Curran Scores 5th Victory on Emotional Weekend For The Curran Family

(7/8/2019)

While every victory obviously means a lot to a racecar driver, Saturday night at Antioch Speedway meant so much more for B Mod winner Brent Curran. In the past 4 years, Curran has lost 3 extremely close family members, each passing on in the first week of July. With Curran unsure if he’d be able to race Saturday, he knew they’d want him out at the track doing what he loves, thus Curran made the decision to race Saturday night.

The night kicked off with heat race action, with an unfortunate pill draw lining Curran up last in the 5 car race. In the first two laps Curran made 2 quick moves, passing last week’s winner Scott Savell and point leader Tommy Fraser to slide into 3rd position. Though he was able to catch 2nd place runner Les Friend, Curran would have to settle for 3rd in the heat.

For the feature, Curran would roll off 5th, but by the end of the opening lap, he was already up to 2nd. Just one lap later, Curran would capitalize on a mistake by race leader Kevin Brown to grab the top spot.

While Brown was able to hang close to Curran for a couple of laps, Curran quickly began pulling away and opening a huge gap back to 2nd. By the time the first caution waved 7 laps in, Curran had amassed a full straightaway’s length lead over Brown and the rest of the field.

Once the race got back underway it was right back to business for Curran, this time with a new challenger in Les Friend riding behind in 2nd. Just like before the caution, once a few laps had passed, Curran was once again ahead by a sizeable margin.

When all was said and done, Curran would go on to win the feature by nearly half a lap. The feature netted Curran an increased $500 win winnings, as well as narrowing the points battle with Fraser to just 2 points.

When asked for a comment about his night, Curran said “This last week has been a very tough week for me emotionally. I lost 3 family members very close to me within a few days of each other in the last 4 years. My Dena on 7/3/17, my Grandpa Barry on 7/5/17 and my Grandpa Jerry on 7/7/15… It was even up in the air that I was going to race Saturday with where my head was this week. They would’ve wanted me to race my heart out so I did. Had a solid heat race on one of the best track surfaces I’ve seen all year at Antioch. Car was solid and only needed to make a few minor adjustments for the main as the track dried out a bit. Went out with the intention in the main to take it easy the first few laps and keep the nose clean and go racing once everyone got sorted out. The car felt great the first few laps and within a couple laps found myself out front. Moved around a bit trying to see where the car felt the best but finally settled in on the bottom and never looked back. All in all another great week for points and an emotional win to top that.”

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

Sorensen Does it Again, Now a 5 Time Winner in 2019

(6/24/2019)

What a start to the 2019 race season it’s been for El Sobrante native Chris Sorensen. The defending Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock champ has set a ridiculous pace so far, picking up 5 wins and 5 runner up finishes across his 1st 10 starts of the season. Sorensen’s 5th and most recent win came this past Saturday night, extending his points lead to 50 points heading into the final weekend of June.

Sorensen’s night kicked off with heat race action, where he’d roll off 3rd of the 3 cars that made the call. Sorensen immediately took 2nd on the start, than settled in behind race leader Trevor Clymens. Though he looked to the inside of Clymens multiple times over the next 7 laps, he couldn’t find the right spot to make a pass, taking 2nd in the heat race.

For the feature, Sorensen would start 9th in the 11 car field. Sorensen was a busy man early, making 5 passes in the opening 2 circuits, including dodging a car that was sideways directly in front of him.

A lap later Sorensen found himself in 3rd, and knocking on the door for 2nd. The 10 lap battle for 2nd eventually evolved into a 3 car battle for the lead as Sorensen and Clymens tracked down race leader Breanna Troen.

With 8 to go, Sorensen grabbed 2nd from Troen, leaving just Clymens ahead. Sorensen and Clymens would race door to door lap after lap, with Sorensen gaining the upper hand as the leaders came to 2 to go. Sorensen would get lucky on the last lap. As he got out of shape coming out of turn 2, so did Clymens in 2nd, allowing Sorensen to maintain his advantage and walk away victorious yet again at Antioch Speedway.

Chris would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Brc Race Cars

GET OUT OF TOWN! Professional Pet Care

LRT Graphics

Lucky Dog Racing League

Hotshots Motorsports Photography

Montalvo Motorsports

Curran Returns to Victory Lane in Dramatic Fashion at Antioch Speedway

(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

Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

Curran Perseveres Through Challenging Track Conditions to Take 2 Top 10’s at Merced and Antioch

(6/10/2019)

Though the team’s primary focus is on winning the Antioch Speedway B Mod title, Curran headed down to Merced Speedway this past Wednesday to compete in their annual Fair Race. The team wanted a chance to test their dry slick setup, and with the track’s water truck breaking down early on a hot night, Curran got a bit drier of a surface than he had been expecting.

