This message was edited on
July 07, 2012 at
02:04:33 PM by stevenblakesley
BRENT KAEDING LEADS ALL 30 LAPS TO WIN HOWARD KAEDING CLASSIC
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (July 7, 2012) - In a race
held in honor of his father Howard Kaeding, Brent Kaeding led all 30 laps for
the $2,000 victory in Friday night's feature for the USAC Western Classic
Sprints at Ocean Speedway Watsonville. Kaeding defeated red hot Kyle Hirst of Loomis, CA in a
thrilling duel throughout the final 12 laps of the contest.
"To win a race that's in my
dad's honor is just awesome," Kaeding said. "To come back here and win this USAC
race without a wing is something that I don't do that often. Me and Kyle's dad used to race together and
he's a good kid. He raced me hard and
clean. Fortunately in lapped traffic we
all out and went for it and here we are again! I didn't settle for
second."
Kaeding led lap one from the
outside pole ahead of Corralitos' Jerry Bonnema. Hollister's Ryan Bernal jumped up into the
third position from sixth starting as well. Bernal challenged Hirst for the second position before the first caution
on lap three. The yellow came out for
national Sprint Car wins leader Bud Kaeding after he broke steering.
On the restart, Bernal and Hirst
made contact to bring Bernal to a stop in turn one. The incident also collected Ocean Sprints
presented by Taco Bravo points leader Shane Golobic of Fremont. Golobic took his car to the pits but was
unable to return.
The next restart saw two-time
Ocean Speedway USAC/CRA feature
winner Cory Kruseman spin to bring out the caution on lap five, handing the
third position over to eight-time USAC champion Tony Hunt of Lincoln.
The stage was set for a Kaeding
versus Hirst showdown.Kaeding had a
strong restart working the bottom while Hirst ran along the cushion. Gilroy's Eric
Rossi swept past Hunt for third on lap 13 and Kruseman had driven back up to
sixth by lap 15.
Hirst began to close in on Kaeding
as they approached lapped traffic, with Hirst doing a crossover move to run
side-by-side with Kaeding on lap 18. Kaeding went up to the cushion in more lapped traffic on lap 20 and
drove away with a comfortable advantage.
Kaeding was able to keep Hirst at
bay throughout more lapped traffic in the closing stages and took a well-earned
five car length lead at the checkered flag. Kaeding and Hirst were followed by Rossi, Kruseman, and Santa
Rosa's Marty Hawkins to round out the
top-five.Incoming series points leader
Shauna Hogg finished eighth while Hunt drifted back to seventh at the finish.
Heat race wins went to Bernal,
Golobic, and Hirst.Bernal set
quick-time with a 12.600 second lap around the quarter-mile dirt oval.
The USAC Western Midgets were also
in action on Friday night with 27 cars in the pits.Atascadero's Randi
Pankratz led the first two laps of competition before sixth place starting
Scott Pierovich of Alamo took over
the top spot. Golobic moved up into
second on lap eight and brought Kruseman with him to third.
Ryan Bernal was charging through
the field after starting eighth but his Midget drive was over on lap 12 when he
flipped in turn one. On the restart, the
caution came back out for Norco's Cody
Swanson stalled on the backstretch. The
next restart saw a serious looking flip when young Frankie Guerrini III flipped
over the turn one wall but was uninjured.
Kruseman capitalized on the
restart to steal the lead away from Pierovich and lead the final 14 laps for
the victory. Pierovich back-pedaled to a
ninth place finish in the 30 lap event. Kruseman won over points leader Shannon McQueen
of Bakersfield, Golobic,
Danny Ebberts, and Ronnie Gardner.
Heat race wins went to Sean
Dodenhoff, Jimmy Christian, Golobic, and Bernal, while Ebberts won the
Semi.Pierovich was fastest in
qualifying with a 13.463 second lap.
The Howard Kaeding Classic
continues tonight with the Golden State King of the West in the lone appearance
for winged 410s at Ocean Speedway Watsonville.The Ocean Sprints presented by
Taco Bravo
return to Ocean Speedway on Friday July 20.
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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