Antioch, CA — The All Star Series racing program only has two point races remaining, and there’s still some good battles for position in all divisions at Antioch Speedway.
Headlining the show this weekend will be the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and the A Modifieds, and both classes have been very interesting with 10 different Main Event winners in each division. Also returning to action will be the popular DIRTcar Late Model division along with the B Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars.
There are two big storylines at play in The Winged 360 Sprint car division. There is a close championship battle between Billy Aton and Art McCarthy and a winner’s list of 10 drivers after 13 races. The two drivers running at the top of the list are the ones who have scored more than one victory. Two time winner Aton now leads three time winner McCarthy by less than ten points going into this race. The last race was not a good night for either of them, but McCarthy did slightly better with a heat race win and an eighth place place Main Event finish. Aton finished right behind McCarthy in ninth.
Another Outlaw Kart graduate, Kenny Allen, made his first appearance at Antioch Speedway in the hopes of becoming another new winner, but his efforts fell just short in second. Matt Barber has been putting a little bit more time in at Antioch Speedway, and his recent three visits had been disappointing. After his initial three starts resulted in Top 5 finishes, Barber saw something he liked and decided to keep coming back. On Saturday night, he finally broke through for his first victory.
The Winner’s List has ten names on it, including Shawn Conde, who made his first start in several races and finished fifth in the event behind three time Marysville Sprint Car champion Brent Dothage. Another welcome sight in the field was Shawn Arriaga, who was once again piloting the Brett Lay own car. Arriaga now has a second and a third in that car. Could a win be next? Management has to be pleased with the turn out of 14 Sprint Cars last week and the fact that so many drivers are willing to come out and give the fast race track a shot.
The track continues to have some good local competitors, including Aton, McCarthy, Arriaga, 2014 champion Chris Magoon, third ranked Dan Gonderman, Burt Foland Jr., Ricky Brophy and rookie Tim Burcher. You never know who will show up from week to week, but you’re going to get some entertaining racing when the Winged 360 Sprint Cars are in town.
It might be a good thing for the other A Modified racers that Brian Cass is not racing for points this year. As it is, he has been pretty fast when he has made his visits. Last Saturday night, Cass scored his third Main Event victory of the year ahead of 2004 track champion Aaron Crowell. Crowell was returning after being out of the action for a while with a blown motor. Looking as good as he did last week, one would have to think that Crowell could be a threat to win his second feature this week.
Carl Berendsen II is another driver hoping to get a win, and right now consistency has served him well as he appears to be headed for his second track championship in three seasons. Carl sped to a third place finish last week. Scott Busby already has five championships to his credit, and his fifth place finish behind Trent Wentworth last week put some distance between Busby and Shawn O’Gara, who did not finish the race. If Busby can hold on to his second place point position, it will be the third time in his career that he’s been the runner-up in the standings.
Some drivers may be coming to town this week to check their setups as promoter John M. Soares has announced the race date for October 8th. It will be the John Soares Sr. Memorial Top Dog Shoot Out. The race honors the man who opened Antioch Speedway in 1961 and promoted the track for 20 years. The A Modified and Late Model divisions will pay $1,500 to win. Also on the program that night will be $850 to win B Modified and Hobby Stock races.
Because of the wide open competitive nature of the A Modified division, that big money race could be anybody’s to win. There are still some competitive locals who have yet to win, including Top 5 point competitor Trent Wentworth and four time champion Troy Foulger. Foulger’s car owner Billy Bowers called his car a second place car in his frustrations with their luck at the track this year. However, if there is one thing people know about this team it’s that they always come prepared when the money is on the line. They won two big money races at the track last season. Saturday night would be perfect for them should they choose to appear. Other drivers to watch for this weekend include rookie Bobby Montalvo, 2015 point runner up Bobby Motts Jr, hard charger Mike Salazar, Anthony Slaney, Norman Beck and John MacDougall.

Richard Papenhausen #4p increased his DIRTcar Late Model point lead with his second feature win of the season. Photo By Paul Gould Photography
The DIRTcar Late Model division has been a two car point battle between Richard Papenhausen and Jeff Decker. Papenhausen won the 2014 championship and Decker is the reigning champion. Currently, Papenhausen leads the point standings and is hoping he can wrap up another championship this week. Papenhausen won the most recent race for his second victory of the season. Decker is also a Main Event winner in A Modifieds this year.
After Chester Kniss parked his car to make repairs from some serious damage suffered from his roll over, the third place battle became a race between Dennis Souza and Mike Hynes. These two drivers have been staunch supporters of the class this year and are hoping that they can break through to a Top 3 feature finish this week. However, the lure of racing Late Models at Antioch could draw two fast competitors in past division champion Andy Obertello and double division racer Troy Foulger. Obertello has a win this season. Foulger has finished second, but he was a two time winner last season.
Other drivers to watch for this week include third ranked 2015 point racer Danny Malfatti, David Newquist, Rob Norris and two time Petaluma Speedway champion Paul Guglielmoni. It is also possible that we may see the House Car with an as of yet unnamed driver behind the wheel.