Due to IMCA point average lineups, Curran would start last in his 9 car heat. With only 3 cars transferring to the feature he would have plenty of work to do if he wanted to transfer directly from the heat race. Despite being in a stacked heat race, Curran would climb up to 5th to set himself up with a solid starting position in the B Main.

Though Curran rolled off 4th in the B Main, he quickly found his way to the front. Once Curran took the lead, there wasn’t anyone even close to being able to catch him, as he lead the remainder of the race to win by nearly 5 seconds.

Curran’s B Main win would start him towards the back for the feature as he started 14th. Over the course of the 25 lap feature, Curran carefully picked his spots, moving into the Top 10 in the early going. As the laps wound down, however, Curran just couldn’t find the room to move much further forward, and would ultimately come home with an 8th place finish.

Saturday night at Antioch started much better for Curran, who drew the pole for his heat race. Curran would go on to lead all 8 laps, leading by nearly a straightaway, as he picked up the heat race win in dominating fashion.

Since Curran had won the previous race, he would be forced to start 10th for the main event. With track conditions drier than many had ever seen at the speedway, the thick cloud of dust made it difficult to make moves in traffic.

Despite the dust, Curran was on the move early, moving up to 7th before a Lap 5 caution. A few laps later, Curran would grab 6th after a fellow competitor spun ahead of him.

On the restart, Curran would quickly grab 5th from Chris Sieweke, and was all over the back of Kevin Brown for 4th. Though it looked like Curran easily had the speed to get around Brown, there just wasn’t room on the track to make a move stick. Curran would go on to run the remainder of the race in 5th, where he’d ultimately finish.

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

Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

Curran Returns to Victory Lane at Antioch Speedway For the 3rd Time in 2019

(6/2/2019) (PC Katrina Kniss)

As we head into the month of June, Antioch’s Brent Curran has found himself right where he wants to be, tied for the Antioch Speedway B Mod points lead. It’s been a strong run of finishes as of late for Curran, including 3 wins in his past 5 starts. If Curran is able to continue to ride this wave of momentum, he could very well find himself as the track champ at the end of the season.

Curran would start 4th in his heat race, before moving to 3rd on the opening lap. Curran then went to work on Tommy Fraser for 2nd, but as he looked inside, he clipped an inside tire, bending a few suspension pieces in the process. Noticeably slower for the rest of the race, Curran would limp across the finish line in 4th.

With plenty of work to do for the main, Curran and his crew went to work, getting the car as close to where it had been as possible. The team’s hard work would be worth it as the inversion gave Curran the pole for the feature.

From the drop of the green flag, Curran was gone. Curran had managed to open a nearly 4 second lead before the lone caution of the race waved 7 laps into the event.

On the restart, 2nd place runner Kenny Shrader gave Curran a good run for his money, but Curran would again begin to pull away after a couple laps, leaving Shrader and Todd Gomez to battle over 2nd. From there it was smooth sailing for Curran, who would lead all 20 laps en route to his 3rd win of the season, and 8th of his B Mod career.

After the race, Curran said: “This weekend was probably the most laid back I’ve felt at the track in awhile. Walked in the gate with no pressure on my shoulders, was just excited to be there and drive my racecar. Car felt good in the heat just made a rookie mistake running the bottom and clipped the infield tire. Bent a few things in the front end but we were able to get it back in working condition in the main. Still had a couple bent parts but it was drivable. For the main we made some changes on the car that we weren’t really sure of with the rear end still being a bit new to us. Starting on the pole I knew if I could get the start I needed I could get out front and hopefully get some clean laps with the setup changes we made and see how the car reacted. First few laps I could tell that the car was now doing what I needed it to through the dry and it was our race to lose at that point and was able to pull off another win. 3 wins this year is obviously pretty cool but still a long way from our long term goal of a championship this year. We still have some work to do and still need some solid finishes but I’m just glad the last few races have been much better than our first 2. The whole team has needed the runs we’ve had lately.”

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

Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

https://www.patreon.com/drcmotorsportsmedia (New laptop fund)

Sorensen Back in Victory Lane For 3rd Time in 2019

(5/27/19) (PC Katrina Kniss)

For the 3rd time in the early portion of 2019, El Sobrante native Chris Sorensen found himself in victory lane Saturday night. The defending Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock champ has set a torrid pace through the first 6 races, posting 3 wins and 3 2nd place finishes. Sorensen’s hot start has also secured him a 42 point lead as we head into the month of August.

The night as always started off with heat race action, where Sorensen started 4th. After quickly dispatching of 2nd and 3rd, Sorensen found himself right behind race leader John Wacht. It wouldn’t take long for Sorensen to clear Wacht, setting sail to pick up his 5th heat race win on the season.

