Second annual “Howard Kaeding Classic” next up for Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear this Saturday July 7 at Ocean Speedway Watsonville
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – July 3, 2012…The cool coastal climate of Watsonville, California will welcome the fourteenth round of the season for the Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear this Saturday night, with the second annual “Howard Kaeding Classic” on deck at Ocean Speedway Watsonville.
The program will start a little earlier than usual on Saturday with the front gate opening at 3:30pm and qualifying scheduled to fire off around 5pm. Please be advised as things will start about an hour and a half earlier than usual.
Howard Kaeding was a multiple-time California state super-modified champion, a four-time Johnny Key Classic winner and once captured 17-straight races at the San Jose Speedway, which is a record. The driver known as the "Campbell Comet" claimed over 300 main event victories in his career and even raced into his 60's, before retiring in the 1990's.
Last year’s inaugural “Howard Kaeding Classic” was an overwhelming success and ended with locally based driver Evan Suggs of Scotts Valley grabbing his first career King of the West win. The double-header also saw Easton’s Tommy Tarlton claim victory on opening night after a torrid battle with Jonathan Allard and Tim Kaeding.
Coming into the “HK Classic” with tons of momentum is Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, who will look to make it back to back wins after claiming his first KWS win of the season last Saturday in Placerville. The Hall of Famer currently ranks second in the Cancen Oil KWS Series presented by Goodyear standings and will be gunning hard to win his father’s race on Saturday.
“It would really mean a lot to win at the HK Classic on Saturday and we’ll be giving it our best shot,” commented the 13-time state champion. “Any time you win a race it is a big deal, but with it being my dad’s event that would make it even that much more special. We’ve been running well and getting the win last Saturday was a confidence booster so we’ll go out and have some fun this weekend.”
Chico’s Jonathan Allard will be looking to rebound after having a couple tough outings the last two weeks. The two-time state champ however, still maintains a large lead in the Cancen Oil KWS presented by Goodyear driver standings and is well on way to a third career title driving for Morrie & Katie Williams owned No. 0 mount. Allard has never won a 410 Sprint Car event at Ocean Speedway, but will be hoping to change that on Saturday.
Reigning “HK Classic” champion Evan Suggs will be back to defend his title from a year ago and goes into the night now 20-markers back of Kaeding for second. The 25-year-old scored a popular win last season at the event and is also the Ocean Speedway KWS track record holder, having set the mark last August.
A number of close battles also fill the top-10 in the standings coming into the “Howard Kaeding Classic” including the fight for fourth, which sees Bobby McMahan holding the spot by only 11-markers over fifth place Peter Murphy. McMahan last year tallied a podium finish during the “HK Classic” finale and Murphy has been kicking the heat up as of late, making up ground in the points each week.
Sacramento’s Willie Croft is within 12-points of the top-five going into Ocean Speedway Watsonville and will be looking to close the gap on Saturday. Hot on Croft’s heels though and just four-points back of him in seventh is Grass Valley’s Jason Statler. Both Croft and Statler typically run strong at Ocean Speedway and will be ones to watch for.
One of the hottest drivers as of late has been Placerville’s Andy Gregg, who is coming off back to back third place finishes and now sits just seven-points behind Croft for sixth the standings. With the season coming down to the wire these battles will make for great storylines each and every week until the season finale in October.
Speaking of hot drivers Sacramento’s Kyle Hirst will once again be aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83 looking to continue the success of the past two weeks. The 24-year-old has set fast time in both of his starts for Roth Motorsports and has brought home a win and a second place finish in those two outings.
Ocean Speedway point leader Shane Golobic has been very strong the last couple weeks with the Cancen Oil KWS Series and will be looking to get his first 410 win of the season on Saturday. The Fremont driver captured a Golden State 410 victory at Ocean Speedway in 2007 and is hoping to do it again Saturday.
Easton’s Tommy Tarlton is always a welcomed addition to the roster and will be making his fourth start of the season with KWS on Saturday. The two-time track champion raced to victory on opening night of the “HK Classic” last year. Prunedale’s Justin Sanders will be another strong addition to the line up on Saturday. The youngster last weekend finished sixth in the feature with KWS at Placerville.
Other drivers expected this Saturday night will include Fresno’s Craig Stidham, Fair Oak’s Chad Compton, Rio Linda’s Cody Lamar, Rio Vista’s Danielle Simpson, Grass Valley’s Pat Harvey, Oakhurst’s Doug Gandy and more.
Adult tickets on Saturday will cost $25, seniors will be $20 and kids are $16. All seating will be general admission. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, two miles east of Watsonville, California on SR 152. The physical address is 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076. For more info on the track log onto http://www.oceanspeedway.com
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- Gary Thomas on Jul 03, 2012
- Article Date: 7/3/2012 by Gary Thomas