By Paul T. Harkenrider (Mercer, PA) | The story of the 2016 Patriot Sprint Tour season so far is Kyle Drum picking up two wins the last two weekends in the Jared Zimbardi back up machine.
Drum started on the front row and led all 25 laps to score the win on night two of Bonnell’s Collison Centers Western weekend at the Mercer Raceway Park.
Night one winner, Davie Franek, drew the pole position for the event but his right rear tire was going flat before the 25 lap event even started, Franek would have to go to the work area and would get two minutes and able to change it in time but would have to start at the rear of the field.
This put local favorite Dennis Wagner on the front row next to Kyle Drum and Drum was fast right out of the box as he grabbed the early race lead, but the first yellow was thrown as George Suprick suffered damage on the left rear wheel of his car which his night was ended quickly.
Drum restarted the field leading Wager, Mitch Brown and Jared Zimbardi but on lap six, Paul Habeck’s throttle stuck going down the back stretch causing him to flip and hit the turn four fence bringing out the events lone red flag.
The field was restarted once again as Drum was using the high lane to his advantage to keep Dennis Wagner from taking the race lead.
Mark Smith began to make some noise as he started 17th and got as high as fifth, however on lap 21, Smith lost his front brakes and was and was unable to continue and it would bring out the final yellow of the event.
Jared Zimbardi would get by both Mitch Brown and Dennis Wagner and would trail Kyle Drum on the restart. Zimbardi would pull alongside Kyle Drum on the restart but it would not be enough in the final four laps as Drum collected the victory over Jared Zimbardi, Dennis Wagner, Mitch Brown, and Steve Collins.
Drum also picked up the Shuttleworth’s Racing Bonus, Dave Just won the Stampede Steakhouse Final Finisher award and Derrick Juliano won the Casey’s Truck Salvage ‘Salvage of the night,’ award. Jake Brown won the Evingham Site Excavation Dash for Cash event where heats were won by Scott Kreutter, Jared Zimbardi and Mitch Brown.
The Western Weekend concludes at the Eriez Speedway tonight (July 3, 2016) and many awards from Champion Power Equipment will be awarded for the driver’s participation.
Be sure to log onto patriotsprinttour.com and well liking ‘Patirot Sprint Tour’ on facebook and to follow @PatriotSprints on Instagram and Twitter.
The Patriot Sprint Tour is a traveling Sprint Car Series that visits tracks in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Ontario.
Patriot Sprint Tour Bonnell’s Western Weekend Night 2
A Main: KYLE DRUM (2), Jared Zimbardi, Dennis Wagner, Mitch Brown, Steve Collins, Joe Trenca, Paulie Colagiovanni, C.J. Jones, Davie Franek, Scott Kreutter, Jake Brown, Steve Glover, Gary Edwards, Dain Naida, Jake Muench, Darryl Ruggles, Jimmy Stitzel, Derrick Juliano, Dave Just, Mark Smith, Dalton Daniels, Paul Habeck, Chris Durand
Heat 1: Scott Kreutter, Kyle Drum, Jake Muench, Paulie Colagiovanni, Steve Glover, CJ Jones, Paul Habeck, Jimmy Stitzel, Dane Lorenc (DNS)
Heat 2: Jared Zimbardi, Dennis Wagner, Joe Trenca, Mitch Brown, Gary Edwards, George Suprick, Darryl Ruggles, Dalton Daniels, Derek Juliano (DNS)
Heat 3: Mitch Brown, Steve Collins, Davie Franek, Chris Durand, Dave Just, Mark Smith, Dain Naida, Scott Just
ESE Dash: Jake Brown, Dave Just, Paulie Colagiovanni, Jake Muench, CJ Jones, Chris Durand (DNS)