BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Shane Golobic completely dominated the Kings of Thunder I-5 Classic finale at the Dirt Track at Kern County on Saturday night.
Golobic’s Elk Grove Ford/NOS Energy Drink No. 17w for Matt Wood Racing led flag to flag to pocket the $3,000 winner’s share of the purse.
Rico Abreu charged through the field after starting eighth to take the second spot right ahead of Jason Solwold. Solwold was running second until a lap-28 restart put Abreu on his rear bumper. The two battled for the spot on the frontstretch with Abreu coming out ahead.
Kaleb Montgomery concluded a second straight night of impressive driving bringing home his Luxton sponsored black No. 3 in the fourth spot while Mitchell Faccinto finished fifth in the Western Metal Company No. 37 of Stan Greenburg.
Golobic and fellow veteran Tim Kaeding brought the 24-car starting field to the green with Golobic showing strength and jumping to the lead in turn one. Action was short lived as Devon Bordon would bring out a caution when he spun to the high side of turn two.
Once restarted it would only take Golobic to lap six to catch the slower cars at the same time Brock Lemley would also do a spin in the second turn coming completely down the track almost right in front of the leaders. Lemley would eventually pull into the infield on lap 10 and became the first car out of the race.
Golobic and second-place running Kaeding would catch lapped traffic once again. Managing slow cars was a problem for Kaeding who did a 360-degree spin on the frontstretch while in the middle of a gaggle of cars. He was charged with the caution and was sent to the rear of the field. Kaeding showed a lot of displeasure with young Borden while getting realigned. Bordon would make it to lap 20 and become the race’s second retiree.
The new line up put Mitchell Faccinto into second followed by Solwold, Abreu and Montgomery. At the halfway mark, Solwold would pass Faccinto while Golobic would once again have to deal with lapped cars with 22 cars still on track.
With 10 laps to go, attention centered on D.J. Netto and the previous night’s winner Dominic Scelzi who were battling for sixth. The two would trade that position several times. At the end it would be Netto who would win out.
Lap 24 saw Montgomery pass Faccinto for the fourth spot. The race’s final caution would come out on lap 28 when Justyn Cox spun in the second turn. The restart put Abreu right behind Solwold and the fan favorite made quick order of the Washington State invader. But there was no catching Golobic who now added a victory to his second-place finish the night before.
The finish:
Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, Jason Solwold, Kaleb Montgomery, Mitchell Faccinto, D.J. Netto, Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Robinson, Mitchell Moles, Joey Ancona, Tim Kaeding, Corey Day, Keith Day Jr., Austin McCarl, Zane Blanchard, Justin Cox, Jake Andreotti, J.J. Hickle, Kyle Offill, Jodie Robinson, Craig Stidham, J.J. Ringo, Devon Borden, Brock Lemley