ANTIOCH, California — “Wild Bill” Aton, a student at Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo, made an educated decision to set up his car for the lowest groove on high-banked Antioch Speedway Saturday night. It was a smart move as he was able to hold off highflying “Cowboy” Craig Smith in the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main event.
"I did it for my dad."— Nick Squatritto
“I was starting on the pole, so I set up the car to run where I wanted it to run.” Aton explained. “I figured whoever passed me would have to have the guts to take me on the outside.”
That man was veteran “Cowboy” Smith, of San Martin, who ran inches from the wall and challenged Aton at the finish.
“I wanted to surprise him,” Smith said. “Once I got by Nick (Green) I knew I would have a shot. I knew I would have a monster run if I could ride high.”
Smith hugged the wall coming off of turn four, gaining car lengths lap after lap. His gains put him high and outside Aton at the finish. Green brought home third
“It’s the same old saying,” Smith said after the race. “I could of used two more laps.”
David Johnson of Stockton scored his first Antioch feature win, crediting his success to his dad, Brian, Uncle Paul Andris and crew man Dave Gardner.
“Dad took me from go-karts to micros to sprint cars,” Johnson explained. “To come here and win is incredible. It’s tough to beat the local boys at home - they’re fast here. The crew set up the car, and they hit it right tonight.”
Johnson had fast company - Matt Streeter, Alex Schutte, Dan Gonderman and Billy Macedo chased him across the line. Antioch construction worker Gonderman cemented the championship in the division with his finish.
“We came out to makes some laps and get some seat time,” Johnson added. “And we won. I can’t believe it.”
Champion Mitch Machado of Rohnert Park returned to Antioch Speedway for the first time this season to snatch the Limited Late Model feature. With two laps to go, Machado took advantage of a miscue by Brad Myers of Brentwood, who was driving for the first time in the top class full-bodied car division.
Myers was offered a ride by neighbor Fred Ryland, who decided to sit out the race this week because of a sore back. Myers led the event in Ryland’s car, with Machado challenging side-by-side, lap after lap. On a restart, it was Machado grabbing the lead in the second turn
Machado congratulated Myers in victory lane.
“You did an awesome job but you messed up,” he told Myers. “I wasn’t going hit you to get by, but wasn’t about to let a chance go by.”
Myers knew his mistake.
“I saw Mitch pull up next to me - he’s a legend - and I thought I did not have a chance,” Myers said. “He got inside my head.”
Third place Jim Freethy of Danville made an incredible comeback after flipping his car in the heat race.
“I have to say it again, my crew kept me racing,” Freethy explained. “They beat on the car with hammer and straightened everything out. The rims were bent, the front suspension was out of line.”
Jon Haney of Brentwood topped his dad, Gene, in the Super Hobby Stock Main event. But it was Gene Haney, the retired sheriff, who copped the championship in that division. Jon Haney had never won in the Super Stocks. He scored his first career victory in the “Mini-Trux” earlier in the season.
The Haney’s watched from the infield as Jeff Lewis of Elk Grove flipped their team truck in the “Mini-Trux” main event. Junior Garcia brought home the “Mini-Trux” feature over Mike Harman. Justin Silveira of Antioch won the “Four-Banger” main event after first place finisher Andy Laverne of Boulder Creek was disqualified on a tire violation.
Larry Damitz of Vallejo had a half lap lead in winning the Vintage Hardtop race. In Dwarf cars, Tony Carmignani of Alameda topped rookie Pat Urdahl of Concord, who had his best finish of the year.
Dwarf Car driver Nick Squatritto, a student in Ohio, came back to run the final Dwarf Car event of the season and win the championship.
“I did it for my dad. He worked so hard and helped me so much, I told him I would win the championship for him this year,” Squatritto said.
| Winged 360’s |
|---|
| Heat 1 1. 14 Nick Green 2. 19 Art McCarthy 3. 37 Michael Twitchell 4. 10X Roberto Kirby 5. 10 Keith Collins 6. 82J Steve Jaquith 7. 68 Chase Wood Heat 2 1. 72W Kurt Nelson 2. 39 Craig Smith 3. 26 Billy Aton 4. 24B Brett Lay 5. 9N Richard Bailey 6. 98 Ryan Rusconi 7. 52 Dusty Green Main 1. 26 Billy Aton 2. 39 Craig Smith 3. 14 Nick Green 4. 19 Art McCarthy 5. 24B Brett Lay 6. 10X Roberto Kirby 7. 37 Michael Twitchell 8. 72W Kurt Nelson 9. 10 Keith Collins 10. 52 Dusty Green 11. 9N Richard Bailey 12. 68 Chase Wood 13. 82J Steve Jaquith 14. 98 Ryan Rusconi |
| Wingless Sprint |
| Heat 1 1. 8 Dan Gonderman 2. 14J Matt Streeter 3. 55 Danny Malfatti 4. 98 Jeff Lee 5. 77 Chris Magoon 6. 5L Jeff Banbury 7. 32 Alex Schutte Heat 2 1. M1 Billy Macedo 2. 33 David Johnson 3. 21 Roy Fisher 4. 71 Rob Norris 5. 23 Tyler Henriques 6. 44 Rick Panfili 7. 18 Michael Bakkie Main 1. 33 David Johnson 2. 14J Matt Streeter 3. 32 Alex Schutte 4. 8 Dan Gonderman 5. M1 Billy Macedo 6. 77 Chris Magoon 7. 21 Roy Fisher 8. 98 Jeff Lee 9. 55 Danny Malfatti 10. 5L Jeff Banbury 11. 44 Rick Panfili 12. 18 Michael Bakkie 13. 23 Tyler Henriques 14. 71 Rob Norris |
| Limited Late Models |
| Heat 1 1. 2 Mike Gustafson 2. 05 Mike Hynes 3. 60 Shawen McCoy 4. 83 Michelle Newman 5. 3 Daniel Mendes 6. 4R Ken Rhoades Heat 2 1. 33 Melissa Hansen 2. 65 Lori Brown 3. 15 Larry Damitz 4. 7 Brad Myers 5. 99 Jim Freethy 6. 22m Mitch Machado Main 1. 22m Mitch Machado 2. 7 Brad Myers 3. 99 Jim Freethy 4. 15 Larry Damitz 5. 3 Daniel Mendes 6. 65 Lori Brown 7. 33 Melissa Hansen 8. 4R Ken Rhoades 9. 60 Shawn McCoy 10. 2 Mike Gustafson 11. 05 Mike Hynes 12. 83 Michelle Newman |
| Super Hobby |
| Heat 1 1. 44 Jon Haney 2. 18 Megan Ponciano 3. 40 Natalie Perry 4. 97 Steve Geiser 5. 45 Gene Haney 6. 94 Chad Hammer 7. 28 Jake Dewsberry Main Event 1. 44 Jon Haney 2. 45 Gene Haney 3. 18 Megan Ponciano 4. 40 Natalie Perry 5. 94 Chad Hammer 6. 69 Victoria Rosa 7. 28 Jake Dewsberry 8. 97 Steve Geiser |
| Four Bangers |
| Heat 1 1. 56 Dan Downey 2. 806 Mike Shapiro 3. 7 Sara Lesley 4. 45 Laura Crabtree 5. 66 Carlos Gonzales 6. 3 Fred Radabaugh Heat 2 1. 25 Justin Silveira 2. 19 Frank Furtado 3. 99 Andy LaVerne 4. 74 Shawn Vannucchi 5. 76x Mike Felt Main 1. 99 Andy LaVerne 2. 25 Justin Silveira 3. 19 Frank Furtado 4. 76x Mike Felt 5. 56 Dan Downey 6. 7 Sara Lesley 7. 806 Mike Shapiro 8. 3 Fred Radabaugh 9. 66 Carlos Gonzales 10. 74 Shawna Vannucchi |
| Mini Trux |
| Heat 1 1. 4 Ray Bunn 2. 11 Ken Radabaugh 3. 66 Pete Paulsen 4. 39 Junior Garcia 5. 51 Mike Harmon 6. 45X Jeff Lewis 7. 66X Jessica Jones Main 1. 39 Junior Garcia 2. 51 Mike Harmon 3. 66X Jessica Jones 4. 11 Ken Radabaugh 5. 66 Pete Paulsen 6. 4 Ray Bunn 7. 45X Jeff Lewis |
| Vintage Hardtops |
| Heat 1 1. 39 Terry Decarlo 2. 100 Larry Damitz 3. 6 Dan Williams 4. 70 George Conner 5. 57 John Filbert 6. 5 Mike McClure 7. 25 Main 1. 100 Larry Damitz 2. 6 Dan Williams 3. 70 George Conner 4. 5 Mike McClure 5. 57 John Filbert 6. 25 Steve Cloyes 7. 39 Terry DeCarlo |
| Dwarf |
| Heat 1 1. 11 Tony Carmignani 2. 0 Charlie Correia 3. 45 Ricardo Rivera 4. 55 Jerry Doty 5. 12 Butch Liston 6. 21b Walter Harper 7. 22 Travis Dutra 8. 10 Ed Marer Heat 2 1. 96 Nick Squatritto 2. 08 Sam Westhorpe 3. 64 Tom Brown 4. 00 Mike Corsaro 5. 3s Chuck Golden 6. 34 Pat Urdahl 7. 4 Joe Trammel 8. 3 Duane Jordan Main 1.) 11 Tony Carmignani 2.) 34 Pat Urdahl |
