FRANKLIN, Pa. – Josh Baughman rolled into Western Pennsylvania from Odessa, Texas, to do a little testing in preparation for Western Pennsylvania Speedweek.
If Sunday’s performance is indicative of his level of preparation, the other racers better burn the midnight oil because they have some catching up to do. Baughman, who had not sat in a sprint car since last August, showed no signs of rust as he rolled to victory in the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint Cars feature at Tri-City Raceway Park.
“That was pretty fun,” Baughman said. “I lost my brakes on lap eight, so I had to go to the bottom.” he added. Baughman gave props to Sye Lynch and his crew for helping him throughout the night. Baughman is a sponsor of Lynch’s racer.
Bob Felmlee sat on the pole for the 25-lap feature for the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint Cars. Next to him was Brandon Matus. Behind them were Goerge Hobaugh Jr. and Carl Bowser, with teammates Lynch and Baughman in the third row. Brandon Spithaler lined up next to last week’s winner and current point leader Jack Sodeman Jr. Gale Ruth, Jr. and Clay Riney had their mounts in row five, with Ken Rossey and Brent Matus in row six.
Felmlee led the snarling sprint cars into turn one, but Matus found some bite on the high side in turns one and two to take an early lead. Felmlee battled back and he nailed turns three and four to be scored as the leader of the opening lap. Felmee was hitting his marks, with Matus running second, Baughman in third, and Hobaugh in fourth. Sodeman was up to fifth in the early going.
There was a three-car battle for the lead with a handlul of laps complete. As the leaders approached traffic, Baughman weaved his way through to take the lead with eight klaps in the books. Felmlee held second, but he was under attack from Brandin Matus. Soon, Sodeman was in the hunt.
A caution for debris brought Baughman back to the rest of the racers. Sodeman used the restart to his advantage, sweeping into second in the first two turns. But he was no match for the fleet Texan.
A red for a spectacular crash involving Clay Riney and Bob McMillin in the middle of the backstretch stopped the field. Neither driver was hurt, but the fence running along the track took the brunt of the impact.
Baughman raced out front the rest of the way, with Sodeman making up some ground as the laps wound down. But Sodeman ran out of time and fortified his points lead with the best of the rest finish this night.
Taking third was Felmlee for his best outing of the season. Lynch crossed in fourth, with Brandon Matus fifth. Bowser, Ruth, Rossey, Kyle Colwell, and Brent Matus rounded out the top-10.
Jimmy Holden (Krill Recycling 358 Modifieds), Curtis J. Bish (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks), and Dalton Speer (4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks) also celebrated in victory lane Sunday.