Rich Vleck
DUNDEE, NY, (May 4, 2012)- Bobby Breen is strong at just about any track he competes at, but no facility has been friendlier to him over the years than the Black Rock Speedway as he scored his fourth career win on the track he began his sprint car career at eight years ago.
Breen, 23, of Savannah, NY, made his weekend trip home from college in Ohio pay off as he scored the win in the Insinger Race Fuels Spring Sprint Nationals, an event featuring the top names of the Patriot Sprint Tour and United Racing Company. Breen was strong all night, but another driver’s misfortune also made the trip to Victory Lane easier.
“Dobbers” won his qualifying heat in convincing fashion, driving from fourth to the lead in just two laps. After redrawing the fifth starting spot, he quickly drove up to second behind Suprick and began to stalk him in lapped traffic. On the restart following the race’s first yellow flag on lap 11, Breen made a run to the outside of Suprick but the veteran did not plan to give up the lead that easily.
“I thought I had him on the slide job,” recalled Breen about his bid to the inside of Suprick when he dove to the lead in turns one and two before Suprick crossed him back up and returned the favor in the next set of corners. “I guess there was a little more moisture coming out of turn two, but we were so strong in lapped traffic. The car was awesome.”
Despite not being able to hold the lead, Breen continued to pressure Suprick until the duo reached lapped traffic once again. On lap 18 of the 25 lap feature, Breen was setting up a bid for the lead when Suprick stabbed the brakes to avoid a lapped car also running the high groove. Suprick’s No. 87 washed up, hitting the turn three berm just enough to send his ride flipping. It was a spectacular moment in the race but regardless of the flip Breen likely would have exited the series of corners as the leader.
Under the red flag for Suprick, Breen checked the readjusted leaderboard to see that Jared Zimbardi, the defending PST Champion and most recent winner at Black Rock, was in second and was also moving up swiftly through the field; it was no time to relax for the driver of the No. 9.
On what would be the final restart on lap 19, Breen was solid and put a safe distance between himself and Zimbardi. He reached the tail of the field again with two laps remaining, calling to mind three races in 2010 where he lost the lead on the final lap, but he was steady this time around and would hang on for his seventh career PST Win.
Last year Breen ran just two races as he was focusing on college in Ohio. This year he has already made as many starts and sees the $10,000 PST America Championship as a real possibility, as he has now taken over the point lead. The ability to pull off such a feat though is not possible a lot of hours on the road, or the work on the car back home. Bobby was appreciative in Victory Lane for his crew, particularly of his older brother Blake, as it was his car that Bobby was driving on Friday Night.
Jared Zimbardi would hang on for second, a welcomed result for the defending champion after a horrid start to the 2012 season. Zimbardi was able to utilize multiple grooves to hold off Bryan Howland for the runner-up spot, as the four-time champion would cross in third.
Scott Kreutter had an impressive run up through the pack from 13th to finish in fourth with a rim-riding performance. Justin Barger was solid again as he would round out the top five in his No. 5.
Don Adamczyk’s first start of the year resulted in an Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash win and a sixth place finish, ahead of Ryan Bohlke, who made his first appearance at Black Rock. Charlie Donk would charge up nine spots to finish eighth. Steve Collins was in the top five most of the night but would finish in ninth. Josh Weller won B-Main one and round out the top 10 just ahead of Chuck Hebing, who barely beat Weller in his heat to send him to the B-Main.
An impressive 39 cars helped to fill the pits on a beautiful summer-like evening in the Finger Lakes. A number of drivers were running a sprint at Black Rock for the first time and varying results were seen.
Next up for the Patriots will be the Can-Am Sprint Challenge at Autodrome Granby next weekend. The next PST America race will be the following week at Woodhull Raceway. For more information visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com.
Patriot Sprint Tour Results: 5/4/12, Black Rock Speedway, Dundee, NY.
Insinger Spring Sprint Nationals A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Bobby Breen (9), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Bryan Howland (51), 4. Scott Kreutter (52), 5. Justin Barger (5), 6. Don Adamczyk (21), 7. Ryan Bohlke (18), 8. Charlie Donk (99), 9. Steve Collins (67), 10. Josh Weller (63), 11. Chuck Hebing (45), 12. Tim Kelly (12), 13. Robbie Stillwaggon (89), 14. Tommy Wickham (75), 15. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 16. Jeff Cook (10), 17. Ed Aiken (7), 18. Tracy Potter (11), 19. Paul Habeck (25H), 20. Todd Hoddick (49), 21. Randy West (56), 22. Troy Betts (22), 23. George Suprick (87), 24. Chad Trout (7c), 25. Sammy Reakes IV (1).
Lap Leaders- Suprick 1-17, Breen 18-25.
PST Provisional Starter- Hoddick.
B-Mains (Top 2 Transfer to A-Main)-
Race 1: 1. Josh Weller (63), 2. Charlie Donk (99), 3. Derek Jonathan (81), 4. Todd Hoddick (49), 5. Art Liedl (2L), 6. Joey Biasi (B1), 7. Davie Franek (28F), 8. Steve Hutchinson Jr. (2), 9. Clint Ide (3), 10. Brandan Warner (10B).
Race 2: 1. Ed Aiken (7), 2. Jeff Cook (10), 3. Bruce DeWick (31B), 4. Andy Best (88B), 5. Kevin Darling (9D), 6. Jonathan Swason (17J), 7. Dan Mazy (X), 8. J.R. Berry (47), 9. Tim Hogue (39).
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Don Adamczyk (21), 2. Justin Barger (5), 3. Robbie Stillwaggon (89), 4. Tracy Potter (11), 5. Scott Kreutter (52), 6. Tommy Wickham (75).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each, Top 5 Transfer to A-Main)-
Race 1: 1. Steve Collins (67), 2. George Suprick (87), 3. Justin Barger (5), 4. Sam Reakes IV (1), 5. Scott Kreutter (52), 6. Charlie Donk (99), 7. Joey Biasi (B1), 8. Clint Ide (3), 9. Jonathan Swason (17J), 10. Dan Mazy (X).
Race 2: 1. Kevin Ward Jr. (13), 2. Don Adamczyk (21), 3. Ryan Bohlke (18), 4. Tim Kelly (12), 5. Chuck Hebing (45), 6. Josh Weller (63), 7. Ed Aiken (7), 8. Jeff Cook (10), 9. J.R. Berry (47), 10. Steve Hutchinson Jr. (2).
Race 3: 1. Troy Betts (22), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Chad Trout (7c), 4. Robbie Stillwaggon (89), 5. Tracy Potter (11), 6. Derek Jonathan (81), 7. Bruce DeWick (31B), 8. Art Liedl (2L), 9. Tim Hogue (39), 10. Davie Franek (28F).
Race 4: 1. Bobby Breen (9), 2. Bryan Howland (51), 3. Paul Habeck (25H), 4. Randy West (56), 5. Tommy Wickham (75), 6. Kevin Darling (9D), 7. Todd Hoddick (49), 8. Andy Best (88B), 9. Brandan Warner (10B).
Patriot Sprint Tour America Points (Top 10)- Bobby Breen 282, Bryan Howland 279, Tommy Wickham and Chuck Hebing 261, Scott Kreutter 248, Charlie Donk 238, Kevin Ward Jr. 237, Tim Kelly 232, Steve Collins 228, Josh Weller 223.
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash Series Standings (Top Five)- George Suprick and Don Adamczyk 6, Chuck Hebing and Justin Barger 5, Tim Kelly 4.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Top Five)- Chuck Hebing 16, Kevin Ward Jr. Scott Kreutter and Josh Weller 12, Keith Dempster and Larry Wight 10.