Rob Gallaher Captures 3rd Straight As Gallaher Racing Stays Perfect

Marysville, CA (6/26/2020)

For a first time Marysville starter, Rob Gallaher could have fooled anyone. A rare solo trip for the San Jose racer, Gallaher made the most of his first trip to the Nor-Cal ¼ mile oval, leading 16 of the 20 scheduled laps en route to a dominant victory.

The heat race was a difficult one for Gallaher. Though just 8 laps in distance, Gallaher fell behind the 8 ball early. Thanks to a late race issue for two cars ahead of him, Gallaher was able to sneak in a 4th place finish.

Luckily for Gallaher, 4th place would be just where he wanted to finish, as the invert lined him up 3rd in the 18 car field for the 20 lap feature.

At the drop of the green flag, Gallaher wasted no time moving forward, as he grabbed 2nd just one turn into the race.

After 4 laps of shadowing Rick Etcheson, Gallaher took advantage of Etcheson’s mistake in turn 2 to grab the top spot. Gallaher would lead the next 6 circuits uncontested before back to back cautions on Lap 10.

Gallaher would once again open a commanding lead before one last caution waved on Lap 14.

With just 6 laps remaining, Gallaher would hold off multiple charges by local veteran Jimmy Ford before pulling away one last time to clinch the victory.

After the race,Gallaher had this to say regarding his night and Marysville as a whole: “The Marysville racers welcomed us with open arms. We loved the track and the promoter had a well ran operation. We would love to come back with a couple of cars again for a big show.”

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:

Gallaher Company

1 Hour Drain

Tire Time

Express Car Wash

Yeti Coolers

Coors

Snap On

Built by the Captain

Interested in having press releases like these written and dispersed 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.

Gallaher Racing Looks To Build Off Exceptional 2019 Campaign

San Jose, CA (3/03/2020) Coming into 2020 with heaps of expectations after a stellar season this past year, the two headed monster of Rob and Joe Gallaher are ready to crush expectations and their competition. The San Jose, California based Father and Son Hobby Stock team once again claimed the Ocean Speedway Hobby Stock track championship in 2019, with Rob winning his 3rd in the past 4 years, and 4th total title in the previous 6.

The anticipation is building in the Gallaher camp as we grow closer to March 13th’s season opener at Ocean, and for good reason. The team was busy in the off-season building a completely new car for the patriarch of the Gallaher family, Joe. Pre-season testing this past Thursday at Merced Speedway couldn’t have gone much better, and the early results have the team ecstatic.

Gallaher Racing’s main goal for 2020 is simple, add another title to the family’s incredible list of accomplishments. They believe that putting a concerted effort to focus almost entirely on the local points chase will go a long way in helping accomplish the feat.

If 2019 is any indication, their fellow division racers will have trouble preventing another back to back title run for the Gallahers. Rob was phenomenally consistent in his latest championship winning season, finishing outside the Top 5 only twice across his 15 feature starts. While the consistency was certainly impressive, one could argue that his 7 main event wins were an even bigger achievement.

By far, the biggest win for either driver in 2019 was Rob’s win at the illustrious Pat and Jim Pettit Shootout. The Shootout is highly regarded as the most prestigious event at their home track, and Rob’s night 1 win last year marked his 2nd triumph in the race’s 9 year history.

Joe Gallaher wasn’t far from the track title himself this past year, but multiple early season mechanical gremlins ultimately wound up being the deciding factor in the title race. Even with the early season problems, only a 19 point gap separated the two after the final race. On top of that, both Gallahers were consistent to the point that there was over a 100 point difference between championship runner up Joe Gallaher and 3rd place in points, truly showing their stranglehold on the division in 2019.

In the midst of a stellar season, Joe also picked up career wins number 2 and 3 along the way in back to back races, including what has likely become their most infamous moment sharing the track. In late June, the two were racing intensely for the win in the late going, when Joe got a little aggressive and sent his son for a spin. Joe would hold off the competition for his 2nd win of the season. Joe acknowledged on the ride home that night that he “may have that one comin’ back around”.

