Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo heads out of town for first time with Santa Maria Speedway on tap this Friday night April 30
By Gary Thomas
Santa Maria, CA – April 27, 2010…The Ocean 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will make its first visit outside of Watsonville this Friday night, with teams making the trip down U.S. 101 to the Santa Maria Speedway for what will be the second round of competition in the 2010 season.
The weekend as a whole, which also includes the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series on Saturday, will pay honor to Doug Fort, who built the Santa Maria Speedway in 1964 and helped mold it into one of the top dirt tracks' in the country as the owner/promoter until his passing in 1999. The 1/3 mile clay oval has been named "Best Short Track Operation West of the Mississippi" on two separate occasions and is nestled in a semi amphitheater of natural terrain, sheltered by dense eucalyptus trees at the top and to the back of the bleacher area.
Sitting on top of the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings after winning the opening round on April 16 is Campbell's Bud Kaeding, who will look to make it two in row this Friday aboard the Sala/Matherly Racing, Angello's ATV Rental No. 19 machine. Kaeding is also coming off a big win last Saturday night with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series at Ocean Speedway.
The three-time and defending USAC Silver Crown Series champion last season finished fifth during the inaugural Doug Fort Memorial with the Golden State Challenge Series at Santa Maria Speedway. "Last year when we came down to Santa Maria Speedway we had won the previous week as well, so hopefully we can keep up the momentum this weekend and run up front both night's," said Kaeding. "We hope everyone can come down for the weekend because Santa Maria is a real fun place and an awesome track to watch a race in at."
Currently second in the standings after a strong event two weeks ago is Prunedale's Justin Sanders, who won his heat race and scored a fourth place finish in the feature on April 16 at Ocean Speedway. The talented 17-year-old captured a victory with the Ocean Sprints on May 8 of last year and ended the season with a sixth place finish in the final points at the helm of his North County Plastering, B&K Trump Farms No. 17 sprinter. Sander's this season is also driving for Dave and Debbie Vertullo with the Civil War 360 Series and will make his third start of the year in the No. 83v machine on Saturday in Placerville, after competing on Friday in his family car at Santa Maria.
Fellow 17-year-old charger Kyle Larson currently ranks third in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings, following a close runner-up finish in the opener. The Elk Grove driver looked to take the lead on a few different occasions during the main event on April 16, only to have cautions thwart his chances each time traffic would come into play. The driver of the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino-Reno No. 99 made his Santa Maria Speedway debut last season and was running third in the feature, until contact on a restart knocked him out of the running for a strong finish.
1978 Santa Maria Speedway Rookie of the Year Brent Kaeding sits fourth in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings going into Friday night's event. The Campbell driver tallied a third place finish in the opener aboard his Al's Roofing Supply, Angello's ATV Rental No. 69 mount and this weekend will be searching for his first Ocean Sprints victory since the season-opener last year. The 13-time King of California picked-up a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win at the Santa Maria Speedway in 1997, while at the time driving for car owner Al Peterson in the M&M Racing No. 2m sprinter.
Former Santa Maria Speedway winner Eric Rossi currently rounds out the top-five in the standings after a strong outing during the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo opener. The Gilroy veteran impressively charged through the field to finish sixth in the main event, after starting 15th on the grid behind the wheel of the Team RCR, Chase Wood Racing No. 4r machine. Rossi is a solid addition to the Ocean Sprints roster this season and in his career has claimed big victories at the Mini Gold Cup, the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial and the Johnny Key Classic among others.
Defending Ocean 360 Sprint Car Series champion Tommy Tarlton of Easton comes into the weekend sixth in the standings. The driver of the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No. 21 has experienced success in his career at the Santa Maria Speedway having won at the track with the California Rebel Cup 360 Series. Grass Valley's Jason Statler ranks seventh in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings following a charge from 14th to fifth in the season-opener aboard his DF Rios Construction No. 00. "The Big Guy" has also tasted success at Santa Maria Speedway as he won possibly the biggest race of his career at the track in 1999, when he scored a World of Outlaws main event victory at the 1/3 mile clay oval.
Completing the top-10 in the Ocean Sprints standings going into Santa Maria are the Taco Bravo Racing No. 72w of Gilroy's Kurt Nelson, the Agri-Valley Irrigation No. 10 of Fresno's Anthony Simone and the Taco Bravo Racing No. 39 of "Cowboy" Craig Smith from San Martin. Other possibilities to take part in Friday's opener of the Doug Fort Memorial weekend will include Chico's Jonathan Allard, Visalia's Cory Eliason, Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, Clovis' Peter Murphy, Pleasanton's Brad Furr, San Jose's Matt Sargent, Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright Jr. and Devon Ostheimer, Salinas' Ronnie Day, Fresno's Craig Stidham, Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema and more.
The front gate will open at 3pm on Friday night April 30 with the drivers meeting scheduled for 3:45, qualifying around 5 and racing at 6. Adult tickets will cost $16, with seniors, student and military $14, kids 6-12 $5 and children 5 and under free. Parking and camping at the Santa Maria Speedway is free of charge. Friday night's event will feature a freestyle motocross exhibition and the weekend will also see two kids bikes being given away each night. For discounted lodging rates in Santa Maria contact the Fairfield Inn & Suites 805-925-8500.
The Santa Maria Speedway is a 1/3 mile clay oval, located 12 miles inland from the Pacific coast, three miles north of the city of Santa Maria and is located a 1/4-mile north of the US 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road. The facility is one hundred seventy miles north of Los Angeles and 260 miles south of San Francisco.
More information on the 2nd annual Doug Fort Memorial and the Ocean 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo can be found at http://www.racesantamariaspeedway.com and http://www.oceansprints.com
Coming up- Following the Santa Maria event this weekend the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will return to the home track of Ocean Speedway for back-to-back weeks of racing at the quarter-mile, starting with next Friday night May 7 and then Friday evening May 14. The Ocean 360 Sprints will then get set for its first ever appearance at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare on Saturday May 22.
- Gary Thomas on Apr 27, 2010
- Article Date: 4/27/2010