Inside Line Promotions - LUBBOCK, Texas (Sept. 2, 2013) - It went from delight to dejection on Sunday at Lubbock Speedway for Josh Baughman.
Baughman led several laps of the ASCS Lone Star Region feature before being passed just before the midpoint. He was then crashed out of the main event in the closing laps while competing for a position on the podium.
"Patrick Stasa drove in to the side of my car," he said. "He came all the way through my car and took me off the track going into turn one. He never lifted. He destroyed a car for no reason. I got out and threw the steering wheel at his car and they disqualified me."
It ended what was arguably Baughman's best performance of the season up to that point. Baughman advanced from fifth to third place in his heat race, which earned him enough points to advance to the feature redraw. He then pulled the No. 2 in the random draw to start the main event on the outside of the front row.
"I got a bad start," he said. "Josh Hodges led the first two laps and Jake Martens got by me. I slid them both going into turn one on the third lap and led the next six, eight, 10 laps.
Baughman powered through the middle in turns one and two, and used the bottom groove in turns three and four.
"When you're leading you don't know where other guys are running," he said. "They found the top before I did in turns three and four. By the time I moved up it was too late. That's where we stayed. We were rolling good. We just didn't have a winning car, but we had a top three at least."
Baughman maintained his podium position until the late-race incident, which capped a long night with the feature lasting more than an hour.
"The race was an hour long," he said. "They never gave us a fuel stop. When I went to the pits I had half a gallon of fuel left so I probably wouldn't have made it to the finish. The track did their part. The mishaps were on ASCS."
The weekend started on Saturday at Abilene Speedway in Abilene, Texas, where Baughman placed fifth in his heat race. That started him on the outside of the sixth row for the main event.
"We were good," he said. "There was no passing. The track was real slick around the bottom."
Baughman maneuvered his way to seventh place, which is where he finished. It marked his sixth top-10 result of the season.
"We were faster than a couple of cars in front of us, but you had to have them make mistakes and you get to the top five and those guys weren't making mistakes," he said.
Baughman is scheduled to take this weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Kennedale Speedway Park in Kennedale, Texas, with the ASCS Lone Star Region.
QUICK RESULTS -
Aug. 31 - Abilene Speedway in Abilene, Texas - Heat race: 5 (3); Feature: 7 (12).
Sept. 1 - Lubbock Speedway in Lubbock, Texas - Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: DQ (2).
SEASON STATS -
27 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 6 top 10s, 9 top 15s, 14 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Saturday, Sept. 14, at Kennedale Speedway Park in Kennedale, Texas, with the ASCS Lone Star Region
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS -
Twitter: https://twitter.com/josh_baughman17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshbaughmanracing
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Factory Kahne
Factory Kahne is a leading shock manufacturer. For more information, visit http://www.FactoryKahne.com.
"As far as I'm concerned Factory Kahne is the best shock on the market," Baughman said. "They are always trying something different to improve what they are doing."
Baughman would also like to thank Hollywood Blasting and Coating, GF1 Chassis, Ti22 Performance, Roush Yates Racing Engines, Hinchman Racewear and Keizer Aluminum Wheels for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS -
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors' return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.insidelinepromotions.com.