial Hardtop race. The race ran at Vallejo Speedway from 1967 through the track’s closure in 1979 as a tribute to 1962 Hardtop champion Thomson. Thomson passed away after a battle with Cancer. Just last week, Jason Armstrong’s son Tyler passed away. Tyler had Leukemia and bravely went through many treatments. The Hardtop group donated the proceeds from Thomson Memorial t-shirt sales to the Armstrong family to help with medical costs. Jason Armstrong was driving with a heavy heart, but he won both his heat race and the 20 lap Main Event. Ken Retzloff had a close battle with heat winner Dave Mackey before Mackey spun to avoid contact, causing a four car pileup. Retzloff finished second ahead of Jason’s father Dennis Armstrong, Dan Williams and Jason Clifford.
Six divisions compete next week, headlined by the Winged 360 Sprint Cars, DIRTcar Late Models, A Modifieds, B Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Unofficial Race Results
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Justin Sanders, Art McCarthy. Main Event (25 Laps)-Matt Barber, Kenny Allen, Shawn Arriaga, Brent Dothage, Shawn Conde, Wayne Katen, Matt DeMartini, McCarthy, Billy Aton, Michael Kofold, Shawn Laeber, Sanders (DQ), Marissa Polizzi (DNS).
A Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Aaron Crowell, Brian Cass, Nick DeCarlo. Main Event (20 Laps)-Cass, Crowell, Carl Berendsen II, Trent Wentworth, Scott Busby, Anthony Slaney, Norm Boeck, Chris Compton, Walter Ball, Bobby Motts Jr., MacDougall, Bobby Montalvo, Jake Dewsbury, Mike Salazar, Josh Combs, DeCarlo, Jason Ryan, Sean O’Gara.
Limited Late Models
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Mike Gustafson, Larry Damitz. Main Event (20 Laps)-Mark Garner, Ryan Cherezian, Damitz, Kimo Oreta, Gustafson, Jay Bryant, Lori Brown, John Keith, Jon Haney, Chad Hammer.
B Modifieds
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Al Johnson, Anthony Guiliani. Main Event (20 Laps)-Brian Pearce, Shane DeVolder, Giuliani, Johnson, Kevin Brown, Trevor Clymens, Walter Harper, Tim Hammett, Mike Mates, K.C. Keller, Brian Lyons, Josh Hensley, George Medeiros.
Hobby Stock
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Fred Ryland, Cameron Swank. Main Event (20 Laps)-Fred Ryland, Guy Ahlwardt, Lindsey Buirch, Syd Smyth, Frank Furtado, Jordan Swank, Anthony Vigna, Cameron Swank (DQ), Chris Sorensen (DQ).
Hardtops
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Jason Armstrong, Dave Mackey. Main Event (20 Laps)-J. Armstrong, Ken Retzloff, Dennis Armstrong, Dan Williams, Jason Clifford, Charles Mart, Steve Cloyes, Joe Shenefield, Mackey, Tommy Thomson, Dave Reed, Ken Clifford, Eddie Dixon, Larry Damitz (DNS).
