THIRD PLACE RUN FOR MITCH BROWN IN PATRIOT SPRINT TOUR OPENER AT MERRITTVILLE Podium Finish Third In Last Three Events for Brantford Racer - April 23, 2016 Mitch Brown chased Jason Barney of Brewerton, NY and Jared Zimbardi of Bradford, PA to the checkered flag at Merrittville Speedway Saturday night in the season opener of the Patriot Sprint Tour's 2016 season. The Brantford competitor's results marked the third time in as many outings this season that he has placed among the top three finishers in Sprint Car feature races. His earlier podium appearances came at Lancaster Speedway in South Carolina and Limaland Motor Speedway in Ohio. (NOTE: He also finished third in the PST opener last season at Merrittville with Barney also taking that win). In Saturday's event, Barney -who started on the outside of the front row -grabbed the lead from pole sitter Matt Tanner of Stephentown, NY on lap 4 of the 25-lap A-Main and Tanner was overtaken by 3rd-place starter Steve Poirier of St. Mathieu De Beloeil, QC three laps later. But Brown, the 2015 Southern Ontario Sprints champion, overtook the 2015 Empire Super Sprints Champion for the runner-up spot on lap 11. Brown, who started 8th and Zimbardi, who had started 5th but slipped back in the early laps, raced side by side over the Mitch Brown (10) and Jared Zimbardi (35) raced side by side for second place in A-Main action April final half of the race with the defending 23rd at Merrittville Speedway in the season opener of the Patriot Sprint Tour's 2016 season. PST Canada Champion edging past Brown in the closing laps. Steve Poirier held on to finish fourth with Cory Turner (Caistor Centre, ON) grabbing fifth. Matt Tanner, Jamie Turner (Caistor Centre, ON), Jim Huppunen (Welland, ON), Jim Porter (Grand Island, NY) and Dane Lorenc (Lancaster, NY) rounded out the top-ten finishers. Saturday's "Spring Sizzler" saw 30 Sprint Cars on hand for the event but with the temperature dipping to single digits it was apparent the competitors were in a hurry to get home running the 25 laps non-stop. Rain forced cancellation of the April 29th NRA Sprint Invader race at Limaland. Mitch Brown plans to make two more trips south of the border with visits into New York state for Patriot Sprint Tour events at Outlaw Speedway (formerly Black Rock Speedway) on May 6th and Canandaigua Speedway, May 7th before he gets ready for the opener of Ohsweken Speedway's season on May 20th. Edition #2 March/April 2016 EDITOR'S COMMENTS... IT'S ALMOST HERE The Patriot Sprint Tour event at Merrittville The start of Ohsweken Speedway's racing schedule is set to get underway Speedway on April 23rd was just a teaser for on May 20th with ACKLAND INSURANCE presenting the track's 21st Season the exciting Sprint Car season which gets into Opener for the 360 Sprints, Crate Sprints, Thunder Stocks, Mini Stock and full swing here in Southern Ontario in just Bomber divisions. a couple of weeks. And hopefully Mother For several of the track's 360 Sprint Car regulars their season has already Nature is over her grumpy mood that left us with mix of begun with an earlier appearance in the Patriot Sprint Tour event at poor weather in our region through March and most of April. Merrittville on April 23rd. With weather playing havoc in the South East Mitch Brown As documented in this publication Mitch Brown has run several events scrubbed his early season plans for Sprint Car events on April 1st south of the border in 2016 and Caistor Centre's Cory Turner saw action in and 2nd at Lake City and Ocala in Florida. the Empire Super Sprint's race at Fulton Speedway on April 29th. But the Brantford racer was determined to get in more pre-season action south of the border and ventured to the Carolinas a week later despite less than ideal weather conditions to partake in some action at Gastonia, NC and Lancaster, SC. On April 15th Mitch returned stateside for a K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprints race at Limaland Motorsports Park in Ohio and intends to get back there a few more times following the Merrittville PST season opener and before Ohsweken opens its gates on May 20th. His revised schedule as of this publication release is posted on page 7. The start of the new season here in Ontario will also see some new faces in the 360 Sprint Car ranks including three Ohsweken Speedway 602 Crate Sprint car drivers Winner Jason Barney (centre) flanked by 3rd-place finisher Mitch Brown (left) and 2nd-place finisher moving up to the higher division. A couple of Jared Zimbardi (right) following the Patriot Sprint Tour Season Opener at Merrittville Speedway. former Ohsweken regulars are also returning after short absences