From Inside Line Promotions
Cleveland, TX — (March 29, 2016) — Redemption was spelled B-A-U-G-H-M-A-N on Saturday night at Bronco Raceway Park, where Josh Baughman registered his first career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour triumph.
Baughman had been in contention for the win the previous night with the series at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, Texas, where his night ended upside down after he crashed on the final lap while making a bid for the trip to Victory Lane.
“We gave one away, but we were able to have another opportunity on Saturday to rebound and we did just that,” he said. “We’ve been searching and searching trying to find what the problem is this year. We found our comfort level and it seemed to work in our favor. I think racing is mostly mental and if you let it get to you then it will get you down and behind the eight ball.”
Baughman was a frontrunner throughout last weekend, which began on Friday at Cotton Bowl Speedway with Baughman advancing from seventh to third place in a heat race. That locked him into the feature redraw, where he pulled the No. 1 during the random draw to garner the pole position for the 30-lap main event.
“I felt like we were really good,” he said. “Then we started fighting with lapped cars. On a one-lane race track the guy in second has the advantage. Brandon (Hanks) made a good pass on us. We slid back and forth a couple of times for the lead. If we were a little better in lapped cars we wouldn’t have been in that position. We were racing for the win and I made a little mistake on the last lap. I should have settled for second instead of pushing it so hard. I changed my line up a little in turn one. Turn two was already pretty sketchy. I entered a little low trying to come off straighter in turn two to pass him in turn three and we got into the wall.”
Baughman flipped multiple times and he was credited with a 15th-place result.
“The guys band-aided the car together and we ran it on Saturday at Bronco Raceway Park,” he said. “They worked all day Saturday to get it back together. Then we got to the track and had some engine issues so we changed a motor before we went out for hot laps.”
The ominous start to the day quickly turned into a positive vibe as Baughman powered from fifth to second place in a heat race. He advanced into the feature redraw and once again pulled the No. 1 to start on the pole.
“We were really good,” he said. “I think we could have ran well from anywhere we started on the track. We were able to maneuver all over the track. On a track like that, especially when there’s that much moisture, you have to be careful when you get to lapped cars. But you have to know someone like Aaron (Reutzel) is coming for the win, too. We took our time and was patient and worked our way through them.”
Baughman led all 30 laps for his first triumph of the season and first ever with the series.
He is scheduled to return to action this Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Eagle Motorsports Rock ‘N Roll 50 Presented by MyRacePass with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.