By Steven Blakesley
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (August 20, 2011) – Tommy Tarlton won his second straight Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo feature on Friday night to take the points lead from Salinas’ Ronnie Day as the series prepares for the Johnny Key Classic this Saturday. The 18 car main event was slowed by just two cautions and completed in 12 minutes.
The race also marked the final qualifier for the Key, but with Tarlton already locked in the qualifying spot went to rookie Rico Abreu who finished second.
Fremont’s Shane Golobic led the field from the outside pole on the start of the feature ahead of pole sitter Ken Fredenburg. After a brief caution on lap one when Nick Ringo, Jr. spun, Abreu took over second from Fredenburg with Tarlton following him past for third.
Fredenburg continued to loose positions until finally jumping the cushion in turn two on lap 10 and hitting the wall. Fredenburg was unable to continue and the caution was brought out again. The caution evaporated the near straightaway lead that Golobic had built up on Abreu.
That lap 10 yellow flag proved to be the final stoppage of the 30 lap contest. On the restart, Tarlton snookered Abreu for second and began to reel in Golobic. Day had trouble on the restart bicycling hard and nearly flipping in turn four, falling back to the tenth spot. That allowed the popular Scotts Valley driver Evan Suggs to crack the top-five.
In lapped traffic, Tarlton closed down rapidly on Golobic and began to apply the pressure. After a few failed bids on the inside, Tarlton eventually took over the lead when Golobic jumped the cushion in turn one on lap 20.
Golobic faced off with Abreu and Justin Sanders for second with Abreu taking over the position on lap 27. Tarlton drove off to a comfortable victory over Abreu, Golobic, Sanders, and Suggs. Day recovered for a seventh place finish but still lost the points lead to Tarlton.
With all four Johnny Key Classic qualifiers in the books, Tim Kaeding, Kyle Larson, Tarlton, and Abreu find themselves in the show to be joined by the Day and Sanders who earned positions based on points.
Heat races on the night were all won from the outside front row with wins going to Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Suggs, and Orval Zane Burke who finished sixth in the main event. The Ray Scheidt’s Electric fast-time award worth $75 went to Day at 11.510 while the DDNi Hard Charger award for $100 went to Eric Rossi who drove the Wayne Katen #99 from 17th to 11th.
Tarlton leads Day by six points as the series will continue this Saturday night with the 51st running of the Johnny Key Classic for $5,000 to win. The balance of the field will be set through a pair of b-main events before getting underway for the 50 lap feature.
Laps are still for sale for the Johnny Key Classic with interested parties urged to contact samantha@oceanspeedway.com Laps are $50 each to be paid out to the top-three cars each lap.
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