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Watsonville, CA..June 9...Facing a schedule that included a Saturday
night race in Petaluma and a Monday night show in Medford OR on the way to the
rich Dirt Cup weekend in Skagit WA, sprint car legend Brent Kaeding still found
time to run a wingless 360 sprint car on Friday night at Ocean Speedway and he
paced the final 6 laps to capture the 20 lap SCRA feature at the ¼ mile clay
oval. Kaeding earlier turned in quick time and he drove around Daniel Hood for
the lead on lap 15. Hood made a last lap run at Kaeding, but Kaeding took him
all the way to the turn 2 crash wall and even bounced off the wall himself in
his bid to stay in front of Hood. Kaeding was in front at the checkered flag
with Hood second ahead of Bakersfield's Rusty Carlile and Peter Murphy. Garrett
Steitz' bid for a third straight IMCA Modified feature win was stopped when
Brian Cass from Livermore got by him in heavy lapped traffic with just 3 laps to
run in the 25 lapper. Cass got the $500 win in his Victory Chassis and 2005
champion Steitz settled for the $250 second in his D&M. Steitz did win on
Saturday night at Merced. Having spent his rookie season at Chowchilla, Morgan
Hill's Dave Graves switched his racing to Ocean Speedway in 2006 and got a
season best third worth $175. Alex Stanford rejoined the Ocean action and last
week's Fernley NV winner ran fourth. MoPar faithful Eric Van Hooser averaged
16.47 seconds per lap in his $500 win in the 15 lap Ocean Late Model feature. He
beat dash winner Ken Gregg on the start and led wire to wire from the pole with
Gregg settling for second.
Jeff Decker was using a crate engine in the Paul Salaiz owned car for the
first time and the two feature winner ran third. Dennis Pelphrey got his third
straight super stock $500 win. He led just the final five laps after inheriting
the top spot when Chris Kulvicki was penalized to the rear for spinning out
leader Tony Oliveira. Oliveira is a Ford racer. Division rookie Ray Ash ran a
$250 second after getting the dash win in a car that was given to him as a
Christmas present by his wife Jennifer Rood-Ash who races in the American Stock
class. Danny Scott ran third. A cousin of area racing legend Jim Pettit II,
Billy Nelson II was a wire to wire $100 winner in the 20 lap American Stock main
event. Tim Clark Sr saw his three race winning streak snapped, but did advance
to a fourth place finish when second ranked Sam Kennedy was disqualified from
fourth in the feature for having a locked rear end. Norm Ayers was a $75 second
and Rood-Ash won $50 for third. Richard Keldsen had the pole for the 15 lap
figure 8 feature, but was penalized to the back for two jump starts. The 2005
track champion still managed to race to the lead in 6 laps and he won the 15
lapper over Jim Gillespie and Wayne Reader.
The traveling SCRA
wingless, injected 360 sprint cars were scheduled for the ¼ mile clay oval for
two straight Friday nights here in June and have three total dates in 2006 at
Ocean Speedway. A 12 car field appeared and only two of them had raced with the
group the previous weekend in Quincy CA. Kaeding was the first car to time trial
and he ran a 14.438 lap for quick time. Track regular Craig Smith came out late
and ran a 14.490. Smith had tested his injected motor with a third place finish
in the winged action at Petaluma the previous Saturday. Hood timed in third at
14.575 and Richard Harvey Jr ranked fourth at 14.853. Morgan Hill's Michael
Trimble, a regular in the VRA action at Ventura, ran a 14.913 and Carlile had a
14.952. Quincy winner Jonathan Logan was the final 14 second car with his a
14.964 in his Stinger Chassis. The club wanted to take the dash field from
completely inverted heat races, but Kaeding noted that there would be no reason
not to sandbag and the format was changed to put the six fastest qualifiers
directly into the dash. Murphy won the opening heat race over Hood and Logan.
