By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…Dominic Scelzi has been racking up the wins over the last few seasons and on Saturday night he added another one with historical significance, by claiming the SCCT vs Ocean Sprints sanctioned 62nd Johnny Key Classic.
It marked Scelzi’s second triumph of the year at Ocean Speedway and the sixth of his career with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards. It moves him into sole possession of second place on the all-time SCCT win list.
“It feels really nice to get back up here in victory lane tonight,” commented Scelzi. “A lot of great drivers over the years have won the Johnny Key Classic so it’s special to add my name to that list. Last year I ran second to Shane Golobic at this race and tonight the roles were reversed. I have to thank my entire team, all our sponsors and my family for their support. My parents were able to make it tonight so I’m glad we could get a win for them.”
After bringing home the High Sierra Industries/ Gizdich Ranch Dash Scelzi jumped into the lead at the waving of the green flag in the 35-lap contest. He held command until lapped traffic gave Justin Sanders a shot to close to the gap. The Aromas driver charged to his inside with six laps complete, but Scelzi was able to fend off the challenge. A lap nine restart then saw Fremont’s Shane Golobic slide in front of Sanders to snag the runner up position.
Scelzi hit his marks out front and held command until a restart with 12-circuits left gave Golobic a shot. When the green flag waved for the final time Golobic drove it deep into turn one and sliced his way ahead, however, Scelzi executed the cross over move to retake the top spot that he would never relinquish. The driver of the Scelzi Ent./ Red Rose Transportation No. 41 machine went on to accept the Ed Entz checkered flag for the victory.
Golobic crossed the stripe in second to record his fifth podium finish of the season with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour, while Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto scored third to earn his first SCCT podium of the year. Sanders and 12th starting Bud Kaeding rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 were Joel Myers Jr., 13th starting Ryan Bernal, DJ Netto, 17th starter Joey Ancona and Ryan Robinson. Rickey Sanders claimed the Pit Stop USA Hard Charger Award with a drive from 23rd to 13th.
Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson wrapped up his first career Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo championship during the night. Nelson has long been one of the top supporters of Ocean Speedway, having missed only one race since 2007 at the venue. Joe Gallaher also wrapped up the Hobby Stock title at the track, as Sam Kennedy picked up the victory in the feature. Justin Crockett won the Tri-State Pro Stock main event held at the event.
A total of 41 Winged Sprint Cars competed at the 62nd running of the Johnny Key Classic. Scelzi began the night by setting the Bianchi Farms Fast Time with a lap of 11.486 around the quarter mile.
The Sprint Car Challenge Tour presented by Elk Grove Ford and Abreu Vineyards returns to action on Wednesday September 7th at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. The Pacific Sprint Cup Invitational will launch the 68th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions week at the famed bullring.
Johnny Key Classic
Sprint Car Challenge Tour
Ocean Speedway
Watsonville, California
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Qualifying
1. 41-Dominic Scelzi, 11.486[3]
2. 46JR-Joel Myers, 11.578[2]
3. 115-Nick Parker, 11.581[4]
4. 33-Dylan Bloomfield, 11.658[6]
5. X1-Michael Faccinto, 11.671[9]
6. 88A-Joey Ancona, 11.696[10]
7. 2-Brooklyn Holland, 11.703[8]
8. 99-Wayne Katen, 11.837[1]
9. 72W-Kurt Nelson, 11.930[11]
10. 33H-Eric Humphries, 11.974[7]
