GEORGETOWN, Del. – Billy Pauch Jr. continued his excellence at Georgetown Speedway, claiming his second Blast at the Beach presented by Melon 1 and Earth Movers LLC in the last three years on Tuesday night.
“We’ve been awesome here, we really love coming here and supporting the great race fans in Delaware, hopefully we made some more Billy Pauch Jr. fans tonight,” explained an elated Pauch in Victory Lane.
Pauch’s triumph was his first of the 2021 season and the fifth of his Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco career.
The Frenchtown, N.J. native claimed round seven of the Velocita-USA South Region presented by Design for Vision and Sunglass Central and with it, a cool $6,300 for his Tuesday night efforts.
Paruch drew the worst number in the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw, firing off from the 12th position, while James Hill and Stewart Friesen fired off from the front row.
One of the pre-race favorites went by the wayside on the second circuit, as Matt Sheppard went up and over several times in the third turn. Fortunately, Sheppard walked away from the carnage unharmed.
When the field went back to racing, South Region point leader Mike Mahaney joined Sheppard, who was second in points entering the night, as he had problems when the field went back to green, breaking on the backstretch.
Mahaney’s broken racecar collected Danny Bouc and Carson Wright while Mahaney was trying to clear the racetrack.
On the ensuing restart, Tyler Dippel would take the lead away, after getting by Friesen on the previous restart.
Dippel used the outside lane to jump to the lead, while Friesen worked underneath Hill to take the runner-up spot and stalk Dippel at the front of the field.
Further back, Pauch’s ascent started to become noticeable, as he had risen to the fifth spot from 12th in the opening five laps.
Dippel and Friesen pulled away up front, while Pauch reeled in Jordan Watson and Hill, making it a three-car duel for the third spot, with Hill holding off the other two.
A lap 10 yellow reset the field, and Watson and Pauch both got by Hill.
Another yellow one lap later gave Pauch prime starting position, on the outside of the second row, and right behind leader Dippel, who’d be choosing the top on restarts. Pauch took advantage, driving around Watson and immediately challenging Friesen for the runner-up spot.
After a two-lap battle, Pauch’s assault on the field continued, using the bottom groove to slide by Friesen and set his sight eyes on leader Dippel.
Fourth-place runner Jordan Watson broke on lap 17, bringing out another yellow in the first half of the race, and restacking the field just shy of halfway.
The restarts continued to be golden for Pauch as Dippel’s car got tight in turn one, allowing Pauch Jr. to drive underneath and set sail for good. Pauch would lead lap 18, collecting the $200 Danny’s Pizza Pizzazz Halfway award and every lap after that to claim the win.
Dippel grabbed his best STSS finish of the season with a runner-up in his Teo-Pro Car No. 1 and Friesen rounded out the podium in his Halmar International No. 44.
Ryan Godown grabbed the fourth spot in his first STSS run with the Dan Sommeling-owned No. 51 and Anthony Perrego had a great points night in the Brian Smith owned No. 44, claiming the fifth spot.
The finish:
Billy Pauch Jr., Tyler Dippel, Stewart Friesen, Ryan Godown, Anthony Perrego, Joseph Watson, Richie Pratt Jr., Rick Laubach, Mike Gular, Ryan Watt, Alex Yankowski, Ryan Riddle, Jimmy Horton, Dominick Buffalino, H.J. Bunting, Norman Short, John Willman, Matt Smith, Jordan Watson, James Hill, Austin Hubbard, Max McLaughlin, Mike Mahaney, Danny Bouc, Carson Wright, Matt Sheppard, Brandon Grosso, Matt Stangle.