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FINAL JOHNNY KEY CLASSIC QUALIFIER THIS FRIDAY AT
OCEAN
8/18/2010
- Series press release
 With
just one race remaining until the 50th Johnny Key
Classic Ocean Sprint Car Series drivers and teams
will look to get in a final tune up this Friday
night at the Ocean Speedway, before the
prestigious running of the
$5,000-to-win/$300-to-start event in just over a
week.
With three qualifying races in the books Elk
Grove’s Kyle Larson, Salinas’ Ronnie Day and
Easton’s Tommy Tarlton are the drivers currently
locked into the Key Classic, which is coming up on
Saturday night August 28.
This Friday will be the final pre-qualifying race
for the event and the final few locked in starting
spots will be up for grabs during the evening of
competition. After the main event this week the
top-two drivers in the Ocean Sprints standings not
already qualified will also be locked in to give a
total of six pre-qualified drivers.
In addition to the main event purse there is also
lap money continuing to be sold for the Johnny Key
Classic. The cost is $50 a lap with $25 going to
the leader, $15 for second and $10 for third. For
anyone that would like to purchase a lap please
contact Gary at
gary7n@sbcglobal.net
or Samantha at
samantha@oceanspeedway.com or
simply see us at the track on Friday.
As the summer nears its end just five races remain
in the battle for the Ocean Sprint Car Series
presented by Taco Bravo title, with championship
night scheduled for Friday October 15 at Ocean
Speedway. So far this year nine-events have been
held for the 360 winged sprint car series with
five different winners and a point battle that has
remained close all season long.
Only 13-digits separate the top-two in the Ocean
Sprints standings and sitting atop the points
continues to be defending track champion Tommy
Tarlton, who is coming off his third victory of
the season with the series during the most recent
event on July 30. Going into that night the driver
of the Corporate America Lending, Tachi Palace
Hotel & Casino No. 21 held a five-point advantage
in the standings, but a heat race win coupled with
his feature victory allowed him to more than
double his lead, as he looks for back to back
titles.
Going into Friday tied with Tarlton for the most
wins this year in Ocean Sprint Car Series
presented by Taco Bravo competition, Kyle Larson
will be searching for his fourth triumph of the
season at Ocean Speedway, in an attempt to close
back in on the point lead. In the last event on
July 30 the 18-year-old charged from 12th
to second in the main event to stay within reach
of Tarlton in the standings, during what has been
his first full-year of racing with the Ocean
Sprints behind the wheel of the Stadelhofer
Construction, Peppermill Casino No. 99x.
Former two-time Ocean Sprints champion Brent
Kaeding goes into the weekend third in the
standings and will look to regroup after a tough
ending to the most recent event, in which
mechanical issues took him out of the lead in the
main event. The
Campbell
veteran led laps three through six in the feature
that night, but slowed on a restart and brought
his Al’s Roofing Supply, Hive Five Pizza No. 69 to
the work area, taking away a chance at his first
win of 2010.
As one of the drivers already qualified for the
Johnny Key Classic veteran wheel-man Ronnie Day
will be in search of his first win of the season
on Friday as he looks to build momentum towards
next week aboard the Keith Day Trucking, Agri-Trade
School No. 22. The former King of California
started from the front row during the last race
and led the initial three-laps in the feature,
until getting caught up in a spin while trying to
avoid a trio of stopped cars. Day comes into
Friday ranking fourth in the Ocean Sprints
standings.
Rounding out the top-five in points Visalia’s Cory
Eliason, who will be gunning to continue the solid
consistency he has had over the last number of the
events on Friday night in his Advance Auto & Smog,
MC Customs No. 00x sprinter. The youngster has
finished among the top-five in five straight Ocean
Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo events
at Ocean Speedway and will be looking for his
first win of the season this weekend.
Returning to
California
and expected to make his second Ocean Sprints
presented by Taco Bravo start of the season on
Friday will be San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, who has won
his three most recent starts with the series and
will be looking to earn a locked in starting spot
for the Johnny Key Classic. The pilot of the Roth
Motorsports, DTR Transport Inc. No. 83 mount
picked up an ultra thrilling victory at the Tulare
Thunderbowl in May, in which he battled wheel to
wheel with Tarlton and Larson for the win in the
feature.
Other drivers expected to be on hand this Friday
will include Clovis’ Peter Murphy, Pleasanton’s
Brad Furr, Prunedale’s Justin Sanders,
Grass Valley’s
Jason Statler, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs,
Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Morgan Hill’s Devon
Ostheimer & Ricky Wright Jr.,
San Jose’s
Matt Sargent, San Martin’s Craig Smith, Corralitos’
Jerry Bonnema, Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson and more.
The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at
4:30pm this Friday night August 20 with hot laps
at
5:45, qualifying around 6 and racing to follow. All seating will
be general admission with adult tickets costing
$16, children 6-12 $11 and kids five and under
free. A family pack featuring two adults and two
kids is available for $45 and seniors 65 and older
with id will be $14. The Ocean Speedway is located
on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in
Watsonville, California.
Johnny Key Classic Qualifying Procedure:
Starting Friday June 25 and continuing thru August
20 drivers will pre-qualify for the 50th
running of the Johnny Key Classic. This will be
accomplished by taking the winner from June
25(Kyle Larson); July 16(2nd place
finisher Ronnie Day); July 30(Tommy Tarlton) &
August 20 A-main main events and locking them into
a starting spot for the Johnny Key Classic race.
After the first night of pre-qualifying if the
winner of the next week event is the same, we will
take the #2 finisher, until the final night of
pre-qualifying. After August 20 the top two (2)
DRIVERS in Ocean 360 Sprints presented by Taco
Bravo Series points that have NOT secured a
starting spot in the Key race will be included in
the pre-qualified Key race line up.
Coming up: Following this week’s event, the Ocean
Sprint Car Series presented by Taco Bravo will
then get set for the previously mentioned 50th
running of the Johnny Key Classic on Saturday
night August 28 at the Ocean Speedway. 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 |
