ANTIOCH SPEEDWAY NOTES OF INTEREST - JUNE 26

BUSBY OUTCLASSES THE FIELD AT ANTIOCH

ANTIOCH, California -- Fresh off of finishing for the first time at Sears Point Raceway, top ten ranked Southwest Tour racer Scott Busby returned to his old stomping grounds and scored a crowd pleasing victory in the 25 lap All Pro Series Dirt Modified feature Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Busby's amazing night saw him arrive just before the B Main, start last in that race and win and then come from the back to win the main event. The win paid Busby $600 aboard his Busby Motorsports sponsored Harris Modified and put him back into contention for a top ten ranking at the track despite his limited schedule. Brian Cass was a $300 second ahead of a season best $200 third for veteran Keith Brown Sr.

Dennis Furia Sr. and Brian Curran drew front row starts for the 20 car Dirt Modified feature, and Curran surprised by leading the first lap ahead of Furia and Kenny Neu. A Turn 3 tangle involving Mel Maupin, Tim Kennady and Bart Reid eliminated Kennady and forced a lap one caution flag. Curran chose the outside on the restart option, and Furia raced into the lead as Cass settled into third. Cass and Brown quickly got by Curran, and a low pass in Turn 4 of the third lap gained Cass the lead. Rick Karnes spun in Turn 4 for a lap four caution flag, and Furia pitted with a right front flat. Cass chose the inside on the restart, but Brown made a pass in Turn 4 for the lead before the lap was completed. An outside move down the front stretch of the sixth lap regained Cass the lead as Neu ran third. Don Shelton and Busby were fourth and fifth at the lap eight caution flag for Tobi Madden and Furia in Turn 3. Cass stayed on the inside and led Brown and Shelton on the restart as Busby made a Turn 4 pass on Neu for fourth. An inside move in Turn 2 of the 13th lap put Busby into third, and Busby used a low move in Turn 4 of the 19th lap to take second from Brown. Kenny Neu and Bart Reid tangled in Turn 2 for the final caution flag on lap 20. The inside groove seemed to be the preferred line on the dry slick track and that's where Cass stayed, but Busby out gunned him into Turn 1 and took the lead. There was no stopping Busby from there as he brought it home to a hard earned victory ahead of Cass, Brown, Elworthy and 15th starter Chris Wadsworth.

There were 28 Dirt Modifieds on hand for this event, and eight lap heat race wins went to Wadsworth, Neu and Garner from the second row and Brown from the first row. Busby displayed a smooth and patient driving style in the 12 lap B Main as he came from last starting to take the lead from Reid before going on to victory. Reid was second ahead of Chad Chadwick, Bill Wallace and returning Antioch Speedway legend J.D. Willis. Busby's feature win gives him 49 total for his career at the track and leaves him just 3 behind Willis as the track's top feature winner since 1969.

RACE RESULTS
DIRT MODIFIED
H 1-Chris Wadsworth, Jerry Harless, Rick Karnes, Tim Kennady, Bart Reid.
H 2-Kenny Neu, Michael Paul, Tobi Madden, Brian Curran, Clay Twigg.
H 3-Mark Garner, Dennis Furia Sr., Mel Maupin, Don Shelton, Chad Chadwick.
H 4-Keith Brown Sr., Bob Newberry, Bert Elworthy, Brian Cass, Mark Schrader.
TROPHY DASH-Neu, Wadsworth, Garner, Brown.
B MAIN-Scott Busby, Reid, Chadwick, Bill Wallace, J.D. Willis, Tim Benintendi, Glen Plake, Schrader, George Crithfield, Ed Daviess.
A MAIN-Busby, Cass, Brown, Elworthy, Wadsworth, Paul, Shelton, Chadwick, Garner, Maupin, Reid, Karnes, Curran, Neu, Harless, Furia, Wallace, Madden, Kennady, Newberry.

