With the weather gods appearing to be smiling Ocean 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo set to begin this Friday night April 16 at Ocean Speedway

By Gary Thomas

Watsonville, CA – April 13, 2010…After losing the opening round due to rain on April 2 the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will give it another go this Friday night at the Ocean Speedway, with the weather looking to be cooperative and teams ready to take to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring to fire-off the much anticipated 2010 season. 

The Ocean 360 Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will now see 14-nights of racing this year, with 12 being contested at the Ocean Speedway and one each at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway and the Santa Maria Speedway. Some of the highlights on the schedule include the 50th running of the Johnny Key Classic on Saturday August 28 at Ocean Speedway, as well as a pair of Ocean Sprints vs. California Sprint Car Civil War Series shows, with the dates being Friday July 16 and Friday September 24. 

"We gave it our best shot a couple weeks ago, but the weather just didn't work out in our favor and it was disappointing because everyone is definitely ready for the Ocean Sprints season to start," said Ocean Speedway promoter John Prentice. "We have a pretty big year ahead with the 360's branching out to a couple different tracks and of course the 50th Johnny Key Classic is going to be an exciting event here at Ocean. We're also looking forward to the Civil War races, because last year they were really successful with great car counts and a lot of good drivers were on hand for them so hopefully it'll be the same this season."   

Defending Ocean Sprint Car Series champion Tommy Tarlton will begin his title defense on Friday night after having to wait a couple of weeks due to the rainout on April 2. Last season saw the Easton driver capture four main event victories en route to claiming his first career title at the Ocean Speedway aboard his Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Corporate America Lending No. 21. Tarlton's biggest win of the season came on August 29 when he took the checkered flag at the 49th running of the Johnny Key Classic to mark his first ever triumph in the prestigious event. 

After just missing out on his third straight Ocean Sprints title last year Campbell's Brent Kaeding will look to put his name back at the top of the standings this season behind the wheel of his Al's Roofing Supply, High Five Pizza No. 69 mount. "BK" went into the final event last year just five-digits back of the lead, but a stronger night for Tarlton was just enough to deny him a three-peat at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring. The 13-time King of California tallied one victory with the Ocean Sprints last year and also showed strong consistency by scoring seven podium finishes throughout the season. 

Current Ocean Speedway 360 track record holder Evan Suggs will be searching for his first career Ocean Sprints title in 2010 after being right in the thick of battle for much of last season, before ending the year third in the standings. The driver of the Suggs Racing, Riley Collins Body Shop No. 33e scored a trio of runner-up finishes last season in Watsonville, including the Ocean Sprints vs. Civil War Series event in September. The 23-year-old Scotts Valley driver also led the Ocean Sprints last season with five fast-time efforts, including the season-finale when he re-set the track record with a clocking of 11.617 around the quarter-mile. 

Gaining strength as the '09 season closed out was Pleasanton's Brad Furr, who ended the year fourth in the final Ocean Sprint Car standings aboard his Ray Scheidts Electric, Brad Furr Racing No. 2 machine. Furr picked-up his best finish of the season at the penultimate event of the year by scoring a second place result to San Jose's Tim Kaeding on October 9. Rounding out the top-five in the standings last year was Salinas racer Ronnie Day, who will be driving for brother Keith Day in the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 this season with the Ocean Sprints. The former King of California tallied a best finish of third last year, which he accomplished on three separate occasions. 

Multiple-time Ocean Speedway winners from last season Jason Statler of Grass Valley and Kyle Larson of Elk Grove are both expected to be in action Friday. Statler last season drove his DF Rios Construction, YAK Graphics No. 00 to a pair of victories with the Ocean Sprints and was the only driver other than Tarlton and T.Kaeding to score multiple wins with the series. Larson last year held off a torrid late-race charge from Statler to win his first career GSC main event at Ocean Speedway on May 29 and backed that up by claiming victory during the Ocean vs. Civil War race in July. The 17-year-old will make his first start at the track on Friday driving the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino No. 99 owned by BK Motorsports and is coming off a big win with GSC last Saturday in Tulare.

Other drivers expected Friday night with the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will include three-time and defending USAC Silver Crown Series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell, two-time California Sprint Car Civil War Series titlist Mike Henry of Sacramento, Prunedale's Justin Sanders, Clovis' Peter Murphy, Fremont's Shane Golobic, Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright Jr. and Devon Ostheimer, Benicia's Billy Aton, Gilroy's Kurt Nelson and Eric Rossi, San Martin's Craig Smith, Visalia's Cory Eliason, Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema, Caruther's Garrett Ishii, Tracy's Steve Osborne, San Jose's Matt Sargent and more. 

The front gate will open at 4:30pm this Friday night April 16 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 head next for the Santa Maria Speedway on Friday night April 30 as part of the Doug Fort Memorial weekend, which also features the Golden State Challenge 410 Series the following night on May 1. The Ocean Sprints will then re-convene back at the Ocean Speedway on Friday evening May 7 for round number three.