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Lewis Captures Apple Festival Nationals ASCS Finale.
Hartford, OH September 22, 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. We have a had a ton of seconds this year and to get the win in this event is just awesome," stated Lewis.
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.
A red flag on lap 17 following the flip of Ed Neumister put Zimbardi right on Lewis' tail. After that final restart, 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 closed the gap on Lewis 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.
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. 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.
A total of 25 cars would be on hand for the second night of the inaugural Apple Festival Nationals.
Sharon Speedway is located at the intersection of Routes 7 and 305 in Hartford, OH and is just a short drive from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. "Buckle Up and Hang On" as Sharon Speedway brings you Saturday Night Racing at its finest!!!
For additional information please visit the Speedway's website at www.sharonspeedway.com or contact Kate at the Speedway office at (330) 772-5481.
ASCS Patriot Feature Finish: 1. Trevor Lewis, 2. Scott Bonnell, 3. Justin Barger, 4. Jared Zimbardi , 5. Bryan Howland, 6. Scott Kreutter, 7. Josh Weller, 8. Blake Breen, 9. Lee Jacobs, 10. Gary Kriess , 11. Jared Fink, 12. Kyle Moffit, 13. Bobby Breen, 14. Derek Jonathan, 15. Chad Gullett, 16. Tom Huppunen, 17. Gary Troutman, 18. Dave Dykstra, 19. Joe August Jr., 20. T.J. Newton, 21. Chris Muhleisen, 22. Ed Neumister, 23. Brad Keckler, 24. Danny Holtgraver, 25. Tim Hogue.
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