Baur Gets Owosso MSR Lights Redemption; Weese Tops Nightcap
Charlie Baur (left) and Keegan Weese (right) split Saturday’s Twin 20s for the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights at Owosso Speedway. (KR Poole Photos)
OVID, Mich. – Charlie Baur wanted redemption in the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights return to Owosso Speedway, and he got it in spades on Saturday evening.
Though Baur had to share the spotlight with Keegan Weese, the 19-year-old’s win in the first of two Twin 20s for the Midwest Lights at ‘The Big O’ was the emotional story of the night.
After being passed late in the June Midwest Lights stop at the three-eighths-mile oval and being denied a breakthrough win at that point, Baur roared back to easily win the opening act of the weekend.
Baur led wire-to-wire in the first main event, pulling to the lead on the second try at the initial start from the outside of the front row. From there, he quickly opened up a straightaway advantage.
With series point leader J.J. Henes chasing, Baur mastered lap traffic to perfection through the first three quarters of the race, comfortably maintaining a gap of more than three seconds over Henes.
A caution with four laps left – when Henes’ teammate Keegan Weese spun in turn four – bunched the field up and could have changed the narrative, but Baur wasn’t about to let the race get away from him.
He nailed the jump on the green flag not once, but twice, when the stalled car of Parker Corbin on the frontstretch forced a retry of the lap-17 restart.
Though Henes had a peek to the inside in turn one on the final dash, Baur shut the door with a brilliant run off turn two, pulling away from there to a .966-second victory.
It marked the third checkered flag of his Midwest Lights career, all coming this season, but Baur said this one at Owosso “just means more.”
“This feels so amazing,” said Baur in victory lane. “To win in front of what I call my home crowd – I grew up 45 minutes down the road from here – it’s everything to get one at this track … especially after we should have won here in June and got passed by J.J. inside of two to go.
“I wasn’t going to let another one get away like that,” he added. “It was almost the same race, the way it played out, with us getting the lead early and then having that late caution flag. It’s redemption, it really is.”
Runner-up Henes did all he could to wrestle the top spot away down the stretch, to no avail.
“I tried the bottom on the first [re]start and it didn’t work, and when it got called back, I just felt like I had to try something different,” he noted.
Polesitter Brandon Tregembo passed Andrew Bogusz on the outside during the final restart to claim third, with Bogusz crossing fourth and Weese rebounding from his late spin for fifth place.
The nightcap was a caution-free dance through lap traffic, with outside pole man Weese jumping to the point on the start but having to fend off advance after advance from his charging teammate Henes.
Each time Henes tried to look low in turn one, Weese would use stellar drive off turn two to maintain.
His coup de grace, however, was a daring three-wide move through slower lap traffic just past the midpoint to extend his margin for good.
The soaring arc through the marbles in turns three and four allowed Weese to pull seven car lengths clear as Henes got knotted up on the low side of the three-eighths-mile oval.
From there, it was smooth sailing for the 14-year-old en route to his third Midwest Lights win of the season.
“This feeling [winning] never gets old. Oh my God, what a race!” Weese exclaimed after a jubilant wing dance atop his car. “The first couple of laps was so intense, knowing that J.J. was right there, and I had to play some strong defense because he kept peeking the nose again and again.
“Lap traffic over there coming out of [turn] four was scary, but we made it happen somehow,” he added. “I have no clue how it stuck up there. I just went in on a prayer … and somehow came out the other side without hitting the outside wall.”
All Henes could do after the race was marvel at his young teammate, considering the setup tweaks on the No. 37 before race two came from the two-time champion’s notebook.
“I guess I should have taken him the other direction,” Henes joked. “I might’ve gotten by him that way. (laughter) I had nothing for the kid; he did an absolutely stellar job. I knew my best chance was to stay on his bumper and hopefully pressure him into a mistake, but he never blinked and traffic went in his favor.”
Bogusz filled the final spot on the race two podium, ahead of Baur, who battled traffic after the invert and could only get to fourth at the finish. Brandon Tregembo crossed in fifth place.
The Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights return to Owosso Speedway Sunday afternoon to complete their 2025 season with another set of twin 20-lap features.
As long as he starts both races, J.J. Henes will clinch his record third Midwest Lights championship.
Every lap of the Mid-Michigan Pavement Sprint Car Nationals grand finale – headlined by a $10,000-to-win main event for the national Must See Racing 410 sprint cars – will be broadcast live on Racing America starting at 4 p.m. ET.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights; Owosso Speedway; Ovid, Mich.; Aug. 30, 2025
Qualifying (group format, best of three laps): 1. J.J. Henes, 36JR, Henes-13.635; 2. Keegan Weese, 37, Henes-13.825; 3. Charlie Baur, 23, CB1-13.857; 4. Brandon Lemmerman, 64, Henes-14.075; 5. Brandon Tregembo, 1, Drive One-14.363; 6. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Fast Company-14.550; 7. Parker Corbin, 77, Corbin-15.011; 8. Rick Wichtner, 11, Drive One-15.591; 9. Christian Franks, 1D, Drive One-17.963.
Maxima A-Feature #1 (20 laps): 1. 23-Charlie Baur [2], 2. 36JR-J.J. Henes [4], 3. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [1], 4. 17-Andrew Bogusz [6], 5. 37-Keegan Weese [3], 6. 1-Brandon Tregembo [5], 7. 11-Rick Wichtner [8], 8. 1D-Christian Franks [9], 9. 77-Parker Corbin [7].
Lap Leader(s): Charlie Baur 1-20.
Hard Charger: #36JR – J.J. Henes (+2)
Maxima A-Feature #2 (20 laps, starting position in brackets): 1. 37-Keegan Weese [2], 2. 36JR-J.J. Henes [4], 3. 17-Andrew Bogusz [3], 4. 23-Charlie Baur [5], 5. 1-Brandon Tregembo [1], 6. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [6], 7. 77-Parker Corbin [9], 8. 11-Rick Wichtner [7], 9. 1D-Christian Franks [8]. [4:51.417]
Lap Leader(s): Keegan Weese 1-20.
Hard Charger: #36JR – J.J. Henes (+2)
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