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Post by C.W. on Mar 17, 2015 1:36:17 GMT
Well, we are two races in at Antioch with it's Econo, aw to heck with it, Spec Sprint division  Rather than be a critic of the timing of the rule changes, I will say this... I watched the races Saturday night, and they seemed more competitive. Rick Panfili is on the move and a threat to win! Ryon Siverling was looking real good in second last week too. I think Marcus Smith is a newcomer, and he was hanging with Panfili in the race for third last week. Kyle Bakkie and Roy Fisher had a good race at the end with Fisher winning. Chase Wood Jr. even got some good laps last week. Car count is a bit light, but I will say this about Antioch. The racing seems closer than ever, and if you are a guy who hasn't been racing in a while and wants to get your car back out there, consider Antioch. You might just surprise yourself at how well you can do, and maybe these changes can help build the car count back up where it should be. Two different feature winners in two races, and there very well could be a third this week. I wonder who that will be? Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by why have rules? on Mar 22, 2015 20:11:46 GMT
Apparently it's "run whatcha brung" at Antioch now, as evident by last nights winner. That lasted 3 weeks..why start all this drama and kill car count to just let it all slide?
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Post by C.W. on Mar 25, 2015 2:06:15 GMT
Here's what I think. That car won't be back if it's not legal to the rules. Not all of the cars were legal on opening day either. Leeway was given. I'd venture to say only 3 or 4 cars were legal to the rules at that time. I don't speak for the track, so this is my opinion. Personally, I never would have messed with the rules to begin with, or at least not so late in the game. What's done is done. Other than that, no comment  Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by C.W. on Apr 11, 2015 0:24:05 GMT
I can offer a further report on the apparent winner of that race. He was, in fact, disqualified.. I had heard that at the track, but I hesitated to post anything here until I saw further confirmation. When the results page was updated, it showed Kyle Bakkie was the winner that night. Kyle had three seconds in a row, but that third second became a win. Needless to say, he's the point leader. Rick Panfili's third straight third place finish became a career best second. Roy Fisher ended up fifth, and Bakkie, Panfili and Fisher are separated by just 16 points. Even Alan Miranda is within striking distance. I'm still not thrilled by the rule changes, or rather the timing, but I think this can still grow if the rules are left alone for a while now. Let the guys build cars. I suspect 8-10 cars will be there. That's about what they have for support so far, but it could be a little bigger too. I know the Perrys are coming. Jimmy Perry III already debuted, but he still has to dial things in. Jimmy is a past champion, and so is his father, Jim Perry Jr. Jim has won more Main Events than anybody in this division's history. And, yes, Jim has told me that he will be coming later this season as he gets the car together too. I suspect Marcus Smith will be there this week, and he's Top 5 in the points. I thought Ryon Siverling did a heck of a job keeping those other five cars right behind him last time out. When you're holding off a guy like Roy Fisher, you're doing well. Ryon actually went to Petaluma last week and finished 10th. Hope to see him there too, but I don't know if that will be the case. Nick Dunn hit the wall in Turn 4 last time he was there, so hopefully the newcomer will be back. Not sure if Chase Wood Jr. is coming, but I think this kid has done pretty good just making his laps and learning the ropes. Not sure who will be there, but one thing that is interesting to me is the point race. I mean, none of these guys has won a Spec Sprint championship. We have Bakkie, last year's runner up. There's Panfili, who I admit is a sentimental favorite of mine. Rick has been doing this since Spec Sprints started and raced with the NCMA before that. Miranda is fast, and he could make a move too. I won't be surprised to see him win this week. Then, there's Roy Fisher. I figure him to be the favorite. This guy has been fast since he started, he's been Top 3 in points on multiple occasions, and it looks like he's going for this. We shall see. Right now, you just make your laps and don't do anything stupid. Car count isn't big, so a bad finish won't hurt too badly. On the other hand, there's no sense in tearing up your equipment trying for a higher finish. The guys have been pretty good about that so far, and I'm hoping for a good show. Regardless of the car count, I know these guys will be giving it their best. We'll see who wins this week Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by Admin on Apr 19, 2015 18:29:07 GMT
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Post by C.W. on Apr 25, 2015 1:54:04 GMT
