By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – May 9, 2016…After another early season rainout last week the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo are set to give round three another try this Friday, as the weather gods look to be working in our favor this time around.
The crowd last time out witnessed the youngest winner in the 10-year history of the Ocean Sprints when young Buddy Kofoid scored his first career Taco Bravo victory. The 14-year-old from Penngrove was able to get around two-time track champion Shane Golobic for the win, during what was his second ever start at the track. Kofoid will return this Friday looking to duplicate that performance and is gunning for Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 with the Ocean Sprints.
Golobic’s runner up two weeks ago came after taking home opening night honors back on April 15. The Fremont driver is also coming off a sixth place finish at the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in Chico with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series. Salinas, CA competitor Jason Chisum is fresh off one of the finest runs of his Ocean Sprints career. After starting in row five Chisum moved forward to score a third place finish last time out, earning the High Five Pizza Hard Charger Award.
Fresno’s Kyler Shaw and Oakdale’s Shawn Conde are also heading into this Friday after solid outings two weeks ago. Shaw set fast time, won his heat race and ran fourth in the feature, while Conde rounded out the top-five in the main event. It was just the second time Conde had ever competed with the Ocean Sprints.
Reigning Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo champion Justin Sanders will return to action this Friday after missing the previous event. The 23-year-old competed two weeks ago at Silver Dollar Speedway both nights and capped it with a fourth place during the Bradway Memorial with KWS. Easton’s Tommy Tarlton looked strong at the last event and will be gunning to break his way into victory lane this weekend. The two-time track champ showed lots of speed and will be a favorite on Friday.
More drivers expected this Friday night will include Stockton’s Brad Furr, Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, Fremont’s Dustin Golobic, Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Hollister’s Tony Gualda, Salinas’ Jeremy Chisum, Cottonwood’s Lucas Ashe, San Jose’s Darrell Taylor & Craig Frandsen, Hayward’s Danny Malfatti, Fresno’s Anthony Simone and others.
Weekly award winners from round two included: Ray Scheidts Electric Fast Time: Kyler Shaw, High Five Pizza Hard Charger: Jason Chisum, Beer Optics Hard Luck: Kurt Nelson
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, IMCA Sport Mods, American Stocks, 4-Bangers and the second Police-N-Pursuit of the season.
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