WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Tim Kaeding won the 30-lap Pombo-Sargent Classic at the Ocean Speedway on Friday night. The 35th annual race was under the banner of the NARC-King of the West 410 Series and paid $3,000 to the driver of the Joshua Bates Motorsports No. 42x.
The two-time King of California sprint car champion passed his brother, Bud, on lap 17 while both cars were attempting to get around the lapped car of Mark Barroso. Bud Kaeding had taken the lead from Mitchell Faccinto on a lap-10 restart going into the first turn.
Kaeding’s shot to the low groove left the leaders scrambling and when the dust cleared, the now second place car of Faccinto and third running Justin Sanders were stopped on the track along with Geoffrey Strole. Both Faccinto and Sanders had to be towed off the track, ending their nights and eliminating two of the top three running cars.
This moved Tim Kaeding into contention just before the halfway mark and on the heels of his older brother. The two Kaeding waged a battle for two laps prior to the younger Kaeding to make what would amount to be the winning move on lap 17 near the flagstand. Meanwhile, Shane Golobic and D.J. Netto put on a show for the third position, with each driver taking shots at each other.
A lap-20 spin by J.J. Ringo would slow the race and allow the field to bunch back up behind a high flying Kaeding. One lap later the yellow track lights would come on again when Keith Day Jr. spun low in the third turn while trying to advance his position.
The race’s second red flag stoppage would occur on lap 26 when Billy Aton hit the wall coming out of the second turn and flipped over.Â
This left four laps to determine the winner, however, Tim Kaeding proved to be way too strong and took the checkered flag nine car lengths ahead of his brother.          Â
The Finish:
Tim Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, D.J. Netto, Sean Becker, Kurt Nelson, Sean Watts, Colby Copeland, Austin McCarl, Ryan Robinson, Mitchel Moles, Joel Myers Jr., Bryce Eames, Adam Kaeding, Keith Day Jr., Billy Aton, Kyle Offill, J.J. Ringo, Mark Barroso, Mitchell Faccinto, Justin Sanders, Dominic Scelzi, Geoffrey Strole, Ryon Nelson