Yeah, you would go there Keith Of course, this website is about putting the results up there The good of last week was I had really nice interactions with Ryon Siverling and his grandfather Burt Siverling. Always liked Burt. Good supporter of the NCMA and a Hall Of Famer with them (Still like to see Jim Booth inducted there, but...). I remember making sure Burt got the plaque for his Dash win in 1998. Being such a laid back guy who just liked being there, he wasn't even worried about it, but he earned that win. He earned that win in Merced a few years earlier, but... Anyway, it was nice to see him and talk a bit with Ryon too. I think Ryon is gonna win a Main Event the way he's looking and I hope so. Marcus Smith was another I met for the first time. I know his dad. We go back to the Al Nordstrom garage back in the 1980's, and Mark raced Street Stocks at Altamont. I think he won there too. Well, Marcus has some BCRA Lites experience, but he's a Spec Sprint rookie. He grabbed a third again. Dan Gonderman and his father Ken were there. Nice to see them. Dan is ready for 360 Sprints this week. I really wish the track was pushing the 360's a little more. I think they will get 8-12 cars Saturday. The track would be good for the class, but they should spread the word. I tried to do a few things this week, but my efforts may conclude here soon. Interacting with Siverling and Smith and others has made the time I have been out there special to me So, yeah, five cars. When you change the rules... Okay, I'm trying to be positive here We tore up a car or two a week earlier. Alan Miranda took a tumble. I feel like I jinxed him, because we were talking about how the next week would be a difficult work schedule for him, so he wanted to keep it in one piece. Then the crash happened. Didn't see James East either, and he was involved in the melee. Jimmy Perry III lost a motor, so that explains his absence. Chase Wood Jr. had grabbed a checkered in sixth, if I recall correctly. Roy Fisher was a few rows in front of me watching the races. He told me he wasn't running for points. I didn't expect he'd be gone last week, but I thought it would be possible he'd park that car this week in favor of the 360 Sprint. Roy's chomping at the bit to get back behind the wheel, We should have another Spec Sprint alum, Ricky Brophy, with he 360's this week. With Gonderman, Chris Magoon and Zack Lynsky out there too, that list is growing So, what do we expect this week, realistically? I wish I could say lots of cars, but that's not the case. I think last week's racers will be back. Jeremy Newberry was second. I suppose he'll be there if he feels like it. He's been pretty fast, stayed out of the melee and might be thinking he can win this week. I hope Perry has a motor and Wood is back. I hope Miranda is back too. Not sure how much crew help he's getting, which is a shame. I think he could be a feature winner this year. There's always a chance somebody is coming I don't know about, but I put the count at 6-10 cars. We may be looking at more 360's than Spec Sprints. We'll see. I just hope management is patient since they made these changes so soon before the season. It's not really fair to expect the guys will be crashing down the gate to race under the circumstances. Given a chance, these aren't bad rules, but some racers will need more time. It could take off. I hope so. The point battle is a three car race between last week's winner Kyle Bakkie, Rick Panfili and Smith. Panfili is 24 points back. It really boils down to this. Bakkie isn't that much faster than either Smith or Panfili, but he is fast. If either of the two want to beat Bakkie for that championship, they need to win some races. I think they both can do it too, but it will be a career first for both. Panfili has been chasing it for a long time, and at the risk of sounding bias, I really want to see him do it. Never forget the Spec Sprint Class of 1999 Now, Smith needs to stay on top of it, because I think Siverling can catch him for third. Really, I think Ryon could get that win before Smith or Panfili the way he is looking The one thing I will say is these cars are pretty evenly matched at the moment, which makes it possible for just about anybody to win. We just need people to show up to try. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by C.W. on May 15, 2015 11:12:44 GMT
When last we left the Wingless Spec Sprints at Antioch Speedway, there were 13 cars in action. A few more wanted to come, but... Alan Miranda was back after a week off repairing the damage from his back stretch flip. He was back with a vengeance and appeared to be on his way to victory. He even passed Jimmy Perry III for the lead and pulled away a bit. Then, Petaluma racer Cody Fendley, a rookie in the class, made his way into second. Cody reeled in Alan and tried to make his move. Might have been a bit ambitious on his part, but he gave it a shot. The result was both cars spinning in Turns 3 and 4. Suddenly, Perry had the lead and the win. Running along in sixth just moments before was Marcus Smith. By the time they exited the final turn, Smith had passed both Ryon Siverling and Al Ghiorso for a career best second. Ghiorso was third in the #111 car. Not a bad season debut for Al. Rick Panfili finished sixth, and point leader Kyle Bakkie had his second DNF in three races. The Top 3 in points got closer as Bakkie leads Panfili by 20 points and Smith by 28. Of course, all three are expected for Saturday night. I believe Miranda will be out for a little redemption. The previous race should have been his. I expect that Roy Fisher will probably have his Winged 360 Sprinter out there. Not expecting him to pull double duties, though that would be nice. Perry should be there trying for two in a row. Jeremy Newberry followed his second place finish with a crash in Turn 4 last time, so I'm not sure what the status of the NFL alumni is for this race. Chase Wood Jr. has been out there making his laps and gaining experience. I'm thinking he'll be there as well. Bill Hopper said that he will be back to try again after having a bit of bad luck. The division isn't at Orland this week, but I haven't heard if he'll be here this week. It was nice to see the top point runner of 2014 at Orland racing at Antioch, and with him was Winged Economy Sprint racer Shawna Overton. By the way, Hopper reported that he finished second to Greg Higginbotham in the opener at Orland. From what I can find, it sounds like Jeff Wilson finished third, and eight cars were present. Dennis Wilson posted a few pictures