Lemoore’s Cole Macedo takes opening night of Kaeding Classic

OCEAN SPEEDWAY

Lemoore’s Cole Macedo, left, in victory lane after his win on opening night of 14th Howard Kaeding Classic in Watsonville on Friday. PAUL TREVINO PHOTOS

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By Steven Blakesley

Special to the Sentinel

WATSONVILLE >> Lemoore’s Cole Macedo returned to Ocean Speedway and victory lane. The driver claimed the 30-lap feature for the Ocean Sprints to open the 14th annual Howard Kaeding Classic on Friday night.

The Classic continues Saturday night at Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds with NARC 410 Sprint Cars, which pays $6,900 to win, along with $1,200 to win WMR Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, and Hobby Stocks.

Macedo currently is tied for the championship lead with Aromas’ Justin Sanders heading into the $6,900-to-win contest.

“Drew Warner and the guys had my car really dialed there,” Macedo said. “I love coming to Watsonville. My last time I was here was early last year and we ended up getting a win. Coming here the night before (the NARC race) is key and getting a good base package. It was in our best interest to come here and try some off the wall stuff we wouldn’t normally try.”

Macedo topped time trials at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds but it was Dominic Gorden of Clovis who won the dash to start on the pole for the nightcap feature.

Gorden led Macedo into lapped traffic by lap six. Kurt Nelson of Gilroy, the 2023 series champion, then slid over the edge in turn two and into the wall for a caution on lap 10.

On the restart, Macedo executed a slidejob underneath Gorden into turn one that stuck. He officially had the lead on lap 11. Macedo earned a quick and comfortable advantage over Gorden, but it tightened in lapped traffic just past halfway. There were brief cautions on lap 19 for DJ Netto after he spun out and on lap 23 for Bradley Dilland after he got sideways in turn four, but that didn’t deter Macedo.

Macedo topped Gorden at the checkered flag for the Ocean Sprints victory. Bud Kaeding won a thrilling heat race earlier in the night, then finished off a successful evening by finishing in third. Gauge Garcia of Lemoore and Templeton’s Kaleb Montgomery rounded out the top five.

Western Midget Racing

Oakley’s Bryant Bell, the 2023 Western Midget Racing champion, took over the points lead for the 2024 series with his 20-lap feature win, which earned him $500.

Incoming points leader Logan Mitchell of Santa Cruz and Bell shared the front row for the feature. Bell got a launch on the outside line and drove to the inside in turn one. The pair collided, relegating Mitchell to restarting at the rear of the field for a restart. On the restart, Mitchell spun for his second caution to end his night early. The points swing dropped Mitchell from an eight-point lead to an 18-point deficit.

Bell faced a challenge from Teddy Bivert of Payette, Idaho, on the restart, but Bell was able to fend him off. The red flag flew on lap seven when Lodi’s Nate Wait flipped on the backstretch while battling Roseville’s Jerry Kobza for fifth. He was uninjured.

Bell led the final 13 laps of competition for his fifth career Ocean WMR win followed by Bivert, Terry Nichols of Delano, Kobza, and San Jose’s Anthony Bruno. They join sixth-place finisher Todd Hawse of Moorpark for Saturday’s fast heat race while the rest of the field will race for starting positions seventh on back in the second heat race. Saturday’s WMR main pays $1,200 to the winner.

IMCA Sport Modified

Matthew Frazier of Santa Maria won the IMCA Sport Modified 20-lap contest over a 16-car field. Jeff Mead of Watsonville led the opening lap after starting third. Frazier started seventh and used a restart on lap two to advance to second. A caution on lap four allowed Frazier to challenge Mead for the lead. Frazier jumped inside to lead lap five.

Points leader Emali VanHoff of Chowchilla and Mead battled for second place through a series of cautions in a challenging race. Frazier got away cleanly on a green-white-checkered finish attempt which was nullified by a mechanical failure for Prunedale’s Max Baggett. Frazier earned the yellow checkered victory over Mead, VanHoff, multi-time Hobby Stock track champion Rob Gallaher of San Jose, and Tyler Tucker of Delhi.

Hobby Stock

DJ Keldsen of Newman won his first Hobby Stock main event of the season after 20 laps of racing. Joe Gallaher, the 2023 champion, paced the action from the pole position. Keldsen challenged Gallaher with the pair making contact in turn four. Gallaher then spun in turn one, handing the lead to Keldsen on lap seven.

Keldsen never relinquished the top spot followed by Adriane Frost of Watsonville, Matt Kile of San Jose, Sam Kennedy of Watsonville, and Joe Gallaher.