FRANKLIN, Pa. – Bob Felmlee, who recently returned to sprint car racing after a 10-year hiatus, broke into victory lane in the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint division Sunday night at Tri-City Raceway Park.
NASCAR star Alex Bowman had the pole for the feature and was flanked by the 59-year-old Felmlee. Bowman got the jump on Felmee at the start of the race, with Leyton Wagner, Jack Sodeman Jr., and Jeremy Weaver following. Just as the field was getting settled in, Logan McCandless and Rod Jones tangled in turn four. Jones was out for the night, but McCandless was able to restart.
Bowman resumed the lead and Sodeman moved into second. Felmlee and Wagner were in tow. Bowman found a hole on the inside of turns one and two, bouncing through the corner and losing several positions. Soon thereafter the wing collapsed and he limped to the pit area, ending his maiden voyage at Tri-City Raceway Park.
That handed the lead over to Felmlee, who had worked around Sodeman before Bowman had his issues.
Felmlee continued to lead, as Brandon Matus and A.J. Flick started to move toward the front. Matus was the first casualty, spinning in turn four. When Flick did likewise several laps later, he was unable to rejoin the field due to some front suspension damage.
Felmlee led the rest of the way. Sodeman lost second to his protege, Darin Gallagher, on lap 22. Brandon Matus worked his way back to the fourth spot, followed by Brent Matus.
McCandless came back through the pack for sixth. Bryan Salisbury and Steve Bright were the last cars running at the finish. Wagner and Flick rounded out the top-10 based on their laps completed.
Felmlee, who scored his thirty-second career win at Tri-City, had a tearful moment in victory lane. It was his first trip there since May 29, 2011.
“It was great, it’s a lot of work,” the veteran said. “I am old and I need to relax a little.”
In other action, Curtis J. Bish won the Penn Ohio Pro Stock Championship feature to earn a $3,500 payday. Jeremiah Shingledecker in the Krill Recycling LLC 358 Modifieds and Dalton Speer in the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks were also winners.