By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – July 14, 2014…Fremont, CA’s Shane Golobic will bring a 46-point lead over now second place Brad Furr of Stockton into round number eight in the battle for the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo championship this Friday night at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway.
After winning the Ocean Sprints title in 2012, Golobic is in search of his second career Taco Bravo championship this season at the quarter-mile, while driving the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 machine. The San Jose State grad has been extremely consistent and has finished among the top-five in all but one race this season. He is however, still searching for his first Taco Bravo victory of the 2014 campaign. Golobic is also the lone driver that is competing full-time in all three of the Prentice Motorsports Group organizations this season.
On the Civil War Series side of things with five races to go, Golobic holds a 33-point advantage over Sean Becker, as he looks for his first ever title with the state’s premier traveling Winged 360 Sprint Car tour. With the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series Golobic ranks sixth in the standings with seven events left on the schedule. First things first though, this Friday night he’ll be gunning for Taco Bravo victory lane to try and extend his lead even more, with seven races also remaining with the Ocean Sprints.
The hottest driver with the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo at the moment however is certainly defending champion Furr, who has won each of the past two events at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring. The former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series regular picked up one of his biggest victories in recent years last Friday, when he captured opening night of the Howard Kaeding Classic over a 37-car field. Furr will look to continue his momentum this Friday night in the Price Rite Restaurant Equipment No. 2.
Lemoore’s Carson Macedo had a tough main event last Friday that knocked him back to third in the Ocean Sprints standings, now 17-markers behind Furr for second. It also happened to be the first time that the 18-year-old has finished outside of the top-five all year with the Taco Bravo Sprints aboard the WFO Apparel No. 21x mount. Macedo has continued to be impressive though and will be searching for that elusive first win of his career at the Ocean Speedway on Friday.
Sitting just 12-digits behind Macedo is fellow Central Valley charger Mitchell Faccinto of Hanford, who will also be gunning for his first Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo win this Friday night. The driver of the Western Metal Company No. 37 Sprinter last Saturday at Ocean Speedway won the Dash with the King of the West 410’s, but had issues knock him out of the running during the opening lap. Faccinto is another one that has been very impressive all season long.
Watsonville’s Justin Sanders rounds out the top-five in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings going into Friday and is just 15-markers back of Faccinto for the fourth spot. The wheel-man of the North County Plastering No. 17 machine finished sixth with Civil War last Friday during the opener of the Howard Kaeding Classic. A multiple-time feature winner in his career at the track, Sanders is another that’s still looking for his first Taco Bravo win of 2014.
Completing the top-10 in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings coming into round eight are Laton’s Heath Duinkerken, Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Salinas’ Jason Chisum, Salinas’ Jeremy Chisum and Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson. Others expected for Friday will include Anthony Simone, Jerry Bonnema, Nick Rescino Jr, Dylan Black, Dustin Golobic, Tomas Bray Scully, Wayne Katen and more.
A highlight of the 2014 schedule for the Ocean Sprints is a little over a month away, with that being the 54th “Johnny Key Classic” on Saturday August 23. Something adding even more excitement about this 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 are 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 first Qualifying Night was held on July 5 at Petaluma Speedway & the other event outside of Ocean Speedway will occur 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.
Chico’s Mason Moore picked up the Civil War Series victory on July 5 in Petaluma and by doing so, became the first driver to lock his way into the Johnny Key Classic.
The front gate at the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night July 18 with hot laps at 5:15pm, qualifying around 6pm and racing to follow. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets costing $17, seniors 65 & older $16, children 6-12 $13 and kids five and under free. A family pack featuring two adults and two kids is available for $55. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California with the physical address being 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076.
Ocean Speedway & the Ocean Sprints would like to thank Taco Bravo, High Five Pizza, Nobel Construction, Ray Scheidt’s Electric, Beer Optics, B Scadden Designs, Hoosier Tires West and Kaeding Performance for their support.
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
Upcoming Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo events at Ocean Speedway
Friday July 18
Friday July 25 (Johnny Key Qualifying Race Number two)
Friday August 8