Ocean Speedway Howard Kaeding Classic July 21-22, 2018

Watsonville, CA...July 21... Colby Copeland captured the $5,000 prize with his victory in the 8th Annual Howard Kaeding Classic Saturday night at Ocean Speedway. Copeland led every lap aboard the Larry Antaya owned Goodguys Rod & Custom Association Maxim to win the King of the West/NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series race.

Copeland charged into the lead at the start ahead of Chase Johnson and Shane Golobic. The leaders were in heavy traffic by lap eight, and slight contact between Michael "Buddy" Kofoid and Golobic sent Golobic spinning in Turn 2 for a lap ten caution flag. Copeland continued to lead on the restart as Kofoid made an inside pass on Johnson for second. 11th starter Bud Kaeding dove down on the inside and made the pass on Johnson for third in Turn 1 of the 12th lap. Moments later, contact sent Matthew Dumesny flipping in Turn 4. Copeland continued to lead Kofoid on restart, but an inside pass on the backstretch on lap 17 gained Kaeding second. Kaeding chased Copeland the rest of the way, but even a restart with one lap to go was not enough to stop Copeland from winning the 30 lap race. Johnson settled for third, followed by series point leader Kyle Hirst, DJ Netto, Marcus Dunesny, Shane Golobic, Brad Furr, Mitchell Faccinto and Dustin Golobic.

There were 31 competitors for this event, and Kofoid set the fastest time of 11.681, beating the 11.809 of Shane Golobic. Ten lap heat race wins went to Hirst, Copeland, Kaeding and Friday night Civil War race winner Tanner Thorson. Sean Watts was the surprise winner of the six lap Trophy Dash, followed by Copeland. The remainder of the 22 car Main Event field was made up by the top finishers of the 15 lap B Main. Justin Sanders won that race, followed by Nathan Rolfe, Kyle Offill, Jeremy Chisum and Bobby McMahon.

Bobby Hogge IV won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. This was the fourth win of the season for the six time track champion. Hogge started back in the fifth row, and when he got to the front of the pack, he had to deal with another past champion, Brian Cass. However, Hogge was up to the challenge as he won by a few car lengths ahead of Cass. Andy Obertello was a close third, followed by Robert Marsh, Steven Hopf, point leader Cody Burke, Jeff McCoun, Jacob Pace, Anthony Copeland and Raymond Keldsen Jr. Austin Burke and Marsh won eight lap heat races.

Andrew Peckham scored the victory in the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Peckham started in the third row, but 2015 State champion Fred Ryland made a charge from the fifth row. Ryland gave Peckham all the pressure he could handle, but he was up to the task in scoring a hard-earned win. Reigning Antioch Speedway champion KC Keller was a strong third, followed by Aaron Crowell, Chase Alves, Adrian Frost, Guy Ahlwardt, Kenny Shrader, Anthony Giuliani and Justin McPherson. McPherson, Giuliani and Gomez won the eight lap heat races.

Racing continues next Friday night with the Taco Bravo Sprint Cars, IMCA Sport Modifieds, American Stocks, Police N Pursuit cars and a special appearance by the IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprint Cars. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com.




Watsonville, CA...July 20...Tanner Thorson scored the victory in the 30 lap Civil War Sprint Car Main Event Friday night at Ocean Speedway. This was night #1 of the Howard Kaeding Classic, and it was a shootout event between the Civil War and local Taco Bravo Sprint Car Series. Thorson had to battle with Sprint Car Challenge Tour point leader Kyle Hirst throughout the night. He scored the victory in the first eight lap heat race, but Hirst set the fast time standard of 11.467 on the quarter-mile clay oval.

The six lap Trophy Dash set up the front four rows for the Main Event, and Hirst picked up the win with Thorson in pursuit about a half straightaway behind in second. The battle continued in the Main Event, but the tenacious Thorson was able to hold off Hirst down the stretch and grab the victory. Justin Sanders was a very close third, just ahead of two-time track champion Shane Gobibic. Michael "Buddy" Kofoid settled for fifth, followed by Tanner Carrick, DJ Netto, Koen Shaw, Tim Kaeding and Kyle Offill.

There were 28 drivers on hand, and Hirst's fast time of 11.467 was barely quicker than the 11.546 of Netto. In addition to the Dash win for Hirst and heat win for Thorson, the other three heat race wins went to King of the West/NARC legend Brent Kaeding, Ocean Speedway point leader Brad Furr and Offill. The remaining competitors ran a 12 lap B Main, and Jeremy Chisum scored an impressive win over Tim Kaeding, Jason Chisum, Dustin Freitas and Vaughn Schott.

IMCA Sport Modified State point leader Austin Manzella turned in a stellar performance in winning the 20 lap Main Event. Manzella had a second row start for the race and wasted little time getting the lead. However, he had his hands full in the waning laps with 2015 State champion Fred Ryland coming from the sixth row to mount a serious challenge. Manzella managed to take the checkered flag with Ryland and Austin Williams in close pursuit. Kevin Johnson finished fourth, followed by Andrew Peckham, Todd Gomez, point leader Jim DiGiovanni, Chase Alves, Adrian Frost and Igor Grandzuk. Frost, Williams and Manzella picked up eight lap heat race wins as there were 19 competitors on hand.

JC Elrod grabbed the 20 lap American Stock Main Event win ahead of Lompoc visitor Jacob Jones. This was his second win of the season as the third ranked driver keeps his championship hopes alive. Point leader Matt Kile was a strong third, followed by Joe Gallaher, Mike Calhoun, Merced Speedway regular Kristie Shearer, Tom Cline, Larry Roberson, reigning champion Rob Gallaher and Norm Ayers. Rob Gallaher and Elrod won eight lap heat races, but Gallaher fell out of the Main Event on the 13th lap.

The closest finish of the night occurred in the South Bay Dwarf Car 20 lap Main Event. In a battle of the champions, two time champ Terre Rothweiler won a photo finish ahead of the reigning champion, Cameron Diatte. Championship hopeful Zach Price was a close third ahead of Gene Punky" Pires, Kyle Jones, Trafton Chandler, Eddie Claesson, Mack Acevez, Eric Wiesler and Justin McKenna. Price and Chandler each scored wins in their respective eight lap heat races.


Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 21, 2018
Howard Kaeding Classic Night #2
King of the West Sprints
A Main
Colby Copeland
Bud Kaeding
Chase Johnson
Kyle Hirst
D.J. Netto
Marcus Dumesny
Shane Golobic
Brad Furr
Mitchell Faccinto
Dustin Golobic
Nathan Rolfe
Bobby McMahan
Sean Watts
Jeremy Chisum
Kyle Offill
Tanner Thorson
Brent Kaeding
Michael Kofoid
Justin Sanders
Matthew Dumesny
Tim Kaeding
Kurt Nelson

B Main
Justin Sanders
Nathan Rolfe
Kyle Offill
Jeremy Chisum
Bobby McMahan
Brent Kaeding
Jarrett Soares
Jason Chisum
Gary Nelson Jr
Richard Brace Jr
Gary Paulson
Vaughn Schott
Mark Barroso
Richard Fajardo
Jenna Frazier

IMCA Modifieds
Bobby Hogge IV
Brian Cass
Andy Obertello
Robert Marsh
Stephen Hopf
Cody Burke
Jeff McCoun
Jacob Pace
Anthony Copeland
Raymond Keldsen Jr
Austin Burke
Alex Wilson
Todd Hermosillo

IMCA Sport Mods
Andrew Peckham
Fred Ryland
KC Keller
Aaron Crowell
Chase Alves
Adriane Frost
Guy Ahlwardt
Kenny Shrader
Anthony Giuliani
Justin McPherson
Jim DiGiovanni
T.J. Etchinson III
Tom Fraser
Patti Ryland
Austin Williams
Paul Mulder
Charlie Hunter
Todd Gomez


Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 20, 2018
Howard Kaeding Classic Night #1
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo
A Main
Tanner Thorson
Kyle Hirst
Justin Sanders
Shane Golobic
Michael Kofoid
Tanner Carrick
D.J. Netto
Koen Shaw
Tim Kaeding
Kyle Offill
Brent Kaeding
Bud Kaeding
Kurt Nelson
Jarrett Soares
Jeremy Chisum
Nathan Rolfe
Jason Chisum
Vaughn Schott
Dustin Freitas
Brad Furr
Gary Nelson Jr
Cole Macedo

B Main
Jeremy Chisum
Tim Kaeding
Jason Chisum
Dustin Freitas
Vaughn Schott
Gary Nelson Jr
Blake Carrick
Cody Jessop
Tanner Boul
Richard Fajardo
Collin Markle DNS
Brent Bjork DNS

IMCA Sport Mods
Austin Manzella
Fred Ryland
Austin Williams
Kevin Johnson
Andrew Peckham
Todd Gomez
Jim DiGiovanni
Chase Alves
Adriane Frost
Igor Gandzuk
Paul Mulder
Jason Pugh
Charlie Hunter
Alex Bieser
John Ferro
Anthony Giuliani
Dave Smart
Matthew Hagio
Justin McPherson

American Stocks
JC Elrod
Jacob Jones
Matt Kile
Joe Gallaher
Mike Calhoun
Kristie Shearer
Tom Cline
Larry Roberson
Rob Gallaher
Norm Ayers
Tony Oliveira
Jerry Skelton
Sam Kennedy DNS

South Bay Dwarf Cars
Terre Rothweiler
Camron Diatte
Zach Price
Punky Pires
Kyle Jones
Trafton Chandler
Eddy Claessen
Mack Aceves
Eric Weisler
Justin McKenna
Mark Biscardi
Brady Beck
Ryan Amlen
John Harris DNS