9/28/2024
Ocean Speedway
Troy Foulger, Kenny Shrader and Nicholas Johnson score Pettit Shootout opener wins
Troy Foulger, Kenny Shrader and Nicholas Johnson score Pettit Shootout opener wins
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA…Defending Pettit Shootout winner “Tricky” Troy Foulger thrilled the Ocean Speedway crowd on Friday, making a late race move to snag opening night of the 2024 edition of the event with the IMCA Modifieds.
Fellow winners at the Pettit Shootout opener were Pacheco’s Kenny Shrader with the IMCA Sport Mods and Bakersfield’s Nicholas Johnson with the Hobby Stocks. A robust field of 122 cars filled the pit area among the three divisions on Friday.
The 33-lap IMCA Modified feature started off with Bakersfield ace Robbie Sawyer making a wild move from the inside of row two. He was able to slice his way under the front row and take the lead by the time they completed lap one.
Bakersfield Speedway track champion and the nights fast qualifier Gavyn Manning stayed within striking distance of Sawyer however, as drivers battled it out behind them. Troy Foulger started 11th on the grid and picked off cars one by one, while trying a few different lines on the quarter mile.
Foulger took over fourth on lap 14, before carving his way to third on lap 20. With the race winding down the top three cars began to bunch up as the crowd came to its feet. Sawyer continued to hold command but had Manning and Foulger right there.
Coming to the line to complete lap 29 they proceeded to go three wide in thrilling fashion, which saw Manning come out with the lead. Foulger assumed the runner up position and then blasted by Manning for the top spot one circuit later.
Foulger went to claim the victory over Manning, Winton’s Paul Stone, Sawyer and Hollister’s Andy Obertello in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Nick Decarlo, Shawn Natenstedt, Cody Burke, Keith Brown Jr. and Ryan Porter. Natenstedt earned the Hard Charger Award with a fantastic drive from 20th to seventh.
The “Pacheco Pistol” Kenny Shrader started from the front row in the 23-lap IMCA Sport Mod main event and led flag to flag to pick up the victory. Oakley’s Buddy Kniss and Bakersfield’s Dylan Wilson fought for the second spot not far behind for most of the contest.
Several caution periods and a couple of reds plagued the Sport Mod finale, but through it all Shrader was perfect on every restart. Wilson crossed the stripe in second ahead of Kniss, Yreka’s Ethan Killingsworth and Oakley’s Jason Ryan Jr. among the top five.
The remainder of the top 10 in the Sport Mod feature was filled out by KC Keller, Jeffrey Hudson, Brent Curran, Cale Kanke and Jeremy Hoff. Tommy Clymens was the Hard Charger going from 22nd and 13th.
Bakersfield’s Nicholas Johnson crushed the field in the 23-lap Hobby Stock finale, winning by half a lap at the end. Rio Vista driver Jason Robles led the first four laps, until Johnson drove past to assume the point. After that Johnson pulled away with ease and ended up crossing the checkered flag over 10 seconds ahead of runner up Lance Hurst.
Robles came home in third, followed by Ocean Speedway champ Joe Gallaher and son Rob Gallaher. The top 10 was rounded out by Jake Archibald, Maverick Shepherd, Ryan Hart, Bobby Motts and Hard Charger Casey Johnson, who started 22nd.
The 14th annual Pettit Shootout finishes up tonight at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. The program will be capped with a 103 lap IMCA Modified main event.
Results
Ocean Speedway
Pettit Shootout Night One
September 27, 2024
IMCA Modifieds 35 Entries
A Feature 33 Laps
- 49-Troy Foulger[11]; 2. 51G-Gavyn Manning[2]; 3. 66P-Paul Stone[1]; 4. X-Robby Sawyer[3]; 5. 29-Andy Obertello[8]; 6. 17-Nick DeCarlo[5]; 7. 1-Shawn Natenstedt[20]; 8. 20-Cody Burke[10]; 9. 128-Keith Brown Jr[9]; 10. 14P-Ryan Porter[22]; 11. 15F-Markus Frazier[19]; 12. 75-Andrew Peckham[18]; 13. 34J-Jeff Faulkner[17]; 14. 6-Jim Pettit II[6]; 15. 1B-Tim Balding[21]; 16. 86-Walter Ball[15]; 17. 127-Jacob Mallet Jr[16]; 18. 07X-Troy Morris III[12]; 19. 25-Austin Burke[14]; 20. 2-Bobby Hogge[4]; 21. 01-Raymond Keldsen Jr[7]; 22. 68-Bo Crebs[13]
IMCA Sport Mods 42 Entries
A Feature 23 Laps
- 188-Kenny Shrader[2]; 2. 80D-Dylan Wilson[1]; 3. 19K-Buddy Kniss[4]; 4. 7M-Ethan Killingsworth[6]; 5. 52-Jason Ryan Jr[7]; 6. 38-KC Keller[10]; 7. L87-Jeffrey Hudson[13]; 8. 132-Brent Curran[11]; 9. 33-Cale Kanke[15]; 10. 5-Jeremy Hoff[16]; 11. 184-Riley Jeppesen[12]; 12. 16M-Jeff Mead[18]; 13. 19C-Tommy Clymens[22]; 14. 99B-Paul Brown[14]; 15. 2C-Trevor Clymens[19]; 16. 172-Tyler Irwin[3]; 17. 7J-Fred Ryland[8]; 18. 4M-Emali VanHoff[9]; 19. 14H-Matthew Hagio[5]; 20. 39-Steven Allee[17]; 21. 30H-Orion Messina[20]; 22. 76A-Mark Garner[21]
Hobby Stocks 45 Entries
A Feature 23 Laps
- 24-Nicholas Johnson[7]; 2. 10H-Lance Hurst[10]; 3. 78-Jason Robles[2]; 4. 1-Joe Gallaher[5]; 5. X-Rob Gallaher[13]; 6. 43-Jake Archibald[12]; 7. 15-Maverick Shepherd[16]; 8. 38-Ryan Hart[18]; 9. 13-Bobby Motts[3]; 10. 13J-Casey Johnson[22]; 11. 69-Kodie Dean[15]; 12. 1E-TJ Etchinson III[1]; 13. 46-Colten Haney[6]; 14. X1-Bobby Gallaher[8]; 15. 71A-Michaela Taylor[19]; 16. 51-Norm Ayers[17]; 17. 03-Dakota Keldsen[21]; 18. 225-Aidan Ponciano[20]; 19. 7T-Trent Golden[14]; 20. 59-Randy Miller[23]; 21. 5N-Allen Neal[4]; 22. 28K-Chester Kniss[9]; 23. 22-Adriane Frost[11]
Article Credit: Gary Thomas
Submitted By: Gary Thomas
