10/4/2023
Antioch Speedway
Hobby Stock Nationals Set For Friday And Saturday At Antioch Speedway
Antioch, CA...Once again, it's time for the Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Nationals. This is the third installment of the race that was initiated by Larry Adams in 2021. Track management has put together a solid payout throughout the field on Saturday night. Even the purse on Friday will be enticing as it is better than normal pay.
The big news is Friday night. The track initially made the announcement that the grandstands wouldn't be open on Friday, but that has been reversed. Everything is in place, and fans will get to watch some quality Hobby Stock racing that will include a $400 to win Main Event on Friday.
Just taking the green flag will net a driver $100 minimum. In addition to competing for the slightly increased purse money on the occasion, the Top 4 finishers are locked into Saturday night's Trophy Dash to determine the first two rows of the Main Event.
The Saturday Main Event will run for 50 laps. They will run a point system starting with the heat races on Friday and throughout the preliminaries on Saturday to set lineups behind the first two rows of the Main Event. In addition to the $3,000 prize for the winner, second will walk home with $1,200 and third will receive $1,000. Just taking the green flag on Saturday get you a minimum of $200, and there is a championship belt on the line for the winner.
Larry Adams had been serving as the track's technical guru and ran the production staff for digital entertainment when he came up with the idea of a special race for the Hobby Stocks in 2021. Thus, the Hobby Stock Nationals was born.
Drivers came from throughout the state to compete, and Bakersfield area drivers proved to be the stars of the field as Dylan Wilson outran Nick Johnson for the inaugural win. Brian Cooper of Yuba City, one of the stars of the West Coast Hobby Stock Tour, finished third ahead of Les Friend of Galt and Olivehurst's Phillip Shelby, a past IMCA Sport Modified and Stock Car champion at Marysville Raceway.
Last season saw the show pushed into November, and it was a bit brisk for the occasion. Wilson continued to be red hot in scoring the big win ahead of current IMCA Modified State champion Andrew Pearce of Oakley. Pearce gave it a really good run before settling for second. 2021 track champion Larry McKinzie Jr of Discovery Bay ended up third on the occasion, followed by Clarence Holbrook III of Galt and Figure 8 star DJ Keldsen of Newman.
Wilson had won the preliminary Main Event the first year, but it was Pearce using his first ever Hobby Stock start to post the victory ahead of Jared Baugh of Pittsburgh and Antioch's Chester Kniss last year. The field is sure to have a long list of local stars, but drivers are again anticipated from throughout California to do battle on the fast one-third mile clay oval.
It's also the fifth round of the Figure 8 series, but the four races held so far have all gone to the same man, DJ Keldsen of Newman. This race will salute Mike Conley, who was recently put into the Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame.
All four races have had different runner-up finishers. Seconds have gone to Chester Kniss of Antioch, Jimmy Robbins of Concord, Terry DeCarlo Jr of Martinez and most recently Ken Winland of Watsonville.
A check of the Figure 8 standings finds DJ Keldsen with a perfect score and a 24 point lead over Robbins. DJ's brother Cody Keldsen of Watsonville is just 14 points behind Robbins. Angela Brown of Antioch is 10 points behind Cody.
The Mcro Sprints round out the field as a last minute addition. The group has had three races, and the results have been the same as Don McCleister of Stockton has won the Main Event on each occasion. His most recent win came ahead of Lodi's Ryan Holden and Marysville's Sven Johnson. Devin McClellister of Stockton, who has finished as high as second in Antioch action, had mechanical issues and ended up fourth ahead of Antioch's Charlie Knight last time out.
The Micro Sprints are very popular on the 1/5 mile ovals, such as Dixon and Stockton's Delta Speedway, but they have ventured onto the bigger tracks, such as Petaluma Speedway, with some success. It is hoped that something can be established at Antioch. They nearly doubled their average last time out, showing that there is an interest in racing on the bigger track.
Hobby Stock enthusiasts aren't going to find a bigger race for their class than the Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Nationals on Saturday night. Winning this event is a season maker, and that driver will cash the $3,000 paycheck and hoist the championship belt up over their head.
Will the glory head out of town, or will a local competitor take charge? From the moment the green flag waves on Friday night, every race will matter and bring somebody closer to the glory.
On Friday night, the gates open at 4:00 and the first race starts at 6:00. It's a $15 admission across the board with children four and under free.
On Saturday night the gates will open at 4:00 with the first race starting at 6:00. Adult tickets are $20, Senior/Military $15, Kids (5-12) $15 and kids four and under free.
For further information, go to www.raceantiochspeedway.com or check out the Antioch Speedway by PROmotions Facebook page
Article Credit: Candice Martin
Submitted By: Wylie Wade
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