PETERSEN MEDIA
2021 has been a work in progress for Sean Becker and Vertullo Motorsports, and on Saturday night they were rewarded for their efforts as ‘The Shark’ picked up the coveted Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway with the King of the West Series.
“We had really good speed Friday and Saturday night,” Sean Becker said. “Friday night we couldn’t seem to catch a break, but on Saturday night everything fell right into place.”
Saturday night, Becker would check in for King of the West action with the Vertullo Motorsports team and they got they got off to a very strong start as Becker timed the Morrison Concrete/Starr Property Management backed No. 83v machine in second fastest in qualifying time trials.
Lining up fourth in his heat race, Becker would pick up a third-place finish which moved him into the 30-lap feature event, but also gave him enough points to earn a spot in the Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash.
Finishing fourth in the Dash, Becker would find himself in the second row for the $6900-to-win, HK Classic feature event on a very slick Ocean Speedway racing surface.
Jumping into second when the race came to life, Becker would chase after early leader, Jessie Attard until the caution flag flew on the sixth lap. The next restart would see Becker fall back to third as Shane Golobic was able to make a move until the caution was again needed on the eighth lap.
The ensuing restart would result in quite a melee in turns one and two, but Becker was able to squeak past and assume the race lead. Once in front, Becker would open up a sizeable lead in between a couple of more stoppages that hampered the race.
During an extended green flag run to close the race out, Becker would see his strong lead start to shrink as he worked through traffic, but on this night ‘The Shark’ would not be denied as he raced to his first win of the season.
“I am so proud to get a win for this team,” Becker said. “It is all thanks to their hard work, and dedication, as well as our faith in each other.”
Becker and company were also in action to open the HK Classic up on Friday night during a 360ci event.
Timing in 11th fastest in qualifying time trials, Becker would power his way to an impressive heat race win and transfer into the Dash.
Finishing seventh in the Dash, Becker would grid the field from the fourth row for the first 30-lap feature event of the weekend.
Running inside the Top-10, Becker would narrowly escape a big pile up, but as he looked the clear the accident a car with nowhere to go made contact with the Vertullo Motorsports entry, resulting in Becker coming to a stop.
Able to work his way back forward, Becker would close the opener out with a 10th place finish.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-30, Wins-1, Top 5’s- 8, Top-10’s- 15
ON TAP: Becker is set for more King of the West action as he will be at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA on Friday night and Santa Maria Speedway on Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED: If you can’t be at the track, make sure to follow @MrsSharkBecker on twitter for constant updates, or become a fan on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SeanBeckerRacing1023.