By Steven Blakesley
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (October 13, 2012) – Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson proved again what many already knew – that he is a force to be reckoned with behind the wheel of a sprint car – after overcoming a 20th place starting position to win Friday’s Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo season finale. Fremont’s Shane Golobic wrapped up a consistent season of 13 top-fives in the 15 races aboard Steve Osborne’s #9j to win the track championship ahead of Stockton’s Brad Furr in a big night at the fairgrounds oval.
“It’s been a long season and we’ve got to race a lot,” Larson said. “It’s cool to race for good car owners like the Finley guys. It was a lot of fun racing tonight…it’s been a year since racing at Ocean but it’s just how I remember it. I didn’t expect to go to the top like I did but I had to search around a bit and find a line that works best for me.”
The championship for Golobic allows him to join a previous champions list that includes Brent Kaeding, Tommy Tarlton, and Ronnie Day. The 21 year-old San Jose State engineering student was bit with bad luck all throughout the night including accidents in both his heat race and the feature, but clinched the title by a comfortable margin by taking the green flag.
“Yeah it was a great year for us,” Golobic said. “We were just consistent all year and we were able to stay out there in the points all year. I have to thank Steve Osborne for giving me a great car this year. Thanks to John Prentice for putting on these races.”
29 360 Ocean Sprints were in attendance at John Prentice’s Ocean Speedway Watsonville, and 22 cars started the 30 lap feature. The first attempt at a start was a wild one as San Jose’s Ryan Rusconi flipped in turn one after contact with St. Helena’s Rico Abreu. The incident collected Tracy’s Steve Osborne while in turn three a separate incident collected Golobic and a flipping Nick Green of San Jose. Only Abreu was to continue on in the feature.
Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson led the opening lap before a caution for Furr stalling in turn four. By the lap one restart, Larson had already worked his way to the eighth position and looked poised to challenge the leaders.
Another series of wild flips punctuated the restart, with Auburn’s Cole Wood flipping over the cushion in turn one while Morgan Hill’s Nick Ringo also flipped in turn one. Abreu headed to the pits to end his night after possible contact with Ringo.
With the field settled down the racing action picked up between the top six or seven cars, with Larson moving past Hanford’s DJ Netto to crack the top-five on the restart. Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi made a nice move inside Nelson to take the lead on lap five.
Nelson took the top spot back from Scelzi on lap 14 while Larson charged past Brent Kaeding on lap eight. Larson also took third from Visalia’s Steven Tiner in heavy lapped traffic. The top-five cars darted in and out of traffic closely before Tiner spun to draw a yellow on lap 14.
Larson climbed up on the cushion on the restart to sweep past Scelzi and then take the lead from Nelson on lap 17. Scelzi and Nelson engaged in a great battle for second about a straightaway behind Larson, with Scelzi taking second on lap 23 with a big slidejob.
The closing stages of the race saw Nelson slip back to fifth to set up a battle for third between Kaeding and Auburn’s Andy Forsberg. Larson cruised to a four second victory ahead of Scelzi, Kaeding, Forsberg, and Nelson the top-five.
“I definitely wanted to win but Kyle’s won more races this year than I’ve gotten to race,” Scelzi said. “Hats off to him and he’s a helluva a shoe. We’ll take a second place any day. I feel like we had a car to win but we made rookie mistakes but someday we’ll be standing there with him.”
The DDNi Hard Charger Award went to Kyle Larson for advancing from 20th to win the race, and the Ray Scheidt’s Electric Fast Time was won by young Cole Wood with an 11.431 second lap.
The four heat races were won by Forsberg, San Martin’s “Cowboy” Craig Smith, Hanford’s Garrett Netto, and Osborne. Furr won the semi.
For more information on the Ocean Sprints log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Ocean Speedway would like to thank Taco Bravo, Digital Delivery Networks, Get Som Sports, Ray Scheidt’s Electric, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance for their support of the 2012 Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo.
October 13, 2012 Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo – Watsonville, California
RAY SCHEIDT’S ELECTRIC QUALIFYING: 17w Cole Wood 11.431
HEAT 1: 92 Andy Forsberg
HEAT 2: 39 Craig Smith
HEAT 3: 77n Garrett Netto
HEAT 4: 9jr Steve Osborne
12 LAP SEMI: 2 Brad Furr
30 LAP FEATURE: 1) 77 Kyle Larson, 2) 41 Dominic Scelzi, 3) 69 Brent Kaeding, 4) 92 Andy Forsberg, 5) 72w Kurt Nelson, 6) 88n DJ Netto, 7) 2 Brad Furr, 8) 8 Jeremy Chisum, 9) 39 Craig Smith, 10) 37t Steven Tiner, 11) 77n Garrett Netto, 12) 37 Michael Twitchell, 13) 58 Jerry Bonnema, 14) 11 Nick Rescino, 15) 99 Wayne Katen, 16) 17w Cole Wood, 17) 89 Rico Abreu, 18) 3t Nicholas Ringo, 19) 9j Shane Golobic, 20) 9jr Steve Osborne, 21) 98 Ryan Ruscon, 22) 22 Nick Green
LAP LEADERS: 72w Kurt Nelson 1-4, 41 Dominic Scelzi 5-11, 72w Kurt Nelson 12-16, 77 Kyle Larson 17-30