Aug 13, 2011 02:31 AM EDT
Jared Zimbardi Juiced Up After $4,000 Win in A-Verdi Sprint Championship at Black Rock
Rich Vleck, DUNDEE, NY (August 12, 2011)- Perfect weather, a filled pits, a capacity crowd, a slew of NASCAR personalities and a bundle of prizes all mixed together with some great racing made for a great night at Black Rock Speedway Friday Night in an event benefitting Motor Racing Outreach.
Over the last five seasons, Jared Zimbardi has been steadily building his win total across the Northeast; on Friday Night though, in a year where he could very well be his way to his first Patriot Sprint Tour Championship, he scored a career-defining win in dominating fashion.
Zimbardi, of Little Valley, NY, lead all 25 laps of the A-Verdi Sprint Championship, presented by M&W Aluminum Products and SP Wilson/Lakes Gas for his third Patriot Sprint Tour win of the year, his eighth career PST Victory.
Zimbardi finished second in his heat race behind fan favorite Tony Stewart and was the final car to qualify for the redraw. When Zimbardi got what was left, he was on the pole and was not ready to relinquish the opportunity.
On Scott Hixson’s initial green flag, Zimbardi jumped out in front of Outside Polesitter Alain Bergeron and within five laps set assault on the back of the field. The first caution flag would not wave until lap 13, by that point the Bundle of Warmth/ Kill Buck Outlet No. 35 had lapped almost half the field.
“The lapped traffic wasn’t too bad tonight,” admitted Zimbardi afterwards. “I could really go anywhere and get by if I needed to.”
The second half of the event was also all Zimbardi’s as he held a solid distance over the pack. On the final two circuits though, a clod of mud to the shoulder and a lap car would be a few final hurdles to clear before captured the Checkered Flags.
“Last year I ended up in the parking lot off turn four when I got hit in the helmet. When I got hit in the shoulder coming to the white flag it stung but I knew there was no way I was going to give up that easy tonight.”
Upon entering Victory Lane, the 24-year-old’s jubilation was flowing as he climbed the flag stand to celebrate in front of a packed house at Black Rock Speedway.
“With (Tony Stewart) here tonight I was going to climb the fence, but I knew I couldn’t get up there, so I went on the flagstand,” said Zimbardi, who with the win also captured his first career A-Verdi King of Upstate New York Championship.
Alain Bergeron, who has perennially been in the runner-up spot at BRS, held off fellow heat winner and hard-charging Tony Stewart immediately after the restart following the final caution flag of the night. Bergeron would stay within touch of Zimbardi and made one final bid to the bottom of turn three on the final turn but did not have enough momentum to score the win and would settle for second.
While running in third with seven laps remaining, Tony Stewart hopped the cushion in turn two, sending his Styres-owned No. 14 into a series of wild hops. Justin Barger and Steve Poirier would move by and would battle it out for third, with Barger claiming the final podium position.
Poirier would finish fourth after starting in 11th. Stewart would round out the top-five for his best BRS finish in three attempts. Earlier in the night, “Smoke” would establish the new 360 Track Record with a 12.713 second lap.
Glenn Styres would finish in sixth in only his second appearance to the Dundee Oval. Blake Breen, who flipped in his heat race, would charge from 21st to finish seventh in his first start of the season. Jason Barney, local Tim Kelly and Don Adamczyk completed an impressive top 10.
Among those that were unable to finish included Chuck Hebing, who was running third when he stopped on the track on lap 13 suspecting an engine issue. Steve Collins, who won his first heat race earlier in the night, was battling for 10th just before the caution when he flipped wildly down the backstretch just after the yellow lights had come on. Steve was alright. Bobby Breen was in fourth when he caused the other caution flag on lap 15 when he slowed with a vibration. Lance Yonge was also inside in the top 10 when he cut down a tire and was forced pitside. Dash Winner Scott Kreutter was also a DNF when the wing tree broke on his No. 52.
A total of 27 sprint cars helped to fill the pits on the always-special night at the Yates County Oval. Kevin Ward Jr. was running strong but hurt an engine in the dash, enabling Blake Breen to start the A-Main. Local Jeff Frasier utilized a provisional to make his first BRS A-Main.
Three years ago, Michael McDowell ran for the first time on dirt at Black Rock and said he would never miss an MRO NASCAR Night event again. True to his word, he not only returned on Friday Night but dominated the NASCAR Match Race.
McDowell captured his first win of any kind and was happy to clench the Checkered Flag tight. McDowell ran away from the pack utilizing Russell Morseman III’s No. 44 sportsman while a series of spirited battles were in place behind him.
