Foulger wins again at Antioch Speedway: four-time champ tops DIRTcar Late Model Stock Car field, Templeton wins with Mom along for the ride, Lumpy Sturgill honored with memorial lap
Antioch, Calif. – Troy Foulger of Martinez fought off challenges from Morgan Hill’s Jeff Decker to win the DIRTcar Late Model Stock Car feature event at Antioch Speedway on Saturday night, July 11, Decker was not only battling with a field of competitors, but was fighting problems with his own car.
“Gremlins – that’s what we’ve been fighting with this new car,” Decker said after the race, as he smelled gear oil wafting from under his car. “Even though we had some problems tonight the car has had its best run yet.”
Foulger’s Oakley-based Bowers Motorsports stock car performed flawlessly. Foulger and the Bowers team won the Antioch Sumer Nationals just two weeks earlier. The 22-year-old four-time champ was able to ride high on the track with ease.
“I just put my car right out to the fence and it rolled through the turns nicely,” Foulger said. “Paul Guglielmoni was running fantastically tonight, and once I got by him it was clear sailing. My car came out of the turns, dug in, and just took off down the straightaway.”
Chico’s Richard Papenhausen, the strongest runner in the division early in the season, fought Antioch’s Chester Kniss to take third in the waning moments of the race. Guglielmoni challenged Kniss for fourth, but had to settle for fifth at the drop of the checkered flag.
Ryland Keeps On Rolling In the IMCA SportMod Division
Brentwood’s Fred Ryland makes no secret that his calculated racing schedule is a route to possibly becoming the first Californian national champ in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) SportMod division.
Ryland tallied his 23rd win of the season, driving to the finish line with his visor covered in mud. He made the pass for the lead two laps earlier, then ran out of the tear-off plastic film that drivers peel from their visors as the race progresses. That allowed second place finisher Trevor Clymens, also of Brentwood, to close the gap between he and Ryland, as Clymens attempted to regain the lead going for the finish line.
“I had limited visibility so I slowed down for the last few laps,” Ryland explained. “I held my line – I didn’t want to draw a caution flag from hitting anyone.”
Clymens moved to the front when early leader Mark Garner of Antioch brushed the wall between turns three and four. At the finish, it was Anthony Giuliani of Morgan Hill in third.
Mom Gets A Surprise Hobby Stock Start
Chase Templeton of Brentwood did not tell his mom that he was starting on the pole position of the 20 lap Hobby Stock main event. That’s because she was just going for a Saturday evening “ride” with him in the two-seater race car.
“If I told her I was starting on the pole, with all the top drivers trying to hunt me down, she would never have gotten in the car,” Templeton said.
Looking scared, Cathy Templeton, a fifth grade teacher at the Knightsen grammar school, hugged her son in victory lane. It was his first win in four seasons of trying.
“It was both amazing and scary – I wasn’t able to say one word until it was over,” Cathy Templeton said.
That’s because track champ Kimo Oreta of Vacaville and veteran racer Chris Sorensen from El Sobrante took turns trying to snatch the top spot from Templeton.
First, it was Oreta, who tried so hard he spun out in the first and second turns.
“The guy (Templeton) just got away from me. I tried everything in the book to catch him,” third place Oreta said.
Then, Sorensen was alongside Templeton.
“I just thought he (Templeton) was going to mess up sooner or later because the track was tricky,” second place Sorensen explained. “But, he never messed up.”
Jeremy Lumpy Sturgill Remembered
Restauranteur Jeremy Sturgill, friend and sponsor of racers, was remembered with a memorial lap at the start of the Antioch Speedway Saturday night program.
Drivers from all divisions lined up and followed the car of Mark Garner, flying a Lumpy’s Diner banner. Magoon followed the parade waving a checkered flag from his Lumpy’s Diner sponsored sprint car. The wing from the top of Magoon’s car was autographed by fans and will hang in the Lone Tree Way, Antioch, location of Lumpy’s Diner.
Magoon, later leading the Northern All Stars Winged 360 Sprint Car feature, dropped out with mechanical problems. Jake Haulot of Cotati took the win.
“It was Magoon’s race to win,” the Sonoma State College Student said. “I was not expecting his car to fail.”
The win was Haulot’s second of the season. Dan Gonderman of Antioch took second.
This Saturday Night at Antioch Speedway
IMCA Modified Stock Cars headline this Saturday, July 18th’s program at Antioch Speedway. Northern All Stars Econo 360 Wingless Sprint Cars, Limited Late Models and Hobby Stocks are on the card.
Antioch Speedway is located within the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, 1201 W. 10th St. in Antioch, Calif. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, and $10 for children 6-12. Children under six years old are admitted free. A family four pack of tickets is $40. Secured parking is offered by the Fairgrounds for $5. Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. For more information visit www.ovalmotorsports.com.
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