Golobic wins at Ocean Speedway

By Gary Thomas

Watsonville, CA – May 22, 2016…Two-time Ocean Sprints champion Shane Golobic of Fremont left nothing on the table this past Friday night, executing some pinpoint & precision based late-race moves en route to his second Taco Bravo Winged 360 victory of the season at Ocean Speedway.

Golobic and his Keith Trucking No. 22 team have been a mark of consistency so far this year at the quarter-mile oval, with two wins and a pair of runner up finishes in the four events that have taken place in 2016. The 24-year-old became the third different leader of the race on Friday night when he claimed the top-spot with just four-laps remaining in the A-main.

“I really have to give my hats off to Ocean Speedway for giving us such a great track to race on in the feature,” Golobic commented on the front stretch. “That was so much fun tonight being able to race like that with those guys in the top-five. Having the opportunity to slide each other and move around on the track is what you want as a driver.  We’ve had a great start to the season here in Watsonville and I really want to give a huge thanks to everyone that supports this 22 race team. Thanks also to the fans that came out tonight and braved the cold weather.”

Prior to the feature extensive track work went on following the heat races and produced an outstanding surface, which lent itself to the best racing we have seen so far in 2016 at Ocean Speedway. Early on it was Dash winner Andy Forsberg of Auburn who sat out front. His lead was short lived however, when a lapped car spun directly in front of him, resulting in the Forsberg Racing No. 92N making contact and coming to a stop. This handed the lead to Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, who has gained speed each week and looked like the driver to beat when going back green.

The action behind him was extremely intense though, with positions changing regularly on both ends of the speedway. The drivers throughout the top-10 performed slide job after slide job and thrilled the crowd that was on hand. Golobic battled with a number of drivers and made his move on lap 26, fighting by Tarlton with a masterful pass.

With just two-laps left a lapped car then spun in turn two, wiping out Watsonville’s Justin Sanders, who had a great run going in third and fifth place Tony Gualda of Hollister, who was also having a fine run. Sander’s was ultra fast once again and had also been a challenger for Tarlton at times in the feature.

The green white checkered restart was all Golobic, who took the Ed Entz checkered flag by 1.474 seconds over Stockton’s Brad Furr, who had gotten by Tarlton on lap 27. It was a great run for the former Ocean Sprints champ aboard the Price Rite Restaurant Equipment/ Brad Furr Racing No. 2 machine. The past World of Outlaws regular was very aggressive in the main event and fun to watch. If Furr can continue the same kind of speed it shouldn’t be long before he visits victory lane.

Tarlton crossed the stripe in third to earn his second straight podium finish in the Executive Auto Sales/ Elite Landscape Construction No. 21 Sprinter. The two-time Ocean champ is another one that is closing in on a victory. Penngrove’s Buddy Kofoid was impressive again and came home fourth, while Hanford’s DJ Netto had a nice rebound to score fifth. Netto had spent time running in the top-three, before banging the cushion and spinning to a stop on lap 15. The remainder of the top-10 was filled out by Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, Fresno’s Kyler & Koen Shaw, Cobble Hill, BC’s Robbie Price and Forsberg, who came back after lap-five incident.

As noted Forsberg won the Dash, while the three eight-lap Heat Races were picked off by DJ Netto, Tommy Tarlton and Shane Golobic. Forsberg kicked-off the night by setting the Ray Scheidts Electric Fast Time Award in the 23-car field. The eight-time Civil War champ toured the quarter-mile in 11.932 seconds. Full results are available at www.racepmg.com