WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (August 10, 2024) – Lemoore’s Gauge Garcia used an old-school Ocean Speedway low line maneuver in turns three and four to prevail over Bud Kaeding of San Jose and win the 64th Johnny Key Classic on Saturday night in Watsonville. Garcia slid past Kaeding in the fourth turn on lap 29, then led over a green-white-checkered finish for the $3,000 win.
“I have no idea man. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. I happened to hit (the bottom) once and I stuck with it and it was great,” Garcia said. “It was a great night and I’m so excited to be here. This is not realistic right now. About halfway through that race if you told me I was going to win, I would have said you were crazy.”
Friday runner-up and 1996 Key Classic winner Kaeding led the 27 entries in time trials. He also made a bold outside pass to win the dash race for the pole position for the 30-lap feature.
Kaeding led the first six laps through a series of restarts with Arizona’s Ashton Torgerson hot on his trail. Torgerson drove into the lead on lap seven in turn one but the move was nullified by a caution flag.
Torgerson and Caeden Steele of Fresno squared off for second place with Steele using the bottom to take the position on lap 10. The race saw six restarts in the first 16 laps with Garcia advancing from tenth on the grid into third by that point, using the bottom to pass Friday winner Tanner Carrick of Lincoln.
Hanford’s DJ Netto spun on the front stretch out of a top-ten position with six laps to go for a caution flag. On the restart, Garcia drove underneath Steele for second then attempted to do the same on Kaeding. Garcia’s attempts bore fruit when he slid past Kaeding in turn four to lead lap 29. The white flag was followed by a caution flag when Kyle Rasmussen spun in turn two. Garcia preserved the lead position for the restart. Kaeding tried the top down the backstretch but got a slight piece of the wall, allowing Garcia some separation.
Garcia took the win over Kaeding and 16th-starting Sean Becker of Roseville. Becker was credited with the Tribute to JP Morgan / Mr. Pickles of Morgan Hill $250 Hard Charger. Steele and Clayton’s Joey Ancona rounded out the top-five.
Salinas’ Caleb Debem finished eighth, allowing the 18-year-old to wrap up the 2024 Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo championship as well.
Santa Cruz’ Logan Mitchell won his fifth Western Midget Racing feature of the season and closed in on the championship battle with 2023 champion Bryant Bell of Oakley in the process. The 25-lap win during the Johnny Key Classic paid $1200 as part of the WMR Triple Crown Series.
“I just wanted to win so bad. We’ve been podiuming every race and been in the hunt, just needed that one difference of starting first.” Mitchell said.
Mitchell won the fast heat race for the pole position for the feature. Idaho’s Teddy Bivert topped Arizona’s Drake Edwards to win the second heat race to set the fourth row starting positions as well.
Friday winner Anthony Bruno of San Jose leapt ahead of Mitchell at the start of the feature from the outside pole. Last-place starter Bell and eighth-place starter Edwards drove into third and fourth respectively. Bell’s bid for a podium finish ended when he stopped in turn one with just two laps to go. He would ultimately be scored ninth.
Mitchell followed Bruno closely. He tried the outside on the backstretch on lap 13 but couldn’t complete a pass. Bruno swung wide exiting turn two on the next lap, allowing Mitchell to cross over from the top to the bottom to take the lead. Mitchell led the final 11 circuits for the win followed by Bruno, Edwards, Adrianna DeMartini of Brentwood, and Nichols.
Joe Gallaher won his seventh Hobby Stock feature of the year in a 20-lap race. Cody Keldsen led the field while the Gallaher family was a part of exciting battling behind him. Bobby Gallaher suffered a flat left rear tire and spun, bringing out a caution on lap eight. He was able to get a new tire on and rejoin the race.
Trent Golden of Pittsburg seized the lead on the restart with Joe Gallaher advancing into second as well. The pair ran side-by-side before Gallaher took over the spot on lap 13. A caution flew on lap 14 for Adriane Frost of Watsonville with a flat left rear tire as well but she also rejoined the action after a pit stop.
Gallaher, Golden, Rob Gallaher, Bobby Gallaher, and Sam Kennedy were the top-five finishers.
Ocean Speedway returns on Friday August 16 with the Terry Traub Memorial for Hobby Stocks plus IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, Four Bangers, and South Bay Dwarf Cars.
For more information, visit www.OceanSpeedway.com
Ocean Speedway 64th Johnny Key Classic August 10, 2024 – Race Results
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 28-Gauge Garcia[10]; 2. 29-Bud Kaeding[1]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker[16]; 4. 121-Caeden Steele[3]; 5. 88A-Joey Ancona[4]; 6. 83T-Tanner Carrick[5]; 7. 88-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 8. 3D-Caleb Debem[11]; 9. 5R-Ryan Rocha[7]; 10. 38-Colby Johnson[6]; 11. 8-Jeremy Chisum[21]; 12. 3-Cole Schroeder[8]; 13. 61-Travis Labat[12]; 14. 15-Cody Key[20]; 15. 23T-George Tristao Jr[18]; 16. 76-Jennifer Osborne[22]; 17. 72W-Kurt Nelson[14]; 18. 67G-Grant Duinkerken[9]; 19. 88N-DJ Netto[13]; 20. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen[15]; 21. 9-Adrianna DeMartini[17]; 22. 72JR-Chris Nelson[19]
WMR Midgets A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 96X-Logan Mitchell[1]; 2. 9-Anthony Bruno[2]; 3. 35-Drake Edwards[8]; 4. ONE9-Adrianna DeMartini[3]; 5. 2ND-Terry Nichols[4]; 6. 18-Todd Hawse[6]; 7. 31-Adam Weisberg[10]; 8. 57-Kinser Claridge[9]; 9. 09-Bryant Bell[13]; 10. 68-Daniel Martinez[11]; 11. 25JR-Nathan Moore[5]; 12. 11-Teddy Bivert[7]; 13. 1T-Koen Shaw[12]
Hobby Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1-Joe Gallaher[10]; 2. 7T-Trent Golden[5]; 3. X2-Rob Gallaher[7]; 4. X1-Bobby Gallaher[6]; 5. 57W-Sam Kennedy[9]; 6. 51-Adriane Frost[4]; 7. 01-Lilly Mead[8]; 8. 69-Norm Ayers[1]; 9. (8)-Cody Keldsen[2]; 10. 83-Terry Campion[3]
- Steven Blakesley on Aug 11, 2024
- Article Date: 8/11/2024 by Steven Blakesley