After last week’s disappointment after perhaps giving away a win by being a little over aggressive, Mat, who went off fourth, used an early caution to make some changes on the car and then capitalized on some good luck for him and bad luck for Bicknell in the form of lap traffic to get close enough to make the winning pass.
Mat explained, “ The first couple laps I didn’t think I had the car to do it. I made some adjustments when we had that red flag (on lap 2). I changed the car from the cockpit a little bit. After that, we were pretty good. I got some breaks with the lap cars. I came near Larry (Lampman) once and figured I was moving backwards. Once we got that long green flag run, things worked out. When Pete got into lap traffic and the car kicked in and the tire (the new right rear that crew chief Rick Windeatt suggested) got a little better, I knew if I didn’t get by him when I did, I wouldn’t have won the race. I figured I had to capitalize on it. I knew how he was feeling. It was like last week, a sitting duck. You’re waiting. You don’t know where anybody is. I figured if I showed my nose too early he’d take my line away. He didn’t, and I was able to capitalize when I did. Then I had to lay down some solid laps once I got in front of him. I think it was only two or three laps. I can’t say enough for Pete. It was an awesome race.”
One of the keys to the win was the early race battle with Larry Lampman Jr, while Mat was running second. Lampman made a charge down low over several laps and actually drew even a couple of times, but Mat was able to hold him off and solidify this position. After that, he was able to concentrate on catching the No. 42 of Bicknell.
Bicknell’s last shot was on lap 34, when he saw an opening in turn three and made a bid down low, but as he had done to Mat the week before, Mat was able to shut the door to preserve his lead and the crowd-pleasing win.
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