By Rich Vleck,
ASCS Patriot Staff

HARTFORD, OH -September 21, 2008- Despite flipping the night before, nothing was going to deny Trevor Lewis the $3,000 top prize at the Apple Festival Nationals at Sharon, not even a severely worn tire.

Lewis, of Upper Black Eddy, PA, became the 11th different driver to win a ASCS Patriot points race this season, leading the final 26 laps to pick up the Sunday Night Victory.

“This is really a team victory and about everyone that works so hard on this car,” said the lanky hot shoe in Victory Lane about his McClaren/Brown No. 21 team. “We have a had a ton of seconds this year and to get the win in this event is just awesome.”

Outside polesitter Jared Zimbardi took the lead on the opening lap from Lewis, but on the first restart of the race on lap five Trevor was able to swing back around the No. 35 and establish himself out in front the rest of the way. But there were some trying moments before he got to lap 30.

“The red flag (on lap 17 for Ed Neumister) got me rattled a little bit,” Lewis admitted after the race. “I saw the guys telling me there were still guys all over me and I knew I didn’t have much tire left.”

After that final restart on lap 17, Lewis stretched his advantage over the field early on, but as he sliced through lapped traffic, his car began to go away, opening the door for Scott Bonnell to make one last-ditch effort.

Bonnell, of Fairview, PA, closed the gap on Lewis from 2.8 seconds to .4 seconds in the final three laps but would come up just short of the big victory.

One night after flipping on the third lap of the feature and coming back to salvage a fifth place finish on a tacky track, the No. 21 team had to not only make sure that the car was alright to race on Sunday, but they also had to make the necessary changes with a very dry track being presented to complete the weekend.

“I’ve got to thank everyone involved in making this event happen,” added Lewis in Victory Lane. “The track crew made the necessary changes and made for some great racing, the fans were great all weekend, and with the ability to run two nights at the same place, it was awesome to just hang out this morning. I hope were able to do this again in the future.”

It was third ASCS Patriot win for Trevor Lewis in his career, with the other two coming at the Bully Hill Nationals at Black Rock. It was also his first feature win this season under any sanction.

With the track taking rubber in the later stages of the feature, the majority of the field was running their fastest laps of the night at the very end of the race, none more so than Scott Bonnell, who used his harder tire to score his second runner-up finish for the weekend. While solid again, Bonnell knew it could have been a win.

“The cautions we had early on really effected us,” added Bonnell about the five early stoppages. “The tires kept cooling down and didn’t have a chance to get working.”

Bonnell made the pass on Jared Zimbardi with just four laps to go. Justin Barger moved around him just two laps later to round out the podium in third.

Barger, who redrew in eighth position for the feature, completely buzzed the tread off his left rear and was happy to see the checkered flag when he did.

Zimbardi would fade back to fourth as he nursed his left rear over the final 13 laps after discovering it was already severely worn under the lap 17 red flag.

Josh Weller was set to round out the top-five, but coming off of turn four he became the only competitor to blow a tire on the night and slipped to seventh. It was the second night in a row that Weller lost two spots coming off the final corner.

Bryan Howland was the major beneficiary of Weller’s misfortune, driving underneath both the No. 63, as well as Scott Kreutter, who charged ahead in the feature for the second night in a row to once again finish sixth.

Blake Breen would finish eighth, ahead of Lee Jacobs who finished ninth in his first ASCS Patriot Start. Gary Kriess would capture hard charger honors with his progression from 23rd to 10th.

A total of 25 cars would be on hand for the second night of the inaugural Apple Festival Nationals. Three drivers that were not in attendance on Saturday were included in this field, replacing the 11 that did not return.

For more information, visit www.ASCSracing.com.

ASCS Patriots Results:

National Parts Peddler Heats (8 Laps Each)

Race 1: 1. Trevor Lewis (21), 2. Lee Jacobs (5i), 3. Ed Neumister (11N), 4. Bryan Howland (51), 5. Tim Hogue (39), 6. Tom Huppunen (19Jr), 7. Gary Kriess (5B). Race 2: 1. Blake Breen (8), 2. Jared Fink (21F), 3. Chad Gullett (61), 4. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 5. Brad Keckler (44M), 6. Joe August Jr. (47), 7. Gary Troutman (44).
Race 3: 1. Justin Barger (32), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Derek Jonathan (81), 4. Scott Kreutter (52), 5. Danny Holtgraver (D4), 6. Dave Dykstra (5D), 7. T.J. Newton (57).

Four Laps of Fame Dash (4 Laps): 1. Lee Jacobs (5i), 2. Ed Neumister (11N), 3. Bryan Howland (51), 4. Jared Fink (21F), 5. Chad Gullett (61), 6. Derek Jonathan (81).

A-Main (30 Laps): 1. Trevor Lewis (21), 2. Scott Bonnell (3B), 3. Justin Barger (32), 4. Jared Zimbardi (35), 5. Bryan Howland (51), 6. Scott Kreutter (52), 7. Josh Weller (63), 8. Blake Breen (8), 9. Lee Jacobs (5i), 10. Gary Kriess (5B), 11. Jared Fink (21F), 12. Kyle Moffit (7), 13. Bobby Breen (9), 14. Derek Jonathan (81), 15. Chad Gullett (61), 16. Tom Huppunen (19Jr), 17. Gary Troutman (44), 18. Dave Dykstra (5D), 19. Joe August Jr. (47), 20. T.J. Newton (57), 21. Chris Muhleisen (10M), 22. Ed Neumister (11N), 23. Brad Keckler (44m), 24. Danny Holtgraver (D4), 25. Tim Hogue (39).

Lap Leaders: Zimbardi 1-4, Lewis 5-30.

Contingency Awards

Shuttleworth Asphalt Sealing Sealing the Deal Award- Lewis
Saldana Racing Products Half Way Leader- Lewis
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger of the Night- Kriess
Engler Machine and Tool Pole Award- Lewis
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Passing Points Award- Barger
Kinser Air Filters Hard Luck Award- Weller
ISC Racer’s Tape Keeping Things Rolling Award- Newton, Hogue, Muhleisen
DMI Rear End Award- Muhleisen
VMAC Fast Lap Award- Barger 15.479
Randy’s Racing Filters Filter Through the Pack Award- Zimbardi
The Brake Man Tough Brake Award- Hogue
M&W Aluminum Products Top-5 Award- Zimbardi
Ultra-Shield Race Products Top-10 Award- Weller
Rod End Supply 20th Anniversary Award- Newton
Pro-Syn Oil Technology/ Mother’s Car Wash Clean Race Award- Bonnell
Canadian Bonuses- 1. Huppunen, 2. Dykstra

Bear Paw Hand Cleaner Hard Charger of the Season Standings presented by Gater Racing News
(Top-10): 1. Scott Kreutter 46, 2. Bryan Howland 45, 3. Bubba Broderick 38, 4. Bobby Breen 36, 5. Scott Bonnell 33, 6. Chuck Hebing 31, 7. Jared Zimbardi 29, 8. Rick Wilson 21, 9-tie. Jared Fink and Gary Kriess 20.

ASCS Patriot Points (Top Ten): 1. Bryan Howland 2,226, 2. Jared Zimbardi 2,148, 3. Chris Muhleisen 1,797, 4. Scott Kreutter 1,831, 5. Bubba Broderick 1,702, 6. Blake Breen 1,669, 7. Bobby Breen 1,633, 8. Kyle Moffit 1,611, 9. Jared Fink 1,466, 10. Don Adamczyk 1,412


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