By Gary Thomas
Antioch, CA – March 31, 2010…After opening the 2010 season last weekend in Placerville the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series will now head for the Antioch Speedway this Saturday night April 3 for the second round in the fight for the King of California title.
Prior to this past season the Antioch Speedway was revamped with additional banking added and the track surface lengthened to what it is now billed as a 3/8 mile dirt oval, from what used to be one of the tighter bullrings in Northern California. The newly re-designed speedway provided some exciting racing last season with both events going right down to the wire, especially the July visit, which featured three different leaders and saw the top-five drivers trade slide jobs with regularity throughout the 30-lapper.
This weekend’s race will mark the 13th appearance for the Golden State Challenge Series since bringing 410 sprint car racing back to the Antioch Speedway in 2003 and the action over the past few seasons at the track has been very good on the whole. “Antioch was always one of the funnest tracks to go to in the early 90’s and they’re trying hard to get this place back to where it used to be,” said Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, who scored a runner-up finish last Saturday in Placerville. “The added bank last year was really nice and made it pretty racy so hopefully it’ll be a good show this weekend.”
Kaeding last July captured his fourth GSC main event win at the Antioch Speedway since the return in ’03, which is the most of any driver in that time span. The 13-time King of California always runs strong at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds facility as he seems to be a factor in the outcome each time he competes at the track aboard his Al’s Roofing Supply, Factory Kahne No. 69. “BK” will go into the weekend looking for his all-time series leading 84th career victory to help improve upon his current runner-up ranking in the standings.
Sitting on top of the Golden State Challenge Series points following his season-opening victory last weekend is Chico’s Jonathan Allard, who will be searching for his first career 410 win at the Antioch Speedway on Saturday. The two-time King of California has been in position to claim victory at the track each of the past three seasons, which includes leading both races late in the going last year, but has come up just shy of getting into victory lane at the helm of his Williams Motorsports, Sharp Insurance No. 0.
Last weekends dominating win from the pole at the Placerville Speedway marked Allard’s 20th career series triumph, which places him fourth on the all-time win list behind only Brent Kaeding, Tim Kaeding and Steve Kent. The 33-year-old driver is coming off a year that saw him finish runner-up in the GSC standings to Tyler Walker, who he battled toe-to-toe with throughout the 2009 season and ultimately missed out on a third title by just 26-points at the conclusion of the campaign. This weekend Allard will look to make it back-to-back wins to start the year.
After finishing third in Placerville last weekend former Northern Auto Racing Club Speedweek champion Bobby McMahan is expected to be back in action with the Golden State Challenge Series this weekend at Antioch Speedway. The driver of the Racing for the Troops, World Environmental No. 26b returned to full-time competition last season and claimed the Silver Dollar Speedway track championship, picking-up one win along the way. The Elk Grove racer scored a pair of 410 victories in the 90’s at Antioch and also finished runner-up in the GSC standings to Brent Kaeding in 1997. McMahan’s six career series wins places him in a tie for 15th on the all-time list with brother Paul McMahan, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding and Rio Linda’s Randy Tiner.
Defending Golden State Challenge Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson made a successful Antioch Speedway debut at both events last season and will make his third ever start at the track this weekend behind the wheel of the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino No. 99. The 17-year-old charged from 16th to seventh during his first career start at the track last April and backed that up in July by carving his way from the sixth row in the feature to run as high as second, before crossing the stripe in third. Larson last Saturday scored a fourth place finish during what was his GSC debut driving for BK Motorsports and this weekend the Elk Grove competitor will look for his second career series victory.
Grass Valley’s Jason Statler was the winner of the Golden State Challenge Series return to Antioch Speedway in 2003 and is coming off a strong runner-up finish during the event last July at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds track. That night saw the “Big Guy” lead the first 16-laps of the main event in his DF Rios Construction, Statler Racing No. 00 and finish just behind eventual winner Kaeding at the conclusion. The 2004 King of California is fresh off a sixth place finish in the feature during last weekend’s season-opener in Placerville.
Three-time and defending USAC Silver Crown Series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell scored a Northern Auto Racing Club victory at the Antioch Speedway during his rookie year with the series in 1997. The driver of the Alviso Rock, K&N Filters No. 29 ran sixth last April at the track and picked-up a seventh place finish last Saturday in Placerville. Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs tallied his career best finish of fourth at Antioch Speedway in April of 2008 and scored a best finish of sixth at the track last season in his Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil No. 33e. The 23-year-old started in the second row and ran 10th last weekend in Placerville after suffering a broken jacobs ladder early in the main event.
Other possibilities for this weekend in Antioch will include Placerville’s Andy Gregg, who scored a fifth place finish with GSC at the track last July, Ripon’s Brandon Carey, West Linn, Oregon’s Zach Zimmerly, Roseville’s Colby Copeland, West Sacramento’s Kyle Harris, San Martin’s Craig Smith, Rio Vista’s Danielle Simpson, Nevada City’s Pat Harvey and more.
The front gate of the Antioch Speedway will open at 5pm this Saturday April 3 with adult tickets costing $16, children 6-12 $10, seniors 65 and older $10 and kids 5 under free. A family pack for two adults and two children is also available for $45. There is a possibility the front gate could open earlier if the line is large enough to help alleviate the backup. The Antioch Speedway is located at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds on the corner of 10th & L Streets in Antioch, California. For more info on the track log onto http://www.antiochspeedway.com
Coming up- The Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series will head for its first appearance of the season at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare next Saturday April 10 for the annual running of the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial. Following that event the traveling 410 series will make a visit to the Petaluma Speedway 3/8 mile clay oval on Saturday April 17.
More news and info on the Golden State Challenge King of California Series can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
After pacing all 30-laps of the main event at last Saturday’s season-opener two-time King of California Jonathan Allard will lead the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series to the Antioch Speedway this weekend in his Williams Motorsports No. 0 machine. The Chico driver will be looking for his first career 410 victory at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds facility after scoring a best finish of second last season at the track, in which he led the first 26-laps of the feature until losing the lead to ’09 King of California Tyler Walker in traffic just before the finish. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com