Heat two had a wild accident as Harvey flipped hard in turn 4 as his attempt to
pass Rob Hammond on the outside saw them make contact. Harvey was unhurt, but
his car could not be repaired. The Hammond team finished repairs in time to run
the feature. A heat winner with the Golden State action last week, Steve Osborne
got a heat win tonight also with Carlile and Smith getting the 2-3 finish in
heat 2. Logan was added to the dash with the scratch of Harvey. Trimble, a
winner of the first Grand Slam race of 2006 at Bakersfield, averaged 14.63 a lap
in his dash win from the front row over Hood, Carlile, Kaeding, Smith and Logan.
This finish set the starting order for the front three rows in the feature.
Trimble took the lead at the start of the feature from the pole with Hood
settling into second. Kaeding took third from Carlile on lap 3 and Smith had
settled into fifth. Hammond fell out on lap 6 and Hood began to pressure leader
Trimble. An inside move in turn 3 netted Hood the lead from Trimble on lap 9.
Two laps later, Kaeding had just moved underneath Trimble for second in turn 2
when Trimble made hard contact with the crash wall and flipped. Smith got
damaged as he drove through the incident and both Trimble and Smith were done
for the race. When action resumed, Hood led Kaeding, Logan, Carlile and Murphy.
Murphy's mount began to smoke. Hood hooked a rut and Kaeding made his winning
pass on lap 15. A final caution came on lap 17 as Logan stalled with a broken
rear end. Osborne fell out. Hood made another strong run at Kaeding, but Kaeding
drifted high off turn 2 to block Hood's line. Both ended up bouncing off the
wall and Kaeding stayed in front for the win in the Al's Roofing entry. Hood ran
second ahead of Carlile, Murphy, Pombo and Jeff Fiscus. The action did not end
at the checkered flag as Murphy tried to dart out the pit entrance to avoid
contacting a slowing car in front of him and he crashed hard.
There were 20 IMCA Modifieds and they were divided into three heat races. Graves
won heat 1 from fourth in his former Mark Sargent car. Elma WA bound Chuck
Harrell got second ahead of Cameron Beard. Kenny Nott Jr won heat 2 from third
with outside front row starter Tim Clark Jr second ahead of pole starter Andy
Obertello. Getting ready for his first trip to the Northwest Modified Nationals
in Washington, Todd Hermosillo impressed with his win in heat 3 over Steitz.
Bobby Scott Jr broke his engine while third on the final lap, but was able to
borrow Clark Jr's car for the feature action. Steitz averaged 16.79 per lap in
his dash win over Nott and Graves. The normal IMCA point aveage inversion lineup
put Hermosillo and Clay Daly on the front row for the 25 lapper ahead of
Obertello, Steitz, Graves and Jim DiGiovanni. Hermosillo raced into the lead
over Daly and Steitz. The race was yellow flagged on lap 2 to get DiGiovanni
into the pits with a bad fuel leak. Obertello was now third as Lisa Riordan and
Raymond Keldsen Jr tangled. Steitz took second from Daly on lap 5 and the yellow
was again flying as contact from Harrell put point leading Tim Balding hard into
the fence in turn 2. Balding ended up riding the top of the back wall the length
of the back stretch, but his team said that repairs would be finished in time
for them to make their second trip to the big money Elma WA show. The race was
also over for Obertello and Scott. Nott grabbed third from friend Daly on lap 7
and Cass broke into the top five on alp 8. Steitz made an inside pass in turn 3
to take the lead from Hermosillo on lap 10. Cass got around Daly for fourth. By
the midway mark, the trio of Steitz, Hermosillo and Nott had opened a 1/3 lap
lead on fourth place Cass. Nott and Eli Mendoza Jr got tangled up for a lap 15
yellow and Nott had to restart in the rear. Cass inherited third and he gained
second when Hermosillo broke an axle taking the green flag on the restart. Daly
was eliminated in a tangle with Harrell for the last caution on lap 17. Graves
was now third over Robert Marsh and Stanford. Stanford raced into fourth on lap
19 and Nott regained fifth on lap 21. Cass was able to work the heavy lapped
traffic to take the lead in turn 2 on lap 23. Steitz found a flat right front
tire in the claim area after the race. Cass won ahead of Steitz, Graves,
Stanford, Nott, Marsh, Harrell and T J Etchison.