When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming season, an excited Rob Gallaher had this to say: “We are fired up for the 2020 season. After Merced changed their hobby rules to exclude all the other hobby stocks in the state we decided to really focus on our home track in Watsonville. We have built a whole new car for my dad to maintain the competitive edge he had before damaging his frame at the McGowan race in Bakersfield last year. He has the pep in his step again that wasn’t there at the end of last year. Winning will be commonplace for both Gallaher cars again starting 2020. We have made setup changes and drivetrain improvements to help us stay on top. We know our competition is getting better so we have to be making changes to be better too. I can’t wait to hit the dirt circle on Friday the 13th of March.”

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:

Gallaher Company

1 Hour Drain

Tire Time

Express Car Wash

Yeti Coolers

Coors

Snap On

Built by the Captain

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.

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

Joe Gallaher Finally Reaches the Top as Gallaher Racing Places 1-2

(6/17/2019)

After a frustrating span of a year and a half without reaching victory lane, veteran racer Joe Gallaher is back on top. Joe had come close on numerous occasions throughout the early portion of the season, but late race issues always seemed to derail his hopes. That all changed Friday night.

The night started off with Rob Gallaher starting 3rd in the first heat, while Joe started on the pole for the 2nd heat. At the start of his heat race, Rob made it 3-wide for the lead in the first turn. Rob couldn’t get the drive off the turn to make the pass stick and fell back to 3rd. With 3 to go, Rob would pass Bobby Huckaby Jr for 2nd, and would go on to finish there.

Joe’s heat was much more of a breeze. After starting on the pole, Joe would lead all 8 laps to win by a healthy margin over Wally Kennedy, the driver he’s been battling for 2nd in points.

For the feature, Joe would roll off 3rd, while Rob had start last in 11th after winning the previous race. While Joe fell to 4th on the opening lap, Rob quickly passed two cars to take 9th.

Just 2 laps later, Joe would make a big move on the inside to pass both 2nd and 3rd, with a caution quickly waving after as the 3rd place car went around. For the restart, Joe would restart 2nd, while Rob had moved into 7th.

On the restart Rob was on the move, taking 6th and 5th in quick succession. All the while, Joe was all over race leader Bobby Huckaby Jr for the top spot. 2 short laps later, Rob was once again moving forward, this time claiming 4th.

After 6 laps of trailing, Joe finally took the lead on lap 7, using a big run on the high side to motor past Huckaby. Just after crossing the line as the leader, the 2nd and final caution of the race waved.

As he had done all night, Rob made quick work of his competition and swiped 3rd on the restart. While Rob began to work on Huckaby for 2nd, Joe began to pull away.

Once Rob took 2nd, he did everything he could to reel in Joe, but he just couldn’t find the speed as Joe finally overcame all the bad luck from the early portion of the season to find victory lane. Rob would ultimately finish 2nd to complete a stellar night of racing for Gallaher Racing.

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:

Gallaher Company

1 Hour Drain

Tire Time

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Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

Rob Gallaher Posts 2nd Consecutive Win, Joe Gallaher Loses Top 3 Run Late

(6/9/2019)

We’re just 6 races into the 2019 season for Gallaher Racing, and Rob Gallaher is staking his claim atop the Ocean Speedway Hobby Stock division. While his father Joe has followed close behind, the San Jose native has claimed 4 wins in his first 6 starts, heading into the 3rd weekend of June with a commanding 31 point lead over Joe.

Joe has been in a rather close points battle of his own, with just 10 points separating he and Wally Kennedy for the runner up spot in the standings. If not for a few late mishaps, Joe would be right there challenging for the points lead.

Friday night kicked off at Ocean Speedway with heat race action, slotting Rob to start 4th in the first heat, while Joe sat on the pole for heat two. Over the course of his 8 lap heat race, Rob was only able to pass two cars and settle for 2nd after winning a close battle with Nick Triolo in the closing laps of the race.

Joe’s heat was far less competitive. Joe would lead all 8 laps from the pole to win by nearly a quarter of a lap when it was all said and done. Since Rob had won the previous race, he would have to start 8th in the feature (Though a car dropping back would move him to 6th), while the invert had Joe starting 3rd.