Former match race winners David Reutimann and J.J. Yeley stormed up through from the back of the pack, with Yeley stealing second-place at the line from Reutimann. Also in the feature was Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, crew members Bobby Decker and Kevin White along with Speed TV personality Bob Dillner.
Trevor Sutherland was stout throughout the 20-lap sportsman feature, but even he would admit that he picked up some help en route to second win of the season.
Sutherland, a local front-runner, led the opening laps of the feature but handed it over to point leader Donnie Lawson on the third circuit. Lawson checked out from the field for a dozen laps; however when he cut a tire down Sutherland would regain the top spot and never look back.
Sutherland had to work for much of the race to hold off a slew of stout competitors for what was second, including Fran Hilton, Chris Silvers, Tyler Siri and Randy McCulloch. It was a great battle a ways back from Lawson until the door re-opened for the win.
In the final five-lap dash to the finish, Chris Silvers kept peaking to the inside of the No. 34, but could never get the run off the even numbered corners and would have to settle for second. Fran Hilton was going for third when he spun in turn two on the final lap, enabling Tyler Siri to finish third, with Randy McCulloch and Brady Fultz completing the top five. Donnie Lawson would rally back up to a 10th place finish.
A scary moment occurred on lap three when Sean Sommers got sideways over the top of the first turn and barrel rolled his No. 34R. He would be able to walk away.
Mike Wondelring Sr. was dominating the late model feature when his rear suspension broke, forcing him to relinquish the lead. If there was a driver he would want to hand the top spot over to, it was Mikey, his son, who inherited the lead and won his third feature of the season, his second in a row. In the process, Mikey also took over the division point lead.
Mikey Wonderling admitted after the race that he had a second-place car, but he was clearly stronger than the rest of the pack because after taking the lead he kept distance on Brian Knowles who finished in second. Jared Hill, Chris Peacock and Quinn Sutherland would round out the top-five.
In a surreal finish, Bob Buono and Nate Daggett came together coming off the final corner, with Daggett slamming into the wall and Buono sliding across the line while Chris Fisher tried to steal the win away in the street stock event.
Daggett had the lead early on but Buono took it away on a lap seven restart. For the remainder of the event Buono would stay steady in the middle of the track while Daggett stalked him on the inside of the track. On the final lap, Daggett made a bid on the top of turn three, which may have thrown Buono off because when the duo came off the final corner, Daggett ran out of running room and slammed the front stretch wall.
As Daggett slowed, Buono stayed in the throttle but Chris Fisher made a hard charge to claim the win, however Buono would be just a few feet ahead at the line, earning him his fifth win of the year. Fisher, Daggett, Andy Fisk and Jared Hill completed a stout top five.
Mike Smith extended his Black Rock IMCA Modified win streak to eight, but it wasn’t easy, as it took a nifty move on the final lap to steal the victory away from Scott Bennett, the last driver to defeat him.
Smith started deep in the pack but took over second place when early leader Phil Yaw was passed by Bennett on lap 11. Smith kept trying on the bottom line until he finally faked out the leader and got him off the higher groove, which Smith pounced on during the final circuit and powered around him to claim his 11th win of the year.
Bennett would hold on for second in his first appearance at BRS in nearly three months, Rich McNeal Jr., Phil Yaw and Mike VanDyke completed the top five.
Ray Speicher was dominant in the 4-cylinder feature to close out the night, as he lead wire-to-wire to win his second feature in a row. It was the fourth win of the season for the Beaver Dams driver as he held a steady advantage over Scott Bradley, who finished in second. Point leader Dylan Cecce was in second when a random mechanical problem jumped up and nearly persuaded him to go pit side; he would stay on the track though and finish third. Brandon Morseman and Rick Horton completed the top five.
Lance Irwin scored his second win of the year in the Bandit Feature early in the night by holding off defending champion Zach Teed for a wire-to-wire victory. Teed to multiple looks underneath the No. 1a but would have to settle for second with Joey Giardina rounding out the top three.
Racing action returns next Friday with a “Christmas in August” Special. For more information, visit www.BlackRockSpeedway.com.
Black Rock Speedway Results: 8/12/2011-
NASCAR Night Benefiting MRO
Sponsored by A-Verdi Storage Containers, M&W Aluminum Products and SP Wilson/ Lakes Gas
Patriot Sprint Tour Results:.
A-Verdi A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Jared Zimbardi (35), 2. Alain Bergeron (8B), 3. Justin Barger (32), 4. Steve Poirier (28FM), 5. Tony Stewart (14), 6. Glenn Styres (0), 7. Blake Breen (8), 8. Jason Barney (10B), 9. Tim Kelly (12), 10. Don Adamczyk (21), 11. Brad Knab (38), 12. Paul Habeck (25H), 13. Tommy Wickham (75), 14. Devin Caron (24k), 15. Chris Jones (11), 16. Jeff Frasier (99), 17. Lance Yonge (17J), 18. Bobby Breen (9), 19. Chuck Hebing (45), 20. Steve Collins (67), 21. Scott Kreutter (52), 22. Michael Parent (25), 23. George Suprick (87).
