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Brent Kaeding turns back the clock on Friday night at Ocean Speedway & charges to his second Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo win of the year
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – May 11, 2014…So far in this early season there has certainly been a resurgence by National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding and on Friday night at the Ocean Speedway everyone saw a glimpse of what fans have witnessed for some 30-plus years from the Campbell, CA legend.
Starting sixth on the grid “BK” put his Al’s Roofing Supply/ High Five Pizza No. 69 machine on the tip-top of the race track and drove around cars at will to claim the lead after just a couple laps, before holding off son Bud Kaeding to earn yet another Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo main event win.
“Before the race a few of us talked about going upstairs and blowing off the top groove, so luckily I was able to get up there and make it work,” said Kaeding. “I want to apologize to Steven Tiner, because I didn’t mean to get into him on the start and I feel bad about it. I can’t thank my guys enough though for working so hard and giving me a great race car this season. There are so many people to thank on this team that I’d be here for days. I know that Al Petersen is up there right now looking down on us and it feels good to be running so well right now.”
Lemoore’s Carson Macedo and Fremont’s Shane Golobic led the field to the green flag and as the pack raced through turns one and two it was Golobic scooping up the lead. The track surface proved to be extremely racy early on and cars ran all over the quarter-mile bullring. Kaeding immediately went upstairs and made some tremendous moves to thrill the crowd charging by cars. After getting into second “BK” then carved his way around Golobic on lap-two and scooped up the lead that he would never relinquish.
Bud Kaeding was also making his first Ocean Sprints start of the season and followed his father to the front by running the high-side early on. The three-time USAC Silver Crown champ moved into second on lap-seven and tried his hardest to make something happen with his pops for the lead. Just after ten-laps were complete however, the surface began to take rubber and made passing opportunities hard to come by. Up front Brent Kaeding had to fend off Bud during a few double-file restarts, but did so each time and then held off a closing laps charge to take the checkered by 0.472 seconds for the victory.
The runner-up finish for Bud Kaeding was a solid way to end the night during his first trip to the Ocean Speedway since joining the Morrie & Katie Williams owned Williams Motorsports No. 0 mount in the off-season. “I want to congratulate my dad on getting the win tonight. It’s pretty cool to see him doing this well again and I think we’re going to have to start calling him the flying fossil out here. I’m happy to be up here in second tonight and want to thank Ashley Smith and the whole zero team for giving me this opportunity. I also want to thank all you fans for coming out and hope to see you back here next week for the USAC 360’s and Taco Bravo Sprints event.”
Current Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo point leader Shane Golobic also closed in on the top-two late in the race and rounded out the podium at the finish aboard the Keith Day Trucking No. 22 Sprinter. It was a busy day for the 2012 Ocean champ, who had his San Jose State senior project presentation at 4pm on Friday, before jamming down to Watsonville in time for hot laps. “It was a good night for us even though we always want to win. The track was really good those first 10-laps, but after that it got pretty tough to do much. It was a good point night for this team and I really want to thank them for always giving me a good car. We’ll come back next week and try to get these guys a victory.”
Carson Macedo finished fourth in the main event for the third consecutive time this season, while Watsonville’s Justin Sanders completed the top-five in the 30-lapper. The remainder of the top-10 was comprised of defending Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo champion Brad Furr of Stockton, Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, 19th starter Jason Chisum from Salinas, Laton’s Heath Duinkerken and Hanford’s Collin Markle. The High Five Pizza Hard Charger Award in the feature went to Los Banos’ Jeff Bothelo, who came from 24th to 11th. The Beer Optics Hard Luck Award was claimed by Visalia’s Steven Tiner, whose night ended on lap-one after contact left him with heavy front end damage.
The three eight-lap heat races during the night were picked off by Mitchell Faccinto, Brent Kaeding and Carson Macedo, with the Ray Scheidts Electric Fast Time Award captured by Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson, who toured the quarter-mile in 12.199 seconds aboard the Babe’s Lightning & Muffler No. 72 machine. Full results can be viewed online at www.oceanspeedway.com
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo will return to action this coming Friday May 16 for what will be an action packed night, also featuring the USAC West Coast Wingless 360 Sprint Cars. For more info on the Ocean Sprints be sure and log onto www.oceansprints.com
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