WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Dominic Scelzi won the 30 lap Taco Bravo 360 Sprint Car Series feature which opened the 12th annual Howard Kaeding Classic at the Ocean Speedway on Friday night.
Scelzi, in his familiar Scelzi Enterprises No. 41, bested Tim Kaeding and Mitchell Faccinto. D J Netto and Blake Carrick rounded out the top five.
Bud Kaeding started on the pole by virtue of his win in the dash and led the first eight circuits before being passed by Faccinto. Those two were joined in battle by Justin Sanders however he spun on lap 11 in the fourth turn giving up the third spot.
With a double-file restart, it would be Faccinto and Kaeding who would thrill the fans with multiple sliders with each driver taking their turn at the point. That action would end when J.J. Ringo would bring out a caution when he stopped on the backstretch and had to be towed back to the pits. The green flag restart would be short lived as Joey Ancona spun in the second turn.
A pack consisting of Facintto, Netto, Scelzi and Kaeding sliced and diced around the quarter-mile fairgrounds track for several circuits. Kaeding’s race would end on lap 15 when he made contact with the back stretch wall. Also caught up in the wreck was Chase Johnson who suffered a shredded top wing forcing him to also retire.
The next caution would come out for Bryce Eames who spun around in turn four. The restart enabled Scelzi to get a run on Facintto as he took over the top spot on the 20th lap. Slowly making his way into contention was Tim Kaeding, who started in the 18th spot.
Also making a recovery by taking full advantage was Sanders who had to restart at the tail after his early race spin. Sanders had advanced to fifth, but it was Kaeding who was running second with only three laps to go.
Scelzi however was tough to catch once out front and he started his weekend off with an opening-night win.
The finish:
Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, D.J. Netto, Blake Carrick, JustinSanders, Max Mittry, Kaleb Montgomery, Joel Myer Jr., Caden Steele, Sean Becker, Jake Andreotti, Kurt Nelson, Gauge Garcia, Joey Ancona, Michael Pombo, Steven Kent, Bradley Dillard, Rickey Sanders, Bryce Eames, Ryan Bernal, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, J.J. Ringo