By Steven Blakesley
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (May 16, 2025) – Aromas’ Justin Sanders dominated the First Responders Night for the NARC 410 Sprint Cars on Friday night at Ocean Speedway, leading all 30-laps for his 24th career series win at his home track in Watsonville. A healthy crowd was on hand on a cool night for five divisions of racing, honoring area first responders.
Landon Brooks of Rio Oso set a new track record in time trials at 10.543 seconds around the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds dirt track. Tyler Thompson, Bud Kaeding of San Jose, and Shane Golobic split the heat races. Sanders won the dash to earn the pole for the feature.
Sanders charged ahead at the start of the 30-lap feature to lead lap one with Thompson in pursuit. Thompson attempted a slidejob in turn one on lap four to no avail. Sanders then led Thompson into lapped traffic on the following circuit.
Thompson showed his nose again in turn two, then faced a challenge from Golobic for second.
Golobic tried to slide into second in turn four on lap nine, but Thompson turned down underneath him to maintain the position. Golobic was held up in lapped traffic, allowing the top two to pull away until John Clark of Windsor spun in turn one for a caution on lap 12.
Thompson bobbled in turn four a few laps after the restart, allowing Golobic to sail underneath him in turn one to take second on lap 17. Sanders enjoyed a cushion with two lapped cars between himself and Golobic with 12 laps remaining. Action was stopped when Antioch runner-up Billy Aton of Benicia flipped wildly side over side in turn three, but he was uninjured.
Kaleb Montgomery bounced off both Bud and Tim Kaeding in turn two on the restart and spun out to bring out the caution. Thompson won a cross over duel with Golobic to retake second when racing resumed.
The Kaedings then went three-wide with Brooks for third and banged wheels in turn four, sending Tim Kaeding into a wild helicopter spin for a caution on lap 18.
Jacksonville, Oregon’s Tanner Holmes snared fifth from Bud Kaeding on the restart. Lapped traffic arrived in Sanders’ lap with eight laps remaining. Golobic motored around the outside of Thompson down the backstretch on lap 24 to retake second.
Sanders held the top spot comfortably over the final six circuits ahead of Golobic, Thompson, Brooks, and Holmes. Dominic Scelzi of Fresno advanced from 19th to finish sixth as well.
Hall of Famer Jim Pettit II of Prunedale scored his first Ocean IMCA Modified feature win of the 2025 season in a 25-lap affair. Jonathan Hagio of Prunedale led the opening lap after starting on the pole. Pettit battled with Kaetlyn Robertson of Quincy, NV for second position. Pettit completed the pass then ran down Hagio for the lead by lap nine.
Pettit slid past Hagio in turn four for the lead on lap 13. Hagio went up in smoke a few laps later, ending his race on lap 17 and requiring a caution flag. On the restart, Pettit developed smoke out of the rear of his No. 6 machine as well. Pettit’s car stayed in tact for a strong victory, followed by Robertson, Cody Burke of Salinas, Mike Slauko, and Todd Hermosillo.
Defending Hobby Stock champion Joe Gallaher led wire-to-wire for victory in Saturday’s 20-lap feature. Gallaher stormed to a large lead over the final five lap run for the victory. Ryan Hart of Dos Palos settled for second followed by Merced visitor Xavier Baez. Lilly Mead of Watsonville and Matt Kile of San Jose rounded out the top-five.
Chris Durden of Hollister took home his second South Bay Dwarf Car win at Ocean in 2025. Durden accumulated a 2.1 second lead. It was nullified by a big flip for Toby Brown of Pleasanton in turn two. He was uninjured. Shawn Jones of San Jose ran up to Durden but biked hard on the cushion in turns three and four twice. Jones then retired from the race when one of his tires went careening off his machine in turn one.
Durden topped San Jose’s Mark Biscardi, Eric Weisler, Tommie Piantanida of Discovery Bay, and Sean Catucci at the finish.
AJ Waltrip from the Santa Cruz County Sherrif’s Office won the special Police-in-Pursuit feature during the First Responders Night. The race opened with a hard crash in turn two that ended the night for Kevin Elliott of Scotts Valley and Kyle Wowack from the Santa Cruz Sheriffs.
Waltrip defended the lead from John Hohmann of Scotts Valley Police as they drove through lapped traffic. A rapidly charging Ben Standen from Scotts Valley Police narrowly beat Hohmann at the stripe for second place after 15-laps of action.
Ocean Speedway returns to action on May 30 with racing for the IMCA Modified All-Star Challenge!
For more information, visit www.OceanSpeedway.com
Ocean Speedway May 16, 2025 – Race Results
NARC 410 Sprint Car Series Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[1]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic[3]; 3. 35KM-Tyler Thompson[2]; 4. 21L-Landon Brooks[4]; 5. 21T-Tanner Holmes[14]; 6. 41-Dominic Scelzi[19]; 7. 29-Bud Kaeding[5]; 8. 2K-Gauge Garcia[15]; 9. 7P-Jake Andreotti[17]; 10. 88N-DJ Netto[9]; 11. 7B-Sean Becker[7]; 12. 83T-Tanner Carrick[10]; 13. 10-Dominic Gorden[13]; 14. 0-Tim Kaeding[6]; 15. 12-Jarrett Soares[16]; 16. 12J-John Clark[20]; 17. 31-Kyle Beilman[22]; 18. 14E-Mariah Ede[21]; 19. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[12]; 20. 26-Billy Aton[18]; 21. 72W-Kurt Nelson[11]; 22. (DNS) 73-Ryan Bernal