|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TARLTON FINALLY WRESTLES POINTS LEAD
FROM DAY WITH KEY QUALIFIER WIN
WATSONVILLE,
CALIFORNIA (August 20, 2011) – Tommy Tarlton won his second straight Ocean Sprints
presented by Taco Bravo feature on Friday night to take the points lead from
Salinas’ Ronnie Day as the series prepares for the Johnny Key Classic this
Saturday. The 18 car main event was
slowed by just two cautions and completed in 12 minutes.
The race
also marked the final qualifier for the Key, but with Tarlton already locked in
the qualifying spot went to rookie Rico Abreu who finished second.
Fremont’s Shane Golobic led the field from
the outside pole on the start of the feature ahead of pole sitter Ken
Fredenburg. After a brief caution on lap
one when Nick Ringo, Jr. spun, Abreu took over second from Fredenburg with
Tarlton following him past for third.
Fredenburg
continued to loose positions until finally jumping the cushion in turn two on
lap 10 and hitting the wall. Fredenburg
was unable to continue and the caution was brought out again. The caution evaporated the near straightaway
lead that Golobic had built up on Abreu.
That lap 10
yellow flag proved to be the final stoppage of the 30 lap contest. On the restart, Tarlton snookered Abreu for
second and began to reel in Golobic. Day
had trouble on the restart bicycling hard and nearly flipping in turn four,
falling back to the tenth spot. That
allowed the popular ScottsValley driver Evan Suggs to crack the
top-five.
In lapped
traffic, Tarlton closed down rapidly on Golobic and began to apply the
pressure. After a few failed bids on the
inside, Tarlton eventually took over the lead when Golobic jumped the cushion in
turn one on lap 20.
Golobic
faced off with Abreu and Justin Sanders for second with Abreu taking over the
position on lap 27. Tarlton drove off to
a comfortable victory over Abreu, Golobic, Sanders, and Suggs. Day recovered for a seventh place finish but
still lost the points lead to Tarlton.
With all
four Johnny Key Classic qualifiers in the books, Tim Kaeding, Kyle Larson,
Tarlton, and Abreu find themselves in the show to be joined by the Day and
Sanders who earned positions based on points.
Heat races
on the night were all won from the outside front row with wins going to Fresno’s Koen Shaw, Suggs, and Orval Zane
Burke who finished sixth in the main event.
The Ray Scheidt’s Electric fast-time award worth $75 went to Day at
11.510 while the DDNi Hard Charger award for $100 went to Eric Rossi who drove
the Wayne Katen #99 from 17th to 11th.
Tarlton
leads Day by six points as the series will continue this Saturday night with
the 51st running of the Johnny Key Classic for $5,000 to win. The balance of the field will be set through
a pair of b-main events before getting underway for the 50 lap feature.
Laps are
still for sale for the Johnny Key Classic with interested parties urged to contact
[email protected] Laps are $50 each to be paid out to the
top-three cars each lap.
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
www.stevenblakesley.com
|