The seven
Ocean Late Models ran in a single heat race. Mike Meazell is also using a crate
engine in his Fegers mount and he won the heat ahead of Bob McCoun and Gregg.
McCoun was driving the Chris Messmer car. Gregg averaged 16.53 per lap in his
dash win over Van Hooser and McCoun. The feature was a four car inversion off
the heat results, putting Decker fifth in his bid for a third straight win. Van
Hooser beat Gregg on the start and was never headed. Gregg was a race long
second. McCoun ran third until Decker got around him on lap 10. Gregg did make
one inside groove run at Van Hooser, but Van Hooser picked up his pace and
stayed in front for the wire to wire win. Gregg was just ahead of both Decker
and McCoun at the flag in the duel for second. Meazell ran fifth over Steve
Ewbank and Jeff Mead.
Nine super stocks also raced in
a single heat race. Pelphrey won from third starting over Oliveira's Ford and
pole starter Ash. Mark Cooper broke leading on lap 7 of the 8 lap race. Ash was
impressive as he fought off Pelphrey for the dash win. This feature also had a
four car inversion from the heat result and Oliveira raced into the lead over
Kulvicki, Ash and Pelphrey. Pelphrey took third from Ash on lap 4 and D Scott
was fourth on lap 6. Cooper crashed hard into the turn 3 wall for a lap 8
yellow. On the restart, Phillip Priddy spun and got hit by Scott Fuhrman. D
Scott was sent to the rear for the restart. Ash was back in fourth. Fuhrman fell
out on lap 13 and the tight duel between Oliveira and Kulvicki saw Oliveira spin
in turn 4. Kulvicki was called for rough driving and both restarted in the rear.
Pelphrey was the new leader and he paced Ash over the final five laps. Scott
made a pass around Priddy on the last straight to get third. Oliveira ran fifth
ahead of Kulvicki and Mark Acosta.
Twenty eight
American Stocks were divided into four heat races. Les Bowers hit the front wall
in heat 1 where Rod Herrick won from fourth ahead of Norm Ayers. Tom Reilly
broke in heat 2 and Clark Sr passed Rood-Ash at the checkered flag to win that
race. S Kennedy won heat 3 from the pole over fellow front row starter Nelson.
Jimmy Fernandez spun leading in the last turn of heat 4 and Kenny Neville won
over Wally Kennedy. The track was wet for the heat action, but was very quick
for the dashes and Clark Sr set a new track record of 72.13 seconds in his dash
win over Herrick and Neville. Kyle Camperud blew a tire racing third in the B
Main and Steve Taddei climbed the back wall in his duel with Steve Remde for the
lead. Remde did win the B Main ahead of Tommy Laliberte and Bowers. Incredibly,
the American Stock feature ran the 20 lap distance with just a single late
yellow flag as the final event on the night. Nelson raced into the lead over
Rood-Ash, Ayers and Neville. Herrick took fifth from S Kennedy on lap 2 and
gained fourth over Neville on lap 7. Nelson had quickly built a half-straight
lead over Rood-Ash. Neville regained fourth on lap 11, but lost the spot to S
Kennedy on lap 14. Josh Davis blew to force the only yellow flag on lap 19. This
year, Ocean allows each race to have one double file restart before going to
single file restarts for the remainder of the race. This meant that the restart
with one lap to race would be double file. Nelson had a pair of lapped cars to
cushion himself from the other contenders and he stayed out front for the win.
Ayers was able to take second from Rood-Ash on this restart and Rood-Ash settled
for third. S Kennedy crossed in fourth, but was found illegal in tech. That
moved Clark Sr into fourth over George Fernandez Jr, W Kennedy, Herrick, Steven
Montgomery and Albert Acosta.
