Antioch, CA — It’s a rare moment when you have a father and a son both scoring Main Event victories at Antioch Speedway. Saturday night, there were two occasions as Mark Garner and Billy Garner won their respective Main Events and Colby Wiesz and Ben Wiesz were winners in their Main Events.
The Garner family has been competing at Antioch Speedway since the 1960s, going back to when Mark’s father Jerry Garner was the NASCAR Stock Car State Champion in 1969.
Point leader Mark Garner #76 added to his advantage with his second Limited Late Model Main Event win. Photo by Paul Gould
Mark Garner is wheeling a Limited Late Model these days, and he had his hands full in outrunning reigning champion Kimo Oreta for the 20 lap Main Event win. After winning his heat race, Garner started back in the third row in the Main Event while Mike Walko set the early pace. Garner made his move into second on lap five and begin challenging Walko. Two laps later, Oreta was in third, and the battle was on. Garner made a low pass in Turn 3 on the ninth lap to gain the lead, and Oreta was second two laps later. Oreta made a Turn 2 pass on Garner for the lead as they worked lap 17, but his pass was negated when Chad Hammer spun for a yellow flag. The restart saw a red flag unfurl as Hammer clipped the Turn 1 wall with his rear end and rolled. He was uninjured. Garner led the restart and repelled Oreta’s advances to score the victory as Walko, Hammer and Jon Haney rounded out the Top 5.
Billy Garner #76 captured his first career 20 lap Hobby Stock feature win. Photo by Paul Gould
In the Hobby Stock division, Mark’s son Billy Garner scored his first career 20 lap Main Event win. Newcomer Tom Cline led one lap before Garner raced by for the lead. Point leader Chris Sorensen and championship contender Michael Cooper settled into second and third a lap later. Garner had his hands full with those two drivers chasing him around the three-eighth mile clay oval. Cooper gained second on a lap nine restart, but Garner was making no mistakes ahead of him. Garner scored a well-earned victory as Cooper settled for a close second ahead of Sorensen, Matt Wacht and Anthony Wellborn.
Colby Wiesz #21 made his first visit of the season and won the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. Photo by Paul Gould
Multi time Marysville Raceway Sprint Car champion Colby Wiesz returned and picked up the victory in the 20 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. Incoming point leader Art McCarthy had the pole and was aiming for his first win of the season, but he was out of the event on lap three along with heat race winner Jacob Tuttle and Glenn Bryan. Wiesz had to battle recent Marysville winner Jake Haulot, but he gained the lead and brought it home to victory. Haulot settled for second ahead of Matt DeMartini, Jeffrey Strole and heat race winner William Fatu.
In the 20 lap Dwarf Car Main Event, it was Colby’s son Ben Wiesz scoring the Main Event victory. Wiesz chased outside front row starter Lonnie Tekaat for 12 laps before making an inside pass on the backstretch to take over the lead. A lap 16 caution flag bunched up the field and allowed point leader Mike Corsaro a shot at the victory, but Wiesz was not to be denied as he took the checkered flag in first. Corsaro had a solid night in second, followed by David Rosa, Tekaat and Tony Carmignani.
Fred Ryland #7j won his third B Modified Main Event of the year in impressive fashion. Photo by Paul Gould
Fred Ryland closed in on his 50th career Antioch Speedway win with a rather impressive 20 lap B Modified victory. Ryland had the lead from the start as point leader and previous winner Trevor Clymens had to start last. The battle was for second between Chuck Golden and Todd Gomez for several laps, but Gomez gained the position on a lap 12 restart. Clymens made an outside pass for third on lap 18. However, there was no catching Ryland as he won by a straightaway, followed by Gomez, Clymens, Golden and Randy Brown.
Next Saturday night will be the Firecracker 50 for the All Star Series B Modified division, and it will pay $500 to win. Also on the card will be the A Modifieds, Wingless Spec Sprints, Limited Late Models and Hobby Stocks. The B Modifieds will also have another Sharpshooter Tournament Race. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Unofficial Race Results
All Star Series
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Jacob Tuttle, William Fatu. Main Event (20 laps)-Colby Wiesz, Jake Haulot, Matt DeMartini, Geoffrey Strole, William Fatu, David Dias, Tim Burcher, Art McCarthy, Glenn Bryan, Jacob Tuttle.
Limited Late Models
Heat Winner (8 laps)-Mark Garner. Main Event (20 laps)-Mark Garner, Kimo Oreta, Mike Walko, Chad Hammer, Jon Haney, Ryan Cherezian, Chris Long
B Modifieds
Heat winners (8 laps)-Trevor Clymens, Fred Ryland. Main Event (20 laps)-Fred Ryland, Todd Gomez, Trevor Clymens, Chuck Golden, Randy Brown, Kenny Shrader, Tommy Fraser, Doff Cooksey, Tim Roland, Kevin Brown DQ
Hobby Stocks
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Cameron Swank, Anthony Wellborn. Main Event (20 laps)-Billy Garner, Michael Cooper, Chris Sorensen, John Wacht, Anthony Wellborn, Breanna Troen, Tom Cline, Angela Brown, Cameron Swank, Jake Fletcher.
Dwarf Cars
Heat Winners (8 laps)-Josh Wiesz, Mike Corsaro. Main Event (20 laps)-Ben Wiesz, Mike Corsaro, David Rosa, Lonnie Tekaat, Tony Carmignani, David Michael Rosa, Mario Marquez, Chris Becker, Josh Wiesz, Charlie Correia.
