From Rich Vleck
DUNDEE, NY, (June 29, 2012)- George Suprick is the winningest sprint car driver in Black Rock Speedway history, but it had been a long time since he had graced its Victory Lane; that is, until Friday Night when he got a taste of sweet redemption.
Suprick, the 2004 Black Rock Speedway and Patriot Sprint Champion from Clarks Summit, PA, lead all 25 laps of the PST Event at Black Rock for his 14th career series win and ninth Checkered Flag in Dundee. A lot has changed since his last BRS win in 2005 though.
“It’s still the same name here, but it is definitely a different deal here,” said Suprick in reference to his last win at the 4/10-mile. “I like it better without the walls. I just don’t want to wait this long to win here again.”
After driving from fifth to second in his heat race, Suprick found his way in to the redraw, where his junior helper selected the pole position for him. Suprick used an impressive start to claim the lead off Scott Hixson’s green flag from Alain Bergeron and began to slice through the lapped traffic by lap three.
Suprick would lead the train around with Bergeron and Justin Barger close in tow until lap 14, when the races only caution flag would wave and reset the frantic race that was unfolding.
“The track was a little slick in the middle so you had to run the bottom or the top, and my No. 87 was good in both,” reflected Suprick after the event. “I kept mixing up the line because I didn’t want Mr. Bergeron to know what to expect down the stretch.”
As the race moved to under five laps to go, Bergeron began to reapply the pressure with his No. 8B as the lead duo once again moved through lapped traffic. It was the moment of the race where back in May Suprick flipped out of the lead with a mechanical issue, but with all his parts working successfully, the information gained from that race was just what the veteran needed to carry through to the win.
“We learned a lot back in May and used it tonight to know what we needed. We had everything for everybody; we had them covered as the car kept getting better,” noted Suprick after the event. “The car got a little tight a few times as a hiked the wing back but it was good. This is still just a tune-up for August when it pays $4,000 to win.”
The win moved Suprick back in to a tie with his buddy Rick Wilson as the third-winningest driver in PST History.
As Suprick was clearing out of lapped traffic in the final three laps, Alain Bergeron slipped up the track and allowed Justin Barger to sneak by to steal the runner-up position. Barger, who won his heat in convincing fashion, was solid all feature long but was unable to gain enough on Suprick who ran a flawless event. It was the fifth straight top five at BRS for Barger.
Alain Bergeron also continued his streak of solid finishes in Yates County as he notched his fourth top three in the last two years, making his trip all the way from Quebec pay off. Tim Kelly, who made a much shorter trip of five miles to the track, won his heat and ran a solid fourth the entire way.
Bobby Breen, the winner of the event back in May, also won his heat race but an eighth place starting spot would make it an uphill climb for the Savannah, NY driver, as he would dig hard to round out the top five.
PST America point leader Bryan Howland drove up from 13th to 8th in the opening three laps and would pick off another pair of spots down the stretch to finish in sixth. Charlie Donk would charge from 15th to seventh, ahead of Scott Kreutter, Tommy Wickham and Jared Zimbardi, who completed the top 10.
A total of 23 sprints helped to fill the pits on a beautiful early summer night. Don Adamczyk won the Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame for the second straight time at Black Rock but would forced pitside early.
Patriot Sprint Tour Results: 6/29/12, Black Rock Speedway, Dundee, NY.
A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. George Suprick (87), 2. Justin Barger (5), 3. Alain Bergeron (8B), 4. Tim Kelly (12), 5. Bobby Breen (9), 6. Bryan Howland (51), 7. Charlie Donk (99), 8. Scott Kreutter (52), 9. Tommy Wickham (75), 10. Jared Zimbardi (35), 11. Chuck Hebing (45), 12, Jeff Cook (10), 13. Tracy Potter (11), 14. Steve Collins (67), 15. Erica Bell (31B), 16. Brandan Warner (10B), 17. Paul Habeck (25H), 18. Dave Wickham (80), 19. Clint Ide (3), 20. Steve Hutchinson Jr. (2), 21. Don Adamczyk (21), 22. Jeremy Barnard (86), 23. Jeff Frasier (99x).
Lap Leaders- Suprick 1-25.
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Don Adamczyk (21), 2. Tommy Wickham (75), 3. Tracy Potter (11), 4. Jared Zimbardi (35), 5. Bryan Howland (51), 6. Erica Bell (31B).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Justin Barger (5), 2. George Suprick (87), 3. Scott Kreutter (52), 4. Tommy Wickham (75), 5. Bryan Howland (51), 6. Clint Ide (3), 7. Steve Hutchinson (2), 8. Jeff Cook (10).
Race 2: 1. Bobby Breen (9), 2. Alain Bergeron (8B), 3. Don Adamczyk (21), 4. Jared Zimbardi (35), 5. Charlie Donk (99), 6. Erica Bell (31B), 7. Jeff Frasier (99x), 8. Dave Wickham (80).
Race 3: 1. Tim Kelly (12), 2. Chuck Hebing (45), 3. Tracy Potter (11), 4. Steve Collins (67), 5. Brandan Warner (10B), 6. Jeremy Barnard (86), 7. Paul Habeck (25H).
Patriot Sprint Tour America Series Standings (Top 10)- Bryan Howland 672, Tim Kelly 653, Scott Kreutter 648, Tommy Wickham 643, George Suprick 615, Jared Zimbardi 592, Steve Collins 580, Chuck Hebing 529, Brandan Warner 523.
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame (Top Five)- Don Adamczyk 18, Todd Hoddick 10, Tim Kelly 9, Bryan Howland and Tracy Potter 7.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season (Top Five)- Bryan Howland 28, Charlie Donk 21, Chuck Hebing 19, Jeff Cook 18, Scott Kreutter and Tim Kelly 16.