By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…Tanner Carrick made the trip down from Lincoln pay off for the second consecutive Friday, as he claimed victory over a fast-closing Dominic Gorden in the 30-lap Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo finale.
“I could hear Dominic Gorden coming a few times, but it was so hard to leave the bottom because I felt really good there,” Carrick commented afterwards. “It’s been a solid start to the season for us with some wins and consistent finishes. I can’t thank my entire team enough for busting their tails to get these race cars so good.”
Sharing victory lane at Ocean Speedway on Friday night were Cody Burke with the IMCA Modifieds, Joe Gallaher with the Hobby Stocks and first-time winner Thomas Cumming in the Four Banger division.
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo main event saw Carrick jump out front after winning the six-lap Dash prior to that. Early on Penngrove’s Chase Johnson kept him honest up front until Dominic Gorden sliced past to secure second on lap eight.
The 18-year-old from Clovis found the high scary side to his liking and relentlessly ripped the lip around quarter mile. Several caution periods slowed the flow of the contest however, but through it all Carrick remained calm, cool and collected up front. Gorden continued his pursuit and when the white flag waved, he had a run.
Heading into the final corners Gorden blasted to the top, but Carrick was able to beat him to the line by just a car length or so. Gorden had to settle for a runner up result for the second straight Friday, while Campbell’s Bud Kaeding rounded out the podium. Last season’s Rookie of the Year Caleb Debem finished fourth with Oakdale’s Brad Dillard getting a nice fifth place result.
Drake Standley, Chase Johnson, Mariah Ede, Rickey Sanders and Orville Burke completed the top-10. Heat race wins went to Kaleb Montgomery, Drake Standley and Caleb Debem. Tanner Carrick earned fast time to start the evening with a lap of 11.354 seconds, topping the top-20 car field.
The 25-lap IMCA Modified feature entertained the crowd on hand with some fantastic racing all throughout the field. Salinas driver Cody Burke jumped out front and set the pace over the beginning stages. Fellow Salinas wheel-man Robert Marsh hounded him and took command on lap five.
With 12-circuits complete Burke then battled his way back to the lead before Marsh encountered unfortunate issues on lap 18 that ended his feature. The Salinas trend continued in the main event as Bobby Hogge picked cars off one by one and found himself in second with the race winding down.
A late restart gave him a shot, but Burke ran a perfect race up front and grabbed the win over Hogge, Jim Pettit II, Anthony Slaney and Jacob Mallet Jr.
The Hobby Stocks also put on an excellent 20-lap feature that saw pack racing for much it. Track conditions were perfect for the stock cars as racers ran high, low and in the middle. Trent Golden of Pittsburgh and Dakota Keldsen of Watsonville battled side-by-side for the lead during several laps to begin the contest.
While that was going on cars behind them also fought it out looking to make their way forward. Keldsen held the point until halfway, when week one winner and defending track champion Joe Gallaher then motored by. Gallaher pulled away but the action behind him remained heated with Adrianne Frost scooping up second with just five laps remaining.
Gallaher picked up the win over Frost, Golden, Norm Ayers and Keldsen.
The 15-lap Four Banger also provided some thrills of their own during the second race of the season at Ocean Speedway. Tony Gullo led the early laps until San Jose driver Thomas Cumming carved his way to the top-spot. Cumming went on to accept his first career victory over Jason Lazzerini, Amaya Flower, Gullo and Peter Vannerus.
Ocean Speedway in Watsonville returns to action this coming Friday April 26th.
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Results
Ocean Speedway
April 19, 2024
Ocean Sprints: 1. 83T-Tanner Carrick[1]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden[3]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding[7]; 4. 3D-Caleb Debem[5]; 5. 72S-Bradley Dillard[14]; 6. 5V-Drake Standley[6]; 7. 28-Chase Johnson[2]; 8. 14E-Mariah Ede[13]; 9. 17-Rickey Sanders[8]; 10. OB1-Orville Burke[19]; 11. 25Z-Jason Chisum[18]; 12. 98-Vince Giannotta[20]; 13. 72W-Kurt Nelson[11]; 14. 5R-Ryan Rocha[15]; 15. 72JR-Chris Nelson[16]; 16. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[17]; 17. 25S-Seth Standley[9]; 18. 12J-John Clark[12]; 19. 8-Jeremy Chisum[10]; 20. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[4]