For the feature, Sorensen would roll off 7th in the 12 car field. From the drop of the green flag, Sorensen was on the move, picking off 6th and 5th in the opening two laps. Sorensen’s next two passes would come a couple of laps later, as the 3rd and 4th place cars got together, allowing Sorensen to slip by both for 3rd.

Two short laps later and Sorensen was on the move again, using the low line in turns 3 and 4 to pass Will Buirch for 2nd. With the rest of the field out of the way, that left just Breanna Troen ahead in the race for the lead.

After a mid race restart, that battle for the win was on, as Sorensen and Troen raced side by side multiple times, with Sorensen just unable to complete the pass. After briefly falling back, Sorensen began reeling Troen back in with just a few laps left.

With 3 laps left, Sorensen and Troen made contact multiple times on the frontstretch and in turns 1 and 2, resulting in Sorensen taking the lead. Sorensen would lead the last 2 laps uncontested to win the main event.

Chris will be back in action June 8th at Antioch Speedway for the Jerry Hetrick Memorial.

Chris would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Brc Race Cars

GET OUT OF TOWN! Professional Pet Care

LRT Graphics

Lucky Dog Racing League

Hotshots Motorsports Photography

Montalvo Motorsports

Curran Notches Top 5 in First Career A Mod Start

(5/6/2019)

Though there wasn’t a B Mod race scheduled at Antioch Speedway Saturday night, Antioch’s own Brent Curran needed to get some laps in to test out the car’s new rear end. With that in mind, the team headed to Antioch Speedway to compete with the track’s A Mod class.

Despite running against a faster class, Curran was fairly competitive. Since he was just trying to make sure the car was ready to go for next week he didn’t push it too hard. He was able to gain one spot to finish 5th, but he easily had the speed to finish in the Top 3.

At the drop of the green flag in the Main Event, Curran was on the move. Curran would move from 8th to 6th on the opening lap, and was knocking on the door of the Top 5. Just one lap later, Curran again moved up two spots, this time taking 4th.

Buddy Kniss wasn’t going to give up 5th easily, however, pulling back alongside Curran to run side by side multiple times over the next few laps. The lone caution of the race would wave 7 laps in, bunching the field back up and meaning Curran would have Kniss to his outside on the restart.

On the ensuing restart Kniss would regain 4th, as Curran had to fend off a new challenger in Brian Pearce. After a few laps Curran was able to break free and maintain 5th. A short time later, Curran would catch early leader Terry Kaiser and pass him to move back into 4th.

While Curran was able to keep pace with the Top 3, he wasn’t finding ways around the car ahead of him. Curran would ride out the last half of the race in 4th, putting up a strong showing against the division above what he normally runs.

After the race, Curran said: “It was a good night altogether. Worked out some bugs in the new rear end and was able to fine tune a bit and see how the car reacted. Didn’t want to take a chance on a points day for us and have an issue arise with something we missed. Finishing top 5 and being able to race side by side with some of my A mod hero’s was just a bonus. Hopefully I’m able to do it again sometime soon or maybe even try it out in a real A mod.”

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

Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

Sorensen Catches Tough Break Late, Just Misses Out on 3rd Straight Win

(5/6/2019)

What a start to the 2019 race season it’s been for Chris Sorensen. Through 4 races, Sorensen’s worst finish has been 2nd, with 2 wins and 2 runner up finishes. Sorensen again had shot at victory lane Saturday night, but the stars just wouldn’t align for Sorensen late in the race.

The night started off with heat race action, where Sorensen started on the front row. Coming into Saturday night, Sorensen was perfect in his Heats so far this season, going 3 for 3. This wouldn’t change Saturday, as Sorensen lead every lap from the front row to win his 4th consecutive Heat Race.

Since Sorensen had won the previous week, he’d be forced to start 10th in the 20 lap Main Event. While Sorensen was mired in the back early, he was still making moves, moving up 2 spots to 8th on the opening lap and claiming 6th just 2 laps later.

The lone caution of the race would fly about halfway through the event. With Sorensen restarting 5th, he still had plenty of time to get to the front. Within a lap he was up to 4th, and was all over the 2nd and 3rd place cars.

With a few laps left, Sorensen finally got up to 2nd, but in the time it took him to get there, leader Brad Myers had opened up a sizeable lead. In just 3 laps, Sorensen completely erased the 2 second gap Myers had over him, and was right on Myers’s tail.

The two leaders took the white flag side by side, with lapped traffic just ahead. Unfortunately for Sorensen, the lapped car went low to attempt to get out of the way, inadvertently blocking Sorensen and ending his chance to win the feature. Sorensen gave it one last gasp in turn 4, but Myers held on for the win.

