Stout
field expected when Ocean Sprints and Civil War Series invade Ocean Speedway this Friday
night September 24
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – September 21, 2010…Excitement has been prevalent whenever the
Ocean Sprints and Civil War Series have faced off and this Friday night the two
organizations will once again take to the Ocean Speedway with the championship races
coming right down to the wire.
Whereas the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will still have two more events
following this weekend, the California Sprint Car Civil War Series will conclude the
season with a double-header of action, as the tour will head for the Placerville Speedway
on Saturday after the appearance in Watsonville on Friday.
This Friday the Ocean Sprint Car Series will make its first outing since last month’s
50th Johnny Key Classic and Easton’s Tommy Tarlton will look to solidify
his current 19-point advantage at the top of the standings. Searching for his second
straight Ocean Sprints title the driver of the Corporate America Lending, Tachi Palace
Hotel & Casino No. 21 mount has scored three consecutive podium finishes at Ocean
Speedway and will be gunning for his fourth win of the year on Friday.
Looking to close in on Tarlton’s advantage will be Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson, who
currently sits second in the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo standings and is coming
off a runner up finish at the Key Classic aboard his Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill
Casino No. 99x. The 18-year-old Golden State Challenge Series champ set fast time and won
the main event from the fifth row during the first Ocean Sprints vs. Civil War Series
event in July.
Still searching for that elusive first victory of the season Campbell’s Brent Kaeding
comes into the weekend continuing to rank third in the points at the helm the Al’s
Roofing Supply, High Five Pizza No. 69. “BK” is fresh off a top-five finish at
the Johnny Key Classic, where his team performed a well publicized and amazing engine
change during the halfway break.
Rounding out the top-five in the standings are the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 of Ronnie Day
from Salinas and the Ray Scheidts Electric No. 2 of Stockton’s Brad Furr. Both Day
and Furr have been very fast in recent events and look to be on the cusp of breaking their
way into victory lane for the first time this season.
Going into the penultimate night of the season for the California Sprint Car Civil War
Series the fight at the top of the standings is an extremely close one with the top-three
drivers separated by just four-digits.
Sitting on top of the points and looking for his third consecutive Civil War title is
Oroville’s Sean Becker, who was leading the Ocean Sprints vs. Civil War feature in
July, until a flat tire relegated him to a 13th place finish behind the wheel
of the Scott Miller Racing, Robinson Engineering No. 2sb. “The Shark” has had
another tremendous year in Northern California competition, having claimed 10 main event
wins overall so far this season and will look for a strong weekend to help him become the
first driver to ever three-peat with the Civil War Series.
The two competitors closest to Becker in the standings happen to be Sacramento’s
“Hang on” Herman Klein and “Mr. Excitement” Andy Forsberg of Auburn.
With two drivers surrounding him having multiple championships under their belt Klein will
look to, in a way, play the underdog role in the battle for the title this weekend, going
into Friday just two-digits behind Becker. A veteran driver known for his exciting driving
style, Klein scored his first career Placerville Speedway Civil War win at the
season-opener and has been in the thick of the battle for much of the year driving the
Wondergem Racing No. 91 machine.
Lurking just four-points back of the lead Forsberg will be in search of yet another Civil
War Series title this weekend aboard the Autism Awareness, Coors Light No. 47 sprinter.
The four-time series champion recently picked up his second Placerville Speedway track
title and will be shooting for a solid two nights of racing this Friday & Saturday to
claim his fifth Civil War championship, in what is his first season driving for Brian
Cannon Motorsports.
Former two-time California Sprint Car Civil War Series titlist Mike Henry sits fourth in
the standings and is only 19-points back of the lead coming into Friday night. The driver
of the Rudy Warrington No. 18 mount was victorious during last September’s Ocean
Sprints vs. Civil War Series event and will look for another performance like that to make
up ground going into the finale. Completing the top-five in points heading into the final
weekend is Princeton’s Mason Moore, who leads the tour with three-fast time efforts
in 2010 driving the F&F Racing No. x1.
Other possibilities for Friday night will include Chico’s Stephen Allard, Fremont’s
Shane Golobic, Prunedale’s Justin Sanders, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Grass
Valley’s Jason Statler, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Clovis’ Peter Murphy,
Visalia’s Cory Eliason, San Martin’s Craig Smith, Morgan Hills Devon Ostheimer,
San Jose’s Matt Sargent and more.
The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night September 24
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.
