From Rich Vleck
ROCHESTER, NY (August 22, 2011)- As the 2011 regular season comes to a close, the Patriot Sprint Tour returns once again to the Brockville Ontario Speedway while they finish up the Cornwall event started in July.
This Saturday and Sunday, the PST will once again race along the St. Lawrence with A-Mains at a pair of tight and racy Eastern Ontario Ovals. Saturday’s race at Brockville will be a complete PST program, opening to any competitors. On Sunday, only hot laps and an A-Main will be run with the field locked in from July. Both events will count towards the Riverside Bar and Grill King of the St. Lawrence Series and help to settle the PST points picture heading into the final month.
Jared Zimbardi, of Little Valley, NY, scored this win at Brockville in July, his third win at the ¼-mile in just over a year. Zimbardi is closing in on his first career Patriot Championship and could have it all but locked up exiting this weekend.
Tim Kelly, of Rock Stream, NY, sits second in points and will continue to chase down Zimbardi while at the same time look for his first win of the season. Other New Yorkers expected this weekend include Brad Knab, Steve Collins, Bryan Howland, Shayne Ely, Dave Wickham and Jeff Cook.
The impressive display of locals looking forward to this weekend include Rick and April Wilson, Chris Jones, Devin Caron, Brian McDonald, Lee Ladouceur, Tyler Rand, Kyle Fraser, Doug Banks and Paul Pekkonen, while Quebec’s Alain Bergeron, Michael Parent, Steve Poirier, Dale Gosselin, Kayle Robidoux and Jake Langlois will be part of the mix.
Southern Ontario competitors hold the front for Sunday’s A-Main. Jamie Collard earned the pole however is unlikely to be in attendance, handing over the top spot to Mitch Brown. Keith Dempster, Dave Dykstra and Chris Durand are also expected to represent that area of the province on the weekend.
A few other surprises could be on hand on Saturday hailing from significant distance from Eastern Ontario. Racing action on Saturday gets started at 7:00 while action kicks off at 6:00 Sunday at Cornwall. Because only a feature needs to be run, the PST event on Sunday should be held early in the program to allow travelling teams a chance to get on the road at a decent hour.
For more information visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com and don’t forget to follow www.Facebook.com/PatriotSprintTour and/or www.Twitter.com/PatriotSprints all weekend for updates.
Patriot History at Brockville:
Races: 11
8/20/2004- Rick Wilson
10/22/2005- Kyle Drum
7/15/2006- Rick Wilson
6/2/2007- Jessica Zemken
7/18/2009- Bryan Howland
8/22/2009- Alain Bergeron
10/17/2009- Glenn Styres (Non-Points)
6/12/2010- Jared Zimbardi
7/17/2010- Shayne Ely
10/16/2010- Jared Zimbardi (Non-Points)
7/16/2011- Jared Zimbardi
Patriot History at Cornwall:
Races: 2
7/19/2009- Alain Bergeron
7/18/2010- Steve Poirier
Cornwall A-Main Starting Lineup
Row 1: Jamie Collard, Mitch Brown
Row 2: Steve Poirier, Keith Dempster
Row 3: Devin Caron, Scott Kreutter
Row 4: Lee Ladouceur, Michael Parent
Row 5: Patrick Vigneault, Glenn Styres
Row 6: Chris Jones, Jeff Cook
Row 7: Steve Collins, Kyle Fraser
Row 8: Rick Wilson, Jared Zimbardi
Row 9: Paul Pekkonen, Doug Banks
Row 10: Brad Knab, April Wilson
Row 11: Tim Kelly, Dave Dykstra
Row 12: Brian McDonald, Kayle Robidoux