8.28.15 Empire Super Sprints Results
GRANBY, QUE – He might be from Pennsylvania but Mark Smith should consider taking his talents north of the border into Canada more often. The Sunbury, Pa., driver is now two-for-two in Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint action at the Autodrome Granby.
Smith inherited the lead after the top two cars got together, from there it was smooth sailing for the veteran driver. Smith led the final 16 laps to record the victory in the Einstein Construction Group Tour of Canada, Fondation 4 Saisons Quebec Series event. When all was said and done, Smith pocked $2,125 for himself and his car owner Patrick Vigneault.
“I’m momentum racer and anything that is momentum I’m usually pretty good at,” commented Smith. “So far so good here. This place is great for me. They pack this place and it’s a lot of fun.”
Tommy Wickham joined Alain Boisvert on the front row of the feature. Wickham quickly established himself as the leader taking the position as the field raced to the first turn on the opening circuit. From there he bolted away from the field opening up a several car length advantage.
Six laps were completed when Wickham caught the tail of field forcing him to alter his line for the first time in the event. He steadily worked the inside and outside lanes as he put cars down a lap. As he led, Steve Poirier and Smith started a torrid battle in traffic for second.
Wickham’s night came to an end on lap nine as he spun in traffic trying to avoid getting into another car. As he sat stopped in turns three and four, Poirier made hard contact after finding himself with no place to go. Parker Evans was also involved. The field with brought under red flag conditions with all three drivers uninjured but unable to continue.
“That sucked,” said Smith about the incident involved Wickham and Poirier. “I was having a lot of fun battling with him and dicing through traffic. He kept coming back. That is how it goes sometimes. It would have nice to finish it out with him.”
Smith, who started fifth, now inherited the top spot. He quickly darted out away from the field as the race resume opening up a wide gap on the rest of the competition. With just ten laps remaining Smith held a comfortable advantage of Michael Parent and Jason Barney as they raced for the runner-up spot.
One last red flag was necessary on lap 23 when Tyler Graves exited the speedway in turn two. Graves’ car went several feet away from the speedway before coming to a rest. Like the other incident, he too was uninjured in the incident.
A double-file restart gave Parent one final opportunity at Smith. He tried to get the jump on Smith at the restart to no avail as Smith powered away. Meanwhile, Barney and Kinney also drove by Parent as he bobbled coming down the front straightaway. Kinney beat Barney to turn one on the outside to secure the second spot.
“I didn’t know if I should go to the top bottom on that last restart,” Smith said. “He (Parent) gets around this place really good and you’re never sure what you should do because he’s a local and he may have something in his back pocket that you don’t expect.”
Smith took the checkered flag while Kinney was there for second. Kinney did all he could to hold off Barney on the final two laps allowing Smith to get away. Kinney, of Canastota, N.Y., was happy with how things turned out on the night.
“During races I normally don’t like reds and yellows but it worked out in my favor tonight,” said Kinney. “I usually like to restart on the bottom but tonight was the exact opposite. I kind of knew that I was going to get Jason there on the restart. When Michael and Jason tangled on the bottom I was able to get by both them on the top.”
Barney, who’s been on a hot streak as of late, managed his fifth consecutive top five finish in Empire Super Sprint competition. The Brewerton, N.Y., pilot restarted on the bottom behind Parent for the final restart and he felt like that cost him the opportunity at second.
“I thought we had a second place car once we got rolling,” stated Barney. “We’ve been rolling really good lately so we’ll take it. We seemed to get stuck on the bottom on the restart every time. I timed it wrong once, the engine didn’t fire the greatest on another, then the last time I thought I timed it perfectly and unfortunately Michael (Parent) didn’t get going. Michael really went low and I had to wait behind him. I did the best I could to not make contact with him and going that low really broke my momentum and Paul (Kinney) got a great run around the top.”
Parent, the highest finishing Quebec native, finished in the fourth position with Devin Caron earning the fifth position after starting 11th.
ESS/Granby Notes – A total of 23 sprints played host to one of the largest crowds in Granby history…Troy Comeau came up from his New Hampshire home to race with ESS for the very first time…Etienne Girard had engine woes all night and scratched from A-Main…An accident on nearby Rte. 10 saw several teams arrive even after heat in the engines, Granby management helped in adjusting the schedule so they could run in their heats.
Lucas Oil A-Main – Mark Smith ($2,125), Paul Kinney ($1,450), Jason Barney ($1,050), Michael Parent ($855), Devin Caron ($790), Matt Tanner ($885), Alain Boisvert ($655), Yan Bilodeau ($645), Tim Axton ($660), Lee Ladouceur ($675), Paulie Colagiovanni ($610), Tyler Graves ($545), Paul Pekkonen ($525), Denny Peebles ($515), Dave Axton ($560), Guilluame Neiderer ($505), Dan Douville ($500), Tyler Comeau ($500), Dale Gosselin ($500