JUSTIN SANDERS SCORES $5,000 PRIZE IN FRIDAY HOWARD KAEDING CLASSIC

WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (July 19, 2025) – Justin Sanders of Aromas scored his fifth NARC King of the West 410 Sprint Car victory of the year, taking the $5,000 prize at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville on Friday night. The home track victory for Sanders was a prolonged grind through multiple incidents, then required fending off Tim Kaeding for the triumph. Photo by Top Dawg Photos

Bud Kaeding won the dash to claim the pole position of the 30-lap feature, racing in honor of his grandfather Howard. In the race he helps organize, Kaeding won the holeshot over Sanders at the start of the feature. Oregon’s Tyler Thompson spun on the backstretch, bringing multiple other cars to a stop for a caution on lap one.

On the restart, Jake Andreotti of Casto Valley flipped in turn three for the next stoppage while the race remained on lap one.

Sanders attempted to slide Kaeding in turn three on the restart to no avail. Bud Kaeding, Sanders, and Tim Kaeding leapt ahead of the pack while Shane Golobic and DJ Netto battled for fourth.

Kaeding biked on the turn one cushion in lapped traffic on lap eight, surrendering the lead and drawing a caution. He was able to rejoin the race from the rear.

That thrust Sanders into the lead for the restart but it was short lived as Tim Kaeding slid him into turn one. Sanders answered back in turn three to retake the spot immediately. Jesse Schlotfeldt of Arlington, WA pounded the front stretch fence for a red flag on lap nine.

An inadvertent yellow flag on the restart led to Billy Aton of Benicia flipping on the backstretch for the next stoppage.

Ryan Bernal of Hollister flipped hard in turn one for the event’s fourth red flag on lap 14. Golobic then flipped from fourth in a similarly liveried NOS Energy Drink-sponsored machine on lap 15.

Tim Kaeding kept Sanders within arms-length with ten laps to go. The leaders approached lapped traffic but action was slowed for Rio Oso’s Landon Brooks spinning out of fifth in the challenging turn one.

Tim Kaeding clawed towards Sanders again in the final stages of the event in lapped traffic with two laps to go. Kaeding showed his nose inside Sanders in turn two, then again in turn four driving to the white flag but Sanders defended the bottom.

Justin Sanders held court to win the $5,000 prize followed by Tim Kaeding. Dylan Bloomfield won a shootout with 2019 champion DJ Netto for third with Kaleb Montgomery of Templeton rounding out the top-five.

Dylan Bloomfield led the second group of qualifying and won the overall time trials over the 30 NARC 410 Sprint Cars in attendance

DJ Keldsen led all 20-laps for a wire-to-wire performance for his first IMCA Sport Modifieds win, which was later nullified in post-race inspection. A multi-car skirmish on the opening lap required Rob Gallaher and Steven Allee to pit and eventually ended the race for Emali VanHoff as well. Points leader Danny Wagner of Baypoint slowed with an issue that sent him to the pits on lap three as well.

Keldsen built up a 5.49 second lead that was erased on lap 17 when Gallaher spun in turn two.

Keldsen led the final three laps for his breakthrough win but it wouldn’t count. Preundale’s Max Baggett was credited with victory followed by a resurgent drive by Danny Wagner in second. Jim DiGiovanni of Morgan Hill, Allee, and Lindeman were the top-five finishers.

Adriane Frost of Watsonville became the seventh different winner of the 2025 Hobby Stocks season, topping the 20-lap feature. San Jose’s Matt Kile passed her on the outside line on the start to take the lead. Defending champion Joe Gallaher rode the backstretch wall and slowed for a caution on lap five.

On the restart, points leader Ryan Hart started his march through the pack from 12th. Hart drove up to third by lap nine. Frost challenged Kile for the lead and took control using the inside on lap 11 in turn three. Cory Souza spun in turn one for a caution with nine to go. Frost led the final nine laps while Hart stormed to second place at the finish followed by Bobby Gallaher, Kile, and Lilly Mead.

Heat race winner John Hohmann of Scotts Valley Police Department won the main event as well in Police-in-Pursuit action. Hunter Gaither and Ben Standen collided for the lead, allowing Hohmann to swoop around the outside and go third to first. Gaither came home second despite a flat left front tire followed by Kevin Elliott, Mel Dunn, and Standen.

The Howard Kaeding Classic concludes Saturday night for a $10,000 prize with the NARC King of the West 410 Sprint Cars plus the return of full Midgets in the WMR-BCRA California Super Series. IMCA Modifieds and Hobby Stocks will join the action. For more information, visit www.OceanSpeedway.com

Ocean Speedway July 18, 2025 – Race Results Night No. 1 of Howard Kaeding Classic

NARC King of the West 410 A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 11. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]; 2. 0-Tim Kaeding[3]; 3. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[8]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 5. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[13]; 6. 7B-Sean Becker[10]; 7. 15-Nick Parker[9]; 8. 35KM-Tyler Thompson[14]; 9. 83T-Tanner Carrick[18]; 10. 10-Dominic Gorden[15]; 11. 10X-Jace Park[11]; 12. 29-Bud Kaeding[1]; 13. 88A-Joey Ancona[16]; 14. 2K-Gauge Garcia[6]; 15. 21L-Landon Brooks[5]; 16. 121-Caeden Steele[19]; 17. 25Z-Jason Chisum[24]; 18. 14E-Mariah Ede[12]; 19. 17W-Shane Golobic[7]; 20. 73-Ryan Bernal[17]; 21. 21-Jesse Schlotfeldt[21]; 22. 26-Billy Aton[23]; 23. 7P-Jake Andreotti[20]; 24. 41-Dominic Scelzi[22]

IMCA Sport Mods A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 42B-Max Baggett[2]; 2. 11D-Danny Wagner[10]; 3. 96M-Jim DiGiovanni[6]; 4. 39-Steven Allee[9]; 5. TWO23-Raymond Lindeman[12]; 6. 19-Connor Solis[5]; 7. X-Rob Gallaher[11]; 8. 8-Thomas Cumming[17]; 9. 15-David Crocker[3]; 10. 89-Duane Bieser[14]; 11. 14H-Kaden Perez[15]; 12. 22W-Charlie Hunter[16]; 13. 43K-Landon King[13]; 14. 15F-Matthew Frazier[8]; 15. 55F-Shane Freeman[1]; 16. 5-Carson Schnell[18]; 17. 4M-Emali VanHoff[7]; 18. (DQ) 01-DJ Keldsen[4]

Hobby Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22-Adriane Frost[1]; 2. 38-Ryan Hart[12]; 3. X1-Bobby Gallaher[3]; 4. 5-Matt Kile[2]; 5. 117-Lilly Mead[6]; 6. 51-Norm Ayers[9]; 7. 97-Austin VanHoff[5]; 8. 8-Wayne Reeder[7]; 9. 22D-Kodie Dean[10]; 10. 13-Cory Souiza[11]; 11. 38P-Indy Kirchenbauer[14]; 12. 73B-Brady Muller[8]; 13. 511-James Geary[13]; 14. 1-Joe Gallaher[4]

Police in Pursuit A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 01-John Hohmann[7]; 2. 245-Hunter Gaither[3]; 3. 36-Kevin Elliott[6]; 4. C327B-Mel Dunn[4]; 5. 13-Ben Standen[2]; 6. 14-AJ Waltrip[1]; 7. (DNS) 8-Thomas Cumming SR