Chris’s next race will be at Antioch Speedway May 11th.

Chris would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Brc Race Cars

GET OUT OF TOWN! Professional Pet Care

LRT Graphics

Lucky Dog Racing League

Hotshots Motorsports Photography

Montalvo Motorsports

Curran Backs up Previous Week’s Win With 2nd Place Run

(4/28/2019)

After weeks of frustrating finishes and circumstances, Brent Curran’s season appears to done a complete 180 after 2 consecutive great finishes. The Antioch native won last week’s $500 to win race at Antioch Speedway, and was in the running for the $1,000 prize Saturday night.

At the drop of the green flag for his heat race, Curran was gone. Though a caution came out and caused a full restart, Curran once again used his front row starting spot to his advantage and jumped out to a big lead. For the next 8 laps, Curran’s lead would grow, before ultimately winning the heat race by a full straightaway’s length margin.

Since Curran had won the previous week, Curran would be forced to start the feature in 8th. Curran remained patient in the early portion of the race, only moving forward 1 spot in the opening 5 circuits. That’s when Curran began to go to work.

Over the next lap and a half, Curran would slice and dice his way to 5th. With a group of 3 cars ahead, Curran started to use the bottom part of the race track, the part that most of the field was avoiding, to make his passes. Curran had made his way to 4th when minor contact with another competitor dropped him back to 5th, right before a Lap 9 caution.

The upcoming restart didn’t last very long, however, as another driver spun on the backstretch to immediately bring the yellow flag back out. On the ensuing restart, Curran quickly moved into 2nd place. Curran then began what could simply be called an amazing battle with race leader Tommy Fraser, and that may be understating it.

Over the next 9 laps, Curran and Fraser remained side by side for the majority of each lap, with Curran just coming up short of clearing Fraser multiple times. The entire time the two drivers raced door to door, they were able to do so without touching once, truly a testament to the skill of both drivers.

Just as it looked as though Curran was possibly starting to gain an advantage, one last caution waved with 3 laps left. Curran would throw everything he had left at Fraser on the restart, but it just wasn’t enough, ultimately settling for a 2nd place finish.

When asked about his thoughts on the race, Curran said “It was another solid points night for us and the car went on the trailer in one piece again. That race though was by far the most exciting race I’ve ran in a modified. To run door to door for 8-10 laps without even the slightest wheel rub was amazing. Better yet the whole top 3 ran super clean and put on a show for the fans. It’s always a good night when the officials and the fans can come in the pits and thank you for the show you put on. Antioch is a tough track to pass on or even just run side by side. The track modifications really made the racing a lot better and opened up multiple grooves to work with. Made the ability to come from the rear of the field possible. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has to hold and hopefully keep our points run alive!”

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

Curran’s Run of Bad Luck Comes to a Close, Puts on Clinic at Antioch en route to Win

(4/22/2019)

Ever since Antioch’s own Brent Curran declared his intent to chase the Antioch Speedway B Mod title, his luck on the track had fallen off the rails. 2 consecutive DNF’s later and with doubts arising, he and the team decided to take one last shot on Saturday night to see if the title was worth chasing.

The night of course started off with his heat race, where Brent started 4th. After passing Mark Garner for 3rd, Curran went to work on Todd Gomez for 2nd. Unfortunately for Curran, he ran out of laps and had to settle for 3rd.

The inversion would help Curran tremendously, as he would slot in to start on the outside of the front row for the feature. At the drop of the green flag, Curran was gone. Within 2 laps, Curran had staked out an almost straightaway’s length lead back to 2nd place.

It only took Curran 4 laps to hit lapped traffic, and once he caught them, he began maneuvering through them like a hot knife through butter. Curran was making multiple lines work while the rest of the field predominantly ran the high side. As the laps clicked off, Curran began running into heavier traffic. Though 2nd and 3rd were slowly inching closer, they couldn’t reach Curran.

With 7 laps left, the lone caution of the race came out. This would give his closest challengers one chance to contend for the win. On the ensuing restart, 2nd place runner Fred Ryland was able to keep Curran within striking distance. Ryland would look inside multiple times over the next few laps, but just could not find a way past Curran.

Curran then began pulling away again. Curran would amass a big enough lead to go on to win the race comfortably, picking up his first win in 2019 in the process.

After the race, an excited, but relieved Curran said “On Saturday, we just wanted to go to the track and have a solid finish with a straight car at the end of the night. We didn’t want to have to make the decision to run somewhere else to lighten the load on our wallets. Having a home track minutes from your house to go to every week with a solid fan base is definitely way more ideal than traveling every week. To finally end the bad streak with a win though was that much more special and huge for keeping our points run alive. To see all the smiles on my crew and families faces that know what I’ve been going through the last couple weeks was very emotional and special for me. That monkey is finally off our back and hopefully we can just keep the momentum from here.”

