By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – May 11, 2010…Defending Ocean 360 Sprints champion Tommy Tarlton of Easton will lead the charge into this Friday’s fourth round of competition at the Ocean Speedway carrying a five-point advantage at the top of the series standings over Campbell’s Bud Kaeding.
So far this year three different winners have captured main events during the first three races with Bud Kaeding, Tarlton and most recently Justin Sanders, who tallied his second career Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo victory last Friday.
As has been said during pit meetings so far this year, in an effort to minimize the amount of laps and time under caution and also as a safety measure for all drivers on track at all times, Raceceivers will become mandatory for the rest of the season with the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo starting this Friday night at Ocean Speedway. Drivers not responding to a request under caution via the Raceiver, will not be scored from that point on during the race.
Tarlton goes into this weekend following a third place finish last Friday, which also marked his third consecutive podium result to open the Ocean Sprint Car Series season. The driver of the Corporate America Lending, Tarlton & Son Inc. No. 21 sprinter also captured a main event win at the Giant Chevrolet Speedway in Hanford this past Saturday night. Tarlton will be in search of his second Ocean Sprints win of the year to help extend his lead in the standings as he looks to make it back-to-back titles.
After scoring a runner-up finish from the fourth row last week Bud Kaeding will also be looking for his second Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo main event win of the year on Friday. The three-time USAC Silver Crown champion last year tallied seven top-five finishes in eight Ocean Sprints starts and in 2010 he has once again been running consistently at the front of the field aboard the Sala/Matherly Racing, M&M Powder Coaters No. 19 mount. Kaeding is also coming off a strong run from 13th to third at last Saturday’s Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in Chico.
Hoping to continue his solid start to the season on Friday will be Gilroy’s Eric Rossi, who currently sits in a tie for third in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings and is just seven-markers back of Tarlton for the top-spot. The former Johnny Key Classic, Mini Gold Cup and Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial winner last week looked racy yet again and scored a heat race win, before finishing seventh in the main event behind the wheel of the Team RCR, Chase Wood Racing No. 4r sprinter.
Tied with Rossi going into the fourth round of racing is former two-time Ocean Sprint Car Series champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell, who set fast-time and finished fifth in the main event last week aboard his Al’s Roofing Supply, Williams Roofing No. 69. “BK” has finished in the top-five during all three races so far this season and will be looking to get into victory lane at the Ocean Speedway for the first time in over a year on Friday. The 13-time King of California is also the current point leader with the Golden State Challenge Series going into this Saturday’s Pombo/Sargent Classic in Tulare.
Following his big victory last Friday Sanders currently rounds out the top-five in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings coming into this weekend. The 17-year-old driver of the North County Plastering, B&K Trump Farms sponsored No. 17 sprint car started from the pole and held off all challengers last week to score victory and move within just eight-points of leader Tommy Tarlton. The Prunedale racer last season finished sixth in the Ocean Sprints standings and has been very impressive so far in 2010 at Ocean Speedway.
Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson goes into Friday ranking sixth in the Ocean Sprint Car Series standings and will be looking for a strong night to make up some points on the leader, as he sits 19-markers out of the top-spot. Last week the 17-year-old tallied the Sun-Electric hard-charger award at Ocean Speedway by carving his way from 15th to sixth aboard the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino-Reno No. 99. Larson is also currently third in the GSC 410 standings and only six-points out of the lead coming into Saturday’s Pombo/Sargent Classic in Tulare.
Looking very solid the last few weeks has been Clovis, CA’s Peter Murphy, who has scored finishes of fourth and third the past two Friday’s with the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo. The likable Australian native is seventh in the standings and this weekend will be shooting to get into victory lane for the first time since joining the Buster & Ziggy Enterprise, Kiwi Transport No. 11 team. Murphy also ranks second in the USAC West Coast Wingless 360 Series points going into the Pombo/Sargent Classic in Tulare Saturday.
Currently tied for eighth in the Ocean Sprints standings are Morgan Hill’s Devon Ostheimer and Salinas’ Ronnie Day, which is a battle between youth and experience with Ostheimer being a young 16-year-old wheelman, whereas Day is a 51-year-old veteran who has won a number of the west coast’s biggest sprint car events.
Ostheimer last Friday brought home a 10th place finish aboard his MDR Machine, German Auto Body No. 5 and Day is two week’s removed from a runner-up result at Santa Maria in his Keith Day Trucking, Agri-Trade School No. 22. Completing the top-10 in the standings is Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, who last week had a solid night by qualifying third fastest overall and then scoring a ninth place effort in the feature at the helm of his Taco Bravo Racing, Babe’s Lightning & Muffler No. 72w.
Other possibilities for Friday night with the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will include Pleasanton’s Brad Furr, Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Visalia’s Cory Eliason, Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Corralitos’ Jerry Bonnema, San Martin’s Craig Smith, San Jose’s Ryan Rusconi and Wayne Katen, Morgan Hill’s Ricky Wright Jr., Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg and Jon Maiwald, Tracy’s Steve Osborne and more.
The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night May 14 with hot laps at 5:45, qualifying around 6 and racing to follow. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets costing $16, children 6-12 $11 and kids five and under free. A family pack featuring two adults and two kids is available for $40 and seniors 65 and older with id will be $14. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California.
For more information on the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Coming up- The Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will head next for the tour’s inaugural appearance at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare on Saturday night May 22. The Ocean Sprints will then take a week off, before resuming action back at the Ocean Speedway on Friday evening June 4.