By Paul T. Harkenrider (Cornwall, ONT) | After settling for second on Saturday night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway to Jason Barney, Jared Zimbardi of Bradford, PA did one better Sunday night at the Cornwall Speedway with a late race pass to pick up his fifth Patriot Sprint Tour win of the season.
St. Pie, QC driver Alain Bergeron started on the front row next to Jared Zimbardi to begin the 25 lap event with 23 cars starting. Bergeron grabbed the early lead for the first two laps before Jason Barney, who started third, took over the top spot officially on lap three and fourth place starter Jordan Poirier found an outside line that worked to his favor to grabbed the second spot.
Multiple circuits would go on by as Barney would be holding off the teenage driver in Poirier. The lone caution of the event came out on lap 11 when Lee Winger went off turn four and was parked between the track and the catch fence.
On the following restart, Zimbardi would immediately get by Poirier to grab second and set his sights on the race leader in Barney, similar to how it happened Saturday night at Brockville.
The two would continue to race for the lead as they weaved their way through lap traffic and then on lap 21, Zimbardi would dive low to the bottom and put the slide job on Barney and be officially scored as the new race leader on lap 22.
All of a sudden, Barney got stuck behind lap traffic and Mitch Brown would grab second with the white flag out. Zimbardi would grab the win but the battle for second was on between Barney and Brown and when the checkered came out, Barney would get just a good enough run on the bottom to retake second and Brown would have to settle for third. Steve Poirier would finish fourth and Devin Caron would complete the top five.
It was Zimbardi’s 29th career win with the Patriot Sprint Tour passing Bryan Howland for second all-time and he only trails Chuck Hebing who has 42 career wins with the Patriot Sprint Tour.
Qualifying heats went to Alain Bergeron, Jordan Poirier, and Jason Barney. Devin Caron picked up the Evingham Site Excavation Dash.
The series next race will be at the Woodhull Raceway for the second time of the season this Saturday, July 23. The next PST-Canada race will be on Saturday August 20 back at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
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The Patriot Sprint Tour is a 360 Sprint Car series that visits tracks in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ontario.
Patriot Sprint Tour Quick Results: Cornwall Speedway July 17, 2016
A Main: JARED ZIMBARDI (5), Jason Barney, Mitch Brown, Steve Poirier, Devin Caron, Alex Vignault, Dylan Westbrook, Chris Jones, Parker Evans, Alain Bergeron, Ricky Wilson, Lee Ladoucer, Ryan Turner, April Wilson, Yan Bilodeau, Jake Brown, Dale Gosslin, Jordan Poirier, Guillaume Neiderer, Kyle Fraser, Paul Pekkonen, Harvard Daniels, Lee Winger
Heat 1: Alain Bergeron, Mitch Brown, Jared Zimbardi, Dylan Westbrook, Lee Winger, Guillaume Neiderer, Harvard Daniels, Lee Ladouceur
Heat 2: Jordan Poirier, Devin Caron, Steve Poirier, Chris Jones, Yan Bilodeau, Alex Vignault, Jake Brown, Paul Pekkonen
Heat 3: Jason Barney, Parker Evans, Ryan Turner, Kyle Fraser, April Wilson, Rick Wilson, Dale Gosselin
ESE Dash: Devin Caron, Chris Jones, April Wilson, Alex Vignault, Ryan Turner, Kyle Fraser