06/06/2026
Brandon Aylesworth makes late move for Joe Brechel Memorial glory
Watsonville, CA…Nor-Cal Dwarf Car competitor Brandon Aylesworth slipped under Joey Lingron on lap 18 and held off a furious charge to bring home the Joe Brechel Memorial on Friday night at Watsonville Speedway.
Fellow winners at the “Brechel” were Robert Marsh with the IMCA Modifieds, Danny Wagner with the Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods, Paul Stone with the Guiliani Construction IMCA Stock Cars and Jonathan Welborn with the Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers.
Santa Rosa’s Joey Lingron jumped out front in the 25-lap Security Shoring and Steel Plates South Bay Dwarf Car finale. The “Joe Show” ripped around the high side in impressive fashion and looked unstoppable much of the race.
Numerous caution flags waved during the feature however and created multiple restarts. Brandon Aylesworth then found the bottom side to his liking as he moved into second on lap 10 and then attempted to close on the leader.
With just around 10 circuits remaining Aylesworth made it a battle for the lead and ultimately grabbed the top spot just prior to the completion of lap 19. Lingron didn’t let him get away though and gave Aylesworth everything he could handle right down to the finish.
Heading into the final set of corners, Lingron gave it one final shot, but lost the handle and came to a stop in between turns three and four. Aylesworth went on to grab the Ed Entz checkered flag over Southern California drivers Ian and Nick Velasquez, Toby Brown and Ricardo Rivera.
The IMCA Modifieds showcased their best racing of the season on Friday night. Multiple grooves were in play, and close racing was seen throughout the 25 lapper. Jonathan Hagio led the initial three circuits until Robert Marsh got by.
Despite Marsh pulling out to a big lead the action remained hot and heavy behind him. Side by side racing was put forth lap after lap during the contest. Marsh went on to win over Bobby Hogge, Markus Frazier, Logan Drake and Fred Lind.
The Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods also featured some good racing even despite caution flags plaguing the contest at times. Chris Smith led the opening stages until encountering issues on lap 13 that forced him back to the pit area.
Reigning Watsonville Speedway champion Danny Wagner assumed the lead that he would never relinquish. Following Wagner across the line were Jeff Bentancourt, Max Baggett, Shane Freeman and Trent Golden.
Giuliani Construction IMCA Stock Car point leader Paul Stone, Promoter at Merced Speedway, dominated the 20-lap main event for the division and won by nearly 10 seconds over fellow Promoter Rob Gallaher, Anthony Giuliani, Justin Villaneuva and Jake Archibald.
The Stock Cars had some of their best racing of the season with three wide battles occurring numerous times.
The Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers saw a trio of different leaders in their 15-lap feature. Point leader Jonathan Welborn eventually got to the front and claimed his third win of the year over Tracy Sampson, Shelbie Freeman, Peter Vannerus and David Dupuis.
Watsonville Speedway is back at it this coming Friday June 12th with the first Gold Star GMC 360 Sprint Car event since mid-May. The evening will be the official Johnny Key Classic tune-up race.
Results
Watsonville Speedway
Joe Brechel Memorial
June 5, 2026
IMCA Modifieds:
1. 22-Robert Marsh[3]; 2. 2-Bobby Hogge[6]; 3. 15F-Markus Frazier[7]; 4. 111-Logan Drake[8]; 5. 77-Fred Lind[4]; 6. 20-Cody Burke[9]; 7. 6-Jim Pettit II[5]; 8. 46N-Jonathan Hagio[2]; 9. 01-Raymond Keldsen Jr[14]; 10. 3-Todd Hermosillo[13]; 11. 29-Andy Obertello[10]; 12. 228-Jeff Browne[11]; 13. 46-Kyle Bryan[1]; 14. 55H-Mickey Hill[15]; 15. 00-Gordon Joel[12]
Santa Cruz Apparel IMCA Sport Mods:
1. 11D-Danny Wagner[10]; 2. 32-Jeff Bentancourt[11]; 3. 42B-Max Baggett[7]; 4. 55F-Shane Freeman[5]; 5. 7T-Trent Golden[9]; 6. 89-Duane Bieser[17]; 7. 22W-Charlie Hunter[16]; 8. 22S-Connor Solis[4]; 9. 43K-Landon King[13]; 10. 250-Chris Smith[1]; 11. 34-Cody Bryan[2]; 12. 8-Thomas Cumming[14]; 13. 96-Kaden Perez[3]; 14. 168-Bo Crebs[8]; 15. NO7-Todd Carlock[6]; 16. 15F-Matthew Frazier[15]; 17. (DNS) 15-David Crocker
Giuliani Construction IMCA Stock Cars:
1. 66P-Paul Stone[5]; 2. 1-Rob Gallaher[3]; 3. 15G-Anthony Giuliani[4]; 4. 97-Justin Villaneuva[8]; 5. 43-Jake Archibald[2]; 6. 22-Adriane Frost[7]; 7. 38A-Todd Gomez[1]; 8. 01-DJ Keldsen[6]; 9. (DNS) 55J-Blaze Hill
Heat Wave Visual Four Bangers:
1. 33-Jonathan Welborn[4]; 2. 52-Tracy Sampson[1]; 3. 50F-Shelbie Freeman[6]; 4. 37-Peter Vannerus[3]; 5. 72-David Dupuis[5]; 6. 114-Ken Keegan[8]; 7. 112-Steve Roach[2]; 8. 96-Cooper Keegan[7]; 9. 65-Bruce Rubaker[9]
SSSP South Bay Dwarf Cars:
1. 41N-Brandon Aylesworth[7]; 2. 4E-Ian Velasquez[3]; 3. 41E-Nick Velasquez[6]; 4. 75B-Toby Brown[14]; 5. 24-Ricardo Rivera[19]; 6. 187R-Callie Whiting[8]; 7. 64B-Eric Weisler[17]; 8. 20N-John Durden[10]; 9. 69B-Eddy Claessen[13]; 10. 9JR-David Hays[9]; 11. 74J-Ashley Durden[18]; 12. 1R-Joey Lingron[2]; 13. 24B-Sammi Rivera[20]; 14. 0-Jason Lazzerini[4]; 15. 87-Tommy Velasquez[15]; 16. 26N-John Prentice[12]; 17. 3B-Cameron Squatritto[11]; 18. 9R-Chad Matthias[16]; 19. 410-Chris Durden[1]; 20. 11D-Danny Wagner[5]
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
