WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (July 6, 2011) – Two of the premier winged 360 sprint car series in the country will go head-to-head on Friday night as the California Sprint Car Civil War will head to Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway to challenge the Ocean Sprints in a co-sanctioned event.
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo are led in the points by Salinas’ Ronnie Day. Day has finished no worse than fourth throughout the season with one win feature win. He leads Tommy Tarlton in the standings by just 14 markers. Tarlton is winless at Ocean Speedway this year in the Ocean Sprints but won last Friday night’s Golden State King of the West feature before finishing second on Saturday night.
Justin Sanders, Rico Abreu, and Tommy Laliberte round out the top-five in the points standings. All three youngsters have had flashes of brilliance throughout the season but have yet to visit victory lane. The balance of the Ocean Sprints top-ten includes “Cowboy” Craig Smith, Nick Green, Kevin Pylant, Kurt Nelson, and Shane Golobic. Nelson will be looking to recover from a massive flip in the “Howard Kaeding Classic” last weekend at Watsonville.
On the Civil War side of the show, the series is in the midst of a very busy touring schedule after running Placerville Speedway last Saturday night. Steven Tiner has put himself in the championship equation following a crucial victory at Placerville with points leader Andy Forsberg finishing eighth.
The Civil War Series has seen three wins from Forsberg thus far with single wins for Tiner, Sean Becker, and Kyle Hirst. Herman Klein rounds out the top-five in the standings and is winless on the year. Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign ran strong in the series early on before missing an event to continue his USAC championship effort. Despite missing a race he still ranks 10th in the hotly contested points.
Other Civil War contenders expected on Friday night include Mike Henry, Alissa Geving, and Jeremy Burt. Henry is fresh off a 410 victory at Silver Dollar Speedway over the weekend.
Friday’s Civil War vs. Ocean Sprints contest will also be the second Johnny Key Classic qualifying race. Friday’s feature winner will be locked in to the 51st running of the event to be held on Saturday August 27. Tim Kaeding is the first locked in car after winning the feature on June 24. The 2011 edition of the Johnny Key Classic is 50 laps and pays $5000 to win.
Laps are currently for sale for the Johnny Key Classic with interested parties urged to contact samantha@oceanspeedway.com Laps are $50 each to be paid out to the top-three cars each lap.
The Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo show this Friday night includes Wingless Sprints, and Micros also scheduled. Adult tickets are just $17 with seniors 65+ $15 and kids ages 6-12 are $12. The family pass for two adults and two children is value priced at just $50. Qualifying will get underway at 6 p.m. with fan gates opening at 4:30 p.m.
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
Article Credit: Steven Blakesley / Blakesley Sports Media