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

PC: Katrina Kniss

Sorensen Picks Up Where He Left Off With Runner Up Finish

(4/1/2019)

After a season for the ages in 2018, veteran driver Chris Sorensen looks to find the same success in 2019. The El Sobrante native dominated the Hobby Stock division at Antioch Speedway this past season, racking up 8 wins and 24 Top 5 finishes across his 27 starts at the speedway, easily running away with the points title with weeks to spare.

Sorensen once again was fast out of the gate Saturday night. A 14 heat race winner a year ago, Sorensen used his front row starting position to pull away on the start and take a commanding lead. Sorensen would never face any sort of opposition in the 8 lap race, winning the heat by roughly a quarter of a lap.

Sorensen would roll off 2nd for the 20 lap main event, and while he was definitely fast, Sorensen could just not find a way past pole sitter Bre Troen. The two front row starters would engage in a close, hard fought battle for the majority of the early portion of the race.

After falling to 3rd on a mid race restart, Sorensen would claim the lead as the top 2 cars made contact in turn 4, leaving just a big enough gap for Sorensen to slip through before the yellow flag waved. Sorensen’s time at the front wouldn’t last long, however, as he made hard contact with the backstretch wall on the restart.

The contact would drop Sorensen to 3rd as both Josh Leach and Anthony Welborn made their way by. Sorensen would regain 2nd a lap later when Welborn and Leach made contact in turn 1, sending Welborn around. Sorensen would spend the remainder of the race in 2nd, taking home a solid finish on opening night.

Chris’s next race on the schedule is Antioch Speedway on April 13th (weather permitting)

Chris would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Brc Race Cars

GET OUT OF TOWN! Professional Pet Care

LRT Graphics

Lucky Dog Racing League

Hotshots Motorsports Photography

Montalvo Motorsports
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

Sieweke Looks to Carry Late Season Momentum Into 2019

(12/18/2018)

Despite a short season in 2018, Santa Rosa wheelman Chris Sieweke heads into 2019 with plenty of reasons for optimism. The veteran driver enjoyed a breakout performance over the last 3 months of the season, picking up 3 wins in his last 7 starts.

Looking at Sieweke’s season from a statistical perspective doesn’t do justice to just how consistent Sieweke was during 2018. While it’s true that Sieweke finished outside the Top 5 8 times across his 14 starts this year, the numbers won’t tell you that 6 of those races he didn’t finish due to either an incident, or a mechanical failure.

Most will say that a 14th place finish isn’t something to be proud of, but just making the Pat and Jim Pettit Memorial feature was a huge accomplishment for Sieweke. Sieweke was able to hold his own against 50 of the West Coast’s best Modified drivers all weekend long, an impressive feat for just about anyone.

The biggest story for Sieweke would easily be his late season success. Chris took home 3 wins at 3 separate race tracks from August to October. While the wins at Petaluma and Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway were certainly impressive, his biggest win of the season would be the Fall Brawl at Antioch Speedway. Against a full field of stout Sport Mods, Sieweke pulled off the unexpected win, easily one of the biggest of his career.

Even though he runs on a shoestring budget and doesn’t have any sponsors besides his father Mike Karinen, Sieweke managed to put together the best season of his career, and has given people plenty to talk about as we get closer to the 2019 race season. While it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to repeat this performance next year, there’s no doubt that he has firmly entrenched himself as a contender each and every night out.

Season Stats:

Starts: 16

Wins: 3 (At 3 different tracks)

Top 5’s: 8

Top 10’s: 12

Best Finish: 1st (3 Times)

Worst Finish: 14th (Pat and Jim Pettit Shootout)

Petaluma:

April 21st: 9th
May 12th: 5th
May 19th: 8th
June 16th: 9th
August 11th: 1st
September 3rd: 11th

Antioch:

May 5th: 8th
June 30th: 13th (Sport Mod)
July 21st: 4th
August 25th: 2nd (Sport Mod)
October 13th: 1st (Sport Mod)

Ocean:

September 21st: 1st
September 29th: 14th (Pat and Jim Pettit Shootout)

Orland:

June 2nd: 3rd
July 28th: 3rd

Merced:

September 22nd: 13th

Garner Claims First Antioch Track Title

(11/24/2018)

Following in the footsteps of his father, the Maverick Jerry Garner, 3rd generation driver Mark Garner took home his first track championship at his home track, Antioch Speedway. The Antioch native has been outspoken in recent years about his goal to win the track title in memory of his father.

