WATSONVILLE — The action finally returns at the Ocean Speedway after a month-long break. The track will roar back to life once again with the sound of revved up engines on Friday night.
The lineup will feature five divisions: IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Western Midgets, Hobby Stocks and the Police N’ Pursuit class.
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IMCA Modifieds: With 12 races in the record books, there’s still a close battle at the top of the IMCA Modifieds standings.
Austin Burke currently leads with 431 points just slightly ahead of Cody Burke in second (427) and Jim Pettit II in third (418). All three drivers each have seven top-five finishes.
Cody Burke, who’s the reigning champion, has picked up two victories, while Pettit has one. Austin Burke jumped to first place in the standings when earned a season-best second place finish in his most recent race.
Jeff Decker has a good hold of fourth place (388) in the standings. He picked up his first feature win of the season at Antioch Speedway but he continues to seek a win on his home track.
The competitive field will likely include hard chargers such as past champions Robert Marsh and Nick DeCarlo along with Anthony Copeland, Raymond Keldsen Jr. and rookie Anthony Giuliani.
Six-time champion Bobby Hogge IV leads the class with five feature victories. He’s aiming for a sixth win as he tunes up for the Pat & Jim Pettit Memorial Shootout race scheduled for next week.
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IMCA Sport Modified: The IMCA Sport Modified championship race is starting to tilt in the direction of second-generation racer Jarrod Mounce, who leads the pack with 493 points.
Mounce, who’s based out of Atwater, holds a 28-point advantage over Adrianne Frost in second (464). He’s finished in the top-5 in all 13 of his starts including two victories.
Frost, a two-time winner out of Watsonville, holds a 20-point lead over Justin McPherson in third place (445).
With three victories each, Kevin Johnson and Guy Ahlwardt hold the fourth (429) and fifth (397) positions respectively. Ahlwardt leads Johnson by a wide margin in the IMCA State championship race.
The number of competitors has increased in this division throughout the season as several drivers have showed up to town for a night of racing on the fast quarter-mile clay oval.
Other stars to watch for this week include rookie Kelly Campanile, Charlie Hunter, Max Baggett, Randy Miller and Steven Allee.
Jarrod Mounce may be surprising some people as the IMCA Sport Modified point leader. (Contributed by L&J Photography)
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Ocean Midget: The Ocean Midget division is doing a good job of getting established in its first season at the speedway.
The class has averaged about a half dozen cars per race. David Prickett scored victories in three of the five events held and currently sits in first place with 306 points.
Prickett has a 22-point advantage over Randi Pankratz in second with 284 points and Greg Edenholm in third with 211 points.
Prickett and Pankratz have scored four top-five finishes each. But Pankratz is in no danger of losing her place in the standings.
Keoni Texeira of Honolulu won the most recent race. He recently spent some seasons running with the Northwest Focus Midget group in Washington and Northern Oregon.
The division has had a positive buzz at both Watsonville and Ventura, which bodes well for the future.
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Hobby Stock: Rob Gallaher continues to lead the way over his father, Joe, in the Hobby Stock division.
Rob Gallaher sits in first place with 403 points and he has picked up 11 top-five finishes in 12 starts, which includes a division-leading five victories.
Joe Gallaher sits in second with 379 points and he’s done an exceptional job with three wins of his own. The championship could go either way between these two.
DJ Keldsen maintains a hold of third place (324) just ahead of recent feature winner Jerry Skelton who sits in fourth (285). The top-four drivers are anticipated to compete this week.
Others to watch for include the father-son team of Bobby Huckaby Sr. and Jr. along with past champion Wally Kennedy, Nick Triolo and Ryan Muller.
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Police N’ Pursuit: The Police N’ Pursuit division will feature its Championship Night to close out the evening.
John Hohmann of the Scotts Valley Police Department has two victories to his credit and currently sits atop the standings with 420 points.
Hohmann has a 47-point lead over Roy Iler (373) of the San Benito Sheriff’s Office after seven races.
Iler leads Stephen Fernandes (363) of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office by just 10 points.
Other stars of the group include two-time winners Dan Anderson and Jesse Mueller along with Adam Rikalo, Justin Rhoades and Tony Weir.
The various representatives of different law enforcement agencies do a little bit of public outreach and also help raise money for the Special Olympics.
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Up next: The main gates open at 4:30 p.m. and racing action begins at 6 p.m. on Friday night. For information, go to www.racepmg.com.
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Editor’s Note: This article will be published in the Sept. 20 edition of The Pajaronian.
