Tommy Tarlton comes home third in penultimate round of Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo season
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – October 11, 2010…Looking to bring home his second consecutive Ocean 360 Sprints title Easton, California’s Tommy Tarlton put in another consistent performance on Friday night by driving to a third place finish in the penultimate event of the 2010 season at Ocean Speedway.
A year after claiming his first Ocean Sprints championship Tarlton has come back to have yet another ultra strong season and the third place effort this past Friday marked his fifth straight podium finish at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds bullring.
“I’m a little disappointed to run third in the main event after starting on the front row, but these are the finishes we need while trying to wrap up the title,” said the driver of the Corporate America Lending, Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino No. 21 sprint car. “We’ll just come back next week and try to finish off this championship with a win.”
Going into Friday with a 30-point lead in the Ocean Sprint Cars presented by Taco Bravo standings Tarlton opened up the night by coming out late in the qualifying order and ripped off the third fastest lap overall out of 34-cars. Starting from sixth in his heat race he then had his hands full with a very fast and hooked up track, but would make a thrilling last lap/last turn pass for the final transfer spot into the feature.
After the exciting heat race Tarlton lined up from the front row in the 30-lap main event and fell into line second behind Ronnie Day on the start, before dropping a position to Campbell’s Brent Kaeding by the time a lap had been completed. He then ran comfortably in third for a majority of the race, until Day was knocked out of contention with under 10-laps left, which bumped the Tarlton & Son Inc., Sharp Insurance No. 21 Maxim up to second.
Once getting into second Tarlton tried his best to keep up with Kaeding, but “BK” on this night was nearly untouchable up front and as the race wound down “Tommy T” would have to deal with a fast moving Kyle Larson, who started the race from 12th. Lapped traffic then became very hectic over the final couple of laps, with Tarlton and Larson proceeding to have an entertaining battle for second, which saw Larson win out and relegate Tarlton to third at the checkered.
Tarlton will now go into this Friday night’s finale at Ocean Speedway holding a 28-point lead in the standings over Larson as he looks to wrap up the title, as well as pick up his fifth victory of the season with the Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo.
The front gate of the Ocean Speedway will open at 4:30pm this Friday night October 15 with hot laps at 5:45, qualifying around 6 and racing to follow. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets costing $16, children 6-12 $11 and kids five and under free. A family pack featuring two adults and two kids is available for $45 and seniors 65 and older with id will be $14. The Ocean Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California.
Then on Saturday Tarlton will drop the 410 power-plant underneath the hood for the final time this year and head for the prestigious Cotton Classic at the Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford. The most recent Winged 410 Sprint Car event at the track saw him tally a runner up finish to Tim Kaeding and on Saturday he’ll be looking for his second career victory in the Cotton Classic, after previously winning the race in 1998.
The front gate will open at 5:30pm this Saturday October 16 at the Cotton Classic with racing scheduled to start around 6:30. General admission bleacher tickets will cost $17 and Reserved Grandstand tickets $20. For advance tickets and more info contact 559-584-7223. The Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway is a lightning fast 3/8 mile clay oval and is located on the Kings County Fairgrounds in Hanford, California.
For more on Tommy Tarlton and Tarlton & Son Inc. log onto http://www.tarltonandson.com/
Easton's Tommy Tarlton will look to finish off his second straight Ocean 360 Sprints title this Friday night, before taking to the Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford on Saturday for the annual Cotton Classic. Photo by John Meirhofer of http://www.johnsracingphotos.com