By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…
Top Dawg Photo
Fellow winners during the event included Rob Gallaher with the IMCA Sport Mods, Ryan Hart in the Hobby Stocks, Jonathan Welborn with the Four Bangers and Mark Biscardi with the South Bay Dwarf Cars.
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo feature saw Kaleb Montgomery rocket out front after winning the Gizdich Ranch Dash. The main event saw several slowdowns, which forced officials to cut the race to 25-laps.
Montgomery had no worries out front though, as he pulled away with ease and won by over six seconds. Salinas driver Jason Chisum had his finest night of the campaign and looked good right from the start. He capped it off by running a solid second.
Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson had a back-and-forth main event that saw him visit the work area on a couple of occasions. He hung tough however and battled back to round out the podium. Chris Nelson and Kyle Beilman ran fourth and fifth respectively.
With the IMCA Sport Mods it was Yreka’s Bo Crebs who blasted into the lead at the waving of the Ed Entz green flag. He held the field at bay up front while drivers raced for position behind him. San Jose’s Rob Gallaher picked his way forward to assume second on lap four.
The complexion of the contest changed on lap 12 when leader Crebs slowed to a stop with issues. Once out front Gallaher led the remaining distance for his second Sport Mod win of the season at Ocean Speedway.
Gallaher was followed across the stripe by point leader Danny Wagner, Evan Scroggins, Steven Allee and Jim DiGiovanni.
The Hobby Stocks put on some of the best racing of the night and in the end, it was Ocean Speedway point leader Ryan Hart standing in victory lane for the fourth time in 2025. It didn’t come easy for him though as Joe Gallaher gave him everything he could handle.
Hart led at the start until Gallaher took the lead on lap 10. The duo put on a tremendous show for the fans on hand with some good, hard racing. On lap 13 Hart got the run he needed to slip back by to assume the point.
After that Hart motored off to claim the win over Gallaher, Hunter Hammett, Lance Hurst and Lilly Mead.
With the Four Bangers Amaya Flower held the top spot over much of the early going until Jonathan Welborn became the leader on lap eight. The final seven circuits of the race saw Welborn fend off a lightning-fast Cameron Squatritto.
Welborn was able to do so and grab another win over Squatritto, Steve Roach, Travis VanGilder and Matt Wirth.
The South Bay Dwarf Car finale was a clash of veteran names with Dan Zuger and Eric Weisler battling up front at the start. Mark Biscardi then joined the fun and raced Weisler hard for much of the race.
Biscardi took the point with a few circuits left, but Weisler didn’t go away easily. On the final lap the duo split a lapped car, which saw Biscardi get by. Weisler, however, caught just enough of the infield to send him sideways into the turn three wall.
Biscardi accepted the checkered flag over Jason Lazzerini, Dan Zuger, Adam Huitron and Chad Normile.
Ocean Speedway returns with the annual Howard Kaeding Classic this coming Friday and Saturday featuring two nights with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series.
Results
Ocean Speedway
July 11, 2025
Ocean Sprints:
1. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[1]; 2. 25Z-Jason Chisum[5]; 3. 72W-Kurt Nelson[7]; 4. 72JR-Chris Nelson[6]; 5. 31-Kyle Beilman[9]; 6. 34B-Glenn Bryan[13]; 7. 56Z-Don Hart[12]; 8. 28K-Bryant Bell[14]; 9. 10X-Jace Park[2]; 10. 7DJ-Dryver Dothage[8]; 11. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[3]; 12. 3D-Caleb Debem[4]; 13. 8-Jeremy Chisum[10]; 14. 73-Cole Wakim[11]