WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Shane Golobic made a successful return to his home track of Ocean Speedway on a rare Thursday race night by winning the 30-lap Taco Bravo 360 Series sprint car feature.
The Fremont, Calif., driver has spent most of the spring and summer touring the Midwest states due to Covid 19 restrictions placed on the West Coast. Golobic drove the NOS Energy/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w from his pole position starting spot to lead the entire distance.
Kaleb Montgomery took the runner up spot ahead of Kurt Nelson, Bud Kaeding and Zane Blanchard. The race drew 21 entries and was the second night of the Taco Bravo Series but was held in front of an empty grandstands.
Golobic and Kaeding brought the 21-car field down for the start. Gobolic took the early lead with Kaeding in tow. The race would go four laps before the red flag would come out for a double flip. Eric Humphries and Joey Ancona both flipped in the first turn. Also involved was Adam Kaeding.
Once again Golobic would pull ahead of Kaeding on the restart with Ryan Bernal and D.J. Netto in the hunt. On lap eight, the second place running Kaeding would slow drastically and come to a stop just past turn four, bringing out the race’s first caution.
Kaeding would be pushed back to the pit area and after quick repairs, he would tag the rear of the field. Kaleb Montgomery had moved into the third position.
The race track would go yellow again, this time on lap 11 for a Josh Chisum and Burt Foland tangle coming out of the second turn. Just prior to that, the fourth place running Netto had made contact with another car, damaging his small front wing.
The race would now become a classic Golobic-Bernal battle between two best friends. Meanwhile, Kaeding was picking off cars or slowly advancing due to attrition. He would be just out of the top 10 prior to the halfway point.
Bad luck struck Bernal on lap 15 when he lost the power steering in his Keith Day Trucking No. 22. He would bring out the caution when he stopped high in the second turn and give up the second spot.
With most of his competition gone, Golobic cruised to his first Ocean Speedway win of the abbreviated year. Kaeding would run out of laps but would salvage a fourth-place finish.
The finish:
Shane Golobic, Kaleb Montgomery, Kurt Nelson, Bud Kaeding, Zane Blanchard, Caden Sarale, Koen Shaw, J.J. Ringo, Jason Chisum. Jake Haulot, Jeremy Chisum, Bradley Dillard, Bran Grier, Ryan Bernal, Burt Foland, D.J. Netto, Josh Chisum, Chris Nelson, Adam Kaeding, Joey Ancona, Eric Humphries