Garner went all in on 2018, even selling his Sport Mod to put all the team’s focus on winning the Limited Late Model championship. For the 2nd consecutive season, Garner kicked off the year by winning the 2nd annual Larry Damitz Memorial. Garner’s win ensured that he is still the only winner in the history of the race. Though it would be 2 months before Garner picked up his 2nd win of the season, he stayed consistent, only finishing outside of the Top 5 once before his 2nd win in late June.

After Garner followed his 2nd win of the season with another 6th place finish, Garner went on a tear of consistency over the last 11 races, finishing no worse than 5th. Despite Garner’s stretch of great runs, the title picture was still up in the air. Garner, Kimo Oreta and Mike Walko were all still in the hunt as the season shifted into August.

As the season wound down, Walko fell out of contention, leaving Oreta and Garner to battle for the division crown. It wasn’t looking good for Garner going into the final 3 races, but Garner pulled off a miracle, taking 2 wins and 1 2nd place finish over the last 3 events to claim the championship. The title was made even more special by the fact that many of Garner’s family members were in attendance to witness the emotional victory. When asked about 2018, Garner said: “How my season went was like this: We won the Larry Damitz for the 2nd time we won both of them last year and this year. We were always in the hunt just had some bad nights like everyone has. We overcame it and keep pushing through the season.

Mark would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Central Exterminators

Rebello Racing

Motor by Chris Heihn

Studio 71 Tattoos

Delta Transmission

Yoes Racing Heads

Jay’s Mobile Welding and Fabrication

Sabrina’s Pizza

Aerial Control

Unique Breedz

Judge Me Clothing

Mac Tools

Pro Motorsports

Crew Chief badass Billy Garner

Garner Season Stats:

Starts: 18

Wins: 5

Top 5’s: 16

Top 10’s: 18

Best Finish: 1st (5 Times)

Worst Finish: 6th (Twice)

1st in Antioch Speedway Limited Late Model Points

Antioch:

April 14th: 1st

April 21st: 2nd

May 5th: 6th

May 12th: 3rd

June 2nd: 4th

June 23rd: 1st

June 30th: 6th

July 7th: 5th

July 21st: 5th

August 4th: 1st

August 11th: 3rd

August 18th: 2nd

September 8th: 4th

September 15th: 2nd

September 22nd: 3rd

October 6th: 1st

October 13th: 2nd

October 20th: 1st

Vegas:

5th in heat races first 2 nights

15th to 7th in B Main final night
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 (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.

Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media

Yaeger Shows Consistent Growth in 2nd Season Despite Constant Mechanical Gremlins

(11/18/2018)

Though it may have been a rough season overall, San Francisco’s Justin Yaeger showed flashes of potential numerous times throughout. 2018 was Yaeger’s first full season racing, following in the footsteps of his father, successful driver Tim Yaeger Jr.

While starting his career in the high powered IMCA Modifieds, Yaeger has began to adjust quickly. Multiple times throughout the season, Yaeger ran in or near the Top 5, just for a mechanical failure to beset a quality run, so Yaeger’s finishes aren’t completely indicative of his performance in 2018. In the final points race of the season at Petaluma, Yaeger battled throttle issues that limited him to ¼ throttle power, but finished the race to gain as many points as possible. Even with those issues, Yaeger was still able to take home 3rd in the Petaluma Speedway points standings.

Part of the learning curve in racing is testing yourself against top competition. Yaeger did this multiple times during the year, including the prestigious Pat Pettit Shootout at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway, as well as a 2 day All Star Modified Tour event at the illustrious Calistoga Half Mile. The trip to Calistoga was Yaeger’s first time racing on high speed half mile track, and though he ran well for his first time there, he missed the main event both nights against some of the state’s top talent. Yaeger’s performance at the Pettit looked to be going much better on the first night, before a broken differential ended his night. The 2nd night, Yaeger’s hopes of making the biggest modified race came down to a 12 lap B Main. Yaeger was running well and close to a transfer position, but unfortunately he would pull off late, ending his weekend.

If Yaeger is able to build off the flashes we saw in 2018, there’s no doubt that he could be contending for wins next season. When asked about his first full season, Yaeger said “I was happy to be successful even fighting through the amount of bad luck that came my way, and learned enough to go into next season with complete confidence.”

