(6/17/2019) (PC Katrina Kniss)
In a wild finish that you’ll see discussed across social media over the next few days, Antioch native Brent Curran once again found victory lane at Antioch Speedway this past Saturday night. Curran’s last lap pass has already been a big point of discussion across Facebook the past two days, drawing loud responses from fans and friends on either side of the story.
Saturday night as always kicked off with heat race action, where Curran would start 2nd. Though pole sitter Tommy Fraser stayed side by side with Curran for the majority of the opening lap, Curran quickly found himself pulling away from the pack. Curran would hold a consistent four car-lengths lead for the remainder of the race, going on to win ahead of Fraser and Cameron Swank.
For the feature, Curran would roll off 5th. With the high line being the preferred line around the track Saturday night, Curran would fall back to 6th on the first circuit, before regaining 5th on Lap 2. A few seconds later, the first and only caution of the race would fly for a crash in turn 4.
Curran was on a mission on the ensuing restart, flying from 5th to 2nd in a matter of two turns. This left race leader Chris Sieweke as the only driver ahead of Curran. Once he had taken 2nd, Curran looked underneath Sieweke a few times before realizing there was little to no grip on the bottom, eventually settling in behind Sieweke.
While Curran practically traced Sieweke’s tire tracks for much of the next 16 laps, he began looking for a spot to make his move, trying to maybe find a weakness in the line Sieweke was running.
Curran would again look to the inside of Sieweke multiple times as the laps wound down, at one point pulling up to his door as the two battled through lapped traffic before having to back out to avoid a collision.
With one lap left, Curran had to make his move. Curran would carry a great run through Turns 1 and 2 as he sped down the backstretch. As both drivers drove into Turn 3, Sieweke left the bottom open, giving Curran the chance to dive to his inside. Curran would get just far enough ahead of Sieweke to complete the pass, and went on to take the win in one of the most thrilling finishes of 2019.
After the race, Curran said: “Well Saturday was definitely exciting to say the least. Already could tell in the heat that the car had speed and if the track was racey enough the fans were in for a good one to make up for the week before. Our invert draw set us back a bit but was confident enough in our long run speed that we could still get to the front. Had a great time racing the 74 car the whole race and sucks that the finish ended up the way it did but no racer shows up to finish second. I admit there was contact and rubbing involved but after asking officials and fellow racers I’m content moving forward. I’d expect the same hard racing from anyone when it comes to a win on the last lap. That’s what the sports about and it attracts fans one way or another. Everyone has their opinion and I respect all of them. Can’t make everyone happy. On to next week for 2 days in Oregon.”
Brent would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:
Steel City Motorsports
Steadfast Construction
GRT Race Cars Inc.
Empire RC
89 Design
All Flow Muffler & Auto Repair
Jeff Fields (Brandit Designs)
Red Six RaceGear
Velocita-USA
Interested in having writeups like these done for your race team throughout the season? Contact Daren Ricks of DRC Motorsports Media here on Facebook, at darenricks999@gmail.com or at (530) 828-0112 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.
Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media
DRC Motorsports Media 