By Paul Harkenrider (Dundee, NY) | Jared Zimbardi held off a charging Bobby Breen and Jordan Thomas to score the second annual Outlaw Spring Nationals in front one of the toughest 360 sprint car fields he will see all season long.
Zimbardi drew the pole after transferring to the redraw from finishing third in his qualifying heat as he ignited the 27 car field alongside ESS competitor Jason Barney. Zimbardi and Barney were able to pull away from the field as they began to exchange leads in the opening laps until lap four when Steve Collins brushed the outside wall coming to a stop to bring out the first yellow.
The field would restart which allowed drivers like Steve Poirier Dylan Westbrook, Davie Franek, and Jonathan Preston begin to make their presence known near the front of the field.
The field would restart and go three more circuits but it began to not be favorable for the front runners of the A-Main as Steve Poirier would swing his right rear tire too hard into turn one and would flip several times to bring the field to red. Two more separate cautions would occur on lap seven which involved Jonathan Preston spinning in turn three. The next restart, Franek who was running fifth at the green did a similar flip like Poirier did to bring out another red flag.
18 laps remained and Zimbardi would once again re-fire the remaining field and the battle for the runner up position was on between Barney, Westbrook, and Bobby Breen. Lap traffic became a factor but would favor Zimbardi increasing his advantage. It did not however favor Barney as both Westbrook and Bobby Breen were able to squeeze by to take over second and third, respectively.
Laps later, Breen was would initiate the inside lane of Westbrook to secure third. Jordan Thomas, who started 12th, was fast all night was able to weave his way through the field once green flag laps would string together, and then got himself into the top five, as would Coleman Gullick.
In the final laps, Breen would give one last shot at Zimbardi but it would not be enough as Zimbardi would score the victory over Breen, Thomas, Gullick, and Barney who held on for a top five finish.
Heat wins were captured by Jonathan Preston, Dylan Westbrook, Bobby Breen, and Jordan Thomas. Coleman Gullick picked up the dash lineup. Colagiovanni picked up the B- Main win.
The Series now focuses on tonight’s Spring Sizzler at Merrittville Speedway as it will be the annual kick- off to the Patriot Sprint Tour Canada Series. Jason Barney has won the event the last two seasons but will be up against in tough competition with Jared Zimbardi, Steve Poirier, Dylan Westbrook and Mitch Brown.
Fans are encouraged to check out the new patriotsprinttour.com, along with all of our social media sites such as facebook, Instagram, and twitter for more information.
The 2017 Patriot Sprint Tour season is brought to you by; A-Verdi Storage Containers, Hoosier Racing Tires, Prestige Pool & Spa, Einstein Construction Group, Bonnell’s Auto Group, Evingham Site Excavation Mike Emhof Motorsports Inc, Super Gen Products with Champion Power Equipment, Patriot Tank Lines, Danny Willmes Enterprises, Casey’s Truck Salvage, Just Signs & Designs, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Sunoco Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, Shuttleworth Asphalt Sealing, ASI Racewear, Curtis Berleue Photography, Fine Touch Collison.
Don Loucks Memorial Outlaw Spring Nationals (ESS, PST, URC Challenge Event)
A Main: 1) 35-JARED ZIMBARDI (1) 2) 9-Bobby Breen 3) 79-Jordan Thomas 4) 14-Coleman Gulick 5) 87-Jason Barney 6) 47x-Dylan Westbrook 7) 55-Mark Smith 8) 98-Joe Trenca 9) 89-Robbie Stillwaggon 10) 33-Brandon Kidd 11) 47- Kyle Drum 12) 0- Glenn Styres 13) 36- Matt Billings 14) 56- Billy VanInwegen 15) 21- Alex Vigneault 16) 10- Paulie Colagiovanni 17) 19k- Paul Kinney 18) 67c-Steve Collins 19) 48jr- Darryl Ruggles 20) X-Dan Bennett 21) 99k Dan Kuhn 22) 54J- Dave Just 23) 28fm- Steve Poirier 24) 22-Jonathan Preston 25) Davie Franek 26) 88c- Chad Miller 27) 14b-Brett Wright
Heat 1: 1) 22-Jonathan Preston 2) 87- Jason Barney 3) 33- Brandon Kidd 4) 99k- Dan Kuhn 5) X- Dan Bennett 6) 121- Steve Glover 7) 22x- Ethan Preston 8) 56- Bill VanInwegen 9) 2- Steve Hutchinson
Heat 2: 1) 47x- Dylan Westbrook 2) 28F- Davie Franek 3) 0- Glenn Styres 4) 14- Coleman Gulick 5) 55- Mark Smith 6) 10- Paulie Colagiovanni 7) 19k- Paul Kinney 8) 17- Josh Azzi 9) 81- Derek Jonathan
Heat 3: 1) 9- Bobby Breen 2) 98- Joe Trenca 3) 35- Jared Zimbardi 4) 89- Robbie Stillwagon 5) 21- Alex Vigneault 6) 36- Mat Billings 7) 54J- Dave Just 8) 87s- George Suprick 9) 88c- Chad Miller
Heat 4: 1) 79- Jordan Thomas 2) 28FM- Steve Poirier 3) 67- Steve Collins 4) 48jr- Darryl Ruggles 5) 47-Kyle Drum 6) 14- Brett Wright 7) 67r- Pete Richardson 8) 61- Parker Evans
Lanes Yamaha Dash: 1) 14- Coleman Gullick 2) 48jr- Darryl Ruggles 3) 89- Robbie Stillwagon 4) 99k- Dan Kuhn
B Main: 1) 10-Paulie Colagiovanni 2) 36-Matt Billings 3) 47-Kyle Drum 4) Billy VanInwegen DNQ: 22x-Ethan Preston, 17-Josh Azzi, 67r- Pete Richardson, 61- Parker Evans, 87 Gorge Suprick, 81- Derek Jonathan