Justin would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Yaeger Dental Supply
Jim Weiler Racing
Beaverstate Dental Systems
Superior Body Shop
Hair Techniques
Jim Breen – State Farm
Allen Ortiz Photography
DeCarlo Racing Products

Yaeger Season Stats:

Starts: 17

Top 10’s: 9

Best Finish: 7th (6 times)

Worst Finish: 16th (Antioch April 14th)

Petaluma:

April 21st: 7th

May 12th: 7th

May 19th: 7th

June 2nd: 14th

June 16th: 10th

July 28th: 7th

August 11th: 7th

September 3rd: 8th

Antioch:

April 14th: 16th

May 5th: 12th

June 30th: 7th

August 25th: 9th

October 13th: 15th

Calistoga:

September 13th: Missed main

September 14th: Missed main

Ocean:

September 28th: Broke differential

September 29th: Running well in B Main before pulling off late
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 (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.

Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media

Hectic 2018 Concludes for Jimmy Ford

(11/17/2018)

2018 was another successful for veteran Sport Mod driver Jimmy Ford. The Yuba City native picked up 4 wins in his travels, winning races as far north as Lebanon, Oregon’s Willamette Speedway, and as far south as Marysville Raceway. Ford also collected victories at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway and Yreka’s Siskiyou Motor Speedway along the way.

Ford’s travels across the Northern half of California rewarded him in a big way in the IMCA state standings as well, with his 22 starts in the state earning him a strong placing of 5th. Of all the tracks he raced at, Marysville Raceway easily had to be his best, only placing outside the Top 3 once in 7 starts, which also included a win and two runner up finishes.

In the midst of 2018, Ford made a couple of stops at tracks that had not raced the division before this season. Ford made appearances at the inaugural Sport Mod races at both Orland Raceway and Fernley 95a Speedway in Nevada. Fans in Orland were treated to a fierce battle between Ford and Olivehurst gasser Phillip Shelby for the entirety of the race, with Ford falling just short in the end. Ford would also finish 2nd at the first ever Sport Mod race at Fernley.

Ford would make appearances at 2 of the most prestigious Sport Mod races on the West Coast in 2018, the R Charles Snyder Memorial in Medford, Oregon, and the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas. The trip north to Southern Oregon Speedway proved to be an immensely successful one for Ford. Piloting Marty Burdine’s number 79, Ford drove up to a 2nd place finish on night 1, then followed that with a B Main win and a charge through the field to claim 6th in the Main Event. After a couple of okay nights at the Duel in the Desert, Ford went into the final night with one final chance to make the big show. After starting 8th in his last chance qualifier, Ford drove through the field and into a transfer spot. But with 3 laps to go, tragedy struck, as Ford’s car broke a rear gear, ending Ford’s weekend.

After a busy 2018, Ford has big plans for 2019, saying “We plan on running races in Oregon, Nevada, California of course, Arizona and if I can get some sponsorship the Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa.” Ford had this to say on 2018 as a whole: “The year was amazing, we raced in three states won in two of them and a second in the other. How many drivers can say I won 4 races at 4 different tracks and 2 states?”

Jimmy would like to thank all his sponsors and supporters, including:

T-Time racing

Midtown Grill

Ace Hood Cleaning

Sitter Marine

Road Trip Bar and Grill

My Generation Lanes

Trik koncepts

Ford Season Stats:

Starts: 30

Wins: 4

Top 5’s: 18

Top 10’s: 26

Best Finish: 1st (4 times)

Worst Finish: 12th (Twice)

5th in California IMCA Sport Mod Standings

Chico:

March 30th: 3rd

April 21st: 9th

May 5th: 2nd

June 8th: 6th

June 15th: 12th

June 29th: 7th

July 4th: 5th

July 13th: 4th

August 3rd: 11th

August 24th: 1st

Marysville:

May 12th: 2nd

May 19th: 3rd

May 26th: 3rd

June 9th: 2nd

June 16th: 1st

July 3rd: 9th

July 14th: 3rd

Yreka:

April 21st: 7th

July 21st: 1st

Antioch:

June 30th: 10th

October 13th: 12th

Medford:

June 2nd: 2nd

September 1st: 2nd

September 2nd: 6th

Fernley:

September 15th: 2nd

Vegas:

Running in a spot to transfer to big show, but lost rear end late

Cottage Grove:

August 10th: 9th

Willamette:

August 11th: 5th

August 17th: 1st

Orland:

July 25th: 2nd
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 (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.

Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media

Constant Mechanical Bugs Keep Swank From Title Contention

(11/15/2018)

With numbers like 7 wins and 17 Top 5’s, most would expect to be in the hunt for a championship, if not a champion. This was not the case for Cameron Swank. The Swank team battled mechanical gremlins all season that would take Cameron out of contention for the Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock Championship.

Most nights that Swank was able to bring his car out to the track in 2018, he had a Top 3 car, evidenced by his 15 podium finishes on the season. The year started out extremely strong for Swank, finishing 1st or 2nd in 5 of the first 7 races, with a 3rd and 1 DNF to go along with those. It was looking like Swank was emerging as a candidate to repeat as track champ before he missed a race early in the year, allowing his brother Morgan to pilot the car.