11. 19-Colby Thornhill, 12.011[5]
Qualifying 2
1. 2X-Justin Sanders, 11.737[10]
2. 21-Mitchell Faccinto, 11.849[7]
3. 1-Chance Grasty, 11.948[8]
4. 9L-Luke Hayes, 12.205[6]
5. 21X-Gauge Garcia, 12.210[2]
6. 6C-Travis Coelho, 12.409[9]
7. 38-Colby Johnson, 12.446[4]
8. 34B-Glenn Bryan, 12.446[1]
9. 4-Jodie Robinson, 12.446[3]
10. 22-Ryan Bernal, 12.446[5]
Qualifying 3
1. 17W-Shane Golobic, 11.571[2]
2. 75-Tony Gomes, 11.901[7]
3. 69-Bud Kaeding, 11.983[3]
4. 7P-Jake Andreotti, 12.004[1]
5. 3T-JJ Ringo, 12.059[9]
6. 83SA-Isaiah Vasquez, 12.079[6]
7. 72S-Bradley Dillard, 12.162[10]
8. 72JR-Chris Nelson, 12.265[5]
9. 25Z-Jason Chisum, 12.289[4]
DNS: 25S-Seth Standley, 12.289
Qualifying 4
1. 92-Andy Forsberg, 11.636[1]
2. 88N-DJ Netto, 11.878[7]
3. 2XM-Max Mittry, 11.883[5]
4. 121-Caeden Steele, 11.892[2]
5. 14W-Ryan Robinson, 11.899[4]
6. 5V-Landon Brooks, 11.948[10]
7. 28-Chase Johnson, 12.039[3]
8. 17-Rickey Sanders, 12.264[8]
9. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery, 12.694[6]
10. 77-Ryan Lippincott, 12.694[9]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 46JR-Joel Myers[1]
2. 41-Dominic Scelzi[4]
3. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[3]
4. 115-Nick Parker[2]
5. 88A-Joey Ancona[6]
6. 72W-Kurt Nelson[9]
7. 2-Brooklyn Holland[7]
8. 19-Colby Thornhill[11]
9. 99-Wayne Katen[8]
10. X1-Michael Faccinto[5]
DNS: 33H-Eric Humphries
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[1]
2. 2X-Justin Sanders[4]
3. 22-Ryan Bernal[9]
4. 21X-Gauge Garcia[5]
5. 9L-Luke Hayes[3]
6. 38-Colby Johnson[7]
7. 1-Chance Grasty[2]
8. 6C-Travis Coelho[6]
9. 34B-Glenn Bryan[8]
DNS: 4-Jodie Robinson
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 75-Tony Gomes[1]
2. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]
3. 69-Bud Kaeding[2]
4. 7P-Jake Andreotti[3]
5. 83SA-Isaiah Vasquez[6]
6. 3T-JJ Ringo[5]
7. 72S-Bradley Dillard[7]
8. 72JR-Chris Nelson[8]
9. 25Z-Jason Chisum[9]
DNS: 25S-Seth Standley
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps)
1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]
2. 14W-Ryan Robinson[5]
3. 2XM-Max Mittry[2]
4. 92-Andy Forsberg[4]
5. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[9]
6. 17-Rickey Sanders[8]
7. 5V-Landon Brooks[6]
8. 28-Chase Johnson[7]
9. 77-Ryan Lippincott[10]
10. 121-Caeden Steele[3]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 41-Dominic Scelzi[1]
2. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]
3. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[4]
4. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]
5. 75-Tony Gomes[3]
6. 88N-DJ Netto[6]
7. 46JR-Joel Myers[8]
8. 92-Andy Forsberg[7]
B-Main (15 Laps)
1. 72W-Kurt Nelson[1]
2. 3T-JJ Ringo[2]
3. 17-Rickey Sanders[3]
4. 5V-Landon Brooks[7]
5. 38-Colby Johnson[4]
6. 121-Caeden Steele[18]
7. X1-Michael Faccinto[17]
8. 25Z-Jason Chisum[14]
9. 28-Chase Johnson[10]
10. 72S-Bradley Dillard[8]
11. 19-Colby Thornhill[9]
12. 6C-Travis Coelho[12]
13. 77-Ryan Lippincott[15]
14. 72JR-Chris Nelson[11]
15. 99-Wayne Katen[13]
16. 2-Brooklyn Holland[5]
17. 1-Chance Grasty[6]
18. 34B-Glenn Bryan[16]
DNS: 25S-Seth Standley
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 41-Dominic Scelzi[1]
2. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]
3. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[3]
4. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]
5. 69-Bud Kaeding[12]
6. 46JR-Joel Myers[7]
7. 22-Ryan Bernal[13]
8. 88N-DJ Netto[6]
9. 88A-Joey Ancona[17]
10. 14W-Ryan Robinson[9]
11. 2XM-Max Mittry[11]
12. 75-Tony Gomes[5]
13. 17-Rickey Sanders[23]
14. 92-Andy Forsberg[8]
15. 83SA-Isaiah Vasquez[18]
16. 115-Nick Parker[14]
17. 72W-Kurt Nelson[21]
18. 21X-Gauge Garcia[16]
19. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[10]
20. 9L-Luke Hayes[19]
21. 3T-JJ Ringo[22]
22. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[20]
23. 7P-Jake Andreotti[15]
24. 5V-Landon Brooks[24]