Rich Vleck, JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (June 27, 2009) - When Jared Zimbardi redraw seventh for his A-Main starting spot Saturday Night at Stateline he figured his winless streak would continue to grow. Much to his surprise he was wrong and ended the night in Victory Lane.
Zimbardi, of Little Valley, NY, made a late-race wing adjustment pay off by moving underneath Bobby Breen coming to complete the 23rd lap held on for his first Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot A-Main win in nearly two years.
In a thrilling yet extended feature as part of the PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier, the lead was swapped four times as neither the top nor the bottom line were clearly dominant. As the race wore on though, the bottom came in and so rose the No. 35.
Zimbardi quickly moved to third on the opening lap but struggled to gain much more ground throughout the first half of the race. After Bobby Breen took the lead back from Bubba Broderick on lap 14, Zimbardi focused on the No. 5 for second, passing him the next time around.
“I didn’t know if I catch Breen because I hadn’t seen how good his car was,” stated “The Juice” after the 25-lap event. “All of the sudden I got by Bubba and said to myself: Wow I can win this thing.”
As the leaders hit lapped traffic, Blake Breen flipped in turn two on lap 21 setting up a four-lap sprint to the finish. The stoppage gave Zimbardi a chance to slide his wing back to its maximum as well as read the inspirational message posted inside the cockpit earlier in the day.
On the lap 22 restart, Zimbardi hit his marks on the bottom of the track and began to reel in the No. 9. A lap later he was in the lead and moving into the defensive position.
After the Bundle of Warmth No. 35 took the lead, Breen moved to the bottom to follow Zimbardi around turns 3 and 4. Broderick saw this as an opportunity to continue blasting the cushion in those turns as he had for much of the race; this time however he would hit it too hard and loop his No. 5, setting up a one-lap sprint to the finish.
Before the 25th lap was run, Zimbardi was nervous, wondering just what Breen had up his sleeve on the final circuit.
“I heard him blast it in to (turns) 3 and 4, but I knew I had to run the bottom and I had to be patient,” noted Zimbardi. “If I would have tried to run in too hard on the low line the car would skate up into the middle and I would just spin my tires. I guess I did it right.”
It was the fourth Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot A-Main for Zimbardi, who also inherited the point lead in the process. It was a welcomed for many of the friends and family of his in the packed grandstands on a glorious evening just an hour from his home.
Bobby Breen would settle for second for the second consecutive event. Bobby was not even sure he wanted to travel to the tricky 1/3-mile on Saturday as he felt it was not a track he could succeed on. His run also helped him strengthen his PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier Point Lead.
Don Adamczyk picked up a solid third place showing his No. 21. It was the best career finishing at Stateline for the “Williamsville Warrior” and tied his best finish of the season.
Gary Kriess was the hard charger on the night using the bottom to move from 11th to fourth place. It was the best career Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot showing for the Western PA Veteran.
Scott Bonnell won the Four Laps of Fame Dash he sponsored and also moved forward to round out the top-five.
Gary Troutman was strong all night long, as he normally is at Stateline and brought it home in sixth, which ties his best finish in four years.
T.J. Newton had a career night in the No. 57, picking up a solid seventh place finish.
Bryan Howland was among the leaders for most of the race, but spun on lap 14 while battling with Bobby Breen for second and had to work from the back to get back to eighth place.
Bubby Kerrick scored his first career National Parts Peddler Heat Race win early in the night and parlayed that into a ninth place showing in the A-Main. Kyle Moffit got back on the right track to complete the top-10.
Lucas Oil ASCS Patriots Results: 6/27/09, Stateline Speedway, Busti, NY.
PJ Motorsports A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Jared Zimbardi (35), 2. Bobby Breen (9), 3. Don Adamczyk (21), 4. Gary Kriess (55), 5. Scott Bonnell (3B), 6. Gary Troutman (44), 7. T.J. Newton (57), 8. Bryan Howland (51), 9. Bubby Kerrick (4u), 10. Kyle Moffit (7), 11. Kyle Drum (3T), 12. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 13. Brad Knab (38), 14. Ray Preston (22), 15. Bubba Broderick (5), 16. Bruce DeWick (22d), 17. Blake Breen (8), 18. Jeff Frasier (99), 19. Derek Jonathan (81), 20. Chris Shuttleworth (11).
Lap Leaders- Bo. Breen 1, Broderick 2-13, Bo. Breen 14-22, Zimbardi 23-25.
Bonnell’s Collision Center Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Scott Bonnell (3B), 2. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 3. Gary Kriess (55), 4. Bruce Dewick (22d), 5. Brad Knab (38), 6. Kyle Drum (3T).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Don Adamczyk (21), 3. Scott Bonnell (3B), 4. Bobby Breen (9), 5. Kyle Moffit (7), 6. Brad Knab (38), 7. Blake Breen (8).
Race 2: 1. Bubby Kerrick (4u), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Gary Kriess (55), 4. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 5. Ray Preston (22), 6. Kyle Drum (3T), 7. Jeff Frasier (99).
Race 3: 1. Bryan Howland (51), 2. T.J. Newton (57), 3. Gary Troutman (44), 4. Bruce DeWick (22d), 5. Chris Shuttleworth (11), 6. Derek Jonathan (81).
Contingency Awards-
Ohsweken Speedway/Canadian Sprint Car Natioanls Award- Zimbardi
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Passing Points Award- Howland.
Kinser Air Filters Hard Luck Award- Bl. Breen
M&W Aluminum Products Top-5 Award- Adamczyk
Ultra-Shield Race Products Top-10 Award- Troutman
Rod End Supply 20th Anniversary Award- Shuttleworth
PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier Standings (Top-10)- 1. Bobby Breen 296, 2. Don Adamczyk 288, 3. Jared Zimbardi 284, 4. Bryan Howland 280, 5. Gary Troutman 266, 6. Bubba Broderick 262, 7. Bubby Kerrick 256, Tie-8. Scott Bonnell and T.J. Newton 248, 10. Blake Breen 246.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Top-Five)- 1. Trevor Lewis 32, 2. Don Adamczyk 19, 3. Gary Troutman 18, 4. Jared Zimbardi 16, 5. Bryan Howland 15.
Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Points (Top Ten): 1. Jared Zimbardi 994, 2. Bryan Howland 992, 3. Bobby Breen 938, 4. Bubba Broderick 936, 5. Don Adamczyk 922, 6. Gary Troutman 796, 7. Chris Muhleisen 789, 8. Blake Breen 676, 9. Derek Jonathan 587, 10. Trevor Lewis 578.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Jun 29, 2009
- Article Date: 6/29/2009