Keldsen, Tuttle, Pearce, Mallet, Foulger also winners 

By Candice Martin, DCRR Racing Media 

Antioch, CA…May 19-20…Auto racing returned to the Contra Costa County Fair in a big way with two nights of racing. The Saturday night Figure 8 was a Main attraction. It was the first of six scheduled events for the popular race, and the win went to DJ Keldsen of Newman.

Keldsen had the outside front row for the Figure 8 race, and he charged into the lead at the start ahead of Chester Kniss of Antioch and Jimmy Robbins of Concord. Both Robbins and Dakota Keldsen of Watsonville slipped past Kniss for second and third on the fourth lap. A close battle developed between Robbins and Dakota Keldsen with Robbins taking a wild ride into the infield on Lap 5 and falling back a couple of positions. Angela Brown of Antioch gained third at that point, but she and Dakota Keldsen had contact on Lap 10 as Kniss and Robbins moved into second and third. To that point, there had been plenty of close calls in the X, but it turned into a battle at the front for the win between DJ Keldsen and Kniss. When the checkered flag flew, Keldsen prevailed ahead of Kniss, Robbins, Dakota Keldsen and Tommy Clymens Jr of Oakley.

Ken Johns of Antioch picked up his first Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Main Event win of the season. The race was led early by third-generation racer Colten Haney of Brentwood with Johns in pursuit. They ran that way until Johns found an opening low in Turn 2 on the seventh lap to take over. Jared Baugh of Pittsburgh followed Johns into second. The race was run in rapid fashion on a hooked up racing surface. The leaders lapped several slower cars before a yellow flag waved on Lap 17. This didn’t stop Johns as he resumed command on the restart and went on to victory ahead of Baugh, Haney, Grayson Baca of Brentwood and Kevin Brown of Oakley.

Piloting one of the two Ted Finkenbinder owned entries, Jacob Tuttle of Oakley prevailed in the 25 lap Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event. Tuttle had the pole and charged into lead over WMR Midgets champion Blake Bower of Brentwood, who was also in a Finkenbinder car. Kevin Box of Bethel Island settled into an early third with reigning champion Shannon Newton of Elk Grove starting to pressure him for the position. The track was a bit dry with drivers preferring the lower line. Newton had just overtaken Box for the third position on Lap 16 when he began to smoke and lost power for the only yellow flag on Lap 17. Tuttle continued to lead Bower and Box on the restart, and they finished in that order as Jarrett Soares of Gilroy and James East of Oakley rounded out the Top 5.

IMCA National rookie point leader Andrew Pearce of Oakley won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. This was his first win of the season. Anthony Slaney of Martinez set the early pace ahead of Buddy Kniss of Oakley and Pearce. Pearce slipped underneath Kniss in Turn 4 on Lap 5 to gain second and set his sights on Slaney. By the midpoint of the race, there was a battle at the head of the pack. Pearce finally made an inside pass on the front stretch on Lap 16 to grab the lead, and he brought it home to victory from there. Slaney settled for second ahead of Kniss, Troy Foulger of Oakley and Timothy Allerdings of Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Troy Foulger of Oakley won the 25 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. It was Jason Robles of Rio Vista taking the early lead, but Foulger slipped underneath him in Turn 4 on Lap 2 to gain command. As Foulger began to pull away, Jason Robles was being challenged by son Kenneth for the second spot. The race for second place saw a back and forth battle during the late stages. Kenneth went low in Turn 4 to pass his father for the spot on Lap 19, but his father regained the position in Turn 2 a lap later. It was Foulger winning ahead of Jason Robles, Kenneth Robles, Scott Foster of Antioch and Travis Dutra of Concord.

Reigning IMCA Sport Modified State champion Jacob Mallet Jr of Oakley collected the win in the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Mallet had the pole position and raced into the early lead ahead of Mark Garner of Antioch. However, Joseph Pato of Oakley went low in Turn 4 on the third lap to take second. A yellow flag waved on Lap 3 for Trevor Clymens of Brentwood in Turn 4. Mallet continued to lead the restart ahead of Pato and Matt Pitts of Rodeo. As the lead duo pulled away from the pack, Pitts had his hands full in a close battle for third. Kenny Shrader at Pacheco got by with a low pass in Turn 2 on Lap 14. Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley found his way into fourth late, but Mallet drove a flawless race to collect the win. Pato settled for a career best second, followed by Shrader, Ryan and Garner .

The racetrack on Saturday for the Hobby Stocks, Figure 8 and Sport Modifieds was hooked up and fast, while the Friday surface for the Wingless Spec Sprints, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars was dry. The crew worked very hard to produce the fast-racing conditions on Saturday.

After a week off, the show returns on June 3rd. The Soares Memorial race is on the schedule, featuring the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Xtreme Limited Late Models and Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stocks. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Antioch Speedway Race Results – May 19 & 20, 2023

Friday

Wingless Spec Sprints 

FT Jacob Tuttle 15.715. Heat Winners (8 laps)-Jacob Tuttle, Blake Bower. Main Event (25 laps)-Jacob Tuttle, Blake Bower, Kevin Box, Jarrett Soares, James East, Anthony Bruno, Nathan Johnson, MacKenzie Newton, Steve Maionchi, Shannon Newton.

IMCA Modifieds

Heat Winner (8 laps)-Anthony Slaney. Main Event (20 laps)-Andrew Pearce, Anthony Slaney, Buddy Kniss, Troy Foulger, Timothy Allerdings, Tim Balding, Jeff Browne, Eric Berendsen.

IMCA Stock Car

Heat winner (8 laps)-Jason Robles. Main Event (25 laps)-Troy Foulger, Jason Robles, Kenneth Robles, Scott Foster, Travis Dutra, Jeff Bentancourt, Kimo Oreta.

Saturday

IMCA Sport Modifieds 

Heat Winners (20 laps)-Dylan Connolly, Trevor Clymens. Main Event (20 laps)-Jacob Mallet Jr, Joseph Pato, Kenny Shrader, Jason Ryan Jr, Mark Garner, Matt Pitts, Tom Fraser, Trevor Clymens, Billy Garner, Kelly Campanile.

Hobby Stocks 

Heat Winners (8 laps)-James Graessle, Grayson Baca, Jared Baugh. Main Event (20 laps)-Ken Johns, Jared Baugh, Colten Haney, Grayson Baca, Kevin Brown, Jake Archibald, Taylor DeCarlo, Jess Paladino, Michaela Taylor, Rob Waldrop. 

Figure 8

Main Event (15 laps)-DJ Keldsen, Chester Kniss, Jimmy Robbins, Dakota Keldsen, Tommy Clymens Jr, Angela Brown, Michaela Taylor, Mike Conley Jr, James Graessle, Dennis Keldsen.

the attachments to this post:

TrickyTroyFoulger

KenJohns

JacobTuttle

JacobM

DJKeldsen

AndrewP

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2023 at 6:44 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.