From Rich Vleck
BUSTI, NY – (May 28, 2011) – Early in the night at Stateline, Jared Zimbardi had two frightening moments you rarely see; later in the night he had a moment others are getting evermore used to seeing: The No. 35 in Victory Lane.
Zimbardi, of Little Valley, NY, moved by Scott Kreutter on a lap 15 restart and led the final 11 laps of the 25-lap A-Main Saturday Night at Stateline Speedway for his seventh career Patriot Sprint Tour Feature win in a points-paying event, his second at Stateline. In getting to the checkered flag though, he had to endure some random events.
During his heat race, a piece of plastic stuck in his injector and caused the Bundle of Warmth/ Kill Buck Outlet No. 35’s throttle to hang up on a number of occasions. After finishing third and barely transferring into the redraw, “The Juice” was sitting in the grandstands when he was hit in the eye by a clod from the track. For the rest of the night though, things fell perfectly in line.
Zimbardi started in fifth but quickly moved up to fourth. Polesitter Bryan Howland was in command of the field for the first 10 laps, but on a lap 11 restart his car faltered and allowed Scott Kreutter to move to the front of the pack and put Dain Naida in second.
Naida was putting together a solid performance in his first trip to Stateline until lap 14 when his steering box broke and send his No. 07x into a spin, collecting Kyle Moffit, who was in fourth place at the time. This incident would move Zimbardi up to second, and a few feet after the ensuing restart he was the race leader.
Kreutter had an issue on the lap 15 restart when he was unaware the field was coming to a green flag because of a radio issue. To make matters worse, his No. 52 sputtered once he saw the flag and enabled Zimbardi to drive on by.
“I saw (Kreutter) was pretty loose and buzzing his tires up on the top,” reflected Zimbardi after the race. “I just stayed committed to the bottom and the car had a great drive off.”
A few laps after Zimbardi drove underneath Kreutter, George Suprick, who had driven up from his seventh place starting spot, completed the same maneuver to take second. He would be no match for Zimbardi though.
The win for the 24-year-old made it the fifth straight season he has scored a 360 sprint car win. It was also his first win in the United States since June of 2009, the other time he won at the paperclip-shaped 1/3-mile oval. In the procress, Zimbardi inherited the PST point lead, marking the fifth straight year that “The Juice” has put his name squarely in the Patriot Championship discussion.
George Suprick’s second place showing was a solid boost for the 2004 Patriot Champ, who admitted afterwards that finishing race was on his goal sheet entering the night. Suprick, a Stateline winner in 2005, stayed glued to the bottom all night, including in his heat race, when he captured the win.
Scott Kreutter had to settle for third as his car was not set up the way the 2007 Patriot Rookie of the Year needed in the late stages. It was still another impressive showing for the Alden, NY driver in his new ride.
Don Adamczyk battled with George Surpick in both the heat and feature, but since they both worked best on the bottom, Adamczyk could not move by and would finish in fourth for the second straight Saturday.
Tim Kelly had a shock break early in the feature and would hang on for his second straight top-five.
The Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash went to Vern Wasson, who crossed in sixth, with Brad Knab scoring another solid Stateline finish in seventh place. Todd Hoddick charged up to eighth, with Shayne Ely ninth for the second straight week. Kyle Moffit rallied from multiple incidents to round out the top 10.
On a beautiful night along the New York and Pennyslvania border, a full field of 22 cars were in attendance including a number of teams for the first time. Dylan Proctor looked to make his first PST start, but a rear end issue would prevent that from occurring.
For more information, visit www.PatriotSPrintTour.com.
Patriot Sprint Tour Results: 5/28/11, Stateline Speedway, Busti, NY.
Bonnell’s Collision/Fine Touch Collision A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Jared Zimbardi (35), 2. George Suprick (87), 3. Scott Kreutter (52), 4. Don Adamczyk (21), 5. Tim Kelly (12), 6. Vern Wasson (5), 7. Brad Knab (38), 8. Todd Hoddick (49), 9. Shayne Ely (V8), 10. Kyle Moffit (7), 11. Jay Groves (25), 12. Mitch Brown (10), 13. Bruce DeWick (22D), 14. Jim Porter (F37), 15. Jeff Frasier (99), 16. Kyle Lefelhoc (15), 17. Steve Collins (67), 18. Adam Anderson (5B), 19. Dave Wickham (80), 20. Bryan Howland (51), 21. Dain Naida (07x), 22. Dylan Proctor (05).
Lap Leaders- Howland 1-10, Kreutter 11-14, Zimbardi 15-25.
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Wasson, 2. Wickham, 3. Hoddick, 4. Dewick, 5. Groves, 6. Brown.
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Moffit, 2. Kreutter, 3. Kelly, 4. Wasson, 5. Porter, 6. Frasier, 7. Proctor.
Race 2: 1. Suprick, 2. Adamczyk, 3. Hoddick, 4. Wickham, 5. Brown, 6. Collins, 7. Lefelhoc.
Race 3: 1. Howland, 2. Naida, 3. Zimbardi, 4. DeWick, 5. Groves, 6. Knab, 7. Ely, 8. Anderson.
Patriot Sprint Tour Points (Top 10)- Zimbardi 425, Kelly and Adamczyk 416, Wasson 401, Kreutter 398, Howland 390, Wickham 372, Collins 357, Frasier 355, Ely 336.
Bonnell’s Collision Center/ Fine Touch Collision King of the Western Swing Series (Top 10)- Zimbardi 225, Suprick 220, Kreutter 216, Adamczyk 213, Kelly 210, Wasson 207, Knab 204, Hoddick 201, Ely 198, Moffit 195.
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash Series (Top 5)- Zimbardi and Wickham 7, Adamczyk Collins and Wasson 6.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Top 5)- Wasson 11, Knab 10, Hoddick Zimbardi and Ely 9.