Yuba City’s Standley strikes for his first sprints feature win

OCEAN SPEEDWAY

Driver Grant Duinkerken of Riverdale, top, fights for position with Corbin Seay of Fallon, Nevada, in the sprint car qualifier at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville on Friday night. RAUL EBIO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

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By Gary Thomas

Special to the Sentinel

WATSONVILLE >> Yuba City’s Seth Standley executed an early pass of Gilroy’s Kurt Nelson and cruised away to score his first sprint car triumph of his career on opening night at Ocean Speedway on Friday.

Standley was aboard his familiar Salco Better Energy/ Swimming Pool Perfections No. 25 mount and made a great rebound after getting upside down the previous week during a heat race in Placerville.

“It feels great to get my first ever sprint car win tonight here at Ocean Speedway,” he commented on the front stretch. “We’ve been close in the past and had one thing or another take it away. I really want to thank my family and my entire team for all their hard work in getting me up here. To go from that heat race flip in Pville last week to a win in Watsonville is pretty surreal.”

Other division winners included Robert Marsh in IMCA Modifieds, Bo Crebs in IMCA Sport Mods and Joshua Silva in Four Bangers.

Nelson, a former Ocean Sprints champion, snagged the early lead after winning the Gizdich Ranch Dash, but Standley carved his way down low to take over the point after a few laps.

Once out front, Standley had his way with things and went on to cross under the Ed Entz checkered flag for the win over Nelson, last year’s Ocean champ Caleb Debem, Jeremy Chisum and Jason Chisum. Jake Haulot began the evening by blistering the quarter mile for fast time, clocking an 11.083 during time trials.

IMCA Modified

The 25-lap IMCA Modified finale featured a fantastic race that saw Robert Marsh of Salinas end up in victory lane. Jonathan Hagio of Prunedale took the lead at the waving of the green flag and set a fast pace over the early stages.

Side-by-side racing and battles were seen all over the track for the Modifieds during their main event. Marsh reeled in Hagio and hounded his rear before taking command on lap 8.

Marsh pulled away but had to drive some perfect laps towards the end as Bobby Hogge closed in. The Salinas legend moved into second with six laps left and cut down a wide margin between the pair.

Hogge ran out of time though as Marsh claimed the win by just over half a second. Hogge, Jim Pettit II, Jacob Mallet Jr. and Cody Burke rounded out the top five.

IMCA Sport Mods

The IMCA Sport Mods also provided an ultra-entertaining 20-lap main event. The intense feature saw Jim DiGiovanni lead the opening lap. Trent Golden of Pittsburg got by one circuit later.

The well-prepared surface allowed the Sport Mods to utilize every inch of the bullring. With cars running high and low, Yreka’s Bo Crebs went to work on the leader and the duo proceeded to put on an excellent battle for the top spot.

Golden and Crebs showcased some clean racing in a fabulous tussle for the lead. Crebs took over for good on lap 13 and went on to take his initial Ocean Speedway win. “Captain Chaos” and opening night winner Danny Wagner came home in second followed by Trevor Clymens, Rob Gallaher and Golden in the top five.

Four Bangers

The Four Bangers featured a photo finish at the line. Amaya Flower jumped out front early but he was pressured from Tony Gullo and a host of others. The 15-lap race had its share of excitement with the top four drivers racing closely together at times.

TJ Santos and Joshua Silva hounded Flower over the waning circuits with the crowd on its feet. Silva blasted by Santos and then moved alongside Flower coming down to the checkered.

In a near dead heat, Silva was able to nip Flower at the scoring loop for the dramatic triumph. Santos, Gullo and Kate Beardsley completed the top five.