From Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…The young guns continued to prevail on Friday night at Watsonville Speedway, as 14-year-old Landon Henry bolted to his initial Winged Sprint Car victory.
Half of the Gold Star GMC 360 Sprint Car races this season have now been captured by drivers who were age 14 at the time.
Also claiming wins on Friday were Nick Decarlo with the IMCA Modifieds, Bo Crebs with the Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods, Colby Quintin with the R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks and Mel Dunn with Police’N’Pursuit.
During the week track work went on to widen the racing surface, and it was noticeable on Friday during the “Johnny Key Classic Tune-Up Race.”
Landon Henry jumped to the early lead in the Gold Star GMC 360 feature, as drivers behind him jockeyed for position over the early stages. Braden Chiaramonte, Joey Ancona and Andy Forsberg went at it before things calmed down with Chiaramonte settling into second.
With a handful of laps remaining Chiaramonte and Ancona exchanged spots, with the El Cajon driver remaining in the runner-up position. He then began to reel in the leader and with the white flag waving, things began to heat up.
Henry didn’t get the run up top that he wanted through turns one and two, which allowed Chiaramonte to dive below him, making it a fight for the win.
Ancona was right there waiting to pounce on the final corners as well, but Henry did what he needed to do and crossed under the Ed Entz checkered by inches over Chiaramonte to grab the thrilling win. Taco Bravo Hard Charger Ancona, Keith Day Company Fast Time Award winner Andy Forsberg and Caleb Debem completed the top five.
The IMCA Modified main event saw multiple different leaders while putting on a solid show in their 20-lapper. Jonathan Hagio took the early command, but it was short lived as Robert Marsh blasted to the point on lap four.
A long red flag period to clean up a crash in turn two was seen, which dropped the race from 25-laps to 20 with curfew looming. Jim Pettit II looked very fast and took the lead on lap nine, until “Quick Nick” Decarlo assumed the top spot with 14 laps complete.
Decarlo went on to grab the win ahead of Pettit, Marsh, Fred Lind and Hagio.
The Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods saw the “Burrito Bandito” Kaden Perez hop to the early lead. He would hold command for several laps before encountering issues that knocked him out of contention.
Yreka driver Bo Crebs was exciting to watch, running on the high side early, as he had to withstand several restarts, fending off Danny Wagner. Crebs withstood all challengers and grabbed the win with Wagner, Darren Thomas, Todd Carlock and Jeff Bentancourt rounding out the top five.
The R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks had a lengthy feature that was ultimately cut to 16 laps due to time constraints. Porterville driver Colby Quintin made the drive to Watsonville pay off by claiming the triumph over Lilly Mead, Dakota Keldsen, Joe Gallaher and Brady Muller.
Mell Dunn made the move by AJ Waltrip to claim the Police’N’Pursuit portion of the evening.
Next up at Watsonville Speedway is the 66th running of the Johnny Key Classic headlined the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour on Saturday June 20th.
Also in competition will be the BCRA/WMR Midget Super Series, Four Bangers, West Coast Pro Stocks and the Watsonville Wreckers Demolition Derby.
Results
Watsonville Speedway
Key Classic Tune-Up
June 12, 2026
Gold Star GMC Sprint Cars:
1. 93-Landon Henry[2]; 2. 73B-Braden Chiaramonte[1]; 3. 88A-Joey Ancona[7]; 4. 92-Andy Forsberg[4]; 5. 3D-Caleb Debem[8]; 6. 29X-Cole Croft[3]; 7. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[6]; 8. 7H-Jake Haulot[5]; 9. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[9]; 10. 25Z-Jason Chisum[10]; 11. 4-Burt Foland Jr[11]; 12. 34B-Glenn Bryan[12]