This message was edited on
April 21, 2012 at
05:37:36 AM by stevenblakesley
TWO TIMEOCEANSPEEDWAY CHAMPION RYAN BERNAL TOPS USAC SPRINTS
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (April 21, 2012) - Former
two-time Ocean Speedway Wingless track champion Ryan Bernal of Hollister scored
a win for the hometown fans, winning the season opening USAC Western Classic
Racing Series feature at Ocean on Friday night worth $2,000. Bernal won the 30 lap feature aboard the #73
A&A Precision / King Racing Products car after a wild duel with Loomis'
Kyle Hirst throughout much of the race.
Bernal not only won the feature,
but he also took quick-time honors on the evening with a 13.120 second lap
around the quarter-mile dirt oval and won his heat race as well.It was a huge night for the 2012 USAC West
Coast 360 points leader who also is looking to contend for the USAC/CRA
championship this season as well.
20 cars started the feature event
on a slick track surface due in large part to unseasonably warm temperatures
near 90 degrees throughout the coast. Brent Kaeding led the field to green from the start but the race
immediately went caution.Several cars
spun in turn three including Fair Oaks' Shauna
Hogg and long-tow Danny Faria, Jr. among them.
Faria eventually pitted under
caution for a flat left rear and failed to reappear.On the next attempted start, Roseville's Scott
Hall spun in turn three collecting Hogg and Modesto's Jimmy
Riddell. Only Hall was unable to
continue on.
Kaeding took off to lead the first
eight laps of the feature with Bernal leaping from sixth up to the second
position past Hirst. Hirst took the
second position back from Bernal on lap seven in a preview of the battling yet
to come.
Hirst made a big move to pass
Kaeding on lap nine and Bernal followed him past Kaeding. The duel was on, with Hirst leading through
lap 12 before Bernal successfully completed a slider to take the lead on laps
13 and 14.
The lead went back to Hirst
bringing the large turnout of fans on their feet, with Hirst maintaining the
lead despite a series of crossover attempts by Bernal. A brief caution for John Gerber spinning on
lap 22 set the stage for a thrilling finish with Hirst, Bernal, Kaeding, and Fremont's Shane
Golobic from 12th starting position.
Hirst easily drove away to a
comfortable five car length advantage while Golobic made contact with Santa
Rosa's Marty Hawkins on the restart and damage
forced him to the pits for the night. A
red flag on lap 26 for Galt's Matt Streeter flipping in turn two gave fans a
four lap shootout between Bernal and Hirst for the win.
Coming back to green, Bernal made
a strong charge on the inside of Hirst with Hirst jumping the cushion and
climbing the wall. Eventually Hirst came
off the wall and went upside down out of turn two to end his night.
On the ensuing restart, Bernal
easily pulled away from Kaeding to take a 1.063 second victory. Orland rookie Taylor Simas was third ahead of
Markus Niemela and Hawkins.Along with
Bernal winning his heat race, Golobic and Hirst were also winners on the
evening.
"It
feels good to win in front of the home crowd. Me and Kyle had a good race,"Bernal said."I just want to
keep racing with four wheels. Of course
I dream of going to NASCAR but I just want to keep racing sprint cars right
now."
"If
the fans are on their feet that means I did my job so I'm happy with
that!"
The
appearance by USAC was the first of four races at Ocean Speedway Watsonville in
2012 with the next race scheduled for Friday 15 with the USAC/CRA co-sanctioning the event.
The next
Sprint Car event at Ocean Speedway Watsonville is the Ocean Sprints presented
by Taco Bravo on Friday May 4.
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
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