SPURGEON UNSTOPPABLE IN CLEAN SWEEP

ANTIOCH, California -- Continuing his dominance of the All Pro Series Modified Street Stock division at Antioch Speedway, Tim Spurgeon capped a clean sweep evening with his win in the 20 lap main event Saturday night. The win was Spurgeon's seventh and paid the runaway point leader $150 aboard his Kleen Blast sponsored car. Second year racer Billy Fraser moved into second in points with his second place finish as rookie Chris Harless was third.

Spurgeon drew the 13th starting spot as rookies Donny Babb and Mikey Slaney drew front row starts for the 20 car Modified Street Stock feature. Babb took the early lead ahead of Slaney and Bobby Motts Jr. Slight contact in the race for the lead in Turn 4 saw Babb hit the wall and spin into the path of Bill Bihn, who had nowhere to go and drilled the Babb machine, eliminated both in the lap two caution flag incident. Hodges was ejected from the race by track officials for his part in the incident. Motts chose the outside on the restart option, but Fraser raced into the lead as Spurgeon was already in third. Al Munther and Mike Jacobsen tangled for a lap four caution flag. The first restart attempt was red flagged as Motts lost a wheel, negating Mike Mendenhall's move around Spurgeon for second. Fraser chose the inside on the restart, but Spurgeon raced into the lead. Harless took third from Dan Newberry on lap six. Fraser stayed right with Spurgeon, but could not make a pass as Spurgeon brought it home to victory ahead of Fraser, Harless, Slaney and Newberry.

The season debuts of Mel Matthews, Trent Wentworth and Arron Crowell grew the Modified Street Stock field to 24 cars on this night, and Dennis Moore, Spurgeon and Mendenhall won their eight lap heat races from the front row. Second row starter Fraser won a good battle with Babb to win his heat race. Spurgeon also won the trophy dash Sixth place feature finisher Jim Capoot led the first 10 laps of the 12 lap B Main before being passed by Al Munther, who scored his first career victory at the track to win ahead of Capoot and Jacobsen.

RACE RESULTS
MODIFIED STREET STOCK
H 1-Dennis Moore, Gary Hetrick, Carl Berendsen Jr., Trent Wentworth, Mike Jacobsen.
H 2-Tim Spurgeon, Daniel Hodges, Mikey Slaney, Ronnie Fuller, Jim Capoot.
H 3-Billy Fraser, Donny Babb, Bobby Motts Jr., Bill Bihn.
H 4-Mike Mendenhall, Ron Condon Jr., Chris Harless, Dan Newberry, Al Munther.
B MAIN-Munther, Capoot, Jacobsen, Arron Crowell, Tom Chapman, Mel Matthews.
A MAIN-Spurgeon, Fraser, Harless, Slaney, Newberry, Capoot, Condon, Jacobsen, Moore, Mendenhall, Munther, Berendsen, Crowell, Motts, Hetrick, Wentworth, Hodges, Babb, Bihn, Fuller.

ROBBINS MAKES LATE PASS FOR VICTORY

ANTIOCH, California -- Winning a late race battle with point leader Rich Gardner Jr., veteran Jim Robbins scored an impressive victory in the 20 lap All Pro Series Pure Stock main event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. The was the first oval track win for Robbins since 1986, and the Figure 8 specialist was trailed by Gardner and Fred Baker at the finish. Point leader Brent Dothage led all 18 laps of the 360 Sprint Car feature to win ahead of Norm Johns and Dennis Binstock. Beth Lyster and Dennis Leis drew front row starts for the 20 car Pure

