Final Johnny Key Classic Qualifier on tap for the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo this Friday night at Ocean Speedway

By Gary Thomas

Watsonville, CA – August 11, 2014…The fourth & final Qualifying Race for the 54th Johnny Key Classic presented by Al’s Roofing Supply will take place this Friday August 15 at the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, which also doubles as the 10th round of action for the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo.

The prestigious Johnny Key Classic is fast approaching on Saturday August 23, with the 50-lap feature paying $7500-to-win, the runner up will receive $3500 and third place will pay $2000. The main event will be a guaranteed $400-to-start, making it the most lucrative Ocean Sprints & Civil War Series race of the season.

There is also a total of $600 up for grabs in the dash at the Key Classic, as well as extra money for the Ray Scheidts Electric Fast Time & High Five Pizza Hard Charger. The dash is being sponsored by Thedy Auto Repair in San Jose & Thirty Five Industries in San Jose. Williams Roofing is also sponsoring the lucky number pill draw, where a fan will choose a pill & if the driver starting in that position wins the race, the fan will earn some money and the driver will also receive a bonus.

Already winning Qualifying races to lock their way into the Johnny Key Classic have been Princeton’s Mason Moore, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding and most recently this past weekend Elk Grove’s Greg Decaires.

This Friday’s Johnny Key Classic Qualifying Race Four marks the final event prior to the big show next week and Fremont’s Shane Golobic goes into it continuing his march towards a pair of championships with Prentice Motorsports Group. The wheel-man of the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 machine currently holds a 61-point advantage over defending champ Brad Furr in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings. He also leads the Civil War Series points by 58-markers over Ocean Sprints regular Justin Sanders.

Golobic captured the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo crown in 2012 and is looking to join Brent Kaeding & Tommy Tarlton as the third two-time champion at the track. The most recent event on July 25 saw him score a fifth place finish and he’ll look for another consistent outing on Friday. So far this year he has one main event victory with the Ocean Sprints, which came on July 18. Even if he doesn’t win on Friday however, Golobic has automatically earned a starting birth in the Key as the point leader of Civil War, which is idle until the event.

A very close battle for second in the standings will resume on Friday night, with Furr and Lemoore’s Carson Macedo separated by only six-digits.

Furr claimed back-to-back Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo wins on June 13 & July 11 aboard the Price Rite Restaurant Equipment No. 2 mount. The defending champion has also dominated Ray Scheidts Electric Qualifying this year, having set fast time on four different occasions. Macedo has been Mr. Consistent all season long, having finished outside the top-five just once in 2014 with the Ocean Sprints. He’ll be looking for his first career Taco Bravo victory on Friday in the WFO Apparel No. 21x Sprinter.

Watsonville’s Justin Sanders had his best run of the Ocean Sprints season during the most recent event on July 25, where he finished runner up in the main event aboard his North County Plastering No. 17 machine. He was part of an epic battle with Bud Kaeding over the later stages of the race. Sander’s holds onto the fourth spot in the Taco Bravo Sprints standings, one position ahead of Mitchell Faccinto from Hanford, who rounds out the top-five. Faccinto has been impressive in the Western Metal No. 37.

Completing the top-10 in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings going into Friday are Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Salinas’ Jeremy Chisum, Salinas’ Jason Chisum, Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson and Laton’s Heath Duinkerken.

Other possibilities for Friday’s event include two-time Johnny Key Classic winner & two-time Ocean Sprints champ Tommy Tarlton of Easton, Chico’s Jonathan Allard, Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Hanford’s DJ Netto & Collin Markle, Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Corralitos’ Jerry Bonnema, San Francisco’s Nick Rescino Jr, Hollister’s Tomas Bray Scully and more.

The front gate at the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night August 15 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