WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (May 14, 2011) – Fremont teenager Shane Golobic pulled off a near clean sweep in Friday night’s Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo, qualifying second fastest before winning his heat race and the 30 lap feature before a strong crowd at the Ocean Speedway.
The win marked Golobic’s second in the 2011 season, after winning a race earlier this year at Placerville Speedway.
Golobic took the lead from points leader Ronnie Day of Salinas after Day bicycled in turn one on lap 18. Golobic was never seriously challenged through a series of late restarts to take the win.
Action on the evening opened up with Day taking the $75 Ray Scheidt’s Electric fast-time award with an 11.804 trip around the speedway. Prunedale’s Justin Sanders, running a new chassis this week after a flip in last Friday’s races, qualified third behind Golobic.
Brent Kaeding was back in action and he took heat race one, while Golobic stormed past Bud Kaeding to win heat race two. Heat three saw Sanders put on some fireworks as he leapt from fourth to first in the opening lap as he screamed by Tim Kaeding. Sanders received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Day led the 23 car feature field to green with Ken Bonnema a scratch after an earlier flip. Lapped traffic became a factor by lap four with Day pacing Golobic and Sanders. Tim Kaeding from 11th and Tommy Tarlton from 14th began to march through the field.
Tommy Laliberate brought out the red flag when he had a lazy flip in his #20x mount. Laliberate was uninjured but done for the evening.
Tim Kaeding had found his way to fourth on that restart with Tarlton up to second. On the restart was when Golobic pounced on Day with Sanders also getting past Day in turn one.
A sequence of restarts on laps 23 and 24 changed the complexion of the race when lapped car Carter Train was lined up between race leader Shane Golobic and second place Justin Sanders. Sanders and Train touched wheels into turn one with Sanders spinning out.
Sanders rejoined the field and on the following restart it was Tim Kaeding touching wheels with Train in turn two sending Kaeding for a spin.
Under yellow both Sanders and Kaeding made contact with Train, with Kaeding spinning Train out. Kaeding was disqualified from the event for his unsportsmanlike actions.
The final six laps of the feature saw Day and Brent Kaeding battle for second while Craig Smith fought off the hard charging Tarlton.
Golobic cruised to victory over Day, Brent Kaeding, Smith, and Tarlton. With Tarlton’s hard charge he picked up the DDNi Hard Charger award worth $100
Day maintains a 12 point advantage over Tarlton in the series standings while Rico Abreu’s solid seventh place finish places him third in the points.
Full results are available at www.oceansprints.com or at www.mylaps.com
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will return next Saturday night with a trip to Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford.
For more information on the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo, log onto to www.oceansprints.com and for more on the Ocean Speedway visit www.oceanspeedway.com
- Steven Blakesley on May 14, 2011
- Article Date: 5/14/2011 by Steven Blakesley / Blakesley Sports Media