By Rich Vleck
HARTFORD, OH, (September 4, 2010)- After narrowly winning his heat race, Bubba Broderick drew the outside pole during the redraw. Despite his good spot he knew the track surface was going to be a challenge for him; that is, until Mother Nature intervened.
Broderick, from Brookfield, CT, dominated the 25-lap ASCS Patriot A-Main to collect his second $2,000 prize this season in the Mike Emhof Motorsports King of OH/PA, his third overall win of the season. The feature was run after a lengthy rain delay which changed the characteristics of the 3/8-mile and played right into Broderick’s hands.
“This car dialed in. it was unbelievable,” declared the jubilant 20-year-old in Victory Lane at 1:30 A.M. “I didn’t lift pretty much the entire second half of the race.”
On a brisk afternoon that gave the first indication of fall this season, the track was very dry throughout the evening and was prepared to be abrasive in the feature. A steady rain then camped out over the Eastern Ohio dirt track staple for more than an hour and made the surface lock-down.
Rookie Dylan Swiernik drew the pole position, but a mag issue discovered during track prep laps just before the feature forced him to start in the tail. Kyle Moffit moved up to the pole on a track he used to be a regular at and with characteristics he is best at; on the start though, Broderick was better.
The Northeast Carpet/ Pink Monkey Water No. 5 Eagle blasted around Moffit and quickly began to work on lapped traffic even before the first caution on lap five for a slowing Vern Wasson.
On the restart, Broderick again flew around the top of the track, running the fastest times of the night. Moffit was still within striking distance as they carved through traffic, until another caution relieved Broderick of the chaos on lap 15 when Jared Zimbardi slowed with a battery issue.
“The track was starting to go away in the middle, but every time the caution came out, it helped me out so much,” noted Broderick. “The tires would cool down and the car came back in.”
On the next green-flag run, Broderick’s time in lapped traffic became even more arduous and it allowed the No. 7 of Moffit to close. Thankfully for the Connecticut shoe, one final caution would give him clean track on lap 22 when Jared Zimbardi again slowed.
“I couldn’t believe how I’d catch them,” added Broderick in regards to the lapped traffic. “I would see them ahead on the straightaway one lap and the next I was on them. I didn’t want to lift at all because I didn’t know if they were behind me.
“I was really excited to get that last caution because I knew I wouldn’t catch the lapped traffic in the final three laps and I could just hammer it.”
Broderick would successfully navigate the treacherous top of the 3/8-mile in the final three circuits for his fourth career Patriot win, his first since June at Stateline.
“I have to thank my crew for this win,” Broderick finished with. “I know they can do it and this just proves it tonight.”
Kyle Moffit’s Patriot career-best second place was a solid effort for the driver who ran weekly at Sharon in 2007. He acknowledged after the race that he just didn’t have what he needed to stay with Broderick in open space. Overall, it was positive for the South Dayton, NY driver, who had a mechanical issue the night before in weekly action at Ohsweken while leading.
Bryan Howland drove up to finish in third and make it on to the frontstretch after the race. The winner at Sharon in May was set to run a hard tire compound before the rain hit, but made the necessary changes to make a fourth Patriot title all but a certainty. He noted after the race that he just didn’t have the gear to run the top like the top two though.
Tim Kelly’s fourth place effort continued his solid streak of top-10 finishes, which is now up to eight races. He and Howland duked it out for third much of the race.
Blake Breen moved by Chris Shuttleworth on the final restart on lap 23 to round out the top-five. George Suprick would nip Shuttleworth at the line for sixth. Shuttleworth was the winner in National Parts Peddler Heat Race three.
Don Adamczyk and Brad Knab were the final two cars on the lead lap, placing eighth and ninth, respectively. They both moved up nicely through the pack on a track that was very difficult to pass on. Knab would lip across the line with a flat tire.
Dave Wickham rounded out the top-10 for the second race in a row and third time this season.
A total of 28 cars were in Patriot competition, with a number of first timers running with the series. Zimbardi, Broderick and Shuttleworth won the heats while Suprick took the Bonnell’s Collision Center Dash. Guy Griffin scored the B-Main win.
The red flag waved in heat race three when rookie Jay Groves took a wild ride in his No. 25 in turn three. He was shaken up and looked over for observations but was cleared.
For more information, visit www.ASCSpatriotsprints.com or www.ASCSracing.com.
ASCS Patriots Results: 9/4/10, Sharon Speedway, Hartford, OH.
MEM A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Kyle Moffit (7), 3. Bryan Howland (51), 4. Tim Kelly (12), 5. Blake Breen (8), 6. George Suprick (87), 7. Chris Shuttleworth (11), 8. Don Adamczyk (21), 9. Brad Knab (38), 10. Dave Wickham (80), 11. Jason Coville (49), 12. Guy Griffin (11x), 13. Rob Felix (21L), 14. Bruce DeWick (22D), 15. A.J. Albrecht (7x), 16. Derek Jonathan (81), 17. Jared Zimbardi (35), 18. Paul Kish (69x), 19. Bobby Breen (9), 20. Vern Wasson (5v), 21. Craig Daniels (16), 22. Dylan Swiernik (7c).
Lap Leaders- Broderick 1-25.
B-Mains (Top 6 Transfer to A-Main)- 1. Guy Griffin (11x), 2. Rob Felix (21L), 3. A.J. Albrecht (7x), 4. Craig Daniels (16), 5. Derek Jonathan (81), 6. Paul Kish (69x), 7. Mark Zemcik (22z), 8. Justin Whitesell (3), 9. Bob Reis (4), 10. Ross Vleck (2), 11. Gary Troutman (44), 12. Jay Groves (25).
Bonnell’s Collision Centers Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. George Suprick (87), 2. Jason Coville (49), 3. Dave Wickham (80), 4. Bobby Breen (9), 5. Don Adamczyk (21), 6. Brad Knab (38).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Jared Zimbardi (35), 2. Kyle Moffit (7), 3. Bryan Howland (51), 4. Jason Scoville (49), 5. Vern Wasson (5v), 6. Rob Felix (21L), 7. AJ Albrecht (7x), 8. Ross Vleck (2), 9. Paul Kish (69x), 10. Justin Whitesell (3).
Race 2: 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Dylan Swiernik (7c), 3. Blake Breen (8), 4. Don Adamczyk (21), 5. Bruce DeWick (22D), 6. Brad Knab (38), 7. Bob Reis (4), 8. Craig Daniels (16), 9. Gary Troutman (44).
Race 3: 1. Chris Shuttleworth (11), 2. Tim Kelly (12), 3. Dave Wickham (80), 4. Bobby Breen (9), 5. George Suprick (87), 6. Guy Griffin (11x), 7. Mark Zemcik (22z), 8. Derek Jonathan (81), 9. Jay Groves (25).
Mike Emhof Motorsports King of OH/PA (Top-10)- 1. Bryan Howland 550, 2. Bubba Broderick 544, 3. Tim Kelly 517, 4. Kyle Moffit 510, 5. Jared Zimbardi 490, 6. Don Adamczyk 470, 7. Vern Wasson 419, 8. Gary Troutman 385, 9. Blake Breen 363, 10. Bobby Breen 336.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Award (Top-5)- 1. Jared Zimbardi 37, 2. Don Adamczyk 32, 3. Bubba Broderick 30, 4. Shawn Donath 27, Tie-5. Tim Kelly and Bryan Howland 26, 7. Dylan Swiernik 25, 8. Alain Bergeron 24, 9. Blake Breen 19, Gary Troutman 18.