By Paul T. Harkenrider (Canandaigua, NY) | Steve Poirier made the trip all the way down from Quebec to the Ontario Fairgrounds facility to pick up his 14th career win under the Patriot Sprint Tour banner, and his second at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
Poirier used a lap 9 restart to gain momentum on Bryan Howland to eventually take the lead on lap 11. He never looked back.
“I thought I was going to need the lap traffic to get by Bryan (Howland), but my car was so good in the middle so I am pretty happy because tonight we were able to try some different things with the car and it worked out,” commented Poirier in victory lane.
“We were supposed to be limiting our racing program this year but with three starts and already two wins, it is difficult to do that.”
The field was ignited by Dane Lorenc and Chuck Hebing. Hebing was racing for the first time in 2016 after recovering from a shoulder injury that was suffered during the off season. Hebing wasted no time on the first lap jumping out to the early race lead but a caution that involved Josh Azzi and Pete Richardson on turn three brought the field to a complete stop as Richardson was put on his side.
Hebing then had another superb restart, but as the field entered the back stretch, he was all of a sudden off the pace which left Bryan Howland as the new race leader on lap two.
Seven more laps ticked away for race leader Howland before lap traffic became a factor. Poirier was able get underneath Howland to take the lead, yet another yellow was displayed on the speedway which reverted Howland back to the point on the ensuing restart.
After a lap nine restart, Poirier pulled even with Howland as they raced down the backstretch. As the drivers exited turn four, Poirier had the advantage and ultimately the lead.
Poirier went on to lead the remaining 14 laps with pressure from both Howland and third place finisher, Jason Barney. Jared Zimbardi battled Dane Lorenc for the fourth position for the majority of the race with Zimbardi capturing the spot at the checkers. Lorenc rounded out the top five.
Heat wins were claimed by Chuck Hebing, Paulie Colagiovanni, and Jason Barney. Poirier also received the Shuttleworth’s Seals the Deal $50 winner’s bonus. Claiming the Stampede Steakhouse “Last Car Running” $50 bonus was Alex Hill, and winning the Casey’s Truck Salvage ‘Salvage of the Night’ award was Joe Trenca.
The Patriot Sprint Tour sets it’s attention to another two-day weekend show this coming weekend. The series heads to the brand new Outlaw Speedway on Friday, May 13, and Woodhull Raceway on Saturday May 14.
Details for all upcoming Patriot Sprint Tour events can found by liking us on Facebook, and following @PatriotSprints on Instagram and Twitter. You can also visit patriotsprinttour.com.
The Patriot Sprint tour is 360 Sprint Car series that tours facilities in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada.
Quick Results Canandaigua Motorsports Park
May 7, 2016
Heat 1- 45 Chuck Hebing, 47 Kyle Drum, 51 Bryan Howland, 54j Dave Just, 97 Cory Turner, 17z Josh Azzi, 26 Lee Sanders, 80 Dave Wickham, X Dan Bennett, 121 Steve Glover
Heat 2- 10cx Paulie Colagiovanni, 48jr Darryl Ruggles, 00 Dane Lorenc, 10c Jeff Cook, 10 Mitch Brown, 36x Mike Stelter, 67r Pete Richardson, 1j Derek Juliano
Heat 3- 87* Jason Barney, 25h Paul Habeck, 28fm Steve Poirier, 35 Jared Zimbardi, 36 Steve Doell, 17 Sammy Reakes, 25g Tyler Graves, 77x Alex Hill, 54jr Scott Just
B-Main (Top 4 Qualify)- 98 Joe Trenca, 77x Alex Hill, 67r Pete Richardson, 25g Tyler Graves, 26 Lee Sanders, 54jr Scott Just, 1j Derek Juliano, X Dan Bennett, 80 Dave Wickham, 121 Steve Glover, 22 Jonathan Preston
ESE Dash- Paul Habeck, Kyle Drum, Jared Zimbardi, Cory Turner, Mitch Brown, Dave Just
A-Main- STEVE POIRIER, Bryan Howland, Jason Barney, Jared Zimbardi, Dane Lorenc, Paulie Colagiovanni, Paul Habeck, Steve Doell, Jeff Cook, Mitch Brown, Mike Stelter, Cory Turner, Joe Trenca, Sammy Reakes IV, Josh Azzi, Darryl Ruggles, Alex Hill, Kyle Drum, Dave Just, Scott Just, Tyler Graves, Chuck Hebing, Pete Richardson
Lap Leaders- Chuck Hebing 1-2, Bryan Howland 3-10, Steve Poirier 11-25
Shuttleworth’s ‘Seals the Deal’ winners Bonus ($50): Steve Poirier
Stampede Steakhouse ‘Last car Running’ award ($50): Alex Hill
Casey’s Truck Salvage ‘Salvage of the night’ ($50): Joe Trenca