FRANKLIN, Pa. — Two New York pilots won their first career victories at Tri-City Raceway Park, and, in doing so, they carried the biggest checks across the border.
Taking the Diehl Chevrolet 410 Sprint Car feature was Matt Farnham and Phil Vigneri had the honors in the Pitt Stop Pub 358 Modifieds.
Farnham and A.J. Flick brought the Diehl Chevrolet 410 Sprints for the green flag in their 25-lap feature. Andy Priest and Bob Felmlee started in row two. The third row consisted of Steven Bright and Bodey McClintock. Andy Cavanaugh and Nathan McDowell started in row four. Jack Sodeman Jr., last week’s winner, started scratch because he was unable to start the heat race.
Farnham took the lead entering turn one and he never looked back. “The car was really good, we made a bunch of changes after the heat race,” he said. “I know that A.J. (Flick) was going to be good and that Bob (Felmlee) was also going to be good. I knew that I just had to concentrate and hit my marks.”
Flick ran second in the early going. Felmlee dipped to the inside in turns one and two and he powered by Flick. Felmlee gave chase, but he was unable to get close enough to Farnham to challenge for the lead.
A red flag for Nathan McDowell did close up the ranks five laps into the feature. However, Farnham got away cleanly on the restart.
Farnham led the remaining 20 without much ado. Felmlee raced in second, several car lengths ahead of his rival for the point championship, Flick. Flick was third. Then came Priest and McClintock. Cavanaugh and Bright were sixth and seventh. McDowell was scored in eighth.
Chad Reitz and Steve Slater had the front row for the Pitt Stop Pub 358 Modifieds. Vigneri and Nick Joy were in the second row. Point leader Ayden Cipriano lined up next to Hayden Holden. Tom Holden and Lenny Leibold III were in row four.
Reitz wrestled the lead away from Slater on the opening lap. However, on lap two, Vigneri got inside of Slater to take the position away, and Slater spun, ending his night. The restart put Vigneri on the front row, and he soon assumed command.
Reitz continued in second, with Joy running in third. Joy had some difficulties on laps thirteen and fourteen, causing yellows on each of those laps. That moved Tom Holden into third for the restart, followed by Cipriano and Leibold.
Although Vigneri led the final six laps, he had to be getting nervous because his car developed a miss about three laps from the finish. He held on, though, to claim the win.
“I didn’t know if I could make it to the end,” he said. “But, I was going to make sure that it did.”
Reitz got second with his Ford powered 358 Modified. Cipriano, Joy, and Tom Holden took the top five spots. Then came Leibold, Hayden Holden and Slater.
Also scoring a win was John Mollick in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Sprint Cars presented by Billy’s Garage. Mollick was also the hard charger in picking up his first victory at Tri-City.
David Scott captured the A & MP electric, Inc. UMP Modified Main, Josh Seippel got his third consecutive win in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks, and Dillon Morrison in the 4 Your Car Connection Four Cylinder Mini Stocks.
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
Matt Farnham, Bob Felmlee, A.J. Flick, Andy Priest, Bodey McClintock, Andy Cavanaugh, Steven Bright, Nathan McDowell, Jack Sodeman, Jr. (DNS).