Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo set for penultimate round of season this Friday night at Ocean Speedway

By Gary Thomas

Watsonville, CA – October 6, 2010…The start of back-to-back weeks of racing to finish off the 2010 Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo season is on deck and will kick off this Friday night October 8 at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway.

A total of 12 events have been held so far this year with the Ocean Sprints and just two more races remain before the season goes into the record books. A very exciting campaign has been seen for the series, which has grown to be one of the most competitive fields on the West Coast and has featured five different winners throughout the year.

The man that has been the most dominant and will be gunning to finish off his second consecutive Ocean Sprints title is Easton’s Tommy Tarlton, who possesses a 30-point lead going into this Friday night aboard the Corporate America Lending No. 21 mount. The veteran wheel-man is coming off a strong night a couple weeks back, when he claimed his Ocean Sprints leading fourth victory of the season during the Ocean vs. Civil War Series event.  

Now finding himself 30-markers back of the point lead Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson will be trying everything he can to make up ground this Friday evening behind the wheel of his Stadelhofer Construction No. 99 sprinter. The 18-year-old this year has claimed three main event victories at the Ocean Speedway, but hasn’t been in victory lane since mid-July and he’ll try to change that this weekend.

San Jose’s Tim Kaeding has also picked up three feature wins with the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo this year and has been the hottest sprint car driver in all of California recently. During the last event at Ocean Speedway “TK” rebounded from an early spin to roar back to a runner up finish at the helm of the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr. machine. T. Kaeding ended last season by sweeping the final two Ocean Sprints races.

Moving up to third in the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo standings, former King of California Ronnie Day will be searching for his first win of the year on Friday aboard the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 sprint car. The Salinas veteran has been very quick this season, but has been plagued by tough luck that has hampered his chances at getting into victory lane at various times in 2010.

After missing the most recent event Campbell’s Brent Kaeding now sits fourth in the Ocean Sprints standings and will be another driver gunning for his first triumph of 2010 this Friday night in the Al’s Roofing Supply No. 69 mount. With the season winding down the opportunities for “BK” to find his way into victory lane are diminishing, but the 13-time King of California will certainly be giving it his best shot and that first opportunity at making it happen is this weekend at the Ocean Speedway.

Now sitting fifth in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings and rounding out the top-five is Prunedale’s Justin Sanders, who will be looking to better a sixth place finish in the points from last season over the final two weeks. The driver of the North County Plastering No. 17 sprinter claimed victory at the Ocean Speedway on May 7 and will be looking to add another on Friday.

Completing the top-10 in the Ocean Sprints standings are Visalia’s Cory Eliason, Stockton’s Brad Furr, Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Morgan Hill’s Devon Ostheimer and San Martin’s Craig Smith. Other drivers expected this Friday night will include Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, San Jose’s Matt Sargent, Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, Corralitos’ Jerry Bonnema and more.

Main event winners so far in 2010 with the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo:

April 16- Bud Kaeding
April 30- Tommy Tarlton
May 7- Justin Sanders
May 14- Kyle Larson
May 22- Tim Kaeding
June 4- Tommy Tarlton
June 25- Kyle Larson
July 16- Kyle Larson
July 30- Tommy Tarlton
August 20- Tim Kaeding
August 28- Tim Kaeding
September 24- Tommy Tarlton
October 8- ???
October 15-???

The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night October 8 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 $45 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