WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Bud Kaeding won the 30-lap Taco Bravo 360 Series sprint car feature Friday night at Ocean Speedway.
Kaeding’s black No. 69 Al’s Roofing sponsored Maxim car improved his position from the previous week by one and put an end to Justin Sander’s two-race winning streak.
Sanders followed Kaeding across the line on a rubbered down track holding off several challenges from the ever-improving Blake Carrick. His brother, Tanner, finished fourth, followed by Shane Golobic.
Tanner Carrick and Tristan Guardino led the 22-car field to Ed Entz’s green flag. Guardino powered to the front, but Kaeding took second spot on the second circuit. Two laps later, Kaeding blasted to the front after starting from third.
Sanders used a slide job on the fading older Carrick boy to move into third on the seventh lap. He then quickly moved into second behind arch rival Kaeding. Sanders, however, bobbled coming out of the fourth turn almost spinning directly in front of Guardino and Carrick. The lap-10 miscue allowed Guardino to move back into second and allowed Kaeding to stretch his lead.
The track began to rubber down, proving costly for D.J. Netto, who got sent around after trying to make a pass low in the middle of the first and second turns. This lap 13 caution negated Kaeding’s comfortable lead and also sent Keith Day Jr. to the work area after also spinning trying to avoid Netto’s stalled car.
The restart led to a lot of slicing and dicing from second on back and brought Blake Carrick into contention. The 20th circuit saw Kaeding catch the tail of the field on the quarter-mile track near the ocean. The race’s final caution was brought out by Oregon visitor Tanner Holmes who stopped high up in the fourth turn.
The restart would give the veteran third generation racer Kaeding a clear track and he ran the final six laps flawlessly.
The finish:
Bud Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Blake Carrick, Tanner Carrick, Shane Golobic, Tristan Guardino, Chase Majdic, Colby Copeland, Kalib Henry Sean Becker, Kyle Offill, Mitchell Faccinto, Kurt Nelson, Joel Myers, Trent Canales, Joey Ancona, D.J. Netto, Max Mittry, Keith Day Jr., Jeremy Chisum, Tanner Holmes, Koen Shaw