[b Broderick Plays Games With Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Field at Arcade]
[i Rich Vleck, DELEVAN, NY (July 24, 2009]
Bubba Broderick wasn’t even sure he could make it on Friday, but in the end he was sure glad he played at Arcade.
Broderick, 19, of Brookfield, CT, made the long trip pay off with his first career Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot A-Main Victory. The victory was not only sweet as he finally broke through; it was equally as satisfying in that he won by a half-track.
“I can’t believe we finally did it,” stated Broderick in Victory Lane. “We knew we were getting close and it was just a matter of time.”
While his results have been impressive in his sophomore season, a wild flip five days earlier at Cornwall Motor Speedway put the actuality of a win in peril. After finally getting back to Connecticut on Monday Morning, Broderick and the crew thrashed to make the long trek this weekend.
“The second we got home we started working on the car and put in a lot of hours,” added the defending Insinger Race Fuels Rookie of the Year in regards to his Ciao Water No. 5 which suffered significant cosmetic damage but thankfully did not injure his Maxim Frame.
Known for his cushion-running style, Broderick flirted with the outer wall on numerous occasions, including coming to the white flag when he nearly tagged the outside barrier. Even though his advantage was more than six seconds, the youngster had no idea.
“I thought someone was right there. I have a new blower in my helmet and the motor makes it seem like someone is always on the inside. After what happened at Cornwall (tagging the wall) I had to put that out of my mind though.”
Broderick dominated National Parts Peddler Heat No. 3 and redrew the third starting position for the A-Main. Before a lap was ever completed though the No. 5 would be in the front, as a myriad of issues would slow the race from hitting high gear.
On the original start, Gary Troutman tipped his No. 44 in turn one. At the same time, front row starts Scott Kreutter and Tim Kelly made contact and got sideways, slowing the pack behind them and causing Bobby Breen and Chuck Hebing to crash. Both Breen and Hebing would be out of the event.
On the next double-file start, Kreutter was challenging Kelly for the lead, but looped his No. 52 in turn four and came down across the field. Bryan Howland and Don Adamczyk came together. Jeremy Barnard hit the wall. Jared Zimbardi came to a stop. Brett Milburn had a light flip. At this point, only eight cars had not been involved in an incident.
Gary Troutman would stop on the next double-file start, forcing the officials to invoke a single-file restart. This would give Broderick the lead unencumbered, even though he had taken the top spot on the restart before.
“Single file definitely helped out but I felt we were good enough to get the lead anyways,” noted Broderick after becoming the 10th different winner in 13 Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Races this season.
The race would then run green to lap 14, when hometown driver Brad Knab folded up his front end while inside the top-10. The caution would give Broderick two lapped cars between himself and Kelly and give him the breathing room he needed.
Defending Champion Bryan Howland stopped on lap 17 to draw the final yellow. In the three laps of green to that point, Kelly could not get around some stout lapped cars, which kept Broderick’s lead healthy to the finish.
“That felt like the longest race ever,” stated Bubba. “Being up front like that it just kills you.”
Kelly would hang on for second, his best career finish with the Lucas Oil ASCS Patriots. The soft spoken veteran had run Arcade International Raceway, formerly known as Freedom, two times before, with finishes of first and second back in the 90s. Obliviously things from the prior decade could transfer over.
Jared Zimbardi was the fan favorite on Zimbardi Electric Night at AIR. After struggling in the heat and doing very little in the dash, Zimbardi charged quickly through the pack, moving from 13th to fifth by lap 17. On the final restart, “The Juice” dove underneath Gordy Button for fourth and then out dueled Blake Breen to take third. The third place showing would help the Little Valley, NY driver pad his overall point lead and also take over the PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier Standings with just one race remaining.
Blake Breen made his first trip to AIR count with a solid fourth place showing. Breen used a solid performance in the dash to move forward six spots in the A-Main.
Gordy Button put together his second-straight top-five. Even though the Kirkville, NY driver has run sprints since 1983, he had never raced in Delevan until Friday.
Bryan Howland rebounded from a flat tire and a performance issue to crawl back up to sixth and stay in hunt for another championship. Veterans Ray Preston and Dave Wickham turned in solid runs on the night, placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
T.J. Newton and Don Adamczyk were involved in opening lap incidents and would fall a lap down before the lap 14 caution. Despite being trapped one lap down, they would battle hard to complete the top-10.