Three laps into the race, the first caution would wave as Joe and DJ Keldsen got together and looped around in Turn 2. The incident would force Joe to restart 7th, while Rob was moved up to 3rd thanks to those two restarting in the rear.

On the ensuing restart, 2 cars would get together to bring out another yellow, which moved Joe up two spots into 5th. Just after Rob finally cleared Jerry Skelton for 2nd, another mid race caution waved to bunch up the field.

Once the race got back underway, Joe was also able to pass Skelton for 3rd, as both Gallaher Racing cars began hounding race leader Nick Triolo for the top spot. With just a few laps left, Rob used a strong run on the high side to pull a quick dive under Triolo for the lead. Joe would attempt to follow suit, but with just 4 laps left, he would spin, taking himself out of contention.

As the final laps clicked off, Rob would be able to hold off a hard charging Triolo to pick up yet another victory. After his spin, Joe was only able to climb back up to 6th, falling just short in a drag race to the finish line for 5th.

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:

Gallaher Company

1 Hour Drain

Tire Time

Express Car Wash

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Coors

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Daren Ricks

DRC Motorsports Media

Gallaher Racing Sweeps Top 2 Spots at Ocean Speedway

(6/2/2019)

Through the first 5 events of the season, it’s beginning to look like a two horse race for the Ocean Speedway Hobby Stock championship, as the father and son team of Joe and Robert Gallaher have begun to distance themselves from the rest of the field. One of this season’s more pleasant surprises so far has been the improvement of the elder Gallaher, Joe, who has put a rough 2018 behind him with a strong start to the 2019 campaign.

Joe has been impressive to say the least, posting 3 Top 5’s in his first 5 starts. The lone 2 finishes outside the Top 5 were both no fault of his own, as he suffered tire failures to take him out of contention. Friday night, Joe again looked to have a shot at the win, but one mistake on a late race restart would shuffle him back to 3rd.

Friday night started off with both Gallaher Racing cars in the 1st of the division’s 2 heat races, with Rob starting 3rd and Joe starting 7th. Joe was noticeably fast from the start, moving up 3 spots to 4th behind Rob in the first 2 laps. Both drivers would move up another spot a lap later to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. Though Joe was able to reel in Rob with 3 to go, he wouldn’t be able to complete the pass, as Rob and Joe finished 2nd and 3rd.

For the feature, Rob would roll off 3rd, while Joe started 5th. After the initial start was called back, Rob would be moved up to the front row for the next attempt. Rob would briefly hold the lead for the first lap, but a big shove up the track allowed DJ Keldsen to move to his inside and take the lead.

While Rob had his hands full with Keldsen, Joe had moved into 3rd in the opening 2 laps, and was quickly pulling in the Top 2. After a lap 4 caution, Joe used this opportunity to pull to the inside of Rob to challenge for 2nd. The two would remain side by side for the next 4 laps, before Joe was finally able to clear Rob and set his sights on Keldsen.

Though Joe was running quicker lap times than the leader, he just couldn’t find a way around until another caution waved with 8 to go. On the restart, however, Joe slightly over drove the first turn, dropping him back to 6th as a result. Meanwhile up front, Rob found his way around Keldsen for the lead with 6 to go. While Rob did all he could to hold off Keldsen, Joe had quickly sliced his way back up to 3rd.

Joe was able to get back to the bumper of the front 2 drivers but just ran out of time, as Rob picked up his 3rd win of the season to extend his points lead over Joe.

After the race, Rob had this to say: “The last restart helped me big time, because Keldsen and my dad had started to pull away a little, causing me to panic and over drive the car a bit. I wasn’t the fastest car on the track, (Joe was putting down laps 2/10ths faster than my car) but I was able to get In to the right lane at the right time and block a hard charging Keldsen. I felt him a few times but knew he would have to wreck me or go on the outside of me to beat me. I knew if I could just stay down on the bottom I would be able to fend him off until the checkers came out.”

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:
Gallaher Company
1 Hour Drain
Tire Time
Express Car Wash
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Coors
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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

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

Rob Gallaher Claims First Win of 2019 / Joe Gallaher Recovers From Late Problems to Salvage 4th

(4/27/2019)

Entering the season, Gallaher Racing’s stated goal was to run for as many wins as possible. Friday night at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway would provide the team’s first win of the season, but still left the team wondering what could have been.

