CONNOR SPEIR WINS FIRST CAREER MIDGET RACE IN GRAUNSTADT MEMORIAL THRILLER
ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA (June 7, 2026) – Fillmore, Calif.’s Connor Speir knifed underneath Castro Valley’s Jake Andreotti on a green-white-checkered finish to claim the lucrative 2nd annual Ken Graunstadt Memorial at Antioch Speedway on Saturday night. The BCRA/WMR Super Series Midget feature attracted 18 entries for the 30-lap contest, with Speir winning $3214 in purse and lap money.
“This means everything. This is my first Midget win. For it to be with (Car Owner) Matt (Streeter) and at Matt’s old car owner’s race is just awesome. I know how much this means to Matt so that makes it even more special,” Speir said. “I was pacing Jake pretty good and I think we were a little bit better than him but got tripped up with lapped traffic. We had that Green White Checkered and I knew I had to run really hard into turn one. Jake tripped up thankfully and I was able to slide him and take control from there.”
Defending series champion Caden Sarale of Stockton blitzed to the top spot in Quick Change Liquid Energy time trials at 13.777 seconds. Sarale and Andreotti then won the heat races, presented by Schoenfeld Headers and Amerikote.
Dunnigan’s Luke Hayes and Auckland, New Zealand’s Ben Covich were the front row starters after the inversion, but were quickly passed by Riverside’s Dane Culver to lead lap one. Andreotti advanced from fifth on the grid to slide past Culver in turn three and lead lap seven. Sarale followed Andreotti before slowing on lap ten and exiting from the event.
The red flag flew on lap 13 when San Jose’s Nicholas Leonard hit the turn four wall and lost his right rear wheel. His Boscacci Racing crew was able to get him back into the event, however.
Culver showed his nose inside Andreotti on the restart to no avail in turn one. Speir and Culver had an entertaining duel for second with Speir claiming the position on lap 19.
Andreotti looked to have the Graunstadt Memorial in hand as the white flag flew before Roseville’s Isak Johnson flipped hard in turn three. The red flag necessitated the green-white-checkered finish. Andreotti jumped the cushion in turn two, allowing Speir to drive underneath him. Andreotti tried to slide back underneath Speir into turn three but Speir held the top spot. Speir led the final two laps of competition for the breakthrough victory. Andreotti settled for second.
Auburn’s Cody Gray won the $100 Hard Charger presented by West Evans Motorsports and BR Motorsports, storming from 16th to third. Luke Hayes finished fourth. Santa Cruz’ Logan Mitchell extended his WMR points lead by topping the race within a race from fifth overall. Johnson – despite flipping – was the second highest finishing Western Midget ahead of Santa Cruz’ Nathan Moore.
The BCRA/WMR California Super Series resumes on June 20 for the 66th Johnny Key Classic at Watsonville Speedway.
