ANTIOCH SPEEDWAY NOTES OF INTEREST - JUNE 19

SCHWARZ, GARDNER SHARE ANTIOCH SPOTLIGHT
BY DON MARTIN II

ANTIOCH, CA -- Regaining the lead after Mark Chaves spun late in the race, Mike Schwarz scored his second 20 lap All Pro Series Dwarf Car main event win of the year Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The win keeps Schwarz right there in the championship battle as defending champion John Anderson finished second ahead of Jim Barton. After a good battle with Jim Robbins, point leader Rich Gardner Jr. increased his point lead with a victory in the 20 lap Pure Stock main event. It was Gardner's second win of the year as Robbins settled for second in front of a season best third for rookie Ken Rhoades.

The Dwarf Car event was scheduled at the last minute and still produced a 13 car feature from a 14 car field. Schwarz and Anderson drew front row starts from the pill draw before the main event with Schwarz racing into an early lead over Jim Soares. Recent PCDCRA feature winner Howard Fergerson spun on the front stretch for a lap two caution flag. Schwarz chose the inside for the restart and continued to lead Soares and Anderson as 12th starter Chaves was already up to fourth. Mark Tillinger, Frank Sousa and Ken Hendricks tangled in Turn 3 for a lap four caution flag. Schwarz chose the inside and continued to lead the restart as Anderson and Ray Etherton shuffled Soares out of the top three. Soares stalled in Turn 3 with mechanical woes, and Scott Merrell, Rusty Floris and John Barker all crashed for a lap six yellow flag. Schwarz chose the inside and continued to lead the resrtart as Chaves made a low pass in Turn 4 to take second from Etherton. Barker brought out another yellow flag on lap ten. Schwarz again chose the inside, but Chaves raced by on the outside to take control on the restart. Chaves and Schwarz pulled away from the pack as Barton, Etherton and Anderson were entertaining the crowd in a third place duel. When Chaves got sideways in front of Schwarz in Turn 3 of the 16th lap, contact took him the rest of the way around. Anderson had just made a front stretch pass on Barton for third, which became second with the Chaves spin. Schwarz now held a commanding lead and cruised to victory ahead of Anderson, Barton, Merrell and Chaves.

Amother huge field of Pure Stocks saw 20 cars qualify for the main event with Ray Deitrick taking the early lead ahead of fellow front row starter Todd Clymens and Trevor Clymens. Both Trevor Clymens and Robbins raced around Todd Clymens down the back stretch of the third lap for second and third. Robbins quickly passed Trevor Clymens for second and used an inside move down the front stretch of the fourth lap to gain first. The caution flag flew for a Turn 1 tangle involving Deitrick, Todd Clymens and Jason Ryan. Robbins chose the inside for the restart, only to get passed by both Trevor Clymens and 13th starter Fred Baker for the top two spots. Dennis Leis spun in Turn 4 for a lap six caution flag. Clymens picked the outside on the restart and Baker took the lead. A low move in Turn 4 of the ninth lap gained Robbins second. Ninth starter Gardner gained third on lap ten and began to duel Robbins for second. Baker cut a tire in Turn 3 of the 13th lap as Robbins now led Gardner and Trevor Clymens. A lap 18 caution flag flew for Bob Ackerman and Michelle Botsford. Robbins chose the inside on the restart, but Gardner took command at the green. Rhoades had settled into third. Robbins gave it his best, but Gardner was not to be denied as he drove to victory ahead of Robbins, Rhoades, Todd Clymens, Dean Plambeck, Jerry Mincey and Mike Sites.

Six lap Dwarf Car heat race wins went to Schwarz ahead of last starter Chaves and Howard Fergerson in front of Soares. There were 30 Pure Stocks on hand for the night and the five six lap heat race wins went to Dean Cline, Robbins, Sites, Baker and Gardner. The 12 lap B Main was led early by Keith Brown Jr. and Bobby Brown Jr. before impressive newcomer Sheila DeMotta took over. DeMotta led until being passed late by winner Jerry Mincey, but she settled for second ahead of B. Brown and Beth Lyster.

RACE RESULTS
DWARF CAR
H 1-Mike Schwarz, Mark Chaves, Mark Tillinger, Jim Barton, Rusty Floris.
H 2-Howard Fergerson, Jim Soares, Scott Merrell, John Barker, Frank Sousa.
MAIN EVENT-Schwarz, John Anderson, Barton, Merrell, Chaves, Mark Tillinger, Ray Etherton, Floris, Fergerson, Ken Hendricks, Soares, Sousa, Barker.

PURE STOCK
H 1-Dean Cline, Jason Ryan, Trevor Clymens, Bobby Brown Jr., Robert Predmore.
H 2-Jim Robbins, Dean Plambeck, Michelle Botsford, Keith Brown Jr., Sheila DeMotta.
H 3-Mike Sites, Ken Rhoades, Lana Liptrap, John Gordon, Norman Matteson.
H 4-Fred Baker, Bob Ackerman, Dennis Leis, Dean Plambeck, Ernest Bowman.
H 5-Rich Gardner Jr., Ray Deitrick, Todd Clymens, Joel Kramasz, Jerry Mincey.
B MAIN-Mincey, DeMotta, B. Brown Jr., Beth Lyster, Matteson, Dee Marie Brown, Tommy Clymens Jr., Nathen Gonderman, K. Brown Jr., Bowman.
A MAIN-Gardner, Robbins, Rhoades, Clymens, Plambeck, Mincey, Sites, Ackerman, Matteson, Liptrap, B. Brown Jr., Botsford, Ryan, Leis, Trevor Clymens, Baker, Cline, DeMotta, Deitrick, Lyster.

WADSWORTH CHARGES TO VICTORY
BY DON MARTIN II
ANTIOCH, CA After making a charge from the back of the pack, Chris Wadsworth won a thrilling side by side duel with Bert Elworthy for his third 25 lap All Pro Series Dirt Modified feature victory of the season Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The win paid Wadsworth $600 aboard the Buzz Inn sponsored Harris Modified as Elworthy settled for a $300 third in his Harris with Bart Reid rebounding for a $200 third in his Cobra Modified. Luck of the draw put Jerry Harless and Don Shelton on the front row for the 22 car Dirt Modified feature, and Shelton raced out to an early lead over Keith Brown Sr. and Reid. A low move in Turn 4 of the fourth lap gained Reid second before a caution flag flew for Bob Newberry and Mark Garner in Turn 4. Shelton chose the inside on the restart, only to lose the lead to Reid racing into Turn 1 as Elworthy was now third. A multi-car pileup forced a lap five caution and eliminated Harless. Reid chose the inside and Elworthy followed him into second as Chad Chadwick was now third. Working lapped traffic, Reid tangled with a slower car, and Elworthy led Chadwick and 21st starter Dennis Furia Sr. back to the lap 11 caution flag. Elworthy chose the inside on the restart and led Chadwick and 19th starter Wadsworth. Contact sent Chadwick into a spin off the back stretch, collecting Reid for the lap 14 yellow flag. Elworthy chose the inside and continued to lead Wadsworth and Furia on the restart. Shelton took third from Furia on lap 19, and Mark Schrader, Chadwick and Ed Leis tangled for a lap 20 caution flag. The restart lap saw a lapped car drive over Furia down the back stretch and into Turn 3. Elworthy had the inside for the next restart, only to watch Wadsworth race into the lead as Reid was back in third. A low move in Turn 4 of the 22nd lap gained Elworthy the lead as the side by side battle kept the crowd entertained. An outside pass on the front stretch put Wadsworth back into the lead on lap 23. The lead duo took the the white flag side by side.

Entering Turn 3 for the final time, Wadsworth gained a slight advantage and pulled down to the middle groove to protect the lead. When lapped traffic presented instelf exiting Turn 4, that was all Wadsworth needed to score his second straight clean sweep as Elworthy settled for second ahead of Reid, Shelton, Mel Maupin, Bill Wallace and Furia.

There were 22 Dirt Modifieds on hand with eight lap heat race wins going to Maupin, Mark Hannum, Wadsworth and Elworthy. Wadsworth won his sixth trophy dash of the year after leader Hannum slipped off the groove in Turn 2.

RACE RESULTS
DIRT MODIFIEDS
H 1-Mel Maupin, Jerry Harless, George Crithfield, Dennis Furia Sr., Don Shelton.
H 2-Mark Hannum, Keith Brown Sr., Bob Newberry, Rick Karnes, Brian Curran.
H 3-Chris Wadsworth, Bart Reid, Tim Benintendi, Nick Caughman Jr., Tim Kennady.
H 4-Bert Elworthy, Chad Chadwick, Ed Leis, Mark Schrader, Bill Wallace.
DASH-Wadsworth, Elworthy, Maupin, Hannum.
MAIN EVENT-Wadsworth, Elworthy, Reid, Shelton, Maupin, Wallace, Furia, Chadwick, Mark Garner, Crithfield, Benintendi, Schrader, Karnes, Hannum, Curran, Kennady, Brown, Leis, Newberry, Caughman, Ed Daviess, Harless.

GONDERMAN INCREASES POINT LEAD WITH WIN
BY DON MARTIN II
ANTIOCH, CA -- Taking full adavantage of his front row starting spot, Dan Gonderman led all 20 laps to win the All Pro Series Wingless Spec Sprint feature Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The win was Gonderman's third at Antioch and fourth in the State and paid $400 for the driver of the Main Machine sponsored Sprinter. Andy Archer moved back into second in points with his $200 second place finish as Travis Berryhill was third.

All the cars in the field ran a #86 sticker in honor of Darryl Shirk, who is battling Cancer. Shirk was in the pits working on his car as well as the the Dirt Modified of Mark Hannum. Shirk had veteran Gary Beattie driving his car on this night. Hannum admitted prior to the races that Shirk, who he says has been like a father to him and got him into racing, volunteered a couple of 12 hour days putting Hannum's new Ellis Chassis together for this race.

The division returned to a draw for your feature start format, abandoning the complete invert of the previous week's feature format. Larry Teixeira and Gonderman shared the front row with Gonderman racing into the lead in front of Teixeira and Roy Winters. Archer and Eric Ferreira both raced past Winters for third and fourth on lap two. Eric Mentch spun in Turn 1 and Don O'Keefe Jr. spun to avoid contact for a lap six caution flag. Gonderman led Teixeira on the restart, and Ferreira had just taken third from Archer when he retired from the race. Archer's inside pass attempt exiting Turn 4 of the 17th lap saw slight contact with Teixeira. Teixeira spun on the front stretch, collecting Terry DeCarlo Sr., who was able to continue from the incident that forced a caution flag. With a lapped car between he and Archer, Gonderman was able to maintain his advantage to the checkered flag. O'Keefe pitted his overheating Sprinter from fifth, and the top six at the finish was Gonderman, Archer, Berryhill, DeCarlo, Mentch and Beattie.

The night featured the Wingless Spec Sprint debuts of George Terry, Dalton DeOrnellas and Brian Elliott as the division continues to grow. DeCarlo managed to hold off Andy Archer to collect his first eight lap heat race victory of the season and Eric Mentch impressed with his heat race win in front of Gonderman. Larry Teixeira won the $50 certificate from Santomauro Racing Products of San Jose as the night's "Hard Luck" driver. Next up for the Wingless Spec Sprints is the second round of the Sonoma-Marin Shootout Series at Petaluma Speedway on July 3rd. The first big test for the division will come on double point night at Antioch on July 17th.

RACE RESULTS
WINGLESS SPEC SPRINTS
H 1-Terry DeCarlo Sr., Andy Archer, Roy Greer, Kenny Rines, Rich Butler.
H 2-Eric Mentch, Dan Gonderman, Gary Beattie, Travis Berryhill, Eric Ferreira.
MAIN EVENT-Gonderman, Archer, Berryhill, DeCarlo, Mentch, Beattie, Rines, Roy Winters, George Terry, Don O'Keefe Jr., Larry Teixeira, Dalton DeOrnellas, Ferreira, Greer, Butler, Brian Elliott.

All Pro Series Points
Antioch Speedway
Dirt Modified
Chris Wadsworth 354
Chad Chadwick   317
Don Shelton     298
Bart Reid       282
Bert Elworthy   252
Mark Garner     239
Chris Elby      198
Mark Schrader   190
Bill Wallace    181
Mel Maupin      170

Wingless Spec Sprint
Dan Gonderman    278
Andy Archer      246
Don O'Keefe Jr.  234
Eric Mentch      161
Darryl Shirk     156
Terry DeCarlo Sr 141
Travis Berryhill 136
Larry Teixeira   133
Rick Brophy III  121
Jim Perry Jr.    114

Pure Stock
Rich Gardner Jr 313
Jeremy Prince   265
Jimmy Lavell    240
Trevor Clymens  230
Jim Robbins     201
Fred Baker      174
Todd Clymens    134
Dean Cline      131
Keith Brown Jr. 125
Ken Rhoades     116

Dwarf Car
Mark Chaves     183
Mike Schwarz    169
Scott Merrell   161
Frank Sousa     138
Jim Barton      134
Ray Etherton    108
David Hays Jr.  98
Rusty Floris    97
David Barton    91
John Anderson   90

Wingless Spec Sprint State
Dan Gonderman   315
Andy Archer     272
Don O'Keefe Jr. 256
Travis Berryhill 164
Eric Mentch     161

Dwarf Car State
Mark Chaves     228
Mike Schwarz    174
Jim Barton      163
Scott Merrell   161
Frank Sousa     138