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Civil War vs. GLR Investments Sprint Cars Ready to Go At It at Ocean Speedway
By Gary Costa
Watsonville, CA – July 13, 2009….This Friday night has all the makings of a great Sprint Car race, as two of the toughest Winged 360 Sprint Car series in the state will collide this Friday night at John Prentice's exciting Ocean Speedway. The traveling Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series and the GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car Series will go at each other for bragging rights on the ¼-mile clay. The race will be the first of two Civil War vs. GLR Investments Series events that will be held this season at Ocean Speedway.
At least 40 cars are expected to compete in the all-out Sprint Car slugfest. The race will also have a race within a race, as this will be the second of four Johnny Key Classic Qualifying races. Tommy Tarlton, Justin Sanders and Brad Furr have managed to "lock" themselves into the 50 lap event via their June 26 finishes.
In GLR Investments Series action, Scott's Valley's Evan Suggs in the Suggs Racing No. 33E and Prundale's Justin Sanders in the North County Plastering No. 17 go into the event tied in points. Suggs is fresh off of setting quick time and a second place run with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Cars at Santa Maria Speedway, while Sanders is coming off a hard fought third place finish at Chowchilla Speedway on extremely tricky track conditions.
"It feels good to be right up in there in the points. We've had some bad luck the last couple of races, but I'm hoping we can get out of there with a good finish, and have the points lead all to ourselves. The Civil War guys are real tough," Suggs said. "When they came to Ocean last year, I had some of them in my heat and the main, and they were fast. Then you toss in a guy like Sean Becker, and he's fast no matter where he goes. It's going to make for one great show."
Defending Civil War point's champion and current point's leader, Sean Becker has two wins in the series so far this season with his wins coming at Silver Dollar Speedway and American Valley Speedway. Last Saturday night, Becker carried $5,000 out of Placerville Speedway by winning the big Mark Forni Classic race for the second consecutive year. Becker leads an extremely talented group of drivers into Ocean Speedway, and Becker has been anything less than spectacular in Scott Miller's No. 2sb this season.
"I'm really looking forward to this Friday's race. I'm real confident right now because of the car that I'm in. I do know how stiff the competition is there with guys like Evan Suggs, Tommy Tarlton, BK, and the rest of them," Becker said. "I hear that the track has been real racy too. Those guys will run you hard, but clean, but I also like my chances going in."
Other Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series winners this season include: Kyle Hirst winning at Petaluma in the Gary Perkins No. 6, Andy Forsberg taking Placerville's win in the A&A Motorsports No. 92, and most recently Mike Henry who wheeled the Rudy Warrington No. 18 to victory at the last Civil War event held at Petaluma Speedway on July, 3.
Tommy Tarlton's June 26 win made him the first repeat winner so far this season in the six GLR Investments races contested thus far. Campbell's Brent Kaeding won the opening round in the BK Motorsports No. 69, Grass Valley's Jason Statler won Round No. 2 in the DF Rios Construction No. 00, Prundale's Justin Sanders garnered Round No. 3 in the North County Plastering No. 17, Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright, Jr. picked up Round No. 5 in the Wright One Construction No. 35, and Easton's Tommy Tarlton was victorious in Round No. 4 and Round No. 6 in the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No. 21.
Fan favorite Herman Klein sits in second in Civil War points in the Dale Wondergem No. 91. The Sacramento gasser is only 21 points behind Becker. Klein was on the hammer at the last Civil War event in Petaluma, where he charged from 20th to 13th in the main event.
Currently sitting third in GLR Investments points and ready to strike is Campbell's Brent Kaeding in the Sala/Matherly Motorsports No. 19. Kaeding sits a mere three tallies back from Suggs and Sanders. The savvy veteran has put the fans on their feet, as he has had to charge from mid-pack the last couple of races. Kaeding scored an eighth place finish in the last GLR Investments event.
Santa Rosa masher Brett Rollag sits third in Civil War points, and has his sights set on Klein. Rollag enters the event only seven points behind the driver of the No. 91. Rollag is coming off of a stellar performance at the last Civil War race by finishing second in the Rod Rollag No. 27.
Tommy Tarlton has moved up into fourth in the GLR Investments standings in the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No. 21. The Easton masher has gained momentum of late en route to two wins in the series and strong finishes. Tarlton sits a mere ten points back from the leaders.
Chico veteran Stephen Allard is always a treat to watch, as this driver is always on the gas. Allard comes into the event fourth in Civil War points in the Dorothy Lee No. 4. Allard gassed it up at Petaluma, charging from 15th to sixth in the potent mount.
Pleasanton's Brad Furr had his best GLR Investments finish thus far this season coming at the last event on June 26. After shaking off of some bad luck in the first few events, Furr has been gaining speed in the Brad Furr Racing No. 2. Furr sits fifth in the standings and is in striking distance of everyone in front of him. He is only one point from Tarlton and 11 from the leaders.
San Jose's Matt Sargent competes regularly with both groups. Sargent sits fifth in Civil War points and is knocking on the door to break into the Top-10 in GLR investments points. Sargent impressed all in attendance in Round No. 5 GLR Investments competition. Sargent took a vicious series of flips in his heat race and came back to race in the main event where he drove the broke and battered Sean Leggat No. 14 to a 14th place finish.
A host of other drivers will be seeking the Civil War vs. GLR Investments Series win including Grass Valley's Jason Statler, Santa Cruz's Kevin Pylant, Escalon's Myles Bishop, San Jose's Jason Newton, Penngrove's Alissa Geving, Morgan Hill's Ricky Wright, Jr., Elk Grove's Chad Compton, Visalia's Cory Eliason, Sacramento's Mike Henry, Gilroy's Kurt Nelson, Fremont's Shane Golobic, San Martin's Wes Gutierrez, Diamond Springs' Andy Gregg and many more.
Top-10 in GLR Investments Sprint Car Points
1. Evan Suggs 303
1. Justin Sanders 303
3. Brent Kaeding 300
4. Tommy Tarlton 293
5. Brad Furr 292
6. Ronnie Day 278
7. Ricky Wright, Jr. 262
8. Craig Smith 257
9. Kurt Nelson 232
10. Jason Newton 228
Top-10 in California Sprint Car Civil War Points
1. Sean Becker 369
2. Herman Klein 348
3. Brett Rollag 341
4. Stephen Allard 338
5. Matt Sargent 310
6. Myles Bishop 264
7. Chad Compton 263
8. R.C. Smith 262
9. Andy Gregg 256
9. Ryan Gomes 256
49th Annual Johnny Key Classic Qualifiers
1. Tommy Tarlton
2. Justin Sanders
3. Brad Furr
Follow the Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series and the GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car Series on the web at www.CivilWarSprints.com and www.OceanSprints.com
Pit gate opens at 1:00 with the front gate opening at 4:00. Racing starts at 6. Adults are $15, kids 6-12 $9, all kids under 5 free. Family $40 (2 Adults and 2 Children), Senior $12 with I.D. (65 yrs+). For more information please log onto www.oceanspeedway.com or call the speedway at (831) 476-9466
The speedway is located at 2601 East Lake Ave in Watsonville, CA
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