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Hogge, Wagner, Stone, Sampson and Tobiason bolt to Watsonville Speedway wins Friday

Hogge, Wagner, Stone, Sampson and Tobiason bolt to Watsonville Speedway wins Friday

Watsonville, CA…Legendary driver Bobby Hogge IV grabbed the lead on lap 12 in the IMCA Modified main event and never looked back, en route to yet another Watsonville Speedway triumph on Friday night.

Sharing victory lane on Mother’s Day weekend at the races were Danny Wagner with the Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods, Paul Stone with the Giuliani Construction IMCA Stock Cars, along with first time winners at the track, Tracy Sampson with the Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers and So-Cal driver Michael Tobiason in the SSSP South Bay Dwarf Cars.

The 25-lap IMCA Modified finale saw Salinas veteran Robert Marsh move to the early lead. The Modifieds put on some of the best racing seen during the night in their feature, as multiple cars battled it out on the quarter mile.

Jim Pettit II of Prunedale and Bobby Hogge fought tooth and nail for the runner up spot just behind the leader. The exciting three car race saw Pettit blast to the front on lap eight, while Hogge followed along for second at the same time.

The two Hall of Famers then gave the crowd a good show for the top spot, before Hogge overtook Pettit on lap 12. After that he drove away to accept the Ed Entz checkered flag to pick up another Watsonville Speedway win.

Martinez racer Nick Decarlo also had a crowd pleasing run in the main event, carving his way from eighth to second by the conclusion. Decarlo methodically picked cars off and got past Pettit with just four circuits remaining to solidify the runner up position.

Completing the top five in the feature were Pettit, Logan Drake and “Tricky” Troy Foulger.

The Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mod main event was a caution filled affair on Friday evening. Through it all though last year’s track champion Danny Wagner from Baypoint hung tough and held off a very fast Tanner Thomas to bring home the win.

Matthew Frazier, Landon King and Austin Van Hoff comprised the top five. Another strong field of 23 Sport Mods competed on Friday.

The Giuliani Construction IMCA Stock Cars were all about Winton’s Paul Stone. After assuming the lead from Todd Gomez on lap two he pulled away from the pack to tally his second win of the season at Watsonville Speedway. He was followed across the line by Troy Foulger, Gomez, Justin Villaneuva and Adriane Frost.

The Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers showcased a first time Watsonville Speedway winner in the form of Tracy Sampson. Justin Hertel led the opening lap before point leader Jonathan Welborn got by to claim the lead.

Welborn led a majority of the contest until Sampson swooped by to take the lead with just a couple laps remaining. At the finish it was Sampson followed by Hertel, Welborn, Steve Roach and Shelbie Freeman.

The Security Shoring and Steel Plates South Bay Dwarf Cars saw a true southern driver race to his first Watsonville Speedway triumph. Michael Tobiason out of San Diego displayed immense speed all night and earned a dominating victory over Danny Wagner, Chris Durden, Eric Weisler and Jason Lazzerini.

Watsonville Speedway returns to action this coming Friday May 15th for First Responders Night at the Races. It marks the first Gold Star GMC Winged 360 Sprint Car event since April 24th. Joining them will be the R&J Landscaping Hobby Stocks, Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers and Police N Pursuit.

Results
Ocean Speedway
Mother’s Day at the Races
May 8, 2026

IMCA Modifieds:

1. 2-Bobby Hogge[5]; 2. 17-Nick DeCarlo[8]; 3. 6-Jim Pettit II[3]; 4. 111-Logan Drake[6]; 5. 49-Troy Foulger[10]; 6. 46N-Jonathan Hagio[1]; 7. 15F-Markus Frazier[7]; 8. 20-Cody Burke[9]; 9. 22-Robert Marsh[2]; 10. 77-Fred Lind[13]; 11. 3-Todd Hermosillo[4]; 12. 01-Raymond Keldsen Jr[14]; 13. 46-Kyle Bryan[11]; 14. 00-Gordon Joel[12]

Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods:

1. 11D-Danny Wagner[9]; 2. 22T-Tanner Thomas[10]; 3. 15F-Matthew Frazier[11]; 4. 43K-Landon King[12]; 5. 44-Austin VanHoff[6]; 6. 7T-Trent Golden[21]; 7. 01-DJ Keldsen[17]; 8. 32-Jeff Bentancourt[15]; 9. 39-Steven Allee[7]; 10. 42B-Max Baggett[5]; 11. 22S-Connor Solis[2]; 12. 5-Jason Rood[13]; 13. 89-Duane Bieser[16]; 14. 34-Cody Bryan[1]; 15. 22W-Charlie Hunter[22]; 16. 6S-Mike Kofnovec SR[23]; 17. 55F-Shane Freeman[18]; 18. 15-David Crocker[4]; 19. 96-Kaden Perez[3]; 20. 168-Bo Crebs[8]; 21. 250-Chris Smith[14]; 22. (DNS) NO7-Todd Carlock; 23. (DNS) 4M-Emali VanHoff

Giuliani Construction IMCA Stock Cars:

1. 66P-Paul Stone[5]; 2. 49-Troy Foulger[3]; 3. 38A-Todd Gomez[1]; 4. 97-Justin Villaneuva[4]; 5. 22-Adriane Frost[7]; 6. 15G-Anthony Giuliani[6]; 7. 43-Jake Archibald[2]; 8. 69M-Mike Shearer[8]; 9. (DNS) X-Rob Gallaher

Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers:

1. 52-Tracy Sampson[4]; 2. 13-Justin Hertel[1]; 3. 33-Jonathan Welborn[3]; 4. 519-Steve Roach[2]; 5. 50F-Shelbie Freeman[7]; 6. 28X-TJ Etchison[11]; 7. 737-Preston Hohmann[5]; 8. 8-Brody Figueroa[10]; 9. 17-Ryan McClelland[6]; 10. 65-Bruce Rubaker[9]; 11. 96-Ken Keegan[8]

SSSP South Bay Dwarf Cars:

1. 88F-Michael Tobiason[1]; 2. 11D-Danny Wagner[3]; 3. 410-Chris Durden[2]; 4. 64B-Eric Weisler[5]; 5. 0-Jason Lazzerini[4]; 6. 15B-Diego Patrick[12]; 7. 88B-Travis Day[6]; 8. 13E-Adam Huitron[11]; 9. 3B-Cameron Squatritto[9]; 10. 74J-Ashley Durden[13]; 11. 69B-Eddy Claessen[10]; 12. 99F-Kameron Cowles[7]; 13. 26N-Dan Zuger[8]

Watsonville Speedway is located on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, California with the physical address being 2601 East Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076.

Info can be found at www.watsonvillespeedway.com or by liking the track on Facebook by searching Watsonville Speedway.

Images courtesy of Top Dawg Photos

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