By Paul T. Harkenrider (Selinsgrove, PA) | It was a beautiful evening of 360 Sprint Car racing at the fast Selinsgrove Speedway for the 13th annual Joe Whitcomb Memorial presented by the A-Verdi Storage Containers Patriot Sprint Tour.
Davie Franek used his pole position to lead all 30 laps of the event to pick up his first ever Joe Whitcomb Memorial trophy and the hefty $2,571 check winning over Jason Shultz and Ryan Kissinger.
Four-time Joe Whitcomb Memorial winner TJ Stutts suffered motor troubles during his qualifying heat and he was not able to compete in the 30 lap event. Stutts did take the green flag and was able to take home qualifying money which was $271.00 before parking his ride for the night.
Franek wasted no time pulling away from the field until he began to meet lap traffic on lap eight. Ryan Kissinger, who set the fast time in time trials at the beginning of the night started to set his sights on the race leader in Franek.
It was not until the second half of the race where Kissinger was within passing distance of Franek and on lap 23 Kissinger entered the bottom of turns one and two where he had the slight advantage as they worked down the backstretch but he could not seal off Franek as they entered turns three and four and Franek was still the race leader with six laps remaining.
Then on lap 26, Jason Schultz who was running third the entire event was able to get around Kissinger for second and try to inch closer to Franek but would not catch him.
Franek continued to weave his way through lap traffic but cruised to the checkered flag to pick up his first career Joe Whitcomb Memorial over Jason Shultz who finished second, Ryan Kissinger, Mark Smith, and Eric Tomecek completed the top five.
Jared Zimbardi would be the highest Patriot Sprint Tour member finisher and will receive first place points towards the 2016 American series championship. Heat wins went to Kissinger, Shultz and Joe Trenca.
Steve Collins won the Casey’s Truck Salvage ‘Salvage of the Night’ after finishing 19th, and Paul Habeck won the Stampede Steakhouse Final Finisher award.
The Patriot Sprint Tour American Series continues this Friday as the first leg of the Western Swing brought to you by Bonnell’s Auto Group is at Raceway 7 in Coneaut, Ohio on Friday, June 24, and then the Stateline Speedway on Saturday, June 25.
Then following weekend, it is the Bonnell’s Auto Collison Western Speed Week as the series races three straight nights, with each race paying $4,000 to the winner every night.
You can visit patriotsprinttour.com as well liking us on facebook. You can follow @PatriotSprints on Instagram and Twitter.
The Patriot Sprint Tour is a traveling Sprint Car Series that visits racetrack in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canada.
Selinsgrove Speedway Results- June 18, 2016
Heat 1: Ryan Kissinger, Jared Zimbardi, Derek Locke, Eric Tomecek, Curt Michael, Jordan Thomas, Paulie Colagiovanni, Paul Habeck, Tyler Graves
Heat 2: Joe Trenca, TJ Stutts, Cody Keller, Dane Lorenc, Troy Betts, Jim Schuster, Larry Kelleher, Mallie Shuster (DNF)
Heat 3: Jason Schultz, Davie Franek, Mark Smith, Michael Walter II, Phil Walter, Steve Collins, Scott Just, Dave Just
A Main: DAVIE FRANEK (1), Jason Schultz, Ryan Kissinger, Mark Smith, Eric Tomecek, Jared Zimbardi, Cody Keller, Derek Locke, Curt Michael, Dane Lorenc, Larry Kelleher, Troy Betts, Jordan Thomas, Joe Trenca, Michael Walter II, Paulie Colagiovanni, Jim Shuster, Phil Walter, Steve Collins, Scott Just, Dave Just, Paul Habeck, Tyler Graves (DNF), TJ Stutts (DNF)
Time Trials: Ryan Kissinger (17.792), Dane Lorenc (17.964), Mark Smith (18.030), Eric Tomecek (18.048), TJ Stutts (18.096), Michael Walter III (18.129), Derek Locke (18.166), Joe Trenca (18.167), Jason Schultz (18.175), Jared Zimbardi (18.217), Mallie Shuster (18.227), Davie Franek (18.231), Jordan Thomas (18.236), Jim Shuster (18.265), Steve Collins (18.270), Curt Michael (18.343), Cody Keller (18.372), Phil Walter (18.416), Paul Habeck (18.474), Larry Kelleher (18.658), Scott Just (18.838), Troy Betts (18.887), Dave Just (19.048), Tyler Graves (19.243)