Antioch Speedway
Papenhausen dominates Antioch for $3,000 win
ANTIOCH, Calif. (Oct. 1) — A spectacular pileup on the backstretch with 16 laps to go spoiled the chances of nearly half the field trying to score a $3,000 victory in Saturday night’s Western Allstars Budweiser Fall Classic main event at Antioch Speedway.
Luckily for Richard Papenhausen, the carnage was behind him. Papenhausen of Chico, Calif., was out front when the red flag came out leaving him sitting safely alone in turn four. Once the race restarted, Pappenhausen led the remainder of the event to score his second DIRTcar Late Model victory in as many weeks.
“When I took the lead I knew I had a really fast car tonight,” said Papenhausen, who took on lap eight and never looked back. “If anyone was going to get by me, they would need a miracle.”
With most of the field using the track’s lower groove, Papenhausen mastered the high line en route to scoring his second victory in five series races this year.
“Everyone else was staying low, we were rocking around the top,” he said. “We set the car up right, and it paid off.”
With seven cars sandwiched together in the backstretch pileup, and John Silva’s car on top of Bobby Hogge IV’s, an extended stoppage of racing was needed to clear the track. Top runners Silva of Fremont, Calif., and Clay Daly, of Watsonville, Calif., were unable to continue.
For Hogge of Salinas, Calif., the nightmare began in hot laps. He blew an engine, but happened to have a spare. He was gaining momentum on Papenhausen in the main event, but the wreck dashed his hopes of winning.
When the pile was separated, Hogge fired up his severely damaged car and finished the race, chasing runner-up finisher Anthony Restad of Santa Rosa, Calif., to take third. Steve Johnson and Trent Elliot rounded out the top five finishers.
Notes: Papenhausen’s Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Mohawk Trading Company and Dave Papenhausen Construction. ... Papenhausen’s previous DIRTcar victory came in the Northwest I-5 DIRTcar Late Model Series season finale Sept. 24 at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Ore. ... The second leg of the weekend doubleheader takes place Sunday with another $3,000-to-win event at Merced (Calif.) Raceway.
Western Allstars @ Antioch: (1) Richard Papenhausen, (2) Anthony Restad, (3) Bobby Hogge IV, (4) Steve Johnson, (5) Trent Elliot, (6) Paul Guglielmoni, (7) Mike Meazell, (8) Clay Daly, (9) A.J. Kirkpatrick, (10) John Silva, (11) Milt McGinnis, (12) Jerry Bartlett, (13) Dennis Souza, (14) Les Friend, (15) Jeff Decker, (16) Shawn DeForest, (17) Jason Englund. Heat race winners: Silva, Decker, DeForest. Dash winner: Daly.
