From Rich Vleck
Rochester, NY — (April 7, 2013) — In the first 10 seasons of Patriot Sprint competition, a myriad of traditions and annual stops have come and gone, but a new growing tradition has just about every sprint car team in the Northeast salivating at the start of race season.
This Satruday, April 13, the second annual A-Verdi Storage Containers Methanol Meltdown will take place at the Fulton Speedway. This race will once again be the first Patriot Sprint Tour race of the year. In the inaugural event last season, 41 teams invaded the Oswego County oval for a thrilling afternoon extravaganza. This year, the feature will be run in the dark, but the stars in the field are sure to shine brightly throughout.
The Patriot Sprint Tour is once again splitting up points between American and Canadian races, but if a driver runs all 26 PST races and wins both championships, they will claim a total of $15,000 in point fund cash. The answer to whether a driver will claim this bonus is still months away, but it is certain they will be at Fulton on Saturday.
Steve Poirier took the lead from Tommy Wickham just before the halfway point of last year’s event and went on to claim the victory. Scott Kreutter had a modest run, placing 15th, but it kept him in the hunt to heat up over the summer and win the PST America Championship. Getting off to a good start at Fulton is critical, as 2011 PST Champion Jared Zimbardi can attest to; Zimbardi flipped in heat race action last year and could never make up the lost ground in the points.
Justin Barger, the 2012 PST Canada Champion, did not even make it to the B-Main last year but in his last feature start at the 4/10-mile, Barger went to Victory Lane in the 2007 PST Season Finale.
Chuck Hebing, Rick Wilson and Bryan Howland, the three winningest drivers in series history, have all won at Fulton in their careers, but there are more than a dozen other drivers that could come out on top at the end of the night.
Local favorites include defending Rookie of the Year Steven Hutchinson Jr., Brandan Warner, Dave Wickham, Kevin Ward Jr., Dylan Swiernik, Jason Barney, Larry Wight, Sammy Reakes IV and Joe Trenca. Tim Kelly, George Suprick, Steve Collins, Clint Ide and Don Adamczyk headline some of the top drivers in 2012 PST America points that are expected for Saturday.
The list of names that are expected is wide-ranging, but perhaps the list of surprises that could invade is larger. One thing is for sure: it is a show that should not be missed.
A-Verdi Storage Containers has been involved with the Patriot Sprint Tour since the beginning of the 2007 season when the series opened up at Fulton Speedway that year as well. They have been a leader in New York State for more than 30 years in providing storage and office solutions. For more information, visit www.Averdi.com.
Please remember that gates will open at 5:00 P.M. on Saturday while racing gets underway at the special time of 7:00 P.M. For more information, visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com.
Patriot History at Fulton:
Races: 6
7/26/2003- Rick Wilson
7/24/2004- Rick Wilson
5/5/2007- Chuck Hebing
9/8/2007- Justin Barger
8/8/2009- Dan Kaszubinski
4/14/2012- Steve Poirier