By Paul Harkenrider (Dundee, NY) | History repeated itself Tuesday evening as Davie Franek won the season opener at Outlaw Speedway for the second year in a row.
A stout field of 23 cars was signed to begin the 2022 Patriot Platinum Tour and a race that paid $3,000 to win and $300 to start. The Patriot Sprint Tour was on the same card as the Short Track Super Series for the first time ever.
Former PST Canada Series champion Dylan Westbrook who has not raced with the Patriots since 2019, started on the front row alongside Davie Franek, and it was Westbrook taking the lead right out of the gate and would pace the field in the opening laps until the first caution was drawn on the second lap from a slowing Andrew Jacobus who sustained a left rear flat and could not return.
On the next restart, Franek would pressure Westbrook, and the two would separate themselves from the rest of the field.
However, another caution flew on lap seven from a spinning Randy Years in turn two.
On the next restart, Franek would move to the outside and muscle around Westbrook, who appeared to have lost a lot of speed coming out of turn two, and Paulie Colagiovanni would also get by Westbrook.
Franek, now in command, would start to build a lead of over two seconds from the rest of the field before he encountered lap traffic in the second half of the race. Meanwhile, there was an intense three-car battle for the fourth spot between Denny Peebles, Jordan Thomas, and rookie driver Dalton Rombaugh.
During lap traffic, Colagiovanni would get within a second of Franek but could not dig deep enough to find enough speed to get by.
Franek’s car clearly looked stronger in lap traffic as he could maneuver his car anywhere he wanted, which paid dividends in separating himself from Colagiovanni and Westbrook.
In the end, Franek would cruise for his first win of 2022 and his 12th in PST Competition. Colagiovanni had to settle for second, and Dylan Westbrook would complete the podium. Then, with a solid showing in his PST debut, rookie driver Dalton Rombaugh came home in a solid fourth-place finish, followed by the reigning champ, Jordan Thomas, who completed the top five.
Heat race wins went to Westbrook, Franek, and Brett Wright, while Jordan Thomas took home the Bonnell’s Rod Shop Dash for Cash.
The Patriots are off for a few weeks before having three races in June, all on half-mile tracks. The first June race is Saturday, June 11, at the Selinsgrove Speedway for the Joe Whitcomb Memorial, paying $3,071 to win. Then on Friday, June 17, they will visit Utica Rome Speedway for $3000 to win the event. Finally, the month will cap off with a show at the Fonda Speedway, paying $3000 to the winner. All three shows are a part of the Patriot Platinum Tour that will pay $5000 to the series champion.
For more information, please connect to the Patriot Sprint Tour by liking us on Facebook and following @PatriotSprints on Instagram and Twitter.
A-Verdi Storage Containers Patriots Sprint Tour- Quick Results
Outlaw Speedway – Tuesday, May 17
A-Main: 1) 28f- DAVIE FRANEK (1) 2) 10- Paulie Colagiovanni 3) 47x- Dylan Westbrook 4) 41- Dalton Rombaugh 5) 79- Jordan Thomas 6) 7ny- Matt Farnham 7) 22- Jonathan Preston 8) 3- Denny Peebles 9) 47- Kyle Drum 10) 4s- Johnny Smith 11) 5k- Jake Karklin 12) 87- Jason Barney 13) 98- Joe Trenca 14) 66- Jordan Hutton 15) 2- Dave Axton 16) 21- Randy Years 17) 121- Steve Glover 18) 48jr- Darryl Ruggles 19) 45- Chuck Hebing 20) 14b- Brett Wright 21) 7- Andrew Jacobus 22) 13- Keith Granholm 23) 61- Parker Evans
Heat 1: 1) 47x- Dylan Westbrook 2) 7ny- Matt Farnham 3) 47- Kyle Drum 4) 22- Jonathan Preston 5) 79- Jordan Thomas 6) 98- Joe Trenca 7) 21- Randy Years 8) 61- Parker Evans
Heat 2: 1) 14b- Brett Wright 2) 10- Paulie Colagiovanni 3) 13- Keith Granholm 4) 2- Dave Axton 5) 87- Jason Barney 6) 7- Andrew Jacobus 7) 48jr- Darryl Ruggles 8) 5k- Jake Karklin
Heat 3: 1) 28f- Davie Franek 2) 3- Denny Peebles 3) 41- Dalton Rombaugh 4) 4s- Johnny Smith 5) 45- Chuck Hebing 6) 66- Jordan Hutton 7) 121- Steve Glover
Bonnell’s Rod Shop Four Laps of Fame Dash: 1) 79- Jordan Thomas 2) 7ny – Matt Farnham 3) 2- Dave Axton 4) 13- Keith Granholm 5) 4s- Johnny Smith 6) 45- Chuck Hebing