Rich Vleck, ERIE, Penn. (May 30, 2010)
Bubba Broderick has always been known for driving his sprint car to the limit, so when he jumped out in front of the ASCS Patriot Field in the A-Main Sunday Night at Eriez there was no question he would once again be on the edge. It was this tight line that he walked that made him exciting to watch, even though he had a three second lead most of the race.
Broderick, 20, from Brookfield, CT, led all 25 laps of the second leg of the Mike Emhof Motorsports King of OH/PA Series to collect the $2,000 top prize. As is the case many times in sprint car competition, Broderick had no idea he had more than a three second lead for much of the race and flirted with the outside walls and ultimate disaster the entire way.
"I love coming to this place," declared Broderick after climbing down from his Northeast Carpet/ Ciao Water No. 5 Wing in Victory Lane. "We had two seconds last year and I wasn't going to let this one slip away, we really needed it."
The third-year sprint chauffer rode the rim of the tight 1/3-mile the entire way, while Jared Zimbardi was moving through the pack running the bottom. Under caution with six laps remaining, Zimbardi pulled up underneath Broderick to put a thought in his mind.
"I saw (Zimbardi) coming up through and figured he was doing it on the bottom," noted Bubba after the race, eluding to his ability to see the scoreboard and recognize that the No. 35 had advanced from seventh to second. "In that last right I wasn't going to back down at all because I figured he had to be real strong."
Broderick had the benefit of having a lapped car placed between himself and Zimbardi on the lap 20 restart, but even so would reestablish a lead of over three seconds and make his only opponent the outside retaining walls, which he was flirting with constantly.
"You guys probably saw me sideways down the front stretch here," he told the packed grandstand in his Victory Lane Interview. "I was getting really close to that wall and might even have touched it once."
For the youngster from Connecticut, his second career ASCS Patriot win came just at the right time after being a bit off in the first month of the season. Committed to improving their results, the Broderick Racing team took an opportunity Sunday Morning to test at Sharon Speedway and get a feel for their Eagle, a new chassis for the team in 2010.
As Broderick checked out from the field, Jared Zimbardi completed a solid second place showing at the sight of his first career ASCS Patriot win. After redrawing the seventh starting spot, "The Juice" knew winning would be a tall order but ran the inside rail with ease to collect his third runner-up showing in a row. Jared conceded after the race that a better starting spot still might not have been good enough to dethrone Broderick on the night.
Bryan Howland finished in third, where he started, but had an up and down race in between. Howland would slip back to fifth but close in at the end and nearly steal second away from Zimbardi. It was the third top-three for Howland in this young season, helping him to solidify his point lead.
Tim Kelly rebounded from a tough heat to run up to fourth after starting 10th. Kyle Moffit would round out the top-five for his fifth top-six at Eriez in as many starts.
Judi Bates won National Parts Peddler Heat 1 and rebounded from a spin on lap six while running sixth to get back to that spot by the checkered flag. Bates would get by Putnam Painting/ Bonnell's Collision Four Laps of Fame Winner Vern Wasson in the closing laps, as Wasson would hold on for a career-best seventh place finish. Wasson was as high as fifth with five laps remaining.
Local favorite Scott Bonnell struggled with an incorrect gear choice and would place eighth, with Heat 2 Winner Don Adamczyk crossing in ninth after getting collected in a lap 19 incident with Gary Kriess while the two were attempting to avoid a slower car. Gary Troutman rounded out the top-10.
On a perfect weather day, the stands at Eriez were absolutely loaded with fans looking forward to the Patriots. They were on hand to witness the first start in a sprint for Bob Reis, who made his debut in the No. 4 but battled mag issues.
ASCS Patriots Results: 5/30/10, Eriez Speedway, Erie, PA.
MEM A-Main (25 Laps)- 1. Bubba Broderick (5), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Bryan Howland (51), 4. Tim Kelly (12), 5. Kyle Moffit (7), 6. Judi Bates (121), 7. Vern Wasson (5v), 8. Scott Bonnell (3B), 9. Don Adamczyk (21), 10. Gary Troutman (44), 11. Jeremy Barnard (86), 12. Gary Kriess (92), 13. T.J. Newton (57), 14. Bob Reis (4).
Lap Leaders- Broderick 1-25.
Putnam Painting/ Bonnell's Collison Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps)- 1. Vern Wasson (5v), 2. Tim Kelly (12), 3. T.J. Newton (57), 4. Jeremy Barnard (86), 5. Bob Reis (4), 6. Gary Troutman (44).
National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)-
Race 1: 1. Judi Bates (121), 2. Scott Bonnell (3B), 3. Kyle Moffit (7), 4. Bubba Broderick (5), 5. Vern Wasson (5v), 6. Gary Troutman (44), 7. Bob Reis (4).
Race 2: 1. Don Adamczyk (21), 2. Gary Kriess (92), 3. Jared Zimbardi (35), 4. Bryan Howland (51), 5. T.J. Newton (57), 6. Tim Kelly (12), 7. Jeremy Barnard (86).
ASCS Patriot Points (Top Ten): 1. Bryan Howland 604, 2. Jared Zimbardi 581, 3. Tim Kelly 567, 4. Don Adamczyk 535, 5. Bubba Broderick 532, 6. Scott Bonnell 448, 7. Vern Wasson 394, 8. Bobby Breen 391, 9. Gary Troutman 346, 10. Kyle Moffit 343.
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