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Photo by
L&J Photography
http://picasaweb.google.com/jmart16164/Week42010#
Bud Kaeding
to races to victory in season-opener for Ocean
Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo at Ocean
Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – April 16, 2010…Starting
from the outside of the front row in the main event
Campbell, California's Bud Kaeding was able to hit
his marks and hold off a race-long challenge from
young Kyle Larson to
drive off and score the opening night victory with
the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo
on Friday evening.
The win for Kaeding was his first with the Ocean
Sprints since 2008 and was also his initial triumph
since joining the Brian Matherly/Mike Sala co-owned
team last year. "Man it feels good to finally get a
win here for Brian and Mike because we were so close
last year, but just didn't get one," said the
three-time & defending USAC Silver Crown champion.
"Last year we were always finishing in the top-three
it seemed and we joked around the shop about how we
won here with GSC in the 29 car, but we never won in
the 19 so I'm really happy to get a win the
first night out of the season in this car."
The night's fastest qualifier Brad Furr of
Pleasanton
lined-up on the pole of the 30-lap main event by way
of the zero pill being drawn for the inversion. The
driver of the Ray Scheidts Electric No. 2 was forced
to run one of two b-mains, but with no inversion for
the A-main he was still able to earn a front row
starting spot, with him getting his time back
following a second place finish in the opening semi.
When the green lights
flashed on Furr got extremely loose in the opening
corners however and nearly spun to a stop falling
deep in the field.
Bud Kaeding would charge out into the lead with
Larson following along in second and Sacramento's Mike Henry in
third. Things would come to a stop early on as
Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs got upside down in turn
four after he and Clovis' Peter Murphy had
reportedly made contact exiting the corner, while
racing in a gaggle of cars. Both Murphy and Suggs
were ok but done for the night following the
accident. When racing got back underway Larson tried
desperately to make something happen with the leader
as he looked to high-side of the quarter-mile
bullring.
A few different times throughout the race Larson
would charge to the outside in turn three, but with
the high-side being slightly loose in turn four he
couldn't get the bite needed as Kaeding rocketed off
the bottom of the speedway exiting the corner. With
traffic coming into play on lap eight it appeared to
give the 17-year-old from Elk Grove an opportunity,
but the yellow lights flashed on for Furr, who
suffered a collapsed front end in turn two. When the
green flag came back
out Larson continued his pursuit of Bud Kaeding
while at the same time trying to fend off the
challenges of Brent Kaeding, who had moved into
third aboard the Al's Roofing Supply, High Five
Pizza No. 69.
With traffic coming into play again right around the
midway point Larson closed up to the bumper of the
Sala/Matherly Racing, M&M Powder Coaters No. 19 and
it became a fight for the lead. With Bud Kaeding
changing his line getting into lapped traffic in
turn one it gave Larson an opening to the bottom and
the youngster seized the opportunity, but just as
soon as the pair went side-by-side and Larson looked
for the lead, the caution would fly for
Ronnie Day, who came
to a stop in turn two on lap 15. The yellow flag
slowed the hot and heavy action on the track just
when it was getting extremely good and gave the
leaders a clear track ahead yet again.
With Kaeding remaining out front Larson gave it one
more shot at getting the lead as the laps wound
down, but couldn't make it stick in turn four as
traction continued to be hard to come by getting
off the corner. After that the Campbell driver ran mistake free the rest of
the way to cross under the checkered and earn his
sixth career Ocean Speedway victory. "I could hear
the kid behind me and I knew he'd be tough to beat
so we were lucky to get the breaks out of traffic
with the yellows," said Kaeding on the front
stretch. "Each time we got to traffic I started
making a mistake or two and it gave Kyle some
chances, but the luck was on our side tonight and
that's how it goes in this sport sometimes."
Larson crossed the stripe in second aboard the
Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Casino-Reno No.
99 machine and continued his strong success at the
Ocean Speedway in his young career. "We were really
good and I wish we could have stayed in traffic
because I felt like we had something for Bud, but
it's cool to finish in-between he and 'BK' so we'll
take it," said Larson. "I want to thank Rich
Stadelhofer and all our sponsors for helping out
with this team. We are looking for some additional
sponsorship to try and run the whole Taco Bravo 360
Series, because there's a great group of cars here
and we'd definitely like to run all the shows if
possible."
Rounding out the podium was Brent Kaeding, who last
season finished second in the Ocean Sprint Cars
Series presented by Taco Bravo standings. "We had a
good run in the feature and I want congratulate Bud
and Kyle because they were really fast in the main
event and did a great job," said the former two-time
Ocean Speedway track champion. "I drove for Brian
Matherly and Mike Sala a couple times last year and
couldn't get them a win either so it's nice for them
to get one tonight, because they put a lot of hard
work into that team. We didn't really want to win
tonight, because last season we won the opener and
didn't win another race so hopefully we can start
picking some off now," Kaeding concluded with a
smile.
As the laps ticked off in the main event the best
battle was the fight for fourth as a handful of cars
ran side-by-side and wheel-to-wheel all the way
around the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring.
Coming out on the top of that dog-fight was young
17-year-old Justin Sanders, who looked strong all
night long aboard the North County Plastering, STS
Trucking No. 17. Sanders' last year won a main event
in May at Ocean Speedway and finished sixth in the
final Ocean Sprints standings at season's end.
Coming home fifth was Grass Valley's
Jason Statler in the DF Rios Construction No. 00
with Gilroy's Eric Rossi in sixth aboard the Chase
Wood Racing No. 4r. Both Statler and Rossi had solid
runs charging through the field as Statler started
14th on the grid with Rossi lining-up 15th.
Crossing the line in seventh was defending Ocean
Sprints champ Tommy Tarlton of
Easton in the Tachi Palace No. 21 and
finishing in the eighth spot and also having an
impressive night was Fresno's Anthony Simone in
the Cool Hand Lukes No. 10. Simone qualified 12th
in the 31-car field and also scored a second place
result in his heat race. Rounding out the top-10 in
the main event were Gilroy's
Kurt Nelson in the Taco Bravo Racing No. 72 and Visalia's Cory Eliason aboard the Advance Auto
& Smog No. 00x.
Full results from the night's action are available
at
http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Next up for the Ocean Sprint Car Series presented by
Taco Bravo will be an event at the Santa Maria
Speedway on Friday night April 30. The series will
then be back in action at the Ocean Speedway on
Friday May 7. For all your news and info on the
Ocean Sprints log onto
http://www.oceansprints.com
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