By Paul Harkenrider (Vernon, NY) | After just completing his fifth season full time with the Patriot Sprint Tour, Jordan Thomas can now add his name to the list of Patriot Sprint Tour champions to the history books.
Thomas’s accolades earned him over $5,000 for the season after edging out 2019 Tour Champion, Davie Franek by just four points. Thomas had two wins on the season at Land of Legends and at Outlaw Speedway. However, it was Thomas’s consistency that was the biggest factor to his first career championship as he had top five finishes at Outlaw, Penn Can, Woodhull, and Fonda.
As eluded to earlier, Davie Franek finished second in points and missed out on his second consecutive championship by just four points. Franek’s lone win came on opening night at Outlaw Speedway for the Outlaw Spring Nationals. Just like Thomas, Franek remained consistent all season long when he had podium finishes at both Woodhull and Fonda.
Finishing third in points was Paulie Colagiovanni who finally broke through the win column in 2021 with wins at Fonda and Utica- Rome.
Adding himself to the full time tour roster in 2021 was Dave Axton and he finished fourth in points. Steve Glover rounded out the top five in the point standings.
Jared Zimbardi, Matt Tanner, Joe Trenca, Chuck Hebing and Danny Varin completed the top ten in points and were all awarded with point fund money. A total championship purse equaled to $19,975 and was paid to the drivers who finished in the top ten.
Paulie Colagiovanni was the Danny Willmes Enterprises presented by LC Design Lap Leader winner with 51 laps led. Matt Tanner was the Patriot Tank Lines Hard Charger and Jake Karklin was the Bonnell’s Rod Shop Dash for Cash series winner.
There were several different special awards handed out which began with the Thomas Racing Team being acknowledged for their Patriotism towards the tour and being awarded as Patriots of the Year. Jeff “Spider” Thomas was awarded as the PST Mechanic of the year.
Jared Zimbardi was given the Jerry Farrell Sportsmanship award for his continued respect on and off the race track at a PST Event.
Matt Tanner was also given the tough luck award for his multiple mechanical failures throughout the season.
Dave Axton was still getting accustomed to new tracks and racing some different competitors where, however, he continued to show more speed throughout the season and was awarded the Most Improved driver.
In the final honor of the night, Tom and Heidi Poole were awarded the Dedication to Motorsports award as a thank you for their ability to step up this season to help wherever it was needed, whether it was assisting in the MEM Parts Trailer or being a track official.
The CRSA 305 Sprints were also a part of the Program, Jeff Trombley won his fourth series championship of his career.
PST President Mike Emhof closed out the banquet thanking his staff on both PST and CRSA for all of their efforts in 2021. He also went on to thank all of the great marketing partners for their support in 2021. He informed everyone that the 2022 schedule in still in the works and will be published within the next couple of months so teams can prepare early for 2022.