Among the head-turning firsts formally entering the record books during an open-to-the-public evening awards ceremony at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk's Coconut Grove Ballroom:

•Two 14-year-olds winning their respective divisions in the same year.

•The crowning of a series champion who never won a feature event.

•Three Salinas residents won their divisions, a fourth finished second.

The champions and their divisions are:

•Wingless Sprints: Called the 360 Class because of their 360 cubic-inch, V8 engines, these single-seaters run up to 90 mph and Ryan Bernal, 14, of Hollister, tied for first against David Press of Foster City with 264 points. Bernal won the title because of more wins and hopes to move up to a faster division in 2009.

•Micro Sprints: These quarter-scale sprinters are powered by motorcycle engines up to 600 cc and run up to 70 mph. Devon Ostheimer, 14, of Morgan Hill, beat Carter Train of Salinas by four points, 306 to 302, to win his first championship. Ostheimer will be moving up to Wingless Sprints in 2009.

The Speedway's track announcer, Tony Karis, followed Bernal and Ostheimer all season.

"They're both very smooth and not overly aggressive," Karis said. "Both are very good thinkers and have learn how to win. They present themselves well and are good at interviews."

•IMCA Modifieds: This premier national division, with speeds up to 90-plus mph, was won by second-generation racer Robert Marsh of Salinas - marking the first time the Speedway crowned a champion who went winless in feature races the entire year.

"Consistency paid off on this one," Karis said about Marsh's first title after several years. "Marsh doesn't have the best equipment in the world but he remained consistent and is a very much improved driver."

•America Stocked Series: Driving Camaros, Mustangs and other muscle cars from the 1970s and 80s, these powerful V8s run up to 75 mph on the Speedway's flat quarter-mile track. After being named rookie of the year in 2007, Austin Burke of Salinas won the championship. Not bad for a teenager who got his start by racing video-game simulators. "That's how he learned," Karis said. "He's very consistent and very steady. He's also a thinker on the race track."

Like Bernal and Ostheimer, Burke's equipment is for sale and he's hoping his Burke Upholstery-backed team can move up to IMCA Modifieds in 2009, where his older brother, Cody, finished third in 2008.

•Late Models: Powered with sealed crate motors,

these 400-hp, crowd-pleasing sophisticated race cars were led, again, by the latest of a family in a tradition of racers: Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas. Winning 11 consecutive late model feature events, Hogge was also dominant at other open events as well as at home.

"Bobby Hogge is at his all-time prime right now," Karis said. "I honestly don't think there's anyone outside a handful of drivers that can keep up with him. He's been racing more than 15 years. His father and grandfather were winners and champions. Bobby is smooth and calculating. He focuses a lot on setup, and he's excellent at sizing up a track."

•Wright One 360 Sprint Cars: Driving his winged open-wheel racer at up to 110 mph, Brent Kaeding of Campbell, a 13-time King of California Golden State Champion, won his second consecutive Wright One Division title. Kaeding, a 2008 inductee in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame at Knoxville, Iowa, has helped the Speedway attract some of the best drivers in the West.

"He's a veteran who is still a hard charger that takes no prisoners," Karis said. "The 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old young guns along with his own kids always have a fight on their hands when racing the elder Kaeding. Ocean Speedway's entire Wright One field is star studded and is developing a reputation of drawing the best sprint car drivers around."

•Dwarfs: These smaller, motorcycle-driven speedsters proved an excellent training ground for Ryan Diatte of Salinas. He was rookie of the year in 2007 and in 2008 won both the championship and graduated from Alvarez High School.

"He reminds me of Bobby Hogge," Karis said. "He's very smooth. He doesn't get out of shape (off line) very often. He and dwarf car veteran Gilbert Toste of Gilroy have similar styles: They're not overly aggressive but are always there when it counts."

Diatte winning four of 12 features, will race a limited schedule in 2009 because he's attending an automotive technical school in Sacramento, but Karis expects Diatte to remain a force in the future.

•Four Bangers: These entry-level, 60 mph, four-cylinder cars proved profitable for Jeff Wilson of Corralitos. In his third season, the Aptos High School senior, 17, won the title after finishing third in 2006 and second in 2007.

"In Jeff's short career, like Bernal and Ostheimer, he's also learned how to win races and that's the most important lesson to learn. He's consistent and has had some of the breaks (racing luck) go his way to win six of 14 feature events," Karis said. "He is soft spoken and intensely determined."

RAY SOTERO is a Sacramento-based columnist for The Salinas Californian. His column runs the second and fourth Tuesdays each month. Submit tips at [email protected].