Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo returns to Ocean Speedway this Friday night May 7
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – May 4, 2010…Following the inaugural appearance outside of Watsonville this past weekend the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will return home this Friday night to the Ocean Speedway for the third round of racing in the 2010 season.
The most recent event for the series was held this most recent Friday at the Santa Maria Speedway and featured one of the most bizarre endings seen in recent memory, as defending Ocean Sprints champion Tommy Tarlton and Campbell's Bud Kaeding fought it out for the win right down to the wire. The wild finish saw Kaeding flipping down the front stretch after contact with a lapped car, which ultimately resulted in Tarlton getting to the line first for the victory.
After the exciting main event win in Santa Maria Tarlton goes into this weekend with blazing-hot momentum and sits atop the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings. In addition to his triumph with the Ocean Sprints last week, the Easton driver also tallied a clean sweep on Saturday night with the Golden State Challenge Series to cap a huge weekend of racing aboard his Corporate America Lending, Sharp Insurance No. 21. Tarlton last season captured four victories at the Ocean Speedway and will be looking his first win of the year at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds track on Friday.
Former two-time Ocean Sprint Car Series champion Brent Kaeding of Campbell ranks second in the standings going into this Friday and is just three-digits behind Tarlton for the lead. "BK" has driven his Al's Roofing Supply, Kaeding Performance No. 69 to finishes of third and fourth in the first two races and will be looking for season win number one on Friday. Kaeding is also the current point leader with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series.
Having a strong start to the year so far is veteran Eric Rossi of Gilroy, who has charged through the pack to score fifth and sixth place finishes respectively to open the season aboard the Team RCR, Chase Wood Racing No. 4r sprinter. The former Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial winner has looked extremely racy during the first two events and ranks third in the Ocean Sprints points, just five-markers back of the lead coming into Friday.
After being scored 14th at Santa Maria three-time & defending USAC Silver Crown champion Bud Kaeding goes into this Friday sitting fourth in the Ocean Sprints standings. The driver of the Sala/Matherly Racing, M&M Powder Coaters No. 19 will be looking to make it three wins in a row at Ocean Speedway, after winning with the Ocean Sprints on April 16 and then the GSC 410's on April 24.
Currently rounding out the top-five in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings is the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino No. 99x of Elk Grove's Kyle Larson. The 17-year-old scored a runner-up finish at the opener and then backed that up with a sixth place effort this past Friday in Santa Maria. Fellow 17-year-old racer Justin Sanders sits sixth in the standings aboard his North County Plastering, STS Trucking No. 17 mount and will be looking to rebound after a tough ending this past Friday. The Prunedale competitor finished fourth at the season-opener in Watsonville and then ran 13th in the feature at Santa Maria.
Former King of California Ronnie Day is coming off an impressive outing at the Santa Maria Speedway and goes into this Friday seventh in the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo standings. The Salinas veteran picked-up a strong runner-up finish in the main event at Santa Maria behind the wheel of the Keith Day Trucking, El Camino Machine & Welding No. 22. Also coming off a solid run in Santa Maria is Morgan Hill's Devon Ostheimer, who ranks eighth in the Ocean Sprints points. The 16-year-old was the Sun-Electric hard-charger at the opener on April 16 and then scored an seventh place effort this past Friday aboard the MDR Machine, German Auto Body No. 5 sprinter.
Fan-favorite Peter Murphy currently sits ninth in the standings going into this weekend and will look to score his first Ocean Sprints win of the season on Friday, after a third place finish in Santa Maria at the helm of his Buster & Ziggy Enterprise, Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No. 11 machine. The Clovis racer started 14th in the main event at Santa Maria and moved through the field to earn the "Fully-Charged" hard-charger award presented by Sun-Electric. A three-way log-jam for 10th is also seen going into Friday between Gilroy's Kurt Nelson, San Jose's Matt Sargent and Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema, with the trio being 28-points out of the lead.
Other drivers expected in action with the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo this Friday night at Ocean Speedway will include Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, Pleasanton's Brad Furr, Visalia's Cory Eliason, Clarksburg's Justyn Cox, San Martin's Craig Smith, San Jose's Ryan Rusconi and Wayne Katen, Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright Jr., Gilroy's Ken Fredenburg and Jon Maiwald, Tracy's Steve Osborne and more.
The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night May 7 with hot laps at 5:45, qualifying around 6 and racing to follow. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets costing $16, children 6-12 $11 and kids five and under free. A family pack featuring two adults and two kids is available for $40 and seniors 65 and older with id will be $14. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California.
For more information on the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo log onto http://www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Coming up- The Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will be back in action at Ocean Speedway next Friday night May 14, with that being followed with a Saturday evening event at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare on May 22.
After a wild and hectic finish this past Friday night at the Santa Maria Speedway the Ocean Sprint Car Series has ruled that Campbell's Bud Kaeding will be placed 14th in the official rundown, as was the original ruling.
Kaeding was leading the race coming off the final corner, but got together with a lapped car and flipped down the front stretch. Officials at Santa Maria Speedway ruled that Kaeding did not cross the flag stand.
After a back and forth review of the outcome Ocean Sprints promoter John Prentice has determined that Kaeding will in fact be moved back to 14th in the final finish, due to Santa Maria Speedway rules stating, "Video tapes and SMS video replays will in no way influence or change the decisions by track officials."
"The officials made the call that Bud Kaeding did not cross the finish line and the scorers and flagman also said the same thing, so that is what the final ruling will be," said Prentice.
Tommy Tarlton was the winner of the main event and will lead the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo into its next event this Friday night at Ocean Speedway.
- Gary Thomas on May 05, 2010
- Article Date: 5/5/2010