The challenges during the race were plentiful as Stewart Friesen, Chuck Hebing and Cory Sparks all in MEM / Eagles took their shots at Donath in the closing stages.  

Friesen was forced to drop out with issues under the hood while getting ready to make his bid at the top spot.  Next up was Hebing as he pulled to the inside of Donath on one lap then to the outside thenext only to pull to the pits with a brake issue.   This left Sparks to take up the challenge who came from the tenth starting spot as well as Steve Poirier finishing with a podium finish coming from 12th. 

Sparks picked up his heat race and the Dash as Poirier got a heat win as well.

Other MEM customers, Etienne Girard, came home 7th with Kevin Ward Jr. in his MEM / GF1 11th while he was still figuring out the new car.

Mike Emhof Motorsports (MEM) has scheduled factory support to be on-site for the season opener of the Patriot Sprint Tour at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Both Mike Long and Aaron Allgood of EMI will be present to offer product support and assistance with Eagle Motorsports and Schnee Chassis products. “We are honored to accept the invitation extended by Mike [Emhof],” stated Long. “The upper Northeast region holds some of the country’s best open wheel talent and we are excited to help kick off this opening event and support the PST.” Aaron Allgood, National Sales Manager for EMI, is eager to thank loyal customers and offer technical assistance to all competitors. “The racing surface in New York is very unique and poses a challenge on any given night. We are looking forward to working with our customers firsthand to show our appreciation.” EMI is based in Lincoln, NE, and manufactures chassis and components for every segment of the open wheel market.

Dan Kuhn and his family run operation were good early and held on to a nice 7th place finish in the "A".  The Father/Daughter team of Darryl and Alysha Ruggles were back in action as a team since Alysha was  sidelined back in July from a nasty flip at CMP.  Darryl was solid with a 2nd place run and acknowledged "I missed it a bit on the set up, but  will take the 2nd place behind a fellow MEM/Eagle chauffeur".  Alysha  started well, faded a bit and then got "PO'd" in her words.  "When a few cars passed me I knew I had to drive the car harder and I went better  the harder I drove my new Eagle chassis".  She came home a few feet out  of 3rd for a 4th place finish first time out since her back injury.