7/15/2025
Antioch Speedway
Six Divisions Of Racing Planned On Scout Night This Saturday At Antioch Speedway
Antioch, CA...After a two-week break, Antioch Speedway comes back to life this Saturday night with an exciting six division show of racing on the 3/8 mile clay oval. It's also Scout Night, meaning kids in their Scout uniforms will get in for free.
Back in May, management realized there was an opportunity to book several divisions on the 19th without conflicting with other tracks. With intent to give the fans a great show, the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars, Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks, Wingless Spec Sprints, Mini Stocks and 600 Micro Sprints were scheduled for what should be a great night of racing at the Contra Costa County Event Center racing facility.
Bay Point resident Danny Wagner leads the IMCA Sport Modified State championship race. He's towed up and down the state of California. If you think he's leading merely by showing up everywhere, think again. Nicknamed "Captain Chaos" for his exciting style of racing at Antioch Speedway through the years, Danny has won 10 times on the circuit this season at four different tracks and the leads the standings at both Watsonville and Santa Maria.
At Antioch, however, he finds himself ranked fifth due to missing an early season race. He trails Oakley's Tommy Clymens Jr by 18 points in the race for fourth, while leading three-time Antioch champion Fred Ryland of Brentwood by 10. Wagner has won in five other divisions at Antioch through the years, but he's still looking for his first win in this division. He does have a pair of seconds and a third.
At the top of the list, two-time reigning champion Kenny Shrader of Pacheco and Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley have been engaged in a knockdown, drag out fight for the lead for the last two and a half years. Shrader has come out the winner over the past two seasons with Ryan a close second. Both drivers have one win and six Top 5's so far this season, and Shrader leads Ryan by eight tallies. Meanwhile, three-time Antioch titleist Trevor Clymens of Brentwood has picked up a pair of victories this season and remains just 11 points out of the lead in third.
While the Sport Modifieds have the closest battle at the speedway, the championship is still very much on the line in the Pacific Coast Hobby Stock division. Admittedly, 2023 title winner Grayson Baca of Brentwood took a big step forward at the most recent race when he scored his third feature victory of the season. The win alone would have been enough reason to celebrate, but Baca had more luck on his side.
Oakley's James East, who picked up his second Petaluma Speedway feature win last week, carried a three-point lead into the most recent Antioch race. He was looking to pick up his second win when mechanical gremlins struck and knocked him out. He ended up a season worst 21st to fall 39 points behind Baca in the title chase.
Meanwhile, Jewell Crandall of Antioch was third in the standings going into the night and was running second when she had to make a pit stop for bumper repairs. She recovered in seventh, but she surrendered third in the standings to Oakley's Hunter Hammett.
Second-generation racer Hammett has shown remarkable improvement in his new car this year. His last two Antioch starts are a third and a career-best second. Last week, he went to Watsonville and ended up third there as well. As Hammett continues to hit his stride, he's now two points ahead of Crandall in the race for third, and he's only 16 points behind the East for second.
The June 28th race was not good for many of the point contenders. Early season leader Charlie Bryant of Oakley had a Top 5 run going until slipping out of the groove exiting the fourth turn and hitting the front wall to end his night. He's still fifth in the standings by nine ahead of 2021 champion Larry McKinzie Jr of Discovery Bay as Jesse Paladino of Brentwood, 2020 champion James Thomson of Pittsburg, Maddie Motts of San Pablo and hard luck racer Aidan Ponciano of Oakley make up the balance of the Top 10 going into Saturday.
The IMCA Stock Car battle broke in favor of Fred Ryland at the most recent race. The Brentwood driver finished third that night to go with his division-leading three victories, and now he leads State point leader Austin Van Hoff of Chowchilla by 45 points. Missing Saturday would not cost Ryland the lead.
After missing a race, Manteca's Mitch Enos returned last time out to claim his first win of the season. He took the lead from race-long leader Dan Gonderman of Antioch down the stretch as Gonderman settled for his personal best finish in this division in second.
Meanwhile, Enos trails Van Hoff by three points in the race for second as he's tied with Kenneth Robles of Rio Vista, who finished third at Merced last week. Ranking fifth is top rookie Jared Baugh of Pittsburgh by 22 points over Jason Robles of Rio Vista and the 25 ahead of Jake Archibald of Oakley.
