Bryan Brobst Captures First 602 Crate Victory at Bridgeport Motorsports Park

After a long season already this year, a dream came true on Saturday night May 21st for Bryan Brobst as he won the 602 Crate feature at Bridgeport by a 2 second margin of victory and parked his # 11 crate in victory lane for his first career victory.

Bryan started in the front row and after the 3^rd restart, he was able to take the early lead with Brain Papiez already right on his bumper.  By lap 4 Bryan had endured 4 cautions and was still fighting off Brian Papiez for the lead until on lap 8 Papiez charged into the lead.  Papiez held a solid lead until lap 17 when a caution came out for a spinning car.  With the yellow already out, the leader Papiez got tangled with Bryce Higgs and came to a complete stop.  Papiez still would have gotten the lead back if he could return to the race, but instead he was towed to the pits unable to continue which handed the lead back to Bryan with 8 laps to go.  Bryan grabbed the lead on the restart and a spirited battle for second developed between Sammy Martz Jr and Matt Ellery which resulted in contact between the two in turn 4 that allowed Bryan to check out on the field and drive into victory lane for his first career 602 crate victory.

In victory lane Bryan commented “That’s not the way you want to win but racing happens, and I’ll take it.  We’ve had our share of bad luck this season and we still had to hold off the 24 and 29.  Wow I’m speechless.  The track was racy and tricky with some ruts that made it a handful tonight.”   

Back at the trailer Bryan reflected “We started the night from 7^th in the heat and I quickly found myself in a three wide situation that I didn’t want to be in. Sure enough it ended with us spinning and having some contact.  We were able to continue but had to go back to 9^th and last place on the field.  I was able to find some holes and I had good speed and raced back through the field to an 3^rd place finish. Most importantly the 3^rd place heat finish got us a spot in the handicap.  We had the good fortune to handicap to then 2^nd starting position in the feature.”

Bryan continued “We were able to take the lead on the green and stay there until lap 8.  The car felt great and had the drive off the corners.  I do remember thinking at lap 4 or 5 that nobody has passed me yet or even stuck there nose inside of me, but I knew Brian papiez started right behind me and his Dave Adams # 37 has been really fast this year.  On lap 7 I got in the ruts in turn 3/4 and still hadn’t seen any noses yet.  The very next lap I got a little high and Papiez was able to get by me and take the lead.  I was able to stay with him but couldn’t gain any ground when I heard “caution, caution turn 4”.  I saw Papiez went high and had slowed way up and I passed by him.  I was waiting for him to come back by, but he never did.  When I went back by Papiez I saw he had been collected in a wreck with a lapped car and realized I was going to get the lead back.  I felt we had a chance to get this win since we were able to stay with Papiez but then realized I have some of the best in the business right on my bumper behind me.  I wanted to restart on the outside to get some momentum from turn 2 and take away any slide jobs.  I got an amazing restart and pulled a car length lead between 1/2 and knew we got through the hard part, and we just needed to hit our marks the rest of the way and stay out of the ruts.  Coming off turn 2 on the white flag lap is when it hit me that we’re actually about to win Bridgeport and get our first win.”

“Every driver will tell you when you are out front you hear a car right behind you even if one is not there.  Apparently, there wasn’t any right behind me, and we put about a full straightaway on 2^nd place car, but I swore I heard someone back there, so I ran in the middle of 3-4 to protect against any potential slide jobs. When I came off turn 4 and was the first to see the checkered flag it was the most amazing feeling.  Between the emotions, fist pumping and my screaming it felt like I needed the seat belts to keep me from jumping out of the car.”   

Bryan concluded “When I say we; I really mean it because my whole family including my father, mother, sister, brother in law Zack, Uncle Ron, nephew Zane and 5 year old niece Emery who is my number one fan.  I’m truly grateful for each of them and they are what racing is about.  I wouldn’t be able to do this without their help and support.”

Bryan comes from a kart racing background and moved to 602 crate racing when the pandemic started in 2020.  Between the pandemic and rainouts, they only races at DIS a handful of times in 2020 and 2021.

There has already been a lot of ups and downs in the 2022 season for the #11 team from Delmar, Delaware on the way to their first Bridgeport victory.  

Bryan reflected “We went to Bridgeport for the first time in June of 2021 and finished 4^th.  We fell in love with the track and decided to run Bridgeport ever since.  We have only raced about 20 times in the crate class since we started in 2020 and I have a couple of thirds and a fourth and a win now.

 The 2022 season didn’t start off too great for us.  At our first hot lap session of the season, we got pinched into the wall and bent our frame and axle.  We were able to race with the bent frame and finished 4^th but had to replace the chassis after one race of the 2022 season. We found a new chassis thanks to Jamie Mills and were back on track for Bridgeport season points opener.  Our season opener ended with another racing contact incident in the feature collapsing our front end and ending our season opener with a trip to the pits on the hook.  We fixed everything and returned for the second points race and found some speed only to get collected in a huge pile-up which tore up the right front and shock.  We knew we found our setup and some speed thanks to help from Jamie Mills but couldn’t get the car fixed in time for the 3^rd points race. 

We then sat idle for two weeks of rainouts which brought us to this week which we literally had no expectations beyond just finishing the feature and getting some notes on the new car.  This win couldn’t come at a better time for us after a rough early spring.  Our goals for the rest of the season are to win some more races and not tear the car up too much.  We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without our sponsors Farkas Concrete and Greg’s Electrical Service.  Also, a big thank you to Eugene and Jamie Mills  over at Blue Hen Speed and Performance for all their advice and support.”

Racing continues at Bridgeport Speedway on Saturday June 4^th with modified, Mass 305 sprints, 602 Sportsman, Street Stocks and Rookies.