DUNDEE, N.Y. — For the fourth time in his career, Jared Zimbardi found himself in Empire Super Sprints victory lane on Friday night at the Outlaw Speedway.
As part of the Eighth annual Outlaw Summer Nationals, Zimbardi’s triumph was worth a cool $3,565.
By virtue of draw, Pinnacle Pole Award winner Jonathan Preston and Zimbardi led the field to the green flag, with Preston jumping out to the early advantage. For the first 17 laps, the top-three would remain unchanged, with Preston pacing Zimbardi and third-starting Jordan Thomas.
Meanwhile, 13th starting Shawn Donath was busy working his way through the field, en-route to earning the PJC Spray Foam hard charger award by advancing all the way to the fifth position.
As the leaders hit lap 18, Zimbardi, Thomas, and Preston put on a clinic trading slide jobs and positions. When the dust settled, it was Zimbardi who came out on top, with Preston close on his heels and Thomas rounding out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium.
“This car is a 10-year-old J&J Chassis,” said Zimbardi. “We have had a lot of success in it over the years. I haven’t bought a lot of new equipment recently, we have just gone back to what we know, put the same setup in it that has been fast for us and it didn’t disappoint.
“We weren’t really convinced we were on the right track after the heat race, but we made a few changes and hit it just right,” Zimbardi continued.
“When I started to see Preston struggle with lap traffic, I knew we would have a shot. I actually didn’t see him get over the cushion because I was watching the lap cars and next thing I knew I slipped by him.
“It feels good to be in victory lane again, my six-year-old son Vinny has been giving me grief wanting to get on the wing in victory lane and he’s finally able to do it – he was pretty ecstatic when he pulled the 2 in the redraw too. Being my 50th career win, this one is a little more special.”
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
1. #35-Jared Zimbardi[2]; 2. #22-Jonathan Preston[1]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 4. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[5]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[13]; 6. #87-Jason Barney[7]; 7. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[12]; 8. #98-Joe Trenca[10]; 9. #90-Matt Tanner[11]; 10. 28-Jordan Poirier[9]; 11. #10H-Kelly Hebing[4]; 12. #10-Jeff Cook[6]; 13. #41-Dalton Rombough[14]; 14. #36-Logan Crisafulli[8]; 15. 11J-Chris Jones[17]; 16. 11T-Mike Thompson[15]; 17. #3-Parker Evans[18]; 18. #8-Nick Fratto[21]; 19. #13T-Trevor Years[19]; 20. #X-Dan Bennett[20]; 21. 29D-Dylan Menditto[22]; 22. (DNF) #13-Keith Granholm[16]
Keyword: Zimbardi Pockets $3,565 in Outlaw Summer Nationals Win