From Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA — (April 10, 2015) — Starting from the pole on Friday night at Ocean Speedway former two-time Ocean Sprints champion Tommy Tarlton jumped to the lead and was never seriously challenged en route to his second straight win at the quarter-mile.
The victory marked Tarlton’s and crew chief Paul Baines 50th career triumph as a
combination. The veteran driver showed once again why he is one of the very best at Ocean Speedway whenever he is on hand, with the win coming aboard his Executive Auto Sales/ Tarlton & Son Inc. No. 21 mount.
“I love coming to this place and it’s great to start the year with back-to-back wins,” Tarlton commented in victory lane. “I just seem to have fun when I come here and I think that’s a big reason to our success. This my 50th win with Paul Baines so I can’t think him enough for being such a huge part of this team. We had a great car tonight and I want to thank all the fans for coming out and supporting us.”
The front row for the 30-lapper was comprised of Tarlton and Laton’s Heath Duinkerken, who drew one and two in the top-eight redraw. Once the green flag waved Tarlton shot into the lead and had his way of things up front. Rain during the week made for a very fast surface in the feature and a few rough spots to make things interesting.
Row four starters Justin Sanders of Watsonville and Ryan Bernal of Hollister made their way forward to battle for the runner up spot. Bernal, making his just his third career Taco Bravo start, was able to make his way into second at one point, before Sanders sliced by during a double file restart. The hometown driver would maintain the spot at the checkered, finishing three and a half seconds behind Tarlton.
“These heavy and fast tracks usually aren’t my favorite so I’m happy to get a second tonight,” Sanders commented. “I want to thank my whole team for all their support and all of our sponsors as well. It’s been a solid start to the season for us and we’ll be back in two weeks looking for a win.”
Bernal crossed the line in third to score his career best Winged Sprint Car finish. “I feel like I’m getting a hang of this Winged Sprint Car stuff,” he commented. “It was a tough track tonight though, but to finish on the podium with Tommy and Justin is a nice accomplishment for us.”
Duinkerken had a great night to come home in fourth, as did Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, who earned the High Five Pizza Hard Charger Award coming from 16th to fifth in the main event. The night’s Ray Scheidts Electric fast qualifier Robbie Price from British Columbia came home sixth to cap a solid Taco Bravo debut. Veteran Jerry Bonnema of Corralitos finished seventh, Stockton’s Brad Furr was eighth, Salinas’ Jason Chisum was ninth and Fremont’s Anthony Espinosa rounded out the top-10.
Coarsegold’s Scott Parker earned the Beer Optics Hard Luck Award following a hard crash during qualifying. He was okay, but done for the night.
Ocean Sprints A-main finish…#21 Tommy Tarlton #17 Justin Sanders #56 Ryan Bernal #79 Heath Duinkerken #72W Kurt Nelson #21P Robby Price #58 Jerry Bonnema #2 Brad Furr #25Z Jason Chisum #51 Anthony Espinoza #7 Nick Ringo Jr #34 Darrell Taylor #83SA Ryan Robinson #55 Danny Malfatti #99 Tony Gualda #55X Trey Starks #8 Jermey Chisum #23 Ken Fredenburg #9J Dustin Golobic
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will return to action on Friday April 24 with round number three on the season. Results can be found at www.racepmg.com
Summary:
Heat Race #1:
1. 21P – Robby Price
2. 58 – Jerry Bonnema
3. 56 – Ryan Bernal
4. 79 – Heath Duinkerken
5. 83SA – Ryan Robinson
6. 72W – Kurt Nelson
7. 7 – Nick Ringo, Jr
Heat Race #2:
1. 99 – Tony Gualda
2. 55X – Trey Starks
3. 25Z – Jason Chisum
4. 21 – Tommy Tarlton
5. 9J – Dustin Golobic
6. 34 – Darrell Taylor
7. 3T – Nicholas Ringo
Heat Race #3:
1. 17 – Justin Sanders
2. 55 – Danny Malfatti
3. 8 – Jermey Chisum
4. 2 – Brad Furr
5. 23 – Ken Fredenburg
6. 51 – Anthony Espinoza
Feature:
1. 21 – Tommy Tarlton
2. 17 – Justin Sanders
3. 56 – Ryan Bernal
4. 79 – Heath Duinkerken
5. 72W – Kurt Nelson
6. 21P – Robby Price
7. 58 – Jerry Bonnema
8. 2 – Brad Furr
9. 25Z – Jason Chisum
10. 51 – Anthony Espinoza
11. 7 – Nick Ringo, Jr
12. 34 – Darrell Taylor
13. 83SA – Ryan Robinson
14. 55 – Danny Malfatti
15. 99 – Tony Gualda
16. 55X – Trey Starks
17. 8 – Jermey Chisum
18. 23 – Ken Fredenburg
19. 9J – Dustin Golobic