PETERSEN MEDIA
Saturday night at Ocean Speedway, Justin Sanders broke through and finally claimed another marquee win at his home track with his first career HK Classic win.
“This is a race that I have wanted to win for a while, but it had just eluded me over the years,” Justin Sanders said. “Marquee wins are extra special and to win this at my home track in pretty cool. There is a lot of prestige that comes along with an HK Classic win and to add my name to the trophy is awesome.”
Following a sixth place run in the 360 HK Classic on Friday night to open the weekend up, Sanders got Saturday night kicked off by timing the Farmers Brewing/Mittry Construction/North County Plastering backed No. 2x in 11th fastest in time trials.
Lining up on the front row of his heat race, the Aromas, CA driver got the jump over Mitchell Faccinto and took over the early lead. Once out front, Sanders never looked back as he picked up the win and earned enough points to punch his ticket into the Sunnyvalley Bacon Powered Dash.
Picking up the win in the six-lap Dash over Willie Croft, Sanders sat in prime position to pick up his first career HK Classic as he earned the pole and eventually led the field to green for the 30-lap feature event.
After the initial start was waived off with drivers having issues, the next start saw Sanders get the jump and go to work on the slick Ocean Speedway surface. With the bottom really good, Sanders was still able to make the top work in the early goings of the race as he fended off the likes of Joel Myers Jr as the leaders quickly found traffic.
As the top started to go away, Blake Carrick was working the bottom with a full head of steam and poked his nose under Sanders which ultimately alerted him to change lines.
Despite still being strong on top, it was apparent that the low groove was better and Sanders was able to make the move and change his line. Dealing with dense traffic in the race’s closing laps, Sanders would fend off the charging Carrick and pick up his eighth win of the 2022 season.
“To finally get our first win of the season at Ocean Speedway and it be a race like this is great,” Sanders added. “I want to thank the Mittry Family and all of this team’s great partners for all of their support.”
Justin and his team would like to thank Farmers Brewing, Mittry Construction, North County Plastering, Alkaline88, Andy’s Construction, Roadside 24hr Service, Wicked Cushion, Roger’s Diner, Factory Kahne, BG Labels and Tee’s, Walker Performance Filtration, Dixon and Son Tires, Ernie’s Service Center, East Lake Village, FK Rod Ends, Triple X Race Co., DMI, Keizer Wheels, Wings Unlimited, Ti64 Titanium, AIS Heating and Sheet Metal, Fred Lint and Family, JonSan Racing, Sandblast Service, G&N Construction, Steitz Towing, Durden Construction, Ernie’s Service Center, and Steve Duppman Racing for their continued support in 2022.
ON TAP: Sanders is now set to make a return trip to Skagit Speedway this weekend for the 360 Summer Nationals.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races-37, Wins-8, Top 5’s-25, Top-10’s-32
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Justin Sanders by visiting his website, www.teamsandersmotorsports.com.