Swank then went on another tear from late May to early July, taking 4 wins in a 7 week stretch. Along the way Swank picked up a win in the Fair Race Trophy Dash, which has become one of his favorite plaques. Swank wasn’t done there. The month of August would bring one of the most dominant months the speedway has seen in recent times, as Swank won 3 of the 4 races held in the month. The only race he didn’t win in August would see Swank take 5th, giving him plenty of momentum heading into the big $1,000 to win 50 lap money run on September 8th.

The big money and open rules brought some of the fastest Hobby Stocks from across the state, but Swank was able to hold his own, claiming 3rd out of 25 cars. Swank would only make 2 more starts after the big show, taking home 2 more Top 5’s before his season ended. In the hobby stock that is. In the season finale, Swank brought out his new B Mod. Unfortunately for Swank, the night didn’t go well at all. After starting in the rear to let points chasers race each other and stay out of their way, he had to pull off early after losing his brakes. Swank will have a whole offseason to get the new car dialed in to hopefully run up front like he has the past few seasons.

Swank had this to say about 2018: “2018 was a breakout season for me in the hobby stock division. It was a year when you had to bring your A game every week to run with an entire field of fast cars . Special thanks to my mom and my crew chief mike costa for your endless support.”

Cameron would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:

Hot Shots Photography

Max’s backhoe

Season Stats:

Starts: 24

Wins: 7

Heat Race Wins: 12

Top 5’s: 17

Top 10’s: 20

March 31st: 2nd

April 14th: 3rd

April 28th: 10th

May 5th: 2nd

May 12th: 2nd

May 19th: 2nd

May 26th: 1st

June 2nd: 14th

June 9th: 1st

June 16th: 1st

June 23rd: 9th

June 30th: 6th

July 7th: 1st

July 21st: 3rd

July 28th: 11th

August 4th: 1st

August 11th: 5th

August 18th: 1st

August 25th: 1st

September 1st: 15th

September 8th: 3rd

September 15th: 5th

October 13th: 2nd

October 20th (B Mod): 12th
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 (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.

Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media

Historic 2018 Comes to a Close for Sorensen

8 Main event wins, 24 Top 5’s, 14 heat race wins. These are numbers that many drivers won’t reach in the entirety of their career, but El Sobrante’s Chris Sorensen accomplished this all in one season at Antioch Speedway.

2018 was a career year for the veteran driver, and one he knows he may never be able to recreate. Sorensen came out firing early and often in 2018, amassing an over 100 point lead over 2nd place heading into the month of June, asserting that he’d be the man to beat for the Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock Championship.

As the season wore on, Sorensen continued his stranglehold over the division, racking up 6 wins and a 200 point lead heading into the month of August. August, however, would be the lone month of the season he wouldn’t win, but even when he wasn’t winning, his incredible consistency continued to carry him towards the title. In fact, in 27 starts this season, Sorensen’s worst finish of the year was 6th. 6th! In a division that averaged around 12 cars a night, including the 25 car open rules race, Sorensen still found a way to run up front week in and week out.

Sorensen’s consistency would be unmatched all season, with the final points tally seeing him win the Championship by over 350 points. If Sorensen returns next season to defend his Hobby Stock title, his fellow competitors will have to step up in a big way to keep Sorensen from repeating as Champion.

2018 Season Stats:

Main event wins: 8
Top 5’s: 24
Top 10’s: 27
Starts: 27

Heat race wins: 14
Best finish: 1st (8 times)
Worst finish: 6th (3 times)
March 31st: 3rd
April 14th: 1st
April 21st: 2nd
April 28th: 1st
May 5th: 4th
May 12th: 1st
May 19th: 3rd

May 26th: 6th
June 2nd: 1st
June 9th: 2nd
June 16th: 2nd
June 23rd: 3rd
June 30th: 1st
July 7th: 2nd
July 21st: 2nd

July 28th: 1st
August 4th: 4th
August 11th: 2nd
August 18th: 2nd
August 25th: 6th
September 1st: 2nd
September 8th: 6th
September 15th: 2nd
September 22nd: 1st
October 6th: 3rd

October 13th: 1st
October 20th: 3rd

Chris would like to thank his sponsors and supporters, including:
BRC Race Cars
GET OUT OF TOWN! Professional Pet Care
LRT Graphics
Lucky Dog Racing League
HOTSHOTS Motorsports Photography
Montalvo Motorsports
JFC Construction

Interested in having writeups like these done for your race team throughout the season? Contact Daren Ricks of DRC Motorsports Media on Facebook, at darenricks999@gmail.com or at (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs

Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media

(PC: Katrina Kniss)