From Rich Vleck
Rochester, N.Y. — (August 1, 2013) — The Patriot Sprint Tour will make a highly-anticipated return to the Ransomville Speedway this Friday for what is a pivotal event in the PST America Championship.
This Friday, August 2, A-Verdi Storage Containers will present the only sprint car event at “The Big R”, in 2013. The 4/10-mile oval features narrow yet high-banked corners at the end of a pair of long straight-aways that force teams to couple speed with car control in a way few tracks can duplicate.
Scott Kreutter, from nearby Alden, NY, made a handful of starts in a modified at Ransomville as a teenager with limited success but has come a long way since then. The defending PST America Champion and current point leader has finished in the top 5 in all 5 starts he has made in a sprint car, including a runner-up in 2007, his rookie year. “The Straight Shooter” is the only PST Champion to not win at Ransomville.
Jared Zimbardi, of Bradford, PA, scored his second win of the season last Friday night in the PST America event at Clinton County Raceway. It was Zimbardi’s 11th win in PST Competition, but his second career win came at Ransomville back in 2007. “The Juice” is now just nine points back of Kreutter for the point lead.
Tommy Wickham and Justin Barger are still in the championship hunt and are separated by just two points in the standings. Even though neither has won at “The Big R” both were impressive last season. Barger finished second in 2012 while Tommy Wickham rallied from a spin to drive back up to finish in seventh.
Points are also on the minds of Brad Knab, Geoff Quackenbush, Clint Ide and Steve Collins as they battle it out for positions inside the top five of the standings. Drivers such as Adam Anderson, Brandan Warner, Mitch Brown and Steven Hutchinson Jr. also look to move up the point ladder.
Past PST Champions Bryan Howland and Chuck Hebing have combined to win three series events in Niagara County. Howland’s win came in 2005 while Hebing scored a win in his brother’s car in 2004 and then again last season, when he rode the rim to the win.
Friday’s event will have plenty of local flare, led off by sprint car rookies Dave and Scott Just. The Ransomville residents competed weekly in the sportsman division for many years before making the transition in 2013. Both father and son have been making a solid progression of late and a primed for their best runs at their hometown track.
Derek Jonathan of nearby Lewiston will make his seventh start at Ransomville, while Todd Hoddick, of Cheektowaga, will be competing for the first time there in his No. 49. Don Adamczyk, of Williamsville, on the other hand, has nine starts at Ransomville, but will be attempting to make his first PST start of 2013 after mechanical issues.
One driver with redemption on his mind has to be Paul Habeck. In last year’s event, Habeck was involved in a wreck in turn one that broke his arm. Habeck, along with teammate Charlie Donk, are expected to make their first PST starts of the season.
Ransomville Speedway is located on Braley Rd just North of Ransomville and Rt. 93. Pit gates swing open at 5:00 P.M., with racing getting underway at 7:15 P.M. For more information, be sure to visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com.
Patriot History at Ransomville
Races: 9
7/11/2003- Billy Krull
9/17/2004- Chuck Hebing
7/1/2005- Bryan Howland
7/29/2006- Rick Wilson
6/29/2007- Jared Zimbardi
8/3/2007- George Suprick
6/27/2008- Chuck Hebing
6/18/2010- Stewart Friesen
7/27/2012- Chuck Hebing