ANTIOCH, California -- Starting deep in the pack, veteran Charlie "The Hammer" Correia charged to the front and made a late pass on A.J. Salido to win the 20 lap All Pro Series Dwarf Car main event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Just moments after being passed for the lead, Salido spun in Turn 4 as Correia won ahead of Ray Etherton and likely "Rookie Of The Year" Ricardo Rivera. Kevin Beard led through four restarts to score his first career win in the time shortened ten lap Pure Stock main event ahead of Denise McCown and Robert Coe. Brian Davis won the ten lap Figure 8 main event ahead of new champion Jim Robbins. The night also included the dedication of the new Family Section in memory of future Hall Of Famer Harvey Mason.
There were 21 Dwarf Cars in action, but Charlie Cachelin, Martin Whittingham and Shawn O'Leary were done after hot laps. The three six lap heat race wins went to Curt Jordan, David Hays Jr. and new champion Jim Barton. Salido would get the five lap Trophy Dash win after winner Sparky Floris was disqualified from a third place feature finish for coming in light at the scales. David Barton led the opening lap of the main event before second ranked John Barker spun in Turn 4 and was hit hard by Hays, eliminating Hays. Sparky Floris, previous feature winner Jordan and Mark Tillinger shuffled D. Barton out of the top three on the restart, and a hard front stretch crash on lap three eliminated J. Barton and Ed Johnson. Jordan took the lead with an outside back stretch pass on the restart lap, and Salido made an inside pass on the back stretch of the sixth lap to take second from S. Floris. Christian Rezentes spun for a lap six caution flag. Jordan chose the outside on the restart option, but Salido raced into the lead ahead of Jordan and S. Floris. 13th starter Correia gained third on lap 13 when S. Floris spun in Turn 4 for a caution flag. Salido led Jordan and Correia on the single file restart, and a low move in Turn 4 of the 17th lap gained Correia second from Jordan before a caution flag flew. The lap 18 restart saw Correia make a strong inside move in Turn 3 to gain the lead, and Salido spun in Turn 4 for the race ending yellow and checkered flag finish. Correia won ahead of Ray Etherton, Rivera, Jordan and D. Barton.
The 20 Pure Stocks ran three eight lap qualifying heat races with wins going to Richard Shearer, Lynn Zehr and Trevor Clymens. Tim Welence claimed four lap Trophy Dash honors. Beard had the pole for the main event and set the pace at the green flag ahead of D. McCown. Steve Perry spun for a lap one caution flag. Beard chose the inside and continued to lead D. McCown on the restart as Coe gained third. Megan McCown's title hopes took a severe blow when she pitted during a lap six caution flag and lost a lap. The fourth yellow of the race flew on lap nine for Jeremy Mendes, who was black flagged for his second yellow flag of the race as the 20 minute time limit was fast approaching. Beard led D. McCown and Coe on the restart, and Cody Scott lost a tire on the front stretch for a lap ten red flag. The race was ended at that point with Beard the happy winner ahead of D. McCown, Coe, Richard Shearer and point leader Melissa Hansen.
Hoping to nail down third in Figure 8 points, Steve Perry drove the Alvin Lewis car to a six lap heat race win, but he drove the Dave Lexer car in the main event. Robbins set the early pace from his front row main event start as Davis settled into second ahead of Coe. Contact from Robbins racing out of Turn 4 and into the X sent Davis spinning, but he still crossed the line in second as the caution flag flew for second ranked Tobi Madden and Paul Mendes. An inside move in Turn 3 of the fifth lap gained Davis the lead from Robbins. Davis cruised to victory ahead of Robbins and Coe, and a high move in Turn 1 of the final lap gained Madden a fourth place finish ahead of Perry in a good battle.
H 1-Curt Jordan, Ray Etherton, Sparky Floris, Ed Johnson, Ted Rebarto.
H 2-David Hays Jr., A.J. Salido, Ricardo Rivera, David Barton, Dan Williams.
H 3-Jim Barton, Mark Tillinger, John Barker, Bill Baughman, Christian Rezentes.
DASH-Salido, J. Barton, Jordan.
MAIN EVENT-Charlie Correia, Etherton, Rivera, Jordan, D. Barton, Baughman, S. Floris, John Soares Jr., Salido, Shannon Iverson, Rezentes, Barker, Rebarto, Tillinger, Williams, J. Barton, Johnson, Rusty Floris (DQ), Martin Whittingham (DNS), Charlie Chachelin (DNS), Shawn O'Leary (DNS).
H 1-Richard Shearer, Jeremy Mendes, Jason Hayes, Scott Reeves, Tom Chiaro.
H 2-Lynn Zehr, Tim Welence, Megan McCown, Denise McCown, Cody Scott.
H 3-Trevor Clymens, Melissa Hansen, Robert Coe, Kevin Beard, Brian Belding.
DASH-Welence, Clymens, Hansen.
MAIN EVENT-Beard, D. McCown, Coe, Shearer, Hansen, Clymens, Reeves, Hayes, Zehr, Belding, Perry, Gary Larsen, Welence, Eric Berendsen, Scott, Dave Lexer, M. McCown, Mendes, Chiaro, Mike Berry (DNS).
HEAT-Steve Perry, Brian Davis, Paul Medndes, Jim Robbins, Robert Coe.
MAIN EVENT-Davis, Robbins, Coe, Tobi Madden, Perry, Kevin Beard, Mendes.
