From Rich Vleck
ROCHESTER, NY (May 9, 2011)- After getting the Patriot Sprint Tour era underway this past Saturday in a co-sanctioned event, the PST gets the regular season underway with two of the biggest shows of the season at a pair of popular facilities.
This Saturday and Sunday, the Patriots make their only stops of 2011 at the newly-named Canandaigua Motorsports Park and New Cayuga County Speedway. Both events will be full point shows for both the 2011 Title as well as the A-Verdi Storage Containers King of Upstate NY Series.
Saturday’s visit to Canandaigua marks the ninth straight year the Patriots will invade the “Land of Legends”, making it the only track to host an event in every Patriot season. This will be the first time though that the fastest cars to grace visit the Ontario County Oval with the half-mile under the leadership of Jeremie Corcoran.
A-Verdi Storage Containers will present the “Sprint Night at the Races”, the first of four they will hold around New York State this year.
Canandaigua ranks third among Patriot Tour stops with 12. The impressive list of winners is short, with two-time Patriot Champion leading the pack with four career wins at his former modified home track. The Ontario, NY driver will look to turn his luck around there after problems there the last two years.
Bryan Howland was the winner at Canandaigua two years ago and hopes to start his title defense off on the right foot. Howland now has amassed four Patriot championships, including the last three consecutively.
Jared Zimbardi comes off a strong fifth-place showing Saturday at Black Rock hoping to start this year’s points chase as well as he has the last four years. Zimbardi was second to Steve Poirier in last year’s Canandaigua stop.
Charlie Donk and Paul Habeck are a pair of unique “rookies” that will be making their debut in a sprint car at the track they have called their modified home for years. It will be exciting to see how they perform their first time out.
After the action is completed at Canandaigua, the teams will travel down the Thurway to the New Cayuga County Speedway in Weedsport, NY for a rare Sunday showcase.
Cayuga County has always been one of the raciest and most unique stops on the circuit. Now under the direction of Eric Kingsley, improvements have been made over the winter to continue improving on the legendary track.
This will be the first Patriot-sanctioned event in Weedsport since 2009 when Trevor Lewis took home the win. An impressive 36 cars were on hand that night and another quality field is expected this Sunday.
Tim Kelly, Don Adamczyk and Scott Kreutter are among the Patriot regulars that have performed well at the tight 3/8-mile oval in the past. After the year hiatus, they are likely eager to return to Weedsport.
Dave Wickham, Dylan Swiernik, Kyle Moffit and Vern Wasson are among the slew of familiar faces that expect to be on hand. Wasson made his first Patriot start at Cayuga County in 2009.
Steve Collins and Kyle Lefelhoc are among the rookies expected to compete at Cayuga County for the first time.
Racing Saturday at Canandaigua and Sunday at The New Cayuga County Speedway both get underway at 7:00 p.m. with gates swinging open at 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com
Patriot History at Canandaigua:
Races: 12
7/5/2003- Tim Barnard
8/23/2003- Chuck Hebing
5/29/2004- George Suprick
7/3/2004- Chuck Hebing
5/28/2005- George Suprick
7/2/2005- George Suprick
5/20/2006- Chuck Hebing
6/30/2007- Jason Barney
8/18/2007- Chuck Hebing
6/7/2008- Jason Barney
6/13/2009- Bryan Howland
5/15/2010- Steve Poirier
Patriot History at Cayuga County
Races: 7
6/29/2003- Rick Wilson
7/4/2004- Chuck Hebing
7/3/2005- Chuck Hebing
7/29/2007- Jeff VanDusen
7/27/2008- George Suprick
10/10/2008- Gordy Button
7/12/2009- Trevor Lewis