By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – June 8, 2015…Round number eight for the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo is set for action this Friday night at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway. It kicks-off a big month of Sprint Car racing at the quarter-mile clay oval located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Friday’s event is part of another Prentice Motorsports Group Double Down Bonus weekend, which is paired with Saturday’s King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series event at the Stockton Dirt Track.
If a driver wins Friday and then backs it up by winning Saturday, they will earn an extra $3000 bonus, meaning if they win both nights they’d walk away with $7500 total. Fremont’s Shane Golobic came ultra close to taking home the bonus when offered a couple weeks back, winning Friday and then finishing second on Saturday.
Golobic’s victory during the most recent Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo event was his first of the year at his home track. The two-time & reigning Ocean Sprints champion has finished on the podium in all but one of his starts so far this season at the facility. He has his eyes on the Double Down Bonus this weekend, as he captured the King of the West Series finale last November at the Stockton Dirt Track.
Prior to Golobic’s win on May 29 current Ocean Sprints point leader Justin Sanders had a streak of three triumphs in a row at the track going. His bid at four in a row came to a tough end, as he and Golobic made contact battling for the lead in the feature. The Watsonville, CA based driver will look to rebound this Friday, as his point lead was cut by more than half and now stands at 21-markers, with the midway point of the season being reached.
Stockton’s Brad Furr finished third in the last event and is the driver that ranks second in the standings. The 2013 champion will be gunning for his second victory of the year with the Ocean Sprints on Friday. Furr’s initial win this year came on April 24. Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson is coming off a strong fourth place finish the last time out and goes into Friday sitting third in the standings. The veteran will be gunning to move his way onto the podium this week.
Another driver having a great outing during the last event was Morgan Hill’s Nicholas Ringo, who took home a fifth place finish in the feature. Ringo has shown speed much of this season and will be another contender on Friday. More entrants expected include Salinas, CA brothers Jason & Jeremy Chisum, along with Fresno based brothers Koen & Kyler Shaw, Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Corralitos’ Jerry Bonnema, Hayward’s Danny Malfatti, Gilroy’s Ken Fredenburg, Morgan Hill’s Nick Ringo Jr, San Jose’s Darrell Taylor and others.
Everyone at Ocean Speedway would like to send get well messages to two-time Ocean Sprints champ Tommy Tarlton, who suffered some broken ribs during his crash at the last event. We hope to see Tommy back as soon as possible!
The front gate at Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night with hot laps at 5:15pm, qualifying around 6pm and racing to follow. The pit gate will open at 2pm. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets $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, Ray Scheidts Electric, Beer Optics, Hoosier Tires West and Kaeding Performance for their support. For more information on the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo log onto www.racepmg.com
Upcoming Ocean Speedway Sprint Car events
Friday June 12 Ocean Sprints
Friday June 19 Ocean Sprints
Friday June 26 King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series (Pombo/Sargent Classic)
Friday July 10 Civil War vs Ocean Sprints (Howard Kaeding Classic Night One)
Saturday July 11 King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series (Howard Kaeding Classic Finale)