This message was edited on
June 02, 2012 at
05:21:24 AM by stevenblakesley
DAY LEADS ALL 30 LAPS TO WIN A WILDOCEAN SPRINTS FEATURE ON FRIDAY
WATSONVILLE,
CALIFORNIA (June 2, 2012) – Salinas' Ronnie Day, 2011 Ocean Sprints champion and 51st Johnny Key
Classic winner, led all 30 laps to win a wild Ocean Sprints presented by Taco
Bravo feature on Friday night. The
victory is Day's second in 2012 in the winged 360 series held at Ocean Speedway
Watsonville.
The 30 lap
feature had over 10 stoppages with multiple red flags including one open red
flag for teams to add fuel.Despite Day
leading all 30 laps, he had numerous challenges from Prunedale's Justin
Sanders, incoming points leader Shane Golobic of Fremont, and season-opening
feature winner Bud Kaeding of Campbell, CA.
"Wow
we had the car just right," Day said. "I moved the wing back a little bit early and had to move it
forward late in the race; when you're leading you don't really know where to go
with the track. I knew if I kept my pace
that Bud would have to work hard to get around me."
Day jumped
from fourth starting position to lead lap one to the approval of a strong crowd
on a cold night at the quarter-mile dirt track. The first red flag came out on lap two when Nick Rescino, Jr. and
"Cowboy" Craig Smith tangled, sending both cars upside in turn
three.
On the
restart, trouble struck again with a red flag for Jerry Bonnema with a minor
flip down the backstretch.Bonnema was
able to return after making repairs and stayed on the lead lap to the finish.
Brent
Kaeding and Carter Train brought out cautions with solo spins and the lap eight
restart saw Day leading over Justin Sanders, Golobic, Kurt Nelson, and Bud
Kaeding. Golobic worked his way past
Sanders for the second spot after a great back-and-forth duel. The battle eventually ended when Sanders
stalled in turn two to bring out the caution and he was done for the night.
After a
restart on lap 16 for Stockton's Brad Furr spinning in turn one, Auburn's Andy
Forsberg passed Nelson for the fourth spot and Bud Kaeding moved past Golobic
for the second position.
Furr's
night ended when he tangled with Selma's Conley Scott on lap 18 in turn
four, after Furr reportedly lost his brakes. On the restart, Bud Kaeding challenged Day in a great battle for the top
spot, with Kaeding completing the slide job out of turn two on lap 20 before
Day crossed over down the backstretch to take it back.
A wild
crash on lap 21 saw Jeremy Chisum climb over Ryan Rusconi and ride the wall in
turns three and four. Neither driver was
injured.After an open red flag for
fuel, the race went back to green with Kaeding, Golobic, and Forsberg all
taking a piece of the second position in the battle. The three way battle was halted when 15
year-old Dominic Scelzi flipped in turn four.
A five lap
shootout between Day and Kaeding was expected but Day proved too strong and led
to the finish.Golobic took over the
second position on lap 27 before surrendering it back to Kaeding on the
following lap.
"We
had a pretty good car there most of the race," Bud Kaeding said. "Right now he's got the upper hand on
the field and we got to keep working harder to make sure we have the best car
on lap 30 not just lap 20."
Ronnie Day
picked up his second win of 2012 ahead of Kaeding, Golobic, Forsberg, and
Nelson. The DDNi Hard Charger Award
worth $100 went to 16 year-old D.J. Netto of Hanford who charged from 22nd to
eighth in his first career Ocean Sprints start. Brad Furr won the Ray Scheidt's Electric fast-time award with an 11.523
second lap.
Heat race
wins went to Scott, Forsberg, and Sanders with Train winning the semi. Eric Humphries of Chowchilla was involved in
a serious accident in heat race two and was transported to a San Jose hospital for further treatment and
observation.
The Ocean
Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will return to action on Friday night June 8 at
Ocean Speedway Watsonville.
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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