By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – April 25, 2016…So far in this early season for the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo the story has certainly been Mother Nature and her constant berate, as two of the first three events have fallen victim to rain. This Friday night however, dry weather is forecasted and will set the stage for the second round of action with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway.
Opening night saw a lot of fresh faces join the Ocean Sprints, but in the end it was the familiar Keith Day Trucking No. 22 driven by Fremont’s Shane Golobic that ended up in victory lane. The two-time Taco Bravo champion inherited the lead on lap eight and held command the rest of the way to record yet another win at his home track. Golobic will be back on Friday looking to make it two for two at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds based quarter-mile.
Last year’s Ocean Sprints champion Justin Sanders gave it a great charge to come home second on opening night and he’ll be gunning to improve one more spot this week. The 24-year-old last season won a record nine times with the Taco Bravo Sprints aboard the North County Plastering No. 17 machine. Stockton’s Brad Furr, another past Ocean Sprints champion, rounded out the podium last week after holding off two-time track titlist Brent Kaeding of Campbell.
Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson had a solid opening night by finishing fifth in the feature. The veteran racer last season finished third in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings. Easton’s Tommy Tarlton will be back on Friday after scoring a sixth place finish in the main event last week. The two-time Taco Bravo champ captured a pair of wins last season. Fresno’s Kyler Shaw, Hollister’s Tony Gualda, Salinas’ Jason Chisum and Cottonwood’s Lucas Ashe completed the top-10 last Friday.
More drivers expected for round two this week will include Penngrove’s Michael Kofoid, Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Salinas’ Jeremy Chisum, San Jose’s Darrell Taylor, Ryan Rusconi & Craig Frandsen, Hayward’s Danny Malfatti, Templeton’s Kaleb Montgomery and others.
Weekly award winners from opening night included: Ray Scheidts Electric Fast Time: Brad Furr, High Five Pizza Hard Charger: Jason Chisum, Beer Optics Hard Luck: Kaleb Montgomery
The front gate at Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night with hot laps at 5:30pm, qualifying around 6pm and racing to follow. The pit gate will open at 2pm. Friday’s event also features the IMCA Modifieds, American Stocks, Dwarf Cars and 4-Bangers.
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.
The Ocean Sprints & Ocean Speedway is held under the management of Prentice Motorsports Group, which also operates the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series, the Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster, the Wingless Sprint Car Series presented by Hunt Magnetos & the All Star Modified Tour.
The Ocean Sprints would like to thank Taco Bravo, High Five Pizza, Ray Scheidts Electric, Beer Optics, Hoosier Tires West, Flowmaster, Budweiser and Kaeding Performance for their support. For more information on the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo log onto www.racepmg.com