ANTIOCH, California — Scott Busby will be back to take on cross-town rival Troy Foulger, Petaluma’s Michael Paul, Jr., and a full field of DIRTcar West modifieds this Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Returning to the high-banked 3/8-mile oval will be 360 Winged Sprint Cars, joined by Hobby Stocks, Super Hobby Stocks and “Mini-Trux”.
Foulger scored a much-desired victory last Saturday night, but Busby was not there. The previous DIRTcar West modified race saw Paul, Jr. in victory lane. With other local tracks not running modifieds this week, Antioch Speedway is expecting a large field of cars.
Paul, Jr. won at another track after winning at Antioch.
“I want to continue my streak,” he said Thursday. “Three in a row would be nice.”
His dad, Michael Paul, Sr., of San Anselmo is going to be on hand trying to take back the win he had snatched from him by Rand McDaniel last month.
“Scott (Busby) has always been the guy to beat, Troy (Foulger) is fun to race with, but don’t count my dad out,” said the younger Paul. “He’s almost won twice this year.”
“Cowboy” Craig Smith is the man to beat in the 360 Winged Sprint Car division. Smith, of San Martin, scored a thrilling victory after battling
Nick Green of San Jose the last time the sprinters were featured at Antioch Speedway.
“Nick is tough competition. He took the lead for me and I had to fight him hard to get it back,” Smith said. “He’s hungry for his first win. There’s a lot of good drivers –guys like Ryan Rusconi and Rico Abreu. I’m expecting a good field of tough competition.”
“Mini Trux” The Love of Grand-Daughter Driving for Grandfather:
Castro Valley’s Jessica Jones was out with her dad, Danny, and grandfather, Pete Paulsen, on Father’s Day last year when they started reminiscing about racing quarter-midgets.
“I asked them why I never had the chance to race. Was it because I was a girl?” said Jessica Jones.
“I told her it’s never too late to start,” Veteran driver Paulsen said. “I had an extra mini-truck ready to go.”
The rest is history - Jessica jumped into the truck and raced her grandpa that week. Now in her second season, she loves racing even more.
A standout softball player, Jones was part of the Castro Valley Synergy team that won the National Championship for Women’s Softball in Colorado in 2006. She was thinking about playing in the Olympics, but that sport was eliminated from the competition.
“Racing is now what softball used to be for me,” Jones said. “It’s awesome fun, and I wish I started a long time ago.”
When Jones isn’t riding Western saddle on her horse, or hunting for deer, turkey or wild pig, she’s thinking about racing.
“I guess I’m a tomboy,” she admitted. “Racing is in my blood - grandpa raced since before I was born, dad through the 1980s. I look forward to racing with grandpa more than anything now.”
The racing has been thrilling, and scary.
“A few weeks ago, grandpa rolled his truck over right in front of me on the track,” she said. “That was the scariest thing I’ve encounter so far.”
Luckily, Paulsen was fine after the wreck. Jones was rattled. They were both back in action the next week. They will be racing side-by side again this Saturday night.
Racing starts at 7 p.m. Gates open 5 p.m. Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa Fairgrounds, 1201 W. 10th St., Antioch, CA 94509. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 6-12 and and senior citizens over 65. A family pack of two adult and two child tickets is $30.
