Baughman Flies To Friday Night Score At 9th Annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial

Denied the win in Thursday’s opener, Josh Baughman was not about to let that happen again as the Precision Catalyst No. 17 led start to finish on the second night of the General Tire Hockett/McMillin Memorial with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

With a fifth on Thursday to go with his win, Baughman has secured the pole for Saturday’s $10,000 to win Hockett/McMillin Memorial finale.

“We’ve been close here and just hadn’t been able to get it done, so this is pretty cool,” commented Baughman of his first career win at Lucas Oil Speedway. “We have Fischer Body Shop here and this is their backyard, so it’s really good to win for them and everybody back home. Aaron [Reutzel] won tonight too at Williams Grove, so this is the second time we’ve both won on the same night. I feel like that says a lot about our entire team.”

Leading start to finish for his second career SawBlade.com A-Feature triumph, Baughman’s night was nearly cut short a couple of times as the cushion became deeper and deeper off the fourth turn.

“It was getting narrow in turn-four. Just real slick on exit to a big curb and that wall has gotten me plenty of times here. I know how bad it hurts and I didn’t want to give it up for this team. I can’t say enough for Dylan and Wayne, plus we have R.J. with us this weekend. These guys gave me a badass car every time we pulled onto the track tonight.”

Keeping Roger Crockett at bay through a complete restart that came after Sam Hafertepe, Jr. went sideways and collected Bales, Seavey, and Phillips, another red on Lap 5 for Scott Bogucki saw the Rocket Designs No. 11 take another shot at the lead.

Pulling away to nearly three seconds as the race cleared the half-way point, one of Baughman’s encounters with the cushion allowed Crockett to close in with Seth Bergman in tow. Getting the run for the runner-up spot on Lap 16, the Young Tool Co. No. 23 grabbed the spot on the following lap. Making up more time on the No. 17, the red lights came on one last time working Lap 19 for Brad Bowden who biked hard and flipped in turn four.

Back to the 18th lap on the restart, Bergman kept pace but could not keep Baughman in striking distance with the Odessa, Texas driver pulling away to a 0.621-second advantage at the checkered flag over Seth Berman with Roger Crockett holding on to complete the podium.

Jumping from Victory Lane with the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League 10th on the grid with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon worked to a fourth-place finish with Derek Hagar charging forward 14 positions to complete the top five.

Moving up 10 spots, Jack Dover gabbed sixth with Blake Hahn rallying in the last half of he feature to climb from 18th to seventh. Up as high as sixth from 17th, Mark Smith ended up slipping to eighth with Jonathan Cornell and Tim Crawley making up the top ten.

With Preliminary Nights in the books, Josh Baughman (312) will be joined by Blake Hahn (305) on the front row of Saturday’s A-Feature. Roger Crockett (292), Derek Hagar (286), Dylan Westbrook (259), Paul Nienhiser (252), Ayrton Gennetten (249), and Jack Dover (249) made up the top eight that automatically lock into the A-Feature. The remainder of the field will start their night on one of four Last Chance Qualifiers.

Overall, 71 drivers from 15 states and three counties have taken part in the 2019 Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial.

The 9th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial concludes on Saturday, September 21, 2019. Gates open at 4:00 P.M. with racing getting underway at 6:30 P.M. (CT). More information on Lucas Oil Speedway can be found at http://www.lucasoilspeedway.com.

For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

ASCS PR