BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Dominic Scelzi led all 30 laps in route to victory on the opening night of the I-5 Classic for the Kings of Thunder 360 Series on Friday night at Kern County Raceway Park.
Scelzi’s red and white No. 41s started on the pole of the 22-car field.
Shane Golobic brought his Matt Woods Racing No. 17w home in the runner-up spot, being Scelzi’s only threat, ahead of Tim Kaeding in the Roth Motorsports No. 83 filling out the podium.
D.J. Netto’s No. 88n finished in the fourth spot after a late-race battle with Rico Abreu who would finish fifth in Gary Silva wrenched No. 57. The two swapped positions on the final lap after battling most of the late stages of the race.
Scelzi took little time taking command of the stout field, jumping to the lead at the drop of the green. The race however slowed quickly when Keith Day Jr. spun in turn one on the beginning of the second lap. Everyone behind him did a masterful job of missing the youth who had initially started mid pack. The restart was aborted when Cory Day came to a halt in the third turn.
The race would finally restart but would only go to lap four when Grant Duinkerken spun in the second turn and collected the car of J.J. Hickle.
Abreu was on the move and the only driver making any significant position change, taking over the fifth spot from front row starter Kaleb Montgomery. Montgomery put on a show trying to make the top groove work only to find it costly, losing positions and finally finishing eighth.
The next caution to slow the race came out on lap 12 when Devon Borden spun around in the second turn and was clipped by Austin McCarl. The hit corrected Borden who was able to continue without stopping however McCarl suffered a blown right rear tire. Borden however also suffered enough damage and stopped on the track under this caution and both cars retired from the event.
The race resumed and the leader Scelzi would start clicking off laps and finally caught the slower lapped cars. The result, Golobic was able to get within three car lengths of the high flying Scelzi but Golobic would also have to contend with the slower obstacles allowing Scelzi to build back up a comfortable lead with Kaeding still lurking in the third spot.
The action was intense on night one of the I-5 Classic from @KernRaceway on Friday as @DominicScelzi41 & @ShaneGolobic battled for the lead! Watch round two tonight at this link: https://t.co/aXUQsx27Ec pic.twitter.com/H2JMvd4843
— SPEED SPORT TV (@speedsporttv) March 6, 2021
Four laps from the end, the race’s final caution flag came out for Jason Solwold, who stopped on the back stretch and had to be pushed back to the pit area.
Scelzi survived the final laps and took home the checkered flag win worth $2,000 and an additional $300 courtesy of Country Builders for his win in the Dash.
The event was broadcast on the SPEED SPORT TV Network. Saturday’s finale is also available from SPEEDSPORT.tv.
The finish:
Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Tim Kaeding, D.J. Netto, Rico Abreu, J.J. Hickle, Ryan Robinson, Kaleb Montgomery, Jake Andreotti, Jace Vander Weerd, Cody Thornhill, Kyle Offill, Tucker Worth, Ian Madson, Mitchell Moles, Keith Day Jr., Jason Solwold, Jodie Robinson, Grant Duinkerken, Devon Borden, Austin McCarl, Corey Day.