From Rich Vleck, RANSOMVILLE, NY (June 18, 2010)- Stewart Friesen had only made one start in a modified at his family-owned Ransomville Speedway this season, but brought home the win in the 50 lapper. That track experience, along with plenty more, proved to be the overwhelming variable needed to score his first sprint car win.
Friesen, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, dominated the 25-lap A-Verdi A-Main in his first career ASCS Patriot Start. Driving Doug Emery’s Patterson Motorsports No. 33, Friesen caught a break in his heat and took full advantage of it to win in only his fifth start in a sprint car.
“That was so much fun, the car was so fast,” exclaimed the modified regular after scoring the third leg of the A-Verdi Storage Containers King of Upstate New York Series. “I got a good feel for this car down at East Bay in the Ronald Laney Memorial and just had to knock the rust off tonight.”
Friesen had slipped from third to fourth in his heat but would rebound on the final circuit, moving under Don Adamczyk and putting himself in the redraw. After pulling the No. 2 tennis ball, Friesen would have a clear shot to grab the lead.
Starting along series point leader Jared Zimbardi, Friesen powered into the front off of turn four on the opening circuit after a hard-fought drag race with the No. 35 on the backstretch. On a restart on lap 3 however, Zimbardi would nearly steal the win away from the fan favorite.
Zimbardi dove underneath entering turn one on the first restart of the event. Friesen would rally by the time they hit turns three and four and pull off an impressive slide job to get back into the lead and never look back.
“(Zimbardi) caught me sleeping that one time and I knew from that point on I needed to block the bottom on the restarts,” added Friesen. “I had to get back by him in turns three and four so I did a slide job that Jesse Hockett pulled on me down at East Bay.”
Late in the race, Bobby Breen began to reel in Friesen for the lead; with just three laps remaining though, Stewart made a well-timed maneuver around a lapped car and would gain two seconds on Breen, allowing him to set sail to the finish.
“I slid the wing back a little bit under the (lap 6) red flag, but I probably could have gone back a little bit more,” Friesen noted. “This car was just great tonight and pulled real well on the restarts.”
Friesen became the first part-time sprint car competitor to score an ASCS Patriot win since Chuck Hebing won his first race in 2003 before he made the transition to sprint cars full-time. Friesen was elated after the race, already working over car owner Doug Emery on when they could team up again.
The Breen Boys would take hold of the other two podium positions, with younger brother Bobby taking home the runner-up spot. The two Savannah, NY drivers duked it out for much of the event with Bobby running his conventional top groove and Blake down on the inside. Bobby had cut his deficit on the leader to .65 seconds in the closing stages but hit a lapped car at the wrong point on the track and would have to settle for his best showing of the year.
Blake won National Parts Peddler Heat No. 1 and stayed steady on the inside of the track. Like his younger brother, the elder Breen collected his best finish of the year.
Jared Zimbardi was again solid, crossing in fourth. “The Juice” battled hard with Friesen on the treacherous cushion but just did not have enough drive off to stay in the top-three. It was still a quality night in terms of points for the Little Valley, NY competitor though as he gained ground on all of the championship contenders.
George Suprick pulled off one of the most impressive performances in the history of the Four Laps of Fame as he charged up from fifth to the lead in just two laps. Along with picking up the cash, the 2004 Series Champion also moved up four spots for the 25-lap feature. He would round out the top-five.
Tim Kelly also scored a heat race win and moved up to finish sixth. Local competitor Don Adamczyk charged from 15th to place 7th for his sixth top-10 in as many events this year.
Rookies Kevin Ward Jr. and Dylan Swiernik were each impressive, crossing eighth and ninth, respectively. Ward qualified for the redraw while Swiernik and his team rallied from a broken front axle after connect with the turn one wall in his heat. Vern Wasson completed an exhausting week searching for a new power plant to round out the top-10.
Defending series champion Bryan Howland had his second DNF in as many weeks as he hurt a motor in the No. 51. One red flag flew in the 25-lap A-Verdi A-Main as Gary Kriess and Gary Troutman came together in turns one and two.
For more information, visit www.ASCSpatriotsprints.com or www.ASCSracing.com.
ASCS Patriots Results: 6/18/10, Ransomville Speedway, Ransomville, NY.
A-Verdi A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Stewart Friesen (33), 2. Bobby Breen (9), 3. Blake Breen (8), 4. Jared Zimbardi (35), 5. George Suprick (87), 6. Tim Kelly (12), 7. Don Adamczyk (21), 8. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 9. Dylan Swiernik (7c), 10. Vern Wasson (5v), 11. Bubba Broderick (5), 12. Shane Ely (90), 13. Derek Jonathan (81), 14. Curt Sherwood (18), 15. Brad Knab (38), 16. Bryan Howland (51), 17. Ray Preston (22), 18. Gary Troutman (44), 19. Gary Kriess (92).
Lap Leaders- Friesen 1-25.
Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. George Suprick (87), 2. Gary Kriess (92), 3. Brad Knab (38), 4. Vern Wasson (5v), 5. George Ely (90), 6. Gary Troutman (44).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Blake Breen (8), 2. Bubba Broderick (5), 3. Brad Knab (38), 4. Gary Troutman (44), 5. Shane Ely (90), 6. Curt Sherwood (18), 7. Ray Preston (22).
Race 2: 1. Bryan Howland (51), 2. Bobby Breen (9), 3. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 4. Gary Kriess (92), 5. Vern Wasson (5v), 6. Derek Jonathan (81).
Race 3: 1. Tim Kelly (12), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Stewart Friesen (33), 4. Don Adamczyk (21), 5. George Suprick (87), 6. Dylan Swiernik (7c).
ASCS Patriot Points (Top Ten): 1. Jared Zimbardi 861, 2. Bryan Howland 804, 3. Don Adamczyk 796, 4. Tim Kelly 785, 5. Bubba Broderick 775, 6. Vern Wasson 598, 7. Bobby Breen 533, 8. Scott Bonnell 448, 9. Gary Troutman 440, 10. Blake Breen 420.
A-Verdi King of Upstate New York Series (Top-10)- 1. Tim Kelly 372, 2. Bobby Breen 366, 3. Jared Zimbardi 362, 4. Bryan Howland 352, 5. Don Adamczyk 351, 6. George Suprick 336, 7. Bubba Broderick 306, 8. Dylan Swiernik 301, 9. Steve Poirier 280, 10. Chuck Hebing 250.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season (Top-Five)- 1. Don Adamczyk 21, Tie-2. Alain Bergeron and Tim Kelly 18, 4. Jared Zimbardi 17, 5. Scott Bonnell 14.