on one of the track's old Facebook pages. Anyway, back at Antioch... Word is Ricky Brophy may be in a Spec Sprinter this week as his Winged car isn't ready. The winged class at Antioch has such Spec Sprint racers as Fisher, Ricky and his father Rick Brophy, Dan Gonderman and Zack Lynsky. Most of those drivers are expected for that race as well as point leader Shawn Arriaga, Art McCarthy, Chris Magoon and Ryan Timmons. Jake Haulot is six points out of the lead, but I'm not sure where he'll race this week. Magoon is 12 points behind Arriaga and McCarthy is 14 back. Gonderman is fifth. I put my car count guesses at 8-12 for Spec Sprints and 6-10 for the winged class. The challenge in trying to establish the winged class is that this division is booked everywhere this weekend, so visitors aren't likely unless they may be drivers thinking they have a better chance to win at Antioch. They'll certainly get a good track if they come. It's been fast so far this season. I like that the track is trying to build a winged class, and though I didn't like the timing of the rule changes in Spec Sprints, you can't deny that the racing is close between the drivers who are there. Just about anybody can win on any given week. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by ryon on May 18, 2015 0:41:17 GMT
Yeah I wanted to race there last night but a few weeks ago they disqualified me for running my dry sump and said I will not win money if I finish in the top 5. so with being a low budget racer like a few other guys there's no way I can change my whole set up to go to a wet sump. So looks like Antioch is a no go for the rest of the year which sucks I wanted to run for points there. But maybe next year? Who knows he might change the rules again and allow dry sums again. Which is a better oiling system so why down grade to a crappier oil system makes no sense to me, for a what 5HP gain? Will never even notice that little bit of hourse power gain out there on the track. But anyways I'm sad I can't race there, the track has been really fast and nice and there's a bunch of other spec racers I know there which makes it really fun out there racing with them.
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Post by C.W. on Jun 1, 2015 6:54:31 GMT
I can only say I'm sorry all of that went down. I enjoyed watching you race and Burt too back in the day. I know the concerns of people. I was not for the changes, and certainly not for the timing of the changes. I spoke my opinion on the matter back when it happened. I'm just trying to help things now, but not seeing cars like your car out there is disappointing. But, not everybody can make big changes like this when they've already made the budget and commitment for the year. Hence, there is a struggle to get cars when there were as many as 19 at one race last season. I'm not trying to be negative, so that's all I will say here. I just want things to be successful. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by Admin on Jun 7, 2015 16:20:56 GMT
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2015 23:37:36 GMT
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Post by Peter on Jun 29, 2015 20:43:25 GMT
With Watsonville no longer an option I'm hoping to get to race Antioch soon. I went to the June 6 race to have a look around and was impressed. Crashing 10 out of 12 cars within 5 laps put a bit of a damper on the evening. I hope that isn't the norm. I've been told by a few people that "the track is hard on cars" Is that what they meant?
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Post by Admin on Jun 29, 2015 23:16:15 GMT
I think you should go out and watch more races there before making a decision.
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Post by C.W. on Jul 16, 2015 12:59:42 GMT
Well, I think the night in question was a bad night. Every track has them. I don't think flipping four cars in the Main Event is the norm for any track, but I saw a video where it happened in the winged class at Petaluma. Generally, the drivers race each other pretty cleanly. I missed that race as I had a rare opportunity to announce, but the next race was better. Of course, it wasn't a good night to be the leader as they kept having bad luck. James East actually won that race. The competition is pretty evenly matched. Doing it from memory, point leader Kyle Bakkie has three wins and Jimmy Perry III and Roy Fisher each have two. Jeff Lee and East are also winners. Rookie Marcus Smith has looked impressive and has two seconds. Alan Miranda and Jeremy Newberry have seconds. I think Rick Panfili is credited with a second as well. Still looking for his first win, and he may need it to hold off Smith for second in points. I'm thinking Smith is poised for a victory. Having had plenty of time off, I think the division should have double digit car count this week. I suspect Bakkie will be back in his primary car this time. Panfili, Smith, Miranda and Perry as well. Chase Wood Jr. should be there trying to gain more experience. I would think East will be back for a try at two in a row. Newberry was making laps last week to make sure his car is ready. Hoping to see Fisher. It's a busy week for Spec Sprints, but I think Antioch should get their cars. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of an old racing reporter, column writer, announcer and co-founder of Wingless Spec Sprints and are not meant to offend. Unfortunately, these opinions sometimes do just that. Sorry about that. You know what they say about opinions |
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Post by Ryon on Nov 11, 2015 1:32:43 GMT
If there is any new info on Antioch about the rules of 2016 post a share, want to try and change my motor so I can run there this year.
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