The Wingless Spec Sprint drivers are excited about the additional race on their schedule. A few of the competitors remarked that they didn't have enough regular shows at Antioch to go with the four Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series races, and this race could ultimately shake up the point battle. As it is, Bob Newberry of Brentwood leads in his quest to be the first three-time champion in the class.
Newberry also continues to be a supporter of the Hunt Series and ranks third in the current standings there. He is looking forward to July 26th Back To School Backpack Night. Before then, he will be looking to maintain his 18 point advantage over Anthony Bruno of San Jose. Newberry has been assisted by a pair of feature wins in his three starts, while Bruno has a second and a third as his best efforts.
Shannon Newton of Elk Grove hoped to join Newberry in the battle to become the first three-time champion, but he was unable to make the call at the second race and finds himself fifth going into Saturday. His daughter, MacKenzie Newton of Elk Grove, is tied for third with Sonora's Steve Maionchi, while Shannon is 15 points behind them and seven ahead of Eathon Lanfri of Milpitas.
Tom Brown of Santa Rosa continues to have a target on his #3r car as the Mini Stock point leader and a three-time winner. At Petaluma earlier this year, however, he suffered a rare mechanical failure that forced him to miss the start of a Main Event. This means he's trailing Michael Valente of Penngrove by 27 markers with Jason Higgins of Santa Rosa 40 points back in third following his second win of the season there last week.
At Antioch, Brown leads rookie Ryder Holmen of Oakley by 40 points. Holmen, the grandson of speedway veteran Rob Waldrop, has been making the rounds at both Antioch and Petaluma, where he also tops the rookies in the field. Holmen has a 32 point advantage over Oakland's Matt Wirth coming into the night with Jackie Price of Antioch 12 points behind Wirth in fourth. Wirth enjoyed a solid weekend last week with a fifth at Watsonville and a fourth at Petaluma. Pittsburg's Don Abitz, who recently returned to action at Antioch, finished fifth last week behind Wirth at Petaluma.
There is an Antioch and Petaluma connection that is undeniable as drivers find the tow easier between the two tracks on off nights in their divisions. This is further highlighted by the season Payton Gentry of Santa Rosa is having in 600 Micro Sprints so far. As of July, Gentry leads both the Antioch and Petaluma point races. He's trailed at Petaluma by reigning Antioch champion Ken Carter of Santa Rosa, while he leads San Jose's Buddy Chappell by 14 markers at Antioch.
Chappell has a third and a second as he looks for his first win this week. He's being chased by third ranked Ryan Dotson of Fremont, who is 30 points out of the lead and 18 in front of one-time winner Kyle Mentch of Alameda. Roberto Monroy of Antioch makes up the balance of the Top 5 in the standings.
On most occasions, the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Pacific Coast Hobby Stocks offer the biggest car counts at the speedway, and both divisions are in action this week. The IMCA Stock Cars have taken it up a notch from last year and should have an exciting show. With Wingless Spec Sprints and Micro Sprints also on the bill, there will be some thrilling open wheel action on the oval. It all adds up to a night of great racing entertainment.
The gates will open at 4:00 with the first race starting at 6:00.
Adult tickets are $15, Senior/Military $15, Kids (5-12) $15 and kids four and under free. Don't forget, kids in their Girl Scout and Boy Scout uniforms get in for free.
For further information, go to http://www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page.
Picture Descriptions
IMCA Sport Modified racers Kelly Camoanile #2, Fred Ryland #7j, Jeff Betancourt #32 and Kenny Shrader #188 battle for position. Photo by Katrina Kniss
Top 5 Hobby Stock racers Hunter Hammett #55 and Charlie Bryant #11a in heat race action. Photo by Katrina Kniss
IMCA Stock Car rookie Jake Archibald #43 and Kenneth Robles #78k battle side by side. Photo by Katrina Kniss
Two-time Wingless Spec Sprint champion Shannon Newton #2n. Photo by Katrina Kniss
Second ranked Micro Sprint racer Buddy Chappell #99 and last year's top rookie Devon Zuffa #20z. Photo by Katrina Kniss
Don Abitz #23 recently returned to the Mini Stock division, and he enjoyed a Top 5 finish at Petaluma last week. Photo by Katrina Kniss
Submitted By: Wylie Wade
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