Tim Sozio Returns to Auburndale Victory Lane in Duco Performance 75

Tim Sozio earned his third career UARA Sportsman Series victory on Saturday night, taking the checkered flag at Auburndale Speedway in the Duco Performance 75.

Sozio's second win of the season, like his first, came at Auburndale. In June, Sozio and Brandon Morris picked up wins in twin 50-lap features at the Florida facility.

On Saturday night, Sozio dominated the lone 75-lap contest for the series, leading from green flag to checkered flag. After placing sixth in qualifying, with Dodge Carlbert setting fast time, the pre-race invert placed Sozio on the pole.

With only .148 seconds separating Carlbert from 10th-place Brandon Duchscherer, Sozio knew that track position would be vital. He capitalized on the kind redraw and translated it into a win.

"It's just awesome," said Sozio in victory lane. "I knew we got a little lucky when we got the invert there. Everybody was so close on speed. I knew it as going to be really hard to pass tonight. Our car was really good. I was super happy with it all weekend.

"We were just trying to tweak on it and make some gains here and there. I knew once we got out front, it was going to be tough for them to get around us."

With a third Auburndale win to his credit, Sozio now hopes to take some of this success to other venues for the UARA Sportsman Series. The next stop for the series is Freedom Factory on October 18.

"We're always fast," said Sozio. "We're going to be in it pretty much everywhere we go. I can't thank Craig, Daniel, my dad enough for working on this thing. It's perfect here. We have it figured out here pretty good.

"We've struggled a little bit at Freedom Factory. Hopefully, we're able to figure it out a little bit next time we go and take some of this speed we've had at Auburndale."

Adam Briggs, who won the A-Mod feature earlier in the program at Auburndale, finished second to Sozio. Those laps informed Briggs how important track position would be.

"The outside wasn't very good," said Briggs. "I figured that out in the A-Mod race. Hats off to those guys. I can't thank Travis with TRM, my wife, my mom and dad, everybody that's on site and puts money in this thing every week."

The runner-up finish gives Briggs confidence ahead of the Freedom Factory 75.

"I'm pretty confident. Tonight, we were pretty good on long runs. If it hadn't been for that last caution, we might have maybe had a different outcome."

Morris finished third to round out the podium. He wished there had been more opportunities to pass, but also noting his car did not handle to his liking.

"I really need Rex to spray that thing again," said Morris. "It's too bad it was our last race here because I love it up there when it's sprayed, man. You can really have some good racing.

"My car got real tight tonight. I had no drive off. We need to free it up next time. I'm looking forward to Freedom Factory. We'll be there with the blue car, trying to make something happen."

Jimmy Frazier finished fourth, with Hayden Mowery rounding out the top five. Carlbert, who entered the night as the UARA Sportsman Series points leader, finished sixth.

Duco Performance 75 Unofficial Results