WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (June 21, 2024) – Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo points leader Caleb Debem of Salinas scored his second consecutive series win during Friday night’s action at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. Debem won the 25-lap feature for the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and was joined by Rob Gallaher, Terre Rothweiler, and Thomas Cumming as race winners at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds dirt track.
Jake Haulot of Cotati led the Ocean Sprints time trials before Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson and Brentwood’s Adrianna DeMartini snared the heat races.
Haulot and Debem shared the front row for the feature. Debem worked his way to the inside of Haulot in turn three on the opening lap to take the lead. Vince Giannotta of Hollister spun in turn two for the first caution on lap four.
Nelson seized second from Haulot on the restart. Orval Burke of Salinas suffered a major flip in turn two while running sixth, drawing a red flag on lap nine. Burke was uninjured.
Debem charged to a comfortable advantage of 1.4 seconds over Nelson, nullified when Salinas’ Jason Chisum went around on lap 18 in turn two. Back-to-back cautions on lap 22 saw Haulot and Nelson trade blows for second but Nelson used the second attempt to successfully defend the position.
Caleb Debem cruised over the final three laps to top Nelson, Haulot, Bradley Dillard of Oakdale, and DeMartini at the checkered flag.
A solid field of Hobby Stocks endured a full moon marathon of a 20-lap feature. Outside pole sitter Rob Gallaher of San Jose led all 20-laps and held court through half a dozen restarts.
The race’s largest incident came on lap two when drivers attempted to go three-wide for the fourth position. The ensuing crash ended the race for Watsonville’s Sam Kennedy.
The last of the six cautions fell on lap 15. Gallaher motored ahead for the win. San Jose’s Matt Kile, who had pitted after an opening lap crash, came back strong to finish second. Adriane Frost of Watsonville finished third followed by Bobby Gallaher and 2023 champion Joe Gallaher.
Santa Cruz’ Terre Rothweiler dominated the 20-lap South Bay Dwarf Car feature, accumulating a half track advantage at the checkered flag. San Jose’s Mark Biscardi showed his nose inside of Rothweiler heading into turn one on lap two to no avail. Biscardi’s move ended up being Rothweiler’s closest challenge of the race.
Concord’s Travis Day finished second followed by Biscardi, Dan Zuger of San Jose, and Justin Bingman of Castroville.
Four Bangers enjoyed the opportunity to be the nightcap featured event with their 16 vehicle field, made up of 14 cars and two trucks. The 20-lap feature opened with a crash on the backstretch involving Shelbie Freeman of Prunedale and Riley Killian of Prunedale. Freeman was unable to continue.
Polesitter Thomas Cumming of San Jose led the way before the next caution when Johnny “Cash” Hubbird and Killian tangled on the front stretch. Amaya Flower of Watsonville collided with Tony Gullo of Watsonville while trying to avoid the crash, ending her race.
Kenny Stragalinos of Boulder Creek put on a hard charge, winning a long battle with Gullo for second and then turning his attention to Cumming. Cumming held on by a few car lengths for the win, followed by Stragalinos, Gullo, Watsonville’s Lilly Mead, and Peter Vannerus of Felton.
Ocean Speedway returns on Friday night June 28 with Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, and Four Bangers!
Ocean Speedway June 21, 2024 – Race Results
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 3D-Caleb Debem[2]; 2. 72W-Kurt Nelson[4]; 3. 7H-Jake Haulot[1]; 4. 72S-Bradley Dillard[3]; 5. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[5]; 6. 25Z-Jason Chisum[9]; 7. 72JR-Chris Nelson[6]; 8. 76-Jennifer Osborne[8]; 9. 98-Vince Giannotta[10]; 10. OB1-Orval Burke[7]
Hobby Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. X-Rob Gallaher[2]; 2. 5-Matt Kile[6]; 3. 22-Adriane Frost[12]; 4. X1-Bobby Gallaher[5]; 5. 1-Joe Gallaher[8]; 6. 55F-Shane Freeman[4]; 7. 51-Norm Ayers[10]; 8. X2-Joyce Gallaher[11]; 9. 23-Jesse Paladino[7]; 10. 8-Wayne Reeder[3]; 11. 01-DJ Keldsen[1]; 12. 57W-Sam Kennedy[9]
South Bay Dwarf Cars A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 45B-Terre Rothweiler[1]; 2. 88B-Travis Day[4]; 3. 66B-Mark Biscardi[2]; 4. 80N-Dan Zuger[7]; 5. 12-Justin Bingman[3]; 6. 410-Chris Durden[5]; 7. 0-Jason Lazzerini[8]; 8. 69-Eddy Claessen[6]; 9. (DNS) 64B-Eric Weisler
Four Banger A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Thomas Cumming[1]; 2. 720-Kenny Stragalinos[7]; 3. 52-Tony Gullo[2]; 4. 16-Lilly Mead[9]; 5. 37-Peter Vannerus[4]; 6. 2-Nicole Beardsley[11]; 7. 112-Travis VanGilder[5]; 8. 51-Ken Keegan[13]; 9. 26-Johnny Hubbird[10]; 10. 10-Amaya Flower[3]; 11. 28J-Joshua Silva[6]; 12. 23X-Riley Killian[16]; 13. 50F-Shelbie Freeman[8]; 14. (DNS) 88-Ryan Bowers; 15. (DNS) 43-Kate Beardsley; 16. (DNS) 5-Bill Beardsley
- Steven Blakesley on Jun 22, 2024
- Article Date: 6/22/2024 by Steven Blakesley