The night as always started off with heat race action, with Joe and Rob Gallaher starting 2nd and 6th in the first 8 lap heat. At the drop of the green flag, Joe Gallaher took the lead, while Rob quickly moved to 4th on the opening lap. As Rob began working on DJ Keldsen for 3rd, Joe had his hands full with 2nd place runner Jerry Skelton.

As the laps ticked off, Joe started inching away. Behind him, Rob had settled into a 3 car battle for 2nd with Skelton and Keldsen, racing side by side with Keldsen for a couple laps before eventually completing the pass. Joe would go on to win the heat race by a comfortable margin, with Rob finishing 3rd.

The main event inversion would then line Rob up 2nd for the feature, while Joe would have to charge from 6th. Rob would use his front row starting position to immediately grab the lead as the race began. His father Joe wasn’t far behind, moving up to 3rd in the first 5 laps.

While the early portion of the race was littered with cautions, Rob maintained his steady pace up front. Under a lap 9 caution, 2nd place runner Jerry Skelton left the track, meaning Rob and Joe would be restarting 1st and 2nd. On the ensuing restart, Joe stayed right along side Rob, as the father and son duo raced side by side for a brief 2 laps before another caution waved.

This caution would bring an end to Joe’s chances at a win, as a flat tire forced him to restart 8th. While Rob would go on to easily win the main event, Joe was busy mounting a charge from the back. Though he ran out of laps, Joe was able to climb from 8th to 4th over the last few laps, settling for 4th as a consolation prize on a night where he very possibly could have won.

When asked about the night, Rob said “We tried something on the X car and it paid off but was very risky, we only weighed 3 pounds over the minimum. We will have to reassess that for next race and play it safer. Joe probably was better all around, he pulled up next to me for the lead, I got worried. If it wasn’t for his flat tire he might of won that race. Hopefully there is be many more 1-2 racing action for the Gallaher team this year. Both cars were fast!”

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:
Gallaher Company
1 Hour Drain
Tire Time
Express Car Wash
Yeti Coolers
Coors
Snap On
Built by the Captain

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

Gallaher Racing Looks to go Above and Beyond 2018 Performance in 2019

(3/24/2019)

The father and son team of Joe and Robert Gallaher comes into the 2019 racing season looking to once again pile on the wins and podium finishes. Gallaher Racing was a force to be reckoned with last year, claiming 7 wins and over 20 total Top 10’s before Robert had to bow out of the points hunt late in the season.

While his father Joe didn’t find the same success in 2018, the team made a move in the offseason to switch Joe from a Camaro, over to a new metric Medieval Chassis built to the Ocean Speedway rule specs. Robert himself had switched to a metric chassis this past season, and with the immediate success he found, the move to transition Joe over to a metric was a no brainer for the team.

Joe has already been to 1 practice session and 1 race with new car. The team was happy with the 30 or so laps they got in at Antioch last week, which lead to hauling the car down to the KCRP dirt track this past Friday for some racing action. While the car felt extremely competitive, the team’s main goal was to just get some solid laps in, so Joe held back throughout the race to avoid any unnecessary repairs.

Though Joe has only run roughly 60 laps on the new chassis, he is already raving about the improved handling, saying “the new car is much smoother and more obedient to drive. It’s not a arm wrestling match like my old car, she turns much easier” and “smooth is fast”. When asked if he was happy about the change, Joe answered ““I will be happier if the better results are there this next year compared to last year.”

Though last year brought a bit of a learning curve with the new style of chassis, Robert Gallaher is confident that the team’s speed and consistency will be much better out the gate in 2019. “We learned so much last year on the metric chassis’ setup and I know this year we will be much faster and more consistent right out of the gate. I learned some things the hard way in 2018 that Joe won’t have to learn thus hopefully speeding up his learning curve on the metric chassis. We have a firmer grasp on the setup this time around and it will show from Night 1. My car will be the same as we finished the Pat Pettit with a huge win and second place with the best field in Northern California minus some improvements we made for consistency and reliability. We made changes for the Petit to test for 2019 and they worked, moving forward we are better, faster and smoother. It will be tough to beat us every week.” commented Robert.