Stock feature as Robbins started back in tenth. Leis raced into an early lead over Lyster and Todd Clymens. Working the third lap, Lyster rolled her car two times in Turn 4 for a red flag. Fortunately, she was uninjured. Leis led Clymens and Terry West on the restart. A back stretch pass on the fifth lap gained Ray Deitrick third as the caution flag flew for Baker in Turn 2. Leis chose the inside on the restart option and continued to lead Clymens and Deitrick, but Leis suffered a right rear flat tire in Turn 4 of the ninth lap. Clymens led Deitrick and Robbins back to the lap nine caution flag as Dee Marie Brown, Sheila DeMotta and Sally Babcock tangled in Turn 2. Clymens chose the outside on the restart, but as he exited Turn 4 to complete the lap, he suffered a right rear flat tire. Deitrick now lead Robbins and Gardner. Gardner got by Robbins in Turn 2 of the 11th lap for second and used a high move in Turn 4 of the same lap to take the lead as Robbins and Baker settled into second and third. With Gardner working the outside and Robbins the inside, this battle continued, and Baker ran right behind them in third. A low move in Turn 2 of the 16th lap gained Robbins the lead as debris forced a yellow flag. Robbins chose the inside on the restart, and Gardner charged out front with Baker and Trevor Clymens making this a close four car battle up front. Gardner pushed a little in Turn 2 of the 18th lap, and Robbins drove underneath him for the lead. Once there, Robbins maintained the lead and brought it home a happy winner ahead of Gardner, Baker, Trevor Clymens and the steady Dean Plambeck.

An unusually rough 360 Sprint Car race at Petaluma Speedway on Friday night left a slim seven car field at Antioch, and the race lost two cars early on when All Pro rookie point leader Tim Grogan tangled with Jack Clark and flipped. Neither driver was injured, but both were eliminated from the event. Petaluma point leader Dothage raced out to the lead on the restart ahead of Johns and Binstock, but a tangle between Lance Rescino and Chase Wood in Turn 3 forced a caution flag after one lap. Dothage continued to lead Johns and Binstock on the restart, and Rescino used a low pass in Turn 2 of the second lap to take fourth. Throughout the first half of the race, Johns ran right with Dothage, looking for a line to attempt a pass, but Dothage began to pull away down the stretch and scored the victory with Johns second ahead of Binstock, Rescino and Wood.

There were 28 Pure Stocks on hand for this event with Todd Clymens, Jason Ryan and Leis winning eight lap heats from the front row and Gardner winning from the second. The division also had a rare trophy dash opportunity with Gardner picking up the win. Paul Landers made contact with Plambeck on the last lap and crossed the line first in the 12 lap B Main, but the win went to Babcock ahead of Dee Marie Brown and Zachary as Landers was put to last by officials. Dothage won the lone eight lap 360 Sprint Car heat race.

RACE RESULTS
PURE STOCK
H 1-Todd Clymens, Tommy Clymens Jr., Beth Lyster, Sheila DeMotta, Sally Babcock.
H 2-Rich Gardner Jr., Fred Baker, Dennis Hayes, Ray Deitrick, Norman Matteson.
H 3-Jason Ryan, Terry West, Lana Liptrap, Keith Brown Jr., Dean Plambeck.
H 4-Dennis Leis, Jim Robbins, Ken Rhoades, Trevor Clymens, Bobby Brown Jr.
TROPHY DASH-Gardner, Leis, Todd Clymens, Jason Ryan.
B MAIN-Babcock, Dee Marie Brown, David Zachary, Plambeck, Michelle Botsford, B. Brown, Nathen Gonderman, Robert Predmore, Chris Sorensen, Matteson.
A MAIN-Robbins, Gardner, Baker, Trevor Clymens, Plambeck, DeMotta, Liptrap, Roades, D. Brown, West, K. Brown, Babcock, Todd Clymens, Deitrick, Leis, Ryan, Zachary, Hayes, Lyster, Tommy Clymens Jr.

360 SPRINTS
HEAT-Brent Dothage, Norm Johns, Chase Wood, Dennis Binstock, Tim Grogan.
MAIN EVENT-Dothage, Johns, Binstock, Lance Rescino, Wood, Grogan, Jack Clark.

CORNWELL BATTLES BACK FOR VICTORY

ANTIOCH, California Coming back from an early spinout incident, Bill Cornwell went on to score the victory in the 20 lap All Pro Series Pure Stock feature Saturday night at Petaluma Speedway. The win helped keep Cornwell in the "Rookie Of The Year" point lead as Joe Tachis finished second in front of Dennis Stirewalt. The event was run in conjuction with the Annual Sonoma-Marin County Fair. Taking the lead when Glen Hirschberger had problems, Foreign Stock point leader Bret Barney scored the victory in the shortened 18 lap feature as Tony Pagliaro made a late charge to finish second ahead of Rick Paull.