Lap Leaders- Zimbardi 1-25.
Scratched- Kevin Ward Jr. (13)
Added Starter- Blake Breen (8)
Buy-In Provisional- Jeff Frasier (99)
B-Mains (Top 5 Transfer to A-Main)- 1. George Suprick (87), 2. Michael Parent (25), 3. Tommy Wickham (75), 4. Brad Knab (38), 5. Blake Breen (8), 6. Shayne Ely (V8), 7. Jeff Frasier (99), 8. Bruce DeWick (22D), 9.Dave Wickham (80).
Original Pizza Logs Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Kreutter, 2. Styres, 3. Ward, 4. Habeck, 5. Poirier, 6. Kelly.
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Stewart, 2. Zimbardi, 3. Kelly, 4. Ward, 5. Styres, 6. Adamczyk, 7. Parent, 8. Frasier, 9. DeWick.
Race 2: 1. Bergeron, 2. Yonge, 3. Hebing, 4. Bo. Breen, 5. Barney, 6. Jones, 7. Knab, 8. Ely, 9. D. Wickham.
Race 3: 1. Collins, 2. Kreutter, 3. Barger, 4. Habeck, 5. Steve Poirier, 6. Devin Caron, 7. T. Wickham, 8. Suprick, 9. Bl. Breen.
MRO NASCAR Match Race (10 Laps)- MICHAEL McDOWELL, J.J. Yeley, David Reutimann, Kevin White, Trevor Bayne, Bobby Decker, Bob Dillner, Justin Allgaier.
Lap Leaders- McDowell 1-10.
Hoselton Auto Mall Crate Sportsman Feature (20 Laps)- TREVOR SUTHERLAND, Chris Silvers, Tyler Siri, Randy McCulloch, Brady Fultz, Andrew Ferguson, Ray Bliss Jr., Russell Morseman, Loren Lincoln, Donnie Lawson, Joe Cook Jr., Ross Vleck, Damon Walker, Brett Buono, Fran Hilton, Brandon Butler, Kyle DeMetro, Stubby Pangrazio, John Venuto, Serenity Sutherland, Steve Swarthout, Bob Johnson, Greg Galligan, Sean Sommers, Rob Wilcox.
Lap Leader- T. Sutherland 1-3, Lawson 4-15, T. Sutherland 16-20.
Late Model Feature (20 Laps)- MIKEY WONDELRING, Brian Knowles, Jared Hill, Chris Peacock, Quinn Sutherland, Beamer Guzzardi, Dave DuBois, Brandon Smith, Bob Babbitt, Mike Wonderling, Jason Knowles, Jim Johnson, Carl Cleveland.
Lap Leaders- Mike Wonderling 1-12, Mikey Wonderling 13-20.
Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- BOB BUONO, Chris Fisher, Nate Daggett, Andy Fisk, Jared Hill, Jeff Smith, Rich McIntyre, Erica Bell, Don Reeves, Eric Fisher, Jeff Elliott, Tim Hettis, Jake Karlnoski, Jeremy Perkins, Frank Guererri Jr., Brett Crawford, Mike Williams, Larry Fenton Jr.
Lap Leaders- Daggett 1-6, Buono 7-20.
IMCA Modified Feature (20 Laps)- MIKE SMITH, Scott Bennett, Rich McNeal Jr., Phil Yaw, Mike VanDyke, Dave Yehl, Josh VanTassel, Kevin VanAmburg, Rich Karlnoski, Steve Sinn, Mark Griffen, Bruce Tinsley.
Lap Leaders- McNeal 1-3, Yaw 4-8, McNeal 9, Yaw 10, Bennett 11-19, Smith 20.
Signs Plus of Kanona/ Watkins Glen NAPA 4-Cylinder Feature (20 Laps)- RAY SPEICHER, Scott Bradley, Dylan Cecce, Brandon Morseman, Rick Horton, Val Stephens, Chris Ayers, Del Cummings, Mike Ziarno, Billy Cagle, Jordan Siri, Tom Mahoney, Jeff Moore, Dean Laughlin Sr. (DNS), Bobby Teed (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Speicher 1-20.
Home Necessities Bandits (10 Laps)- LANCE IRWIN, Zach Teed, Joey Giardina, Joey Rodbourn, Brandon Matthews, Dean Laughlin Jr., Trista Teed, Lisa Cornish, Allison Teed.
Lap Leaders- Irwin 1-10.