There
were 8 figure 8 cars and Jimmy Fernandez took advantage of the new policy of
transferring two figure 8 finishers into the American Stock A Main. The two
false starts put pole starter R Keldsen at the rear of the field for the start
with Ross Killian leading one lap before he blew a tire. The track moved the big
implement tires further off the groove in both turn 2 and turn 4 and that
greatly aided the racing action. John Keldsen broke on lap 1 and had to be towed
off. J J Keldsen took over on lap 2 with R Keldsen all the way to second. R
Keldsen took the lead from J J Keldsen on the bottom of turn 2 and third place
Matt Medina spun. An overheating J J Keldsen pulled off and J Gillespie was
second ahead of daughter Kim Gillespie and Medina. Medina battled back to third,
but suffered a flat and had to fall out. Killian lost a wheel for a lap 12
yellow and R Keldsen managed to fend off the charge of J Gillespie for the win.
Reader ran third over K Gillespie and Fernandez.
The SCRA
wingless injected 360 sprint cars return on June 16 and they will be joined by
the super stocks, dwarf cars, American Stocks, four bangers and a destruction
derby. The IMCA Modifieds have a $1000 to win show when they return on June 23.
Summary
Figure 8 Main-Richard Keldsen, Jim Gillespie, Wayne Reader, Kim Gillespie,
Jimmy Fernandez, Ross Killian, J J Keldsen, Matt Medina, John Keldsen.
American Stock Dash-Tim Clark Sr, Rod Herrick, Kenny Neville, Sam Kennedy.
Heat 1-Herrick, Norm Ayers, George Fernandez Jr, Gary Baker, Tommy Laliberte.
Heat 2-Clark Sr, Jennifer Rood-Ash, Albert Acosta, Mike Kofnovec Sr, Steve
Taddei. Heat 3-S Kennedy, Billy Nelson II, Chad Bisordi, Steven Montgomery, Matt
Medina. Heat 4-Neville, Wally Kennedy, Bill Sorg, Duane Ogburn, Jimmy Fernandez.
B Main-Steve Remde, Laliberte, Les Bowers, Josh Davis, Kyle Camperud, Taddei,
Cody Burke, Ken Jewell, J Fernandez. A Main-Nelson, Ayers, Rood-Ash, Clark Sr, G
Fernandez, W Kennedy, Herrick, Montgomery, Acosta, Laliberte, Bowers, Sorg,
Remde, Baker, J Fernandez, Neville, Davis, Bisordi, Ogborn, Kofnovec.
Super Stock Dash-Ray Ash, Dennis Pelphrey, Chris Kulvicki, Tony Oliveira.
Heat-Pelphrey, Oliveira, Ash, Kulvicki, Phillip Priddy. Main-Pelphrey, Ash,
Danny Scott, Priddy, Oliveira, Kulvicki, Mark Acosta, Scott Fuhrman, Mark
Cooper. Ocean Late Model Dash-Ken Gregg, Eric Van Hooser, Bob McCoun, Mike
Meazell. Heat-Meazell, McCoun, Gregg, Van Hooser, Jeff Decker. Main-Van Hooser,
Gregg, Decker, McCoun, Meazell, Steve Ewbank, Jeff Mead.
IMCA Modified Dash-Garrett Steitz, Kenny Nott Jr, Dave Graves, Todd
Hermosillo, Tim Clark Jr. Heat 1-Graves, Chuck Harrell, Cameron Beard, Clay
Daly, T J Etchison. Heat 2-Nott, Clark Jr, Andy Obertello, Brian Cass, Alex
Stanford. Heat 3-Hermosillo, Steitz, Tim Balding, Jim DiGiovanni, Bobby Scott
Jr. Main-Cass, Steitz, Graves, Stanford, Nott, Robert Marsh, Harrell, Etchison,
DiGiovanni, Lisa Riordan, John Dawson Sr, Beard, Eli Mendoza Jr, Daly,
Hermosillo, Obertello, Balding, Scott, Raymond Keldsen Jr.
Wingless 360 Sprint Car Fast Time-Brent Kaeding 14.438 Heat 1-Peter Murphy,
Daniel Hood, Jonathan Logan, Michael Trimble, Jeff Fiscus. Heat 2-Steve Osborne,
Rusty Carlile, Craig Smith, Albert Pombo, Rob Hammond. Dash-Trimble, Hood,
Carlile, Kaeding, Smith, Logan. Main-Kaeding, Hood, Carlile, Murphy, Pombo,
Fiscus, Logan, Osborne, Trimble, Smith, Hammond.
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