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Suprick Strikes at Canandaigua George Suprick has become the Master of Memorial Weekend; at least when it comes to the Annual late-May Patriot Sprint Group event at Canandaigua. Twenty-eight cars filled the pits at the “Land of Legends” for the first of two visits to the popular PSG stop. Among the field were a number of first time competitors with PSG in 2005, including J.R. Stewart, Craig Lane, Billy Coffey, Rich Swarthout, Tommy Krause, Tim Kelly, Dave Wickham, Tom Wickham and Billy Bailey. But it would be those that have run all three races that would steal the thunder on Saturday. Everything went George Suprick’s way from the afternoon on into the night. After Bobby Breen captured the win in heat number one aboard his Pearl No. 9, Suprick went out in heat two and quickly moved up from his third starting spot to the front. He would hold on to win his first heat race of 2005 over Rich Swarthout, showing the power of the Dr. John Motorsports No. 87. J.R. Stewart from Belle Fontaine, Ohio won heat three holding a pretty wheel to run away from Bryan Howland to win in his first of four-straight races with the Patriots. Because only eight of the 12 drivers that finished in the top four of their respective heat were redraw eligible, the regulars, like Suprick, has a 50% better chance of grabbing the pole. Car owner Dr. John Deuel drew the pole and was given the option to have the team start scratch on the field for an opportunity to pocket $5,000, but declined this time. “If this was the fall (July 2) race we would,” said Deuel when asked what their decision would be. “It’s too early in the points, with this only being the third race.” If it was up to Suprick you might have seen the No. 87 head to the back but regardless, Suprick was still the man to beat on the night. Before the A-Main field could be set, four had to qualify via the B-Main. Kyle Drum rebounded from a flat left rear tire in heat three to pass George Ely coming to the white flag to win the B-Main. Tommy Wickham, who was making his first ever 360 sprint car start finished third, and Jeremy Barnard was the fortunate recipient of Dave Schulz’s problem when the Livingston Lighting and Power No. 6 slowed on the backstretch on the final lap. In the A-Main, Blake Breen, who started outside pole, tried to get around Suprick on the high-side of turn two but made contact with the right rear of Suprick and hoped back to fourth place. That moved “Cobra” Chuck Hebing into second as he gunned for his third sprint win at his favorite track. The first caution waved on lap 11 when Jared Zimbardi spun in turn three while battling for the eighth position. By this point, Billy Bailey, Curt Shuttleworth, Ray Preston and George Ely had all dropped out with problems. On the restart, Don Adamczyk spun in turn one but was able to continue on after being pushed underway. On lap 14, Blake Breen got back around Cobra to retake the runner-up spot and began to close on Suprick, but when he came off of turn two on lap 16, something broke on the Pearl No.8 which slammed Breen hard into the backstretch wall. The entire right side of the car was pancaked, trashing his J&J chassis. “I feel alright, but the car is destroyed,” said Breen in the pits. “I was just running the outside and she hooked right and head-on into the wall.” The final four lap dash to the finish gave Chuck Hebing a chance to go after Suprick; the two made contact with two to go but Cobra could not get around the No. 87 as the Clarks Summit, Pa driver went back to victory lane for the first time since August of 2004. “I’m totally glad I stayed up front, but I still think I could have done it from the back,” said the 2004 Patriot Sprint Group Champion. “The Cobra definitely tried to strike with two to go but we came out on top.” Hebing picked up his second straight runner-up in Patriot Sprint Group competition, but for the Ontario, NY driver, just finishing was the key. “We’ve wadded up two cars in two races recently so just to finish is good,” said the former modified competitor at Canandaigua. “George saw me coming in turn three at the end and slammed the door but I understand, it’s something you have to do.” Quietly working his way up to third was J.R. Stewart who moved up from his ninth starting spot quickly into the top five and made the pass for third on the last lap. “I think we definitely had something for the leaders but woulda, coulda, shoulda,” said Stewart. “Now I’m in the redraw for the next three races so hopefully we can start up front in one of those.” “Phatman” Rich Swarthout came out firing in his first PSG race of the year, finishing fourth and earning the first Pro-Syn/ Amsoil ‘Slickest Move of the Race’ Award. Rounding out the top five was “Flyin” Bryan Howland who had another solid points run. Completing the top 10 was Tim Zimbardi, Kyle Drum who moved up 12 spots, Tim Kelly, Chris Muhleisen and Bobby Breen. The top three in the point standings remained the same but have broken away from everyone else. George Suprick has extended his advantage over Chuck Hebing from one point to eight. Byran Howland is still third overall. In the Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings, everything stayed the same with the exception of Kyle Drum moving into a tie for second because of the 12 cars he passed. To listen to the Audio Re-broadcast from this and all the Patriot Sprint Group events, check out Oval1.com beginning Monday for a chance to relieve this exciting night of racing. For more information about everything with the series, log onto PatriotSprintGroup.com. Bobcat of Buffalo Patriot Sprint Group presented by Tom Neamon/ MAC Tools: Race 3: Canandaigua Speedway, Canandaigua, NY: Heat 1: Bobby Breen, J. Zimbardi, Hebing, Wickham, T. Zimbardi, Coffey. A-Main (20 Laps): GEORGE SUPRICK, Chuck Hebing, J.R. Stewart, Rich Swarthout, Bryan Howland, Tim Zimbardi, Kyle Drum, Tim Kelly, Chris Muhleisen, Bobby Breen, Jared Zimbardi, Craig Lane, Billy Coffey, Dave Wickham, Tommy Wickham, Don Adamczyk, Jeremy Barnard, Blake Breen, George Ely, Ray Preston, Curt Shuttleworth, Billy Bailey. D.N.Q.: Craig Downie, Tommy Krause, Dave Schulz, Nick Bashford, Geoff Quackenbush, Dan Deming Jr. Updated Point Standings: Suprick 360, Hebing 352, Howland 336, Muhleisen 257, Drum 255. Gater Racing News Standings: Blake Breen 17, Kyle Drum, Jared Zimbardi, George Suprick and Jeff Cook all with 12. Pro-Syn/Amsoil Slickest Move of the Race: Rich Swarthout Rich’s Notes: 28 cars- basically same as last two times (29 cars then minus one each time after hot laps) Tommy Wickham was impressive in his first run in a 360 but after the A-Main was over, flipped his No. 75 in turn two. They believe something broke with the torsion bar. Nick Bashford and Dave Schulz came together in their heat race with Bashford nearly flipping. Bashford did flip in the B-Main after spinning out, fighting a loose racecar. Dan Deming spun in the B-Main and just missed hitting the turn 1 wall. Congratulations to Sam Dolliver of Penn Yan, Jericca Orr of Hammondsport and Dan Havert and Chris Ellis of Canandaigua for having the final two digits of their 50/50 ticket be 87, corresponding with the winning PSG driver. They are entered in our next MAC Tools drawing. |