From Rich Vleck, Jay Fish
CANANDAIGUA, NY – Steve Poirier was using Saturday primarily to break in his new car in competitive conditions. When he drew the outside pole for the feature, though, he knew if he got out in front early he could bring home a win.
Poirier, from St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Qbc., led all 20 laps of second feature race in the 2010 A-Verdi Storage Containers King of Upstate New York Series. With track conditions resulting in ultra-fast speeds, starting out near the front was important and being strong on restarts was even more critical, something that Poirier is arguably the best at.
With five restarts over the final seven laps, Poirier was able to safely scoot away from his nearest challengers on each restart to leave no question that this second race of the season was his to own.
“The track was tacky and the car was really good,” declared Poirier. “Everything played our way tonight and starting front really helped.”
After outdueling Chuck Hebing to claim heat race three, Poirier once again found himself having to deal with the local favorite for the first half of the feature. Poirier quickly jumped into the lead from the outside pole but by lap two Hebing was in the runner-up spot and closing up on Poirier. The two stretched out a considerable distance over the rest of the field and when in lapped traffic, “Cobra” was able peak to the inside the No. 28FM, each time to no avail.
When a red flag flew on lap 13 for Scott Bonnell flipping after contact with Dylan Swiernik, the race took on a massively different complexion as Hebing discovered a flat tire on his No. 45, forcing him pit side to swap tires.
Hebing would rejoin the field but when he slowed in turn three, the decision was made to reduce the distance of the race to 20 laps because of the impending local curfew that was rapidly approaching. Despite trying to move the show along, random issues began popping up, causing multiple restarts for Poirier.
“I was getting a little worried towards the end because with the tacky we did not put a lot of fuel in the car so that it would handle a little better,” admitted Poirier in Victory Lane.
Justin Barger was the first driver to step up and take a crack at Poirier, but with his hydraulic wing slider broken off the wing of his No. 32, he was severely hindered, and would eventually hand second place over to Jared Zimbardi.
Zimbardi, who started in sixth, seemed to have a strong car on longer runs, but was simply no match for Poirier in his brand-new car, who would go on to score his third career Patriot win, his first in a stand-alone Patriot event.
“We only tested with this car a few weeks ago at Granby, and the track was very slick that day so this was very different,” added Poirier in regards to the consistently tacky conditions throughout the night.
Zimbardi would cross for second to rebound from his rough start to the season at Black Rock. Barger was rather pleased to hold on for third considering his wing issues.
Bobby Breen scored a hard-fought fourth place finish, blasting the cushion and hanging it on the edge to try advancing to the front. Breen would spend much of the race battling with Lance Yonge, who would round out the top-five.
Polesitter George Suprick crossed in sixth in his No. 87. Bryan Howland soared up from a B-Main to finish in seventh. Jeff Cook was eighth with Alain Bergeron, another B-Main Winner, in ninth. Don Adamczyk would find a way to finish in 10th.
An impressive total of 35 cars filled the overflow pits at Canandaigua on an overcast and breezy Saturday Afternoon. The track was very tacky and thus quick throughout the night. Justin Barger even posted a lap of 14.985 seconds, the best in at least five years at “The Land of Legneds.”
Kyle Moffit scored the Four Laps of Fame Dash win, but would give up his 9th overall starting spot in the feature when he fell out of the event before the cars were even lined up.
For more information, visit www.ASCSpatriotsprints.com or www.ASCSracing.com.
ASCS Patriots Results: 5/15/10, Canandaigua Speedway, Canandaigua, NY.
A-Verdi A-Main (20 Laps)- 1. Steve Poirier (28FM), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Justin Barger (32), 4. Bobby Breen (9), 5. Lance Yonge (17J), 6. George Suprick (87), 7. Bryan Howland (51), 8. Jeff Cook (10), 9. Alain Bergeron (8B), 10. Don Adamczyk (21), 11. Tim Kelly (12), 12. Vern Wasson (5v), 13. Mike Stelter (36), 14. Jessica Zemken (14), 15. Chuck Hebing (45), 16. Shawn Donath (33), 17. Dylan Swiernik (7c), 18. Scott Bonnell (3B), 19. Bubba Broderick (5), 20. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 21. Cory Sparks (7s), 22. Kyle Moffit (7).
Lap Leaders- Poirier 1-20.
B-Mains (Top 3 Transfer to A-Main)-
Race 1: 1. Alain Bergeron (8B), 2. Don Adamczyk (21), 3. Scott Bonnell (3B), 4. Brandan Warner (10B), 5. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 6. Michael Parent (25), 7. Kyle Frasier (01), 8. Gary Troutman (44), 9. Derek Jonathan (81), 10. Travis Cunningham (71).
Race 2: 1. Bryan Howland (51), 2. Bubba Broderick (5), 3. Mike Stelter (36), 4. Dave Wickham (80), 5. T.J. Newton (57), 6. Shane Ely (90), 7. Bruce DeWick (22D), 8. Ray Preston (22), 9. Jeremy Barnard (86).
Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Kyle Moffit (7), 2. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 3. Bobby Breen (9), 4. Cory Sparks (7s), 5. Shawn Donath (33), 6. Jeff Cook (10).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Justin Barger (32), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Shawn Donath (33), 4. Dylan Swiernik (7c), 5. Jeff Cook (10), 6. Dave Wickham (80), 7. Kyle Frasier (01), 8. Derek Jonathan (81), 9. Ray Preston (22).
Race 2: 1. George Suprick (87), 2. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 3. Bubba Broderick (5), 4. Tim Kelly (12), 5. Mike Stelter (36), 6. Bryan Howland (51), 7. Shane Ely (90), 8. Michael Parent (25), 9. Travis Cunningham (71).
Race 3: 1. Steve Poirier (28FM), 2. Chuck Hebing (45), 3. Bobby Breen (9), 4. Don Adamczyk (21), 5. Alain Bergeron (8B), 6. Scott Bonnell (3B), 7. Gary Troutman (44), 8. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 9. T.J. Newton (57).
Race 4: 1. Lance Yonge (17J), 2. Kyle Moffit (7), 3. Vern Wasson (5v), 4. Jessica Zemken (14), 5. Cory Sparks (7s), 6. Brandan Warner (10B), 7. Jeremy Barnard (86), 8. Bruce DeWick (22D).