Trevor Clymens #2c enjoys his latest win with his father Tom Clymens Sr. and mother Debbie Clymens, both of whom are past stars of the speedway. Photo by Paul Gould
It’s been an up and down season for Brian Pierce in the B Modified division. Pearce entered the season with hopes of contending for a championship. While battling for a win early on with point leader Trevor Clymens, Pearce begrudgingly surrendered the lead and ended up hitting the front wall after contact with a slower car. After repairing the damage on his car and missing several races, Pearce made his return three races ago and was immediately running in the Top 5 again. Last week, he raced to a satisfying and much needed first career Main Event win.
Though he has won, rookie Shane DeVolder seems more used to finishing second as he has six runner up finishes at Antioch so far this year. Last time out, DeVolder held off veteran Anthony Giuliani for the second place finish. With his heat race win and fourth place feature finish, Al Johnson kept himself in the championship hunt, but he didn’t gain too many points on the leader after Clymens finished sixth. Clymens was going for the lead on lap 13 last week when he spun. He’ll be back to go for his eighth win this week as he tries to wrap up the track championship.
Despite a very heavy schedule, the B Modifieds seem to be holding up pretty well as new drivers continue to join the field every week. Last week, that included Mike Mates and Brian Lyons as well as Merced Speedway visitors George Medeiros and Josh Hensley. Kevin Brown scored another fifth place Main Event finish as he continues to get faster with every start. Add tough competitors like Tim Hammett, K.C. Keller and Paul Mulder and you’ve got a good show for this division this week.

With his fourth Hobby Stock win of the season, Guy Ahlwardt #10 gained the point lead and collected some contingency prizes from Unique Breedz as well. Photo by Paul Gould
In the Hobby Stock division, it seems a foregone conclusion that Guy Ahlwardt will win the track championship and the “Rookie Of The Year” title in the same season. However, Ahlwardt met his match last week as good friend and the reigning B Modified champion Fred Ryland held him off for the victory behind the wheel of the borrowed Chase Templeton car. Ryland is familiar with that car as his wife drove it to a Top 3 season a few years ago and he got behind the wheel of the car for a 100 lap win back in 2014.
Rookie Lindsey Buirch ended up finishing third in the Main Event last week after the apparent third and fourth place finishers Cameron Swank and Chris Sorensen both got disqualified in post race tech. The fifth place finish she crossed the line with would have been good enough to gain her second in the points anyway. Quietly, and under the radar, last year’s “Rookie Of The Year” Jordan Swank is prepared to move into third in the points after this week. Considering he wasn’t even in the Top 5 in the standings a few races ago, he has to be pleased with the way his season is ending.
Michael Cooper would likely be holding down second in the points at this time, but because of his work schedule, he missed another race last week. As it is, it has been a good season for Cooper, who won his first Main Event this season. Frank Furtado also got his first win this year and is steadily climbing up the point ladder. These two drivers are anticipated this week along with rookie Anthony Vigna and newcomer Syd Smyth.
Not to be forgotten on the card is the Dwarf Car division, which we haven’t seen much lately. When last we saw them, Stock Car veteran David Rosa was picking up his first ever win in this division. Meanwhile, his son David Michael Rosa is now in the Top 5 in the standings. Higher up on the point ladder you will find point leader Kevin Miraglio and Mike Corsaro. Both are Main Event winners this year, and Miraglio now has two of them among his frequent Top 3 finishes. Miraglio missed the most recent race to compete at Petaluma in a Dwarf Car Regional event. Rather than stay at Antioch and almost certainly gain the point lead, Corsaro followed him to Petaluma.
These two drivers are almost certain to be at Antioch this week and at the Dwarf Car Nationals in Marysville next week along with Tim Reeder. Reeder is poised to move back into third in the standings at Antioch as word was that rookie Buddy Kniss had another engagement this Saturday night. Kniss has already sold his car and is moving up to the B Modified division next season. Other drivers to watch for this week include Robert Coe, Jenna Frazier, veteran Charlie Correia and Timmy Ryan.
This Saturday night’s six division show of Winged 360 Sprint Cars, DIRTcar Late Models, A Modifieds, B Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars should be a good night of racing. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.
Antioch Speedway Points
Winged 360 Sprint Car
Billy Aton 594
Art McCarthy 589
Dan Gonderman 392
Burt Foland Jr. 334
Shawn Arriaga 237
Matt Barber 220
Matt DeMartini 202
Rick Brophy 174
Marissa Polizzi 151
Chris Magoon 150
DIRTcar Late Model
Richard Papenhausen 366
Jeff Decker 340
Dennis Souza 242
Mikde Hynes 231
Andy Obertello 196
Chester Kniss 171
Rob Norris 164
Bobby Hogge IV 162
Paul Guglielmoni 160
David Newquist 139
A Modifieds
Carl Berendsen II 512
Scott Busby 461
Trent Wentworth 430
Sean O’Gara 422
Bobby Montalvo 418
Norm Beck 304
Troy Foulger 289
Ray Lindeman 274
Brian Cass 256
Aaron Crowell 246
B Modifieds
Trevor Clymens 898
Al Johnson 874
Shane DeVolder 844
Danny Jones 636
K.C. Keller 610
Randy Brown 368
Brian Pearce 334
Chuck Golden 322
Anthony Giuliani 321
Lloyd Cline 271
Hobby Stock
Guy Ahlwardt 686
Linsdsey Buirch 562
Danny Jones 537
Jordan Swank 532
Michael Cooper 500
Chris Sorensen 479
Cameron Swank 456
Frank Futado 437
Anthony Vigna 418
Natalie Perry 379
Dwarf Car
Kevin Miraglio 474
Mike Corsaro 454
Buddy Kniss 390
Tim Reeder 378
David Michael Rosa 360
David Rosa Sr. 338
Charlie Correia 320
Robert Coe 256
Jenna Frazer 254
Timmy Ryan 240
Information provided by Don Martin II