After expanding the northern limits of the Patriot Region this past weekend in traveling to Cornwall for the fist time, the Lucas Oil ASCS Patriots return to the tracks where the idea of the series was first conceived and then became a reality.
On Friday, for the first time since 2006, the Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Sprints will return to Delevan, NY for a tour stop at what is now referred to as the Arcade International Raceway. AIR was a weekly sprint track in the early part of the decade and where the idea of a Patriot Tour was devised. The following night, the Stateline Speedway will become the first track to host a second Patriot event in 2009. These two races will conclude the Inaugural PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier Series, crowning the first of five mini-series “Kings”.
The Arcade event will be the third race of four in the King of the Southern Tier Series. Bobby Breen, of Savannah, NY, currently leads those standings, due in part to his win at Woodhull in May. Breen is among a host of drivers never to see AIR before.
Zimbardi Electric will present the night of competition at the 1/3-mile formerly known as “Freedom Raceway”, which means that no driver would want to win more than Jared Zimbardi, who currently leads the point standings by just two points. The Little Valley, NY youngster has one win already this year at Stateline.
Bryan Howland, of Auburn, NY, is the driver closely chasing Zimbardi for the 2009 Title. The two-time and defending champion has a pair of wins already this season, coming at Canandaigua and Brewerton. He has only one start at AIR.
Kyle Drum won the Patriot event at Arcade in 2003. With plenty of experience there in a crate late model, Drum looks to please his new car owner as he wheels the No. 3T.
The other Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot event held at Arcade was in 2006, when Chris Muhleisen, of Arkport, went to victory lane. The local favorite has not won since then but would love to get back to his familiar place of domination to pick up his fourth career series win.
Don Adamczyk, from Williamsville, NY, is second in the King of S. Tier Points. Adamczyk is seeking his first career win. Scott Kreutter of Alden, T.J. Newton of Batavia and Derek Jonathan of Lewiston are some of the other WNY competitors also looking for win No. 1.
Gary Troutman and Delevan’s own Brad Knab have wins at the track speedway but have yet to win on the Patriot tour. Chris Shuttleworth has a win on tour at McKean County and should be traveling up from Wellsville.
After a night at the Arcade, the teams will take the simple trip down to the NY/PA border for another event at Stateline Speedway, the first track to host a Patriot race in the Inaugural season of 2003. The track has had seven Patriot races over the years, with seven different winners.
Jared Zimbardi picked up his lone win of 2009 back in June, making a late-race pass on Bobby Breen for his fourth career win. It was a wild night of racing with a youngster from New England looking for redemption.
Bubba Broderick is expected to make the long haul from Brookfield, CT. Broderick led the early on in the event but a helmet shield issue found him in the wall and spinning out towards the end of the 25-lap feature. Broderick had an up and down trip to Canada this past weekend, including a flip on Sunday at Cornwall and could use a nice rebound.
Scott Bonnell and Gary Kriess were solid for top-five runs last month and will be ready to turn that in to a feature win at the 1/3-mile high-banked oval.
Chuck Hebing is the all-time winningest driver in Patriot history and a winner at Stateline looks to pick up a Patriot win to stretch his streak to seven straight seasons.
With these events just about the only races in the Northeast this weekend, a number of travelers, such as Devin Caron from Cornwall, Ontario and Michael Parent from Granby, Quebec look to make the trip.
With Genesee Speedway off for the weekend, look for their sprint car regulars such as John Venuto, Jeremy Barnard and Brian Sage to stop in. Woodhull owner Vern Wasson also plans to be on hand.
Ohsweken Speedway also takes the weekend off so look for Southern Ontario drivers, such as Stan Zanchin, to head on down for the weekend.
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