FRANKLIN, Pa. – Brandon Matus turned around a tough-luck season by scoring his first win of the year in the Shawgo Real Estate Sprint Cars Sunday at Tri-City Raceway Park.
Veteran Gary Kreiss, championship contender Brandon Spithaler, and Matus won preliminary heat races for the Shawgo Real Estate Sprint Cars early in the evening.
When the 25-lap feature race launched, Kreiss was on the pole position with Matus alongside. A caution flag on lap one halted the action, and Kreiss headed to the pits, ending his night after showing great speed in the preliminaries.
Matus grabbed the lead and set a torrid pace when racing resumed. Jack Sodeman, Jr. started the race in fourth position and passed George Hobaugh Jr. to take the runner up spot.
Sodeman was the winner at Mercer Raceway the night before, but was losing ground to leader Matus in the early stages of the race.  When lapped traffic became a factor, Matus used every lane of the speedway to maintain the lead.
Sodeman had two mid-race opportunities to restart on Matus’ tail, as minor spin outs slowed the action with caution flags. But each time the green flag was displayed, Matus ran off from the challenge.
Matt Farnham, a New York modified ace, made a rare sprint car start and advanced from ninth place into the top five during the second half of the contest. In the closing laps, Farnham faded, eventually placing a respectable eighth as a rookie.
With five laps to go, rookie Ivan Johnson spun in turn two, directly in front of leader Matus. With quick reflexes, Matus avoided contact, and maintained the top spot even after the restart.
With masterful use of lapped traffic, and a blistering average speed of more than 108.4 mph, Matus notched his first victory of the year.
Matus is a previous winner at Lernerville Speedway, Sharon Speedway, and Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway.
A third-generation racer, Matus’ grandfather Jerry Matus was a 10-time winner at Tri-City, and Matus’ father was in competition with him, placing 18th after suffering a flat tire.
Sodeman, a nine-time track champion in the region, placed second and maintained his lead in Tri-City’s championship point standings.
Two-time Tri-City winner Spithaler started sixth and placed third. Recent winner Carl Bowser finished fourth and Hobaugh nailed down fifth place at the finish.
In support action, the Homak Penn-Ohio Pro Stock tour visited the speedway for the third annual Ray’s Race, and young Noah Brunell was victorious.
Other winners during Sunday Thunder included New York’s Greg Martin in the modifieds and championship leader Dillon Speer in the 4-Your-Car-Connection Mini Stock division.
The finish:
Brandon Matus, Jack Sodeman Jr., Brandon Spithaler, Carl Bowser, George Hobaugh, Michael Bauer, John Garvin, Matt Farnham, Leyton Wagner, Chase Methenay, George Englert, Russell Kyle Colwell, Bob McMillin, Nevan O’Donnell, Ivan Johnson, Andy Cavanaugh, Shamus O’Donnell, Brent Matus, Steve Cousins, Gary Kreiss.