By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – December 20, 2013…The office of Prentice Motorsports Group has officially released the 2014 schedule of events for the Ocean 360 Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo, which encompasses 15 rounds of action at the Ocean Speedway quarter-mile clay oval.
The upcoming year will mark the eighth season for the Ocean Sprint Cars & the fifth being held with the partnership of Dennis Wuolett and Taco Bravo. Last year saw Stockton’s Brad Furr join the list of past Ocean Sprints champions that includes Brent Kaeding, Tommy Tarlton, Ronnie Day and Shane Golobic.
The season opener for the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo will occur on Friday evening April 18 and the season finale will happen on Friday October 10. “We’re really excited to have Dennis Wuolett & Taco Bravo back on board with the Ocean Sprints in 2014,” said John Prentice of Prentice Motorsports Group. “It should be a really good season for the Ocean Sprints and there are a lot of great things happening in Northern California Sprint Car racing right now.”
A highlight of the 2014 schedule for the Ocean Sprints is the grand-daddy of them all at Ocean Speedway, the 54th “Johnny Key Classic” on Saturday August 23. Something adding even more excitement about the coming season’s version is the fact it will be a “Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster vs. Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo” event for the first time.
The Key Classic will utilize the same format it has in past years, however, there will be two Qualifying Nights held at Ocean Speedway, as well as two Qualifying Nights held outside of the track. The two Qualifying Shows at Ocean Speedway will be Friday July 25 & Friday August 15. The other two Qualifying Shows will take place in Civil War events on July 5 at Petaluma Speedway & on August 9 during the annual “Mark Forni Classic” at Placerville Speedway.
The A-main winners during each of those four events will be locked into the 54th “Johnny Key Classic” on Saturday August 23. This year the highest point earner not locked into the race in both the Civil War Series presented by Flowmaster and the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will also be locked into the Dash, which pits all of the locked-in drivers against each other to set the first three rows of the main event.
The “Johnny Key Classic” Pre-Party will also take place the night before the big show on Friday August 22 at the Taco Bravo Snell Ave. location in San Jose. The Taco Bravo Pre-Key Party will go from 6pm to 9pm and everyone is invited to come out and have a good time.
The Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster will also invade Ocean Speedway to clash with the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo on opening night of the fourth annual “Howard Kaeding Classic” on Friday July 11. The “HK Classic” weekend also features the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series the following night on Saturday July 12, which will make for an exciting double-header at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring.
“It’s really nice to bring back the Civil War vs. Taco Bravo shows, because they were great events for the fans and always had huge car counts,” Prentice commented. “Having them during the Howard Kaeding Classic opener and the Johnny Key Classic are going to make them can’t miss events. The HK Classic is shaping up to be a big weekend in 2014 and the Johnny Key Classic has grown each season we’ve had it at Ocean Speedway.”
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will also be part of the “California Triple Crown” that includes the Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series and the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series. If a driver can win all three championships they will take home a substantial bonus, with more details to be released following the start of the year. There are no conflicts between the three, so there is the possibility of a driver performing the feat for the first time ever.
Last year’s Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo campaign saw 10 different winners, including champion Brad Furr, Bud Kaeding & Justin Sanders, who led the way with three victories apiece. Other winners included Andy Forsberg, Shane Golobic, Brent Kaeding, Tommy Tarlton, Kyle Hirst, Rico Abreu & DJ Netto.
For more information on the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway check out http://www.oceanspeedway.com