The team’s main goals for this season are to pick up as many main event victories as possible, and hopefully couple those with 2 solid points finishes. If Gallaher Racing has anywhere near the speed they had in 2018, this should be an easily obtainable goal.

Gallaher Racing is set to make their season debut at Ocean Speedway this Friday night, weather permitting.

Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:
Gallaher Company
1 Hour Drain
Tire Time
Express Car Wash
Yeti Coolers
Coors
Snap On
Built by the Captain

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

Mid-Season Shift Brings Success to Kaos Racing

(11/15/2018)

After a rough first half to 2018, the Northern California based Kaos Racing team decided to switch their Placerville Pure Stock program over to compete at Marysville Raceway in the Hobby Stock division. The change went far better than their expectations for the Van Roekel brothers, with both claiming their first Top 5’s of the year.

For Mike Stoeckle, 2018 was a year he’s hoping to put behind him. Despite Stoeckle fighting mechanical issues all season, he was able to claim 5 Top 10’s, including 3 against the Placerville Pure Stocks, a division that often reaches 15-20 cars a night. With the team shifting to Marysville, Stoeckle was forced to build a new car that met the track’s stricter rule set. Unfortunately for Stoeckle, the new car had issues every night out. The car finally began to show promise at the season ending Taxi Cab Open, but again, mechanical issues forced Stoeckle to retire from the race early. When asked about his thoughts on 2018, Stoeckle said: “We built a new car mid season to appease the rules for Marysville, the car fought with us the rest of the season from broken axles to broken distributors, and scattered differentials. The last night out we got it to handle well and until the distributor gave us fits it was working really well.”

Chris Van Roekel on the other hand, experienced a much improved season in 2018. Like Stoeckle, Chris Van Roekel was able to collect 3 Top 10’s in his 7 Placerville starts. Though Chris was running with an underpowered 283 motor, he knocked on the door of the Top 5 multiple times, highlighted by a 6th place run in his 2nd race of the season. After the July 4th, the team switched their attention to running Marysville, and the change brought some much needed success. The first 2 races didn’t go to plan, including a 2nd place DQ after being short on vacuum by half an inch. After the Dq, Chris came back the next race and showed that the previous race wasn’t a fluke, running 2nd yet again, this time passing tech. The next race he’d follow with another Top 10 claiming 8th. Though the year could have definitely went better, Chris remained positive when asked about 2018: “For changing seasons mid season we did exceptionally well, my little 283 hung with the best of them. Most enjoyable season I have had in a long time. Despite the breakdowns and weird stuff we had break we did really well!”

Jesse Van Roekel easily had the best season of the 3 car Van Roekel stable. In 10 races, Jesse only finished outside the Top 10 twice, including only once at Placerville in 5 tries against some of the toughest competition in the state. Though his season was already going pretty well, the mid season move to Marysville brought immediate success to Jesse Van Roekel. In his first race at the track, Jesse came up just short in the pursuit of his first career win, settling for a career best 2nd. The next few races didn’t go nearly as well, as he took 7th twice and had 1 DNF going into the last race of the season, the Taxi Cab Open. Though the car didn’t look very good in the heat race at all, things turned around in a big way in the main event. In the 15 car main event, Jesse Van Roekel was able to work his way through the big field to take 4th.

The Van Roekel Racing team would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:

Vans auto body and paint
Performance marine
Kilroys towing and auto repair
Quick response septic and portable toilets
Valley machine
Lennox muffler
Boutry’s engine shop

Chris Van Roekel would like to thank his personal sponsors and supporters, including:

Sinners 2 saints apparel

Mike Stoeckle would like to thank his personal sponsors and supporters including:

Sinners 2 saints apparel

Chris Van Roekel:

Starts: 11

Top 5’s: 1

Top 10’s: 5

Best Finish: 2nd (August 18th, Marysville)

Worst Finish: 14th (August 11th, Marysville)

Placerville:

April 21st: 13th

April 28th: 6th

May 5th: 8th

May 19th: 12th

June 2nd: 11th

June 9th: 9th

July 4th: 13th

Marysville:

July 14th: 12th

August 11th: 14th

August 18th: 2nd

September 1st: 8th

Jesse Van Roekel:

Starts: 10

Top 5’s: 2

Top 10’s: 8

Best Finish: 2nd (July 14th, Marysville)

Worst Finish 13th (September 1st, Marysville)

Placerville:

April 21st: 11th

April 28th: 10th

May 5th: 7th

June 2nd: 10th

June 9th: 7th

Marysville:

July 14th: 2nd

August 11th: 7th

August 18th:7th

September 1st: 13th

October 21st: 4th

Stoeckle:

Starts: 11

Top 10’s: 5

Best Finish: 7th (Placerville April 21st)

Worst Finish: 17th (Placerville April 28th)

Placerville:

April 21st: 7th

April 28th: 17th

May 5th: 10th

May 19th: 11th

June 2nd: 15th

June 9th: 11th

July 4th: 9th

Marysville:

August 11th: 10th

August 18th: 9th

September 1st: 9th

October 21st: 14th

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)

Up and Down Weekend for Gallaher Racing Ends With 3rd Place Finish

(10/17/18)

With Ocean Speedway’s points season coming to an end, Gallaher racing decided to make the trek down to Bakersfield Speedway’s annual Budweiser Nationals for one last race this season. The team raced with the hobby stock class. The Hobby Stock class was the only division to run both nights, but not have 2 separate shows. This meant if you didn’t make the main through the qualifier on Night 1, it’d be much harder to make it on the 2nd night.

Night 1 would see both Joe and Rob Gallaher in the same 8 car heat, with Joe starting on the pole, while Rob started 5th. Only 3 transferred, so Rob would have to make some moves if he was going to make the main. After a spin on the original start, the race got back underway. On the restart, Joe got out of shape and almost spun, this would cause him to drop all the way to 7th, ending his hopes of making the qualifier.

Joe’s misfortune moved Rob to 4th, hot on the tail of Justin Dunn for 3rd. Those two would race side by side for multiple laps before Rob took the final transfer position with 3 to go. Rob would hold off Dunn’s challenges for the rest of the heat race to transfer into the qualifier. Joe, meanwhile, only managed to make it back to 6th before the end of the heat.

Rob then lined up 5th in the qualifier, but this wouldn’t go nearly as well as the heat race. Rob quickly fell to 6th on thee opening start, and began to try and make the top line around the racetrack work. He was having no luck, as he continued to slip back before a lap 3 yellow came out. Under caution Rob would leave the track, but returned 2 laps down to get some more laps on the track for the next night. When it was all said and done Rob finished 10th, which meant he’d be starting 10th in the main event the next night.

Since Joe did not make the qualifier the previous night, he was forced to run a B Main to try and make the feature. He rolled off 9th, and with 10 cars transferring, he had a great chance to make the main. Unfortunately those dreams were dashed on the opening lap, as he was spun into the infield, making hard contact with a tractor tire to end his night.

It was then finally time for the main event, with Rob rolling off 10th. After getting driven into the infield, but miraculously not wrecking on the 2nd lap, Rob made a few moves over the first few laps to move into 8th, and appeared to have a car that could get to the front. The field quickly spread out, meaning action like his 3 wide battle with Chris Fritz and Cody Johnson for 7th was few and far between.

A lap 13 yellow would bunch the field back up, with Rob restarting 6th. Rob then began to work on Brian Brown for 5th, but wasn’t having any luck. It appeared as though Rob may be stuck in 6th for the rest of the race, but a late yellow for Jacob Jones blowing a motor on the back stretch changed Rob’s fortunes completely. Rob was able to go from 5th to 3rd on that final restart, and would go on to finish there to end the season with a podium finish. It was a great season overall for Gallaher racing, with Robert picking up 5 feature wins, while Joe showed improved speed as the season went along.
Gallaher Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters, including:
Gallaher Company
1 Hour Drain
Tire Time
Express Car Wash
Yeti Coolers
Coors
Snap On
Built by the Captain

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