from the sport...competitors that should In addition to the sixteen regular shows for the 360s at Ohsweken, a add to the excitement at the 3/8th-mile oval. growing number of drivers will also be competing in the Southern Ontario NEW DIVISION SPONSOR FOR 360 SPRINTS Sprints 13-race schedule plus events on the cross-border Patriot Sprint On April 19th Ohsweken Speedway officials announced Kool Tour which features five races here in Ontario. Kidz Ice & Water is joining Corr/Pak Merchandising as title And with the Empire Super Sprints competing just across the border, there sponsor for the 360 Sprint Car division. The addition of Kool are plenty of added opportunities for local drivers to add to their 2016 Kidz Ice & Water coupled with continued support from schedules. Corr/Pak Merchandising now enables the top 15 drivers in the final championship standings to share in a point fund Some will also test their mettle against the powerful World of Outlaws exceeding $25,000. Sprint cars when the touring series makes its annual visit to Ohsweken on July 26th. Additionally the championship points fund purses for the other support divisions of the track’s weekly racing shows A lot can be said about the marathon events featured by NASCAR including have been increased. the newly titled Canadian series the "NASCAR Pinty's Series" but nothing can beat the adrenaline pounding short track events of Sprint Car Racing. Ken Spencer SO, WHO'S UP TO THE CHALLENGE THIS SEASON? Among the top 2016 challengers for Ohsweken Speedway's Kool Kidz - Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Championship are these competitors ... a mix of seasoned veterans and a growing group of youngsters who have exhibited the talents to make a run for the title. The big question is- can anyone stop Glenn Styres at his own track? The driver of the bright orange and white #0 copped his 5th title in 2015 but faced serious challenges for Cheektowaga, NY's Todd Hoddick (#49-below) and Brantford's Mitch Brown (#10). But others who made their mark during the 2015 season included perennial front runner and 2011 champion Jim Huppunen (#14); up and coming Cory Turner who will driving the #97 Sprinter for Miles Hill's stable in 2016; and Keith Dempster who continues to carry the Ohsweken Speedway banner on his #5. G.H. Eves Photography G.H. Eves Photography G.H. Eves Photography Derek Jonathan (#81) of Lewiston, NY finished with some strong runs at the end of last season and "Rookie of the Year" Ryan Tuner (#91) looked impressive towards the end of the season. There will likely be some surprises in 2016 as three youngsters from Ohsweken's Crate Division move to the 360s led by Strickland's GMC Champion Dylan Westbrook (#47x). And there could also be some real G.H. Eves Photography G.H. Eves Photography surprises to shake up the race to the championship. G.H. Eves Photography G.H. Eves Photography PHOTO BY: Kendra and Steve @Winged Nation STRONG RUNS FOR MITCH BROWN IN THE CAROLINAS - April 8th and 9th, 2016 Brantford Racer Continues Prepping for Start of Local Season . Mitch Brown's idea of racing isn't sitting in front of the TV set Champion had to settle for the K&N Filters Podium Award third watching a NASCAR event. place. Racing to this third generation competitor means being strapped The next events for Mitch and his crew will be two races at Lima, behind the wheel and being a part of the action. And while the Ohio for NRA Sprint Invader events on April 15th and 22nd at NASCAR scene still has some interest to him, Sprint Car racing (the Limaland Speedway before the opener of the Patriot Sprint Tour's winged open-wheel form of car racing) is now deeply ingrained in 2016 Canadian schedule at Merrittville Speedway near St. his passion to excel in motorsports. Catharines on April 23rd. Mitch has already been south in mid-February to compete at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Florida and had plans to return to the Sunshine State at the beginning of April to resume his limited United Sprint Car Series pre-season schedule with events at Lake City and Ocala, Florida. But with unsettled weather forecast for the area he elected to scrub those events and headed southeast to the Carolinas the following weekend April 8th and 9th for events at Gastonia, NC and Lancaster, SC - a move that proved to cure his need for speed. His first event of Friday night at Carolina Speedway got off to a slow start with a last place finish in his qualifier the result a loose fuel line but after starting at the back of the 18-car field in the A-Main he worked his way up to seventh-place earning the "Hard Charger" award for most cars passed (10) in the 30-lap run.