Chris Muhleisen picked up the Four Laps of Fame Dash win at the track where he has seven of his nine career wins. Along with Broderick, Howland and Kreutter scored National Parts Peddler Heat Wins.
A total of 21 cars were on hand for the first sprint car race at Arcade since 2006. Devin Caron made the long tow down from Cornwall, Ontario but the long haul award clearly went to Brett Milburn, who hails from Australian and made the swing in to the Southern Tier of New York as part of his summer swing in America.
Despite all forecasts calling for a 70% chance of rain as late as 24 hours before the event, morning showers dissipated and stray storms navigated around the Quad Counties Bullring to make it a pleasant night for racing in front of a packed grandstands.
For more information, visit www.ASCSpatriotsprints.com or www.ASCSracing.com.
Lucas Oil ASCS Patriots Results: 7/24/09, Arcade International Raceway, Delevan, NY.
PJ Motorsports A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Tim Kelly (12), 3. Jared Zimbardi (35), 4. Blake Breen (8), 5. Gordy Button (714), 6. Bryan Howland (51), 7. Ray Preston (22), 8. Dave Wickham (80), 9. T.J. Newton (57), 10. Don Adamczyk (21), 11. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 12. Derek Jonathan (81), 13. Devin Caron (24k), 14. Brandan Warner (10B), 15. Brad Knab (38), 16. Scott Kreutter (52), 17. Gary Troutman (44), 18. Brett Milburn (77), 19. Jeremy Barnard (86), 20. Bobby Breen (9), 21. Chuck Hebing (45).
Lap Leaders- Broderick 1-25.
Zimbardi Electric Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 2. Blake Breen (8), 3. Brett Milburn (77), 4. Ray Preston (22), 5. Jared Zimbardi (35), 6. Brandan Warner (10B).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Scott Kreutter (52), 2. Gordy Button (714), 3. Tim Kelly (12), 4. Ray Preston (22), 5. Brandan Warner (10B), 6. Gary Troutman (44), 7. Jeremy Barnard (86).
Race 2: 1. Bryan Howland (51), 2. Chuck Hebing (45), 3. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 4. Brett Milburn (77), 5. Jared Zimbardi (35), 6. Brad Knab (38), 7. T.J. Newton (57).
Race 3: 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Don Adamczyk (21), 3. Bobby Breen (9), 4. Blake Breen (8), 5. Dave Wickham (80), 6. Derek Jonathan (81), 7. Devin Caron (24k).
Contingency Awards-
Ohsweken Speedway/Canadian Sprint Car Nationals Award- Broderick
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Passing Points Award- Kreutter
M&W Aluminum Products Top-5 Award- Bl. Breen
Ultra-Shield Race Products Top-10 Award- Newton
Rod End Supply 20th Anniversary Award- Bo. Breen
PJ Motorsports King of the Southern Tier Standings (Top-10, Through 3 of 4 Events)- 1. Jared Zimbardi 428, Tie-2. Don Adamczyk and Bryan Howland 418, 4. Bubba Broderick 412, 5. Bobby Breen 406, 6. Blake Breen 388, 7. Gary Troutman 382, 8. T.J. Newton 380, 9. Ray Preston 376, 10. Chris Muhleisen 368.
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Top-10)- 1. Jared Zimbardi 35, 2. Bryan Howland 34, 3. Trevor Lewis 33, 4. Don Adamczyk 30, 5. Michael Parent 28, 6. Tommy Wickham 22, Tie-7. Gary Troutman, Blake Breen and T.J. Newton 18, 10. Jason Barney 17.
Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Points (Top Ten): 1. Jared Zimbardi 1,832, 2. Bryan Howland 1,824, 3. Don Adamczyk 1,716, 4. Bubba Broderick 1,667, 5. Bobby Breen 1,462, 6. Blake Breen 1,204, 7. Gordy Button 1,186, 8. Chris Muhleisen 1,102, 9. Derek Jonathan 993, 10. Gary Troutman 912.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Jul 25, 2009
- Article Date: 7/25/2009