It was Championship Night at Mercer Raceway Park and Jack Sodeman, Jr. sealed the deal with a win in the 410 Sprint Cars presented by 4 Your Car Connection and World of Wheels. For Sodeman, it was a bit of redemption, as he inherited the lead when Brandon Matus spun after damaging the left front suspension in an excursion off the back stretch on lap 17. The week before, Sodeman had a win slip through his grasp when a broken brake caliper sent him to the pits while leading the Auto Racers for Kids event.
“I think it was going to be a heck of a battle,” Sodeman said of his tussle with Brandon Matus. “I feel horrible for him. His bad luck is how I actually got the (points) lead when he crashed up there in the Midseason Championships and I happened to win on that night.” While Sodeman was running second to the younger Matus, it looked as though the contest for the points title would go right down to the wire. “I was just running in second, and we were going to take it right down to the end, but I can’t say if I could have beaten him, he was really going well.”
But, Matus’ misfortune opened the door for Sodeman to walk away with another point championship. “You’re going to see a lot more championships and a lot more races won by Brandon. That kid’s going pretty good,” Sodeman observed. Then, he added with a grin, “I’m not getting any younger, so I guess it’s good that I won a championship now becasue all the young guys are going to be winning all the championships, and I’ll be in the rocking chair.”
Article Credit: Toni Carbone photo