By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…Visalia’s Jett Barnes has been exceptional during his Watsonville Speedway starts this year and raced to his second triumph in four appearances last night with the Gold Star GMC 360 Sprint Cars.
Fellow winners on First Responders Night included Lilly Mead with the R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks, Jonathan Welborn with the Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers and Mike Santana with Police N Pursuit.
Clovis driver Dominic Gorden took command at the waving of the green flag in the 25-lap Gold Star GMC 360 Sprint Car feature. Young Cole Croft kept him honest over the early stages, not letting the former Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial winner get too far ahead.
Jett Barnes, who had earned the Keith Day Company Fast Time Award earlier, settled into fourth after a handful laps, but then started to find his groove. The 14-year-old began to run the bottom of turn two and got immense runs as he carved his way forward.
Barnes sliced into third on lap nine and then second just a few circuits later. He then erased a two second lead that Gorden possessed and pounced for the top spot on lap 18. A green-white-checkered restart was seen but nothing could slow Barnes who drove off to claim the Ed Entz checkered flag.
In his four starts at Watsonville Speedway this year Barnes has set fast time at each event and has tallied two wins, along with a pair of third place efforts. He is expected to make his 410 Sprint Car debut at the track on May 29th with the NARC King of the West Series.
Gorden crossed the stripe in second while Croft made the move by Dominic Scelzi to bring home third on the final restart. Croft even challenged Gorden for second on the final lap, as he recorded his first career Sprint Car podium. Scelzi and Caleb Debem completed the top five.
The R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks put on an exciting 20-lap finale that saw veteran Sam Kennedy lead early. Track conditions were spot on for the Hustling Hobby Stocks with side-by-side racing prevalent throughout the field.
Nick Silva then fought his way to the top spot on lap six as the front runners raced closely together. A caution on lap 11 set up a double file restart with Silva and Lilly Mead on the front row.
Racing back to the green things got a little too close for comfort and resulted in Silva suffering a flat tire, forcing him to pit. With Mead now up front she had to contend with the relentless pressure from Joe Gallaher.
The duo was fun to watch over the closing laps. Mead fended off Gallaher to earn her second victory of the season. They were followed by Dakota Keldsen, Kennedy and Adriane Frost.
The Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers also provided fans with some buzz as three different drivers held command at various points. Rookie Preston Hohmann led the first couple of circuits until Justin Hertel got by to grab the point.
All eyes then focused on Jonathan Welborn, who methodically weaved his way by cars and charged into the lead on lap nine. Hertel didn’t let him get away though and stayed glued to his bumper. Welborn hit his marks however, and scored the win over Hertel, Tony Gullo, David Dupuis and Shelbie Freeman.
The Police N Pursuit feature then saw Welborn known as “Jonathan Outlaw” lead seven laps until the officers were able to catch him. After that it was all Mike Santana who held off a very fast AJ Waltrip to claim the win.
Watsonville Speedway goes dark during Memorial Day weekend, before resuming action with Class of 2026 – Senior Night on Friday May 29th.
On hand will be the NARC King of the West 410 Sprint Cars, the R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks and Western Midget Racing.
Results
Ocean Speedway
First Responders Night
May 15, 2026
Gold Star GMC Sprint Cars:
1. 14-Jett Barnes[4]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden[1]; 3. 29X-Cole Croft[2]; 4. 41-Dominic Scelzi[8]; 5. 3D-Caleb Debem[12]; 6. 88A-Joey Ancona[3]; 7. 29-Bud Kaeding[9]; 8. 21-Austin Wood[6]; 9. 93-Landon Henry[10]; 10. 7H-Jake Haulot[5]; 11. 25Z-Jason Chisum[13]; 12. 31-Kyle Beilman[7]; 13. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[11]; 14. 34B-Glenn Bryan[14]