From Rich Vleck
Rochester, N.Y. — (May 27, 2014) — As the 2014 Patriot Sprint Tour schedule intensifies, a trip to a pair of fast and unique race tracks are sure to excite racers and fans alike.
This Friday, the Patriot Sprint Tour makes their second ever appearance at Raceway 7 in Conneaut, OH before travelling south to the Mercer Raceway Park. This will be the only appearances for the series at each track this season. Bonnell’s Collison Centers will be sponsoring both nights and helping to produce a pair of $2,000-to-win events.
Raceway 7 produces perhaps the fastest speeds on tour. The 7/16-mile paperclip-shaped oval played host to its first PST event last August, with Jared Zimbardi dominating the event en route to the 2013 series championship. Zimbardi, of Bradford, PA, has taken over the point lead and is primed for his first win of the year after a pair of podium finishes last weekend but will have a host of challengers looking to thwart a repeat.
Bryan Howland scored the win last Saturday at McKean County ahead of Zimbardi, but finished third to him at Raceway 7 last season. Howland will be back this weekend in an effort to check two more tracks off the shrinking list of those he has not won at.
Saturday’s trip to Mercer will continue the quest to see a Patriot regular go to victory lane at “The Great Race Place”. Last season, Danny Holtgraver came from dead last to get by Scott Kreutter late in the event. Kreutter scored a runner up finish Sunday Night at Eriez to Paige Polyak, who invaded for a breakthrough victory and may look to invade once again this weekend.
Dennis Wagner, of Pulaski, PA, also put on quite a performance Sunday Night, charging up to fourth. Wagner has countless laps around the 3/8-mile oval in Mercer and will be psyched to welcome in the tour this Saturday. The same can be said for newcomer C.J. Jones of Ohio and some other surprises waiting to pounce.
This weekend will mark the one-year anniversary of George Suprick’s frightening night following his fourth-place run at Mercer. After a near win at McKean County, Suprick, who is second in the standings, would have his comeback be complete with a win this weekend.
Brad Knab and Steve Collins sit third and fourth in the standings, respectively, and both have logged a number of laps at Mercer against the 410s. They lead a throng of series regulars travelling west, including Kyle Drum, Geoff Quackenbush, Derek Jonathan, Clint Ide, Dave and Scott Just, Tyler Graves, Steven Hutchinson Jr. and rookie Dane Lorenc.
Raceway 7 is located at 4094 Center Rd in Monroe Center, OH and will swing their gates open at 5:00 P.M., with racing beginning at 7:30 P.M. Mercer’s gates will open at 4:00 on Saturday, with racing starting at 7:00 P.M. The track is located at 555 Fairground Rd, Mercer, PA, 16137. For more information, visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com.
Patriot History at Raceway 7
Races: 1
8/30/2013 Jared Zimbardi
Patriot History at Mercer
Races: 4
5/17/2003 Mike Lutz
9/18/2004 Dave Ely
6/4/2005 Jamie Martin
6/1/2013 Danny Holtgraver