Tachis and Cornwell shared the front row for the Pure Stock main event with Cornwell racing out to an early lead ahead of point leader Ben Olsen and Tachis. Second ranked Ray DeLeon was black flagged from fourth for excessive smoke on lap two. Slight contact from Olsen exiting Turn 2 saw Cornwell get sideways and fall back to fourth behind Tachis and Andy Wicklund. Cornwell was back to third on lap eight as Wicklund spun in Turn 2 for a caution flag. Olsen was sent to the pits for a stop and go penalty during the caution period and effectively docked one lap for his part in the Cornwell incident. Tachis chose the inside on the restart option and led Cornwell and Stirewalt. Tachis seemed to have the race in hand when he got caught behind a slower car on the back stretch of the 15th lap, allowing Cornwell to race by. From there, Cornwell sped home to victory with Tachis second in front of Stirewalt, Grant Taylor and Olsen.

Barney and Paull shared the front row for the 11 car Foreign Stock main event and ran 1-2 at the start with Jim Jepsen in third. Rookie Steve Griffin crashed in Turn 4 for a lap two caution flag. Barney chose the inside on the restart in the only truck in the field, but Paull took the lead. An inside move down the front stretch of the fourth lap regained Barney the top spot and Hirschberger made a similar move around Paull for second a lap later. Pagliaro took a wild ride through the infield off of Turn 2 and dropped from fourth to last. A Turn 2 crash involving Jim Arnold Jr. and Dan Williams forced a lap 12 caution flag and eliminated both from the race. Barney chose the inside on the restart option, but Hirschberger raced into the lead as Jim Jepsen now ran third. A high move in Turn 4 of the 14th lap gained Pagliaro third, and the top three looked like it might stay that way. However, Hircherberger threw a tire working Turn 4 of the 18th lap with Barney taking the checkered flag in first ahead of Pagliaro, Paull, Thomas Holleran and Jepsen.

The ten Pure Stocks on hand got a rare qualifying opportunity with Norm Beck setting fast time at 24.126. Wicklund scored the trophy dash victory before Tachis made a late race pass on Cornwell to win the eight lap heat race. Foreign Stocks also got to qualify with Barney's Truck setting the standard at 21.99. Hirschberger picked up the trophy dash win with Jepsen holding off Barney to win the lone heat race.

All Pro Series Points
Antioch Speedway
Dirt Modifieds
Chris Wadsworth 391
Chad Chadwick   344
Don Shelton     323
Bart Reid       299
Bert Elworthy   286
Mark Garner     259
Chris Elby      198
Keith Brown Sr. 195
Mark Schrader   195
Bill Wallace Jr. 190

Modified Street Stock
Tim Spurgeon    408
Billy Fraser    326
Daniel Hodges   299
David Rosa      283
Chris Harless   267
Mikey Slaney    257
Rob Waldrop     257
Dennis Moore    210
Bobby Motts Jr. 189
Ron Condon Jr.  165

Pure Stock
Rich Gardner Jr 360
Trevor Clymens  266
Jeremy Prince   265
Jim Robbins     244
Jimmy Lavell    240
Fred Baker      208
Todd Clymens    146
Dean Plambeck   145
Keith Brown Jr. 135
Ken Rhoades     133

Petaluma Speedway
Dwarf Car
Mark Chaves     76
David Hays Jr.  60
Jim Barton      54
Mike Schwarz    41
Mark Tillinger  40

All Pro Series State
Dwarf Car
Mark Chaves     269
Mike Schwarz    210
Jim Barton      188
Scott Merrell   186
David Hays Jr.  158
Ray Etherton    144
Frank Sousa     138
David Barton    125
John Anderson   124
Howard Fergerson 123