Home Antioch Matson, Garner, Clymens, Ahlwardt Share Antioch Speedway Spotlight

Matson, Garner, Clymens, Ahlwardt Share Antioch Speedway Spotlight

by ECT

Antioch, CA. — Riley Matson became the ninth different All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Car feature winner with his 20 lap Main Event win Saturday night at Antioch Speedway.

A championship contender at Petaluma, Matson was riding along in fifth during the first ten laps when the complexion of the race changed.  The race was led early by point leader Billy Aton ahead of heat winner Brent Dothage.  After completing the seventh lap, Aton lost a wheel in Turn 2.  Dothage made contact with the wheel as he raced by, but Art McCarthy was collected in the incident.

With a night off at Petaluma, where he's second in the standings, Riley Matson #29 won the 20 lap All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. He is the ninth different winner in 11 races. Photo by Paul Gould

With a night off at Petaluma, where he’s second in the standings, Riley Matson #29 won the 20 lap All Star Series Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. He is the ninth different winner in 11 races. Photo by Paul Gould

With Aton out of the event, Dothage held the lead.  The son of Antioch Speedway Sportsman legend Gene Dothage, Brent continued so set the pace with Matson in close pursuit.  Matson began pressuring Dothage for the lead late.  On lap 18, Matson made a high pass in Turn 4 to grab the lead.  Matson led the rest of the way for the impressive victory.  Dothage settled for second, and McCarthy gained more ground in the standings with his third place finish. Jake Haulot and heat winner Marissa Polizzi rounded out the Top 5 finishers.

Mark Garner impressed with his fourth 20 lap Limited Late Model feature win.  Garner had a front row start with past champion Lori Brown and he raced into the lead at the start.  Heat race winner and point leader Larry Damitz raced by Brown for second on lap four and took up the chase of Garner.  However, Garner set a blistering pace in the non stop event and posted a much needed victory.  Damitz settled for second ahead of Brown, Kimo Oreta and Paul Hanley.  Previous feature winner Mike Gustafson won his heat race.

Point leader Trevor Clymens #2c celebrated his seventh B Modified Main Event victory and tenth heat race triumph with his family. Photo by Paul Gould

Point leader Trevor Clymens #2c celebrated his seventh B Modified Main Event victory and tenth heat race triumph with his family. Photo by Paul Gould

Point leader Trevor Clymens returned to the winner’s circle in an eventful B Modified Main Event.  It was the seventh win of the season for the current point leader, and he also won his tenth heat race earlier in the evening.  The race had several yellow flags, and a yellow and checkered flag combo ended the race early with Clymens collecting the victory.  Heat race winner Danny Jones repeated his season best effort of a week ago in second ahead of Al Johnson, K.C. Keller and Chuck Golden.

Guy Ahlwardt returned to the winner’s circle in the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event.  The top rookie has been in a bit of a victory drought in recent races, but this win will move him back into the point lead following the tech disqualification of Danny Jones.  Ahlwardt started up front and raced into the early lead ahead of Cameron Swank.  As the previous winner Danny Jones started back in tenth and worked his way into third, Ahlwardt led the way. Jones made a mid race pass on Swank for second.  A yellow flag on lap 15 bunched the field, but Ahlwardt withstood the Jones challenge for the victory.  Jones and Swank crossed the line in second and third, but both cars failed post race tech inspection.  This moved fourth place finisher Michael Cooper into second as Frank Furtado, newcomer Syd Smith and Jordan Swank rounded out the Top 5.  Rob Waldrop, Dan McCown and Robert Niven were heat race winners.

BCRA Midget Lites point leader Craig Dillard won the battle of attrition to claim the Main Event victory.  The current runaway point leader, Dillard won both Antioch events this season.  Hunter Kinney led the first three laps before mechanical problems struck in Turn 2.  At that point, Dillard had the lead, and he would lead the rest of the way.  The battle in points continues to be for second between recent Placerville winner Kyle Offill and Australian Scott Males, and they battled for second in the Main Event.  Offill claimed the runnerup finish as Males settled for third ahead of Roy Moody and Dave Dufa.

Racing continues this Saturday night with a loaded seven division program that will include Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Wingless Spec Sprints, A Modifieds, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.  For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Unofficial Race Results, August 20

Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Brent Dothage, Marissa Polizzi.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Riley Matson, Dothage, Art McCarthy, Jake Haulot, Polizzi, Burt Foland Jr., John Clark, Jenna Frazier, Dan Gonderman, Jake Wheeler, Matt Barber, Aaron Miller, Billy Aton.

B Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Danny Jones, Trevor Clymens.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Clymens, Jones, Al Johnson, K.C. Keller, Chuck Golden, Lonnie Leonard, Tim Hammett, Burt Lyons, Shane DeVolder, Mike Mates.

Hobby Stocks
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Rob Waldrop, Dan McCown, Robert Niven.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Guy Ahlwardt, Michael Cooper, Frank Furtado, Syd Smith, Jordan Swank, Lindsey Buirch, Russell Shearer, Mitchell Loccicere, Chris Sorensen, Chris Long, Niven, Waldrop, Melissa Myers, Calvin Louis Jr., Chase Templeton, McCown, Anthony Vigna, Natalie Perry, Danny Jones (DQ), Cameron Swank (DQ).

Limited Late Models
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Mike Gustafson, Larry Damitz.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Mark Garner, Damitz, Lori Brown, Kimo Oreta, Paul Hanley, Ryan Cherezian, Mike Gustafson, Jeff Kendrick, John Evans.

BCRA Midget Lites
Main Event (20 Laps)-Craig Dillard, Kyle Offill, Scott Males, Roy Moody, Dave Dufa.

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