WATSONVILLE, Calif. — After finishing second three times, Shane Golobic scored an impressive $6,900 payday at Ocean Speedway, capturing the Howard Kaeding Classic.
It was Golobic’s 15th NARC 410 Sprint Car Series victory of his career, this one coming aboard the Matt Wood Racing NOS Energy Drink/Southern Pacific Farms No. 17w KPC.
“I’m happy to get this NOS Energy Drink car in victory lane at the HK for the first time,” said a super excited Golobic. “I’ve wanted to win this for so many years and just never was able to get it done. These guys race hard out here in California and you have to be up on the wheel every lap.”
Tim Kaeding set the initial pace in the 30-lap headliner aboard the Williams Motorsports/Dalton’s Landscaping No. 0 Maxim. Kaeding was lightning fast in the open race track, but got hung up when slower traffic came into play on the seventh circuit.
Golobic turned up the heat on Kaeding and managed to power underneath the leader in the fourth corner on the tenth circuit.
Golobic was not out of the woods, as he had to then deal with the challenges of NARC championship point leader Corey Day.
Golobic survived several slide jobs, the last one which resulted in contact between the two frontrunners. With less than a mile remaining, Day and Golobic got tangled up in the second corner and Day limped to a stop with a flat tire. Golobic continued to roll forward.
Once the race resumed, Sanders challenged the leader, looking to score his second consecutive win at the event. Driving the MittryConstruciton.com/North County Plastering No. 2x Maxim, Sanders shadowed Golobic’s every move but was unable to move past.
“I knew Corey (Day) and Justin (Sanders) were behind me, and their two of the best in the business; you got to go,” Golobic continued, after scoring his fifth win at the track. “This just feels really good. I can’t thank these guys enough and my brother (Dustin) does an awesome job. He’s the most underrated crew chief in my opinion.”
Sanders collected $2,500 for his second-place effort.
Kaeding managed to bounce back on the podium for a third-place run for his best career Howard Kaeding Classic performance.
Bud Kaeding and Dominic Scelzi completed the top five.
Blake Bower earned $1,000 as the Western Midget Racing victor of the 13th annual Howard Kaeding Classic. The win is Bower’s 12th at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds dirt track.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic [2]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders [4]; 3. 0-Tim Kaeding [1]; 4. 69-Bud Kaeding [7]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi [9]; 6. 5V-Colby Copeland [5]; 7. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [18]; 8. 7B-Sean Becker [6]; 9. 88N-DJ Netto [11]; 10. 88A-Joey Ancona [13]; 11. 83T-Tanner Carrick [20]; 12. 14-Corey Day [3]; 13. 26-Billy Aton [14]; 14. 72W-Kurt Nelson [17]; 15. 17-Kalib Henry [21]; 16. 24-Chase Johnson [16]; 17. 3D-Caleb Debem [23]; 18. 121-Caeden Steele [12]; 19. 12J-John Clark [19]; 20. 115-Nick Parker [10]; 21. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [15]; 22. 42X-Justyn Cox [8]; 23. 25Z-Jason Chisum [22]; 24. 8-Jeremy Chisum [24]