This message was edited on
March 31, 2012 at
04:08:12 AM by stevenblakesley
BUD KAEDING WINS 2012 OCEAN SPRINTS
OPENER ON FRIDAY NIGHT
WATSONVILLE,
CALIFORNIA (March 31, 2012) – Campbell's Bud Kaeding drove the Werbach Motorsports #20 to victory
in the 30 lap Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo feature on Friday night at
Ocean Speedway Watsonville to kick off the 16 round 2012 season. Kaeding's win came from fifth on the grid and
was his third feature win this year already, adding to his two USAC West Coast
360 victories.
Kaeding won
by a comfortable 1.9 second margin over 2011 Ocean Sprints champion Ronnie Day
of Salinas in the #22 Keith Day Trucking
entry, successfully defending the lead through a series of restarts through lap
23.
Auburn's
Andy Forsberg started on the pole alongside Stockton's Brad Furr, but Furr
jumped the initial start and was sent back one row. The next attempted start saw Forsberg
alongside Day, but action was quickly halted due to a pair of opening lap
incidents. Salinas' Carter Train and Fremont's Shane Golobic got tangled up in
turn 1.Slowing for the yellow flag,
Tommy Laliberte went for a wild ride in turn three over the front wheels of 16
year-old Cole Wood.
Laliberte
was uninjured but done for the evening, while the other three drivers restarted
the race from the rear of the field. The
ensuing complete restart saw Forsberg take off with the lead while Kaeding
stormed from fifth to pass Day for second by lap four.
Train
slowed on lap five to bring out the next yellow and Kaeding used to the bottom
to take the lead from Forsberg on the restart. Furr passed Day for third on the restart as well.
Golobic
made quick work from the rear of the field, passing Nick Green for the sixth
spot on lap 12.Day began to pick up the
pace under green, working the topside to pass both Furr and Forsberg and move
back into second.
Despite
numerous yellow flags and stoppages, including a red flag on lap 21 for Orval Zane
Burke, Jr. flipping wildly in turn one, Kaeding continued to hold off Day on
each restart. Kaeding stuck to the
bottom while Day stayed committed to the top.
Over the
final seven laps, Kaeding grew his lead over Day while Golobic continued his
charge to the front.At the finish,
Forsberg beat out Golobic in a drag race for the third position with Furr
rounding out the top-five.
The Ray
Scheidt's Electric / Get Som Sports Fast Time Award went to 2011 USAC Western
Classic champion Geoff Ensign of Sebastopol with a 13.679 second lap in the Ted
Finkenbinder #3F.Ensign failed to the
finish the feature however due to steering problems.
The DDNi
Hard Charger went to rookie Jason Chisum of Salinas who drove from 14th starting to
finish ninth in his Ocean Sprints debut. Heat race wins went to Ensign, "Cowboy" Craig Smith, and
Forsberg.
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
Ocean
Speedway would like to thank Taco Bravo, Digital Delivery Networks, Get Som
Sports, Ray Scheidt's Electric, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance for
their support of the 2012 Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo.
www.stevenblakesley.com
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