BUD KAEDING EARNS SECOND OCEAN SPRINT WIN OF 2021 OVER ANCONA
(May 1, 2021 by Gary Thomas) – Campbell’s Bud Kaeding was part of a torrid battle early and then held off relentless challenges from youngster Joey Ancona to claim his second Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo triumph of the season on Friday. Photo by Top Dawg Photos
Sharing victory lane with Kaeding were Rob Gallaher in the Hobby Stocks, Nat Graham with Police N Pursuit and Tony Gullo with the Four Bangers after winner Jeff Durant was Disqualified in post-race tech.
The 30-lap Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo feature started with Dash winner Kyler Shaw jumping into the lead over 2019 track champion JJ Ringo. Bud Kaeding was a part of the mix right away as the trio raced hard and close together. A well-prepared surface lent for an entertaining main event on this night. Ringo blasted to the lead on lap-five and did a fabulous job through lapped traffic keeping the field at bay.
The final caution of the contest waved just prior to the halfway point and following that Bud Kaeding would maneuver his way to the lead, as Concord’s Joey Ancona also came to life. The 16-year-old ran the cushion to perfection, particularly in the first set of turns. With Kaeding leading he felt pressure from Ancona for several laps but used his veteran experience to get through traffic. As the laps wound down Ancona once again had a run on Kaeding and looked for an opportunity to pounce.
As the duo rounded turn four to accept the white flag Ancona got the rear end around and that was all Kaeding needed, as he charged off to accept the Ed Entz checkered flag. Atwater’s Sean Watts made a rare Ocean Sprints start and was rewarded with a runner up finish at the conclusion, ahead of Ancona who recovered following the near spin, Ringo and Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson. The remainder of the top-10 was filled out by Nick Ringo, Jerry Bonnema, Bryce Eames, Jason Chisum and Kyler Shaw.
As noted, Kyler Shaw captured the Dash while heat races went to Shaw, Bonnema and Watts. Bud Kaeding started off the night by setting fast time with a blistering lap of 11.478.
The 20-lap Hobby Stock finale was all about San Jose’s Rob Gallaher, who started up front and stretched out his lead to well over a straightaway at times. There no worries whatsoever for Gallaher who claimed his second Ocean Speedway victory of the year over father Joe Gallaher, Ryan Muller, Quintin Harris and Norm Ayers. Heat races were picked off by Joe and Rob Gallaher respectively. Qualifying was also held with fast time going to Joe Gallaher by carving his way around the quarter-mile in 17.081 seconds.
The Four Banger contest appeared to have been a dominating effort by Jeff Durant, however, in post-race tech it was deemed that his car wasn’t up to track specs. That handed the win to Tony Gullo over Kate Beardsley, Nicole Beardsley, Travis VanGilder and Bill Beardsley.
Santa Cruz, California’s Nate Graham raced to victory with Police N Pursuit during the night. His biggest worry came with a couple laps left when he executed a half spin off turn four. He collected things though and picked up the win over AJ Waltrip, Roy ller, Jackie Yeung and John Hohmann.
The exact same show returns to Ocean Speedway next Friday May 7th but the big news is that fans will return to the stands that night! Stay glued to the Ocean Speedway social media channels for the details.
