Busby wins John Soares, Sr. Memorial Race at Antioch Speedway, Saturday night
Scott Busby’s #73 division record 65th career A Modified feature win was worth $1,500. Busby now has 71 career wins, which leaves him one win behind speedway legend J.D. Willis for the lead on the all time list. Photo by Paul Gould
By Don Martin II
When Scott Busby began his racing career at Antioch Speedway in 1979, he ran a Street Stock, and the track was promoted by it’s founder, John Soares Sr. On Saturday night, Scott scored one of the biggest wins of his career in the John Soares Sr. Memorial Top Dog Shoot Out. Busby won his heat race earlier in the evening to set the stage for his big $1,500 30 lap Main Event win.
Busby was the early Main Event leader, but the race changed after a yellow flag for a Turn 4 wreck involving Troy Foulger and Duane Cleveland on lap nine. Busby lost the lead as another A Modified legend, Randy McDaniel, moved by. McDaniel won the Jerry Hetrick Memorial Race earlier this year. Busby settled back into third behind three time winner Brian Cass, but the three cars ran in close formation up front. Busby made an inside move in Turn 4 of the 23rd lap to take second from Cass, and a spin in Turn 1 forced a lap 26 caution flag. Two false starts by the leaders followed and could have resulted in the first two rows being swapped. However, track officials wanted to let the two battle it out for the $1,500 win. McDaniel ran the inside line, and Busby got a good run on the outside. As they headed down the back stretch, Busby pulled ahead, and he carried that momentum through Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead. From there, Busby went on to a hard fought victory ahead of McDaniel, Cass, Michael Paul Jr. and Bobby Motts Jr.
Richard Papenhausen #4p scored his third $1,500 DIRTcar Late Model win of the season, and he appears to be headed for his second championship in three seasons. Photo by Paul Gould
Richard Papenhausen took an emphatic step towards the DIRTcar Late Model championship with an impressive 20 lap Main Event victory. With mechanial issues striking fellow heat winner Troy Foulger early, the anticipated battle with Papenhausen never materialized. Papenhausen grabbed the lead early and steadily pulled away from the competition for what is surely a championship clinching $1,500 victory. Terry Kuntz and Dennis Souza were season best second and third place finishers, both on the lead lap. Danny Malfati returned and finished fourth ahead of Shawn DeForest.
Reigning B Modified champion Fred Ryland returned to Antioch Speedway and won the $850 first prize in the 20 lap B Modified Main Event. Brian Pearce was running strong and won his heat race by a straightaway. Pearce led the early goings of the Main Event, but F. Ryland was quickly into second and shadowing Pearce. Chuck Golden stalled at the Turn 1 exit midway through the race for a yellow flag. Ryland managed to grab the lead from Pearce on the restart, but one more yellow slowed the pace three laps from the finish. The “psyche game” saw Ryland jump a start that was called back. Pearce did the same thing the next time. On the third attempt, Fred Ryland maintained his pace and held off Pearce for the big victory. Many time Merced and Hanford A Modified champion Paul Stone drove the Tim Hammett car to a third place finish as heat winner Patti Ryland and Mitch Enos rounded out the Top 5.
Fred Ryland #7j returned to his home track and scored an $850 victory in the B Modified Main Event. It was the fourth win of the season for the reigning track champion. Photo by Paul Gould
Three time reigning Hobby Stock champion Kimo Oreta returned for only the the second time and once again won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Oreta, who is the division’s all time Main Event win leader with 23 wins, could not resist the lure of the $850 payday. The early goings of the Main Event were just a bit rough, and one incident saw Frank Furtado lose a wheel to end his race. Oreta had to bring his A Game to this race as point leader Guy Ahlwardt and recent winner Melissa Myers were running closely behind him. However, Oreta was just a bit faster and grabbed Bob Kempf’s checkered flag ahead of Ahlwardt and Myers. John McClendon got the opportunity to drive the Bob Brown owned car for the first time and piloted it to a fourth place finish ahead of Fred Ryland.
The championship season wraps up on October 22nd with a loaded seven division program that includes A Modifieds, DIRTcar Late Models, Wingless Spec Sprints, B Modifieds, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com
Unofficial Race Results:
Hobby Stocks
Heat 1-Guy Ahlwardt, Chris Sorensen, Kimo Oreta. Heat 2-Natalie Perry, Cameron Swank, Fred Ryland. Main Event-Oreta, Ahlwardt, Melissa Myers, John McClendon, Ryland.
B Modifieds
Heat 1-Patti Ryland, Fred Ryland, Chuck Golden. Heat 2-Brian Pearce, Mike Salazar, Al Johnson. Main Event-F. Ryland, Pearce, Paul Stone, P. Ryland, Mitch Enos.
A Modifieds
Heat 1-Richard Papenhausen, Carl Berendsen II, Bobby Motts Jr. Heat 2-Bobby Montalvo, Randy McDaniel, Troy Foulger. Heat 3-Scott Busby, Sean O’Gara, Darrell Hughes II. Main Event-Busby, McDaniel, Cass, Michael Paul Jr, Motts.
DIRTcar Late Models
Heat 1-Troy Foulger, Shawn DeForest, Danny Malfati. Heat 2-Richard Papenhausen, Kimo Oreta, Terry Kuntz Main Event-Papenhausen, Kuntz, Dennis Souza, Malfati, DeForest.
the attachments to this post:
ryland
papenausen
busby
