Conneaut, OH — (May 29, 2015) — There are not many tracks on the Patriot Sprint Tour where Bryan Howland has not won a feature at in his career, and Friday Night at Raceway 7, in the first PST event this season at a track where the No. 51 had never graced Victory Lane, he knocked another track off the shrinking list.
Howland, 28, the 4-time PST Champion, led all 25-laps from the outside pole to claim his second win of the year, his 28th in his Patriot Sprint Tour Career. In the seventh Patriot event of the year, Howland became the first driver to lead more than 20 laps in the feature, leading wire-to-wire in a commanding performance.
In the first two appearances at 7/16-mile oval in Northeast Ohio, Howland had won his heat race both times and finished the feature in third and second, respectively. Flyin’ Bryan won his heat race again on Friday and after starting from the outside pole position left the field in his tire tracks. During the night, Howland also recorded a blistering 15.42 second lap, beating the old track record.
As Howland commanded the early race lead, Pole Postion Raceway Polesitter Joe Trenca held steady in second place with Steven Hutchinson Jr. in third. PST America Point Leader Sammy Reakes IV moved up to third just before what would be the final caution of the race on lap 18 when fourth-place running Hutchinson hit wall in turn four.
The lap 18 caution flag would turn in to a race stoppage for an incident in the pits, and when the race restarted, Howland was again untouchable, with the rest of the top five shuffling around.
Sammy Reakes IV would finish in second in his first trip to Raceway 7 to pad his point lead. Ohio’s C.J. Jones had a fine night, winning his heat race and crossing in third for his first PST Podium Finish.
For the third-straight race, defending Patriot Champion Jared Zimbardi drove from deep in the pack to earn a top-five finish. Zimbardi broke a hydraulic pump in his heat race and drove up from 19th starting position for his third top five in as many starts at Raceway 7.
Youngster Joe Trenca slid back after the final restart but was still able to round out the top five for his second fifth place showing in three PST starts this season.
Steve Collins finished sixth for the third-straight race at Raceway 7, while Kyle Drum went forward 10 positions to place in seventh. Jake Muench put together a fine run to cross in eighth, while Dave Just and Tyler Graves rounded out the top-10.
Along with Howland and Jones, Stan Zanchin scored his first Patriot heat race win since 2008 but was unable to finish the feature. Storms got dangerous close to the track on Friday Afternoon but once they moved out of the area, the fans filed in in droves to witness some of the fastest speeds produced at the history facility.
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Patriot Sprint Tour America Series Results: 5/29/15, Raceway 7, Conneaut, OH.
A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Bryan Howland (51), 2. Sammy Reakes IV (17), 3. C.J. Jones (10J), 4. Jared Zimbardi (35), 5. Joe Trenca (98), 6. Steve Collins (67), 7. Kyle Drum (47), 8. Jake Muench (14), 9. Dave Just (54J), 10. Tyler Graves (25G), 11. Steve Glover (121), 12. Joe McEwen (44), 13. George Suprick (87), 14. Steven Hutchinson Jr. (2), 15. Dennis Wagner (38), 16. Scott Kreutter (52), 17. Scott Just (54JR), 18. Stan Zanchin (94z), 19. Gary Edwards (57).
Lap Leaders- Howland 1-25.
Evingham Site Excavation Four Laps of Fame (4 Laps)- 1. Scott Kreutter (52), 2. Jake Muench (14), 3. Tyler Graves (25G), 4. Gary Edwards (57), 5. Joe McEwen (44).
Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: Howland, Glover, Reakes, McEwen, D. Just, S. Just, Zimbardi.
Race 2: Zanchin, Trenca, Hutchinson, Kreutter, Suprick, Wagner.
Race 3: Jones, Collins, Muench, Graves, Edwards, Drum.
Hoosier Tire Canada/ Mike Emhof Motorsports Recipient: Collins.
Pole Position Raceway Pole Winner: Trenca.
Patriot Sprint Tour America Series Point Standings (Top 10)- Reakes 835, Drum 763, Zimbardi 706, Kreutter 705, Collins 685, Hutchinson 681, D. Just 677, S. Just 671, Glover 653, Suprick 649.
Evingham Site Excavation Four Laps of Fame Dash Series Standings (Top Five)- Kreutter 16, Zimbardi 12, Brown 11, Lorenc 9, Drum 7.
Patriot Tank Lines Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Top Five)- Zimbardi 48, D. Just 25, T. Wickham 24, Reakes and Drum 22.
Danny Willmes Enterprises Lap Leader Standings (Top Five)- Howland 28, Reakes 21, S. Just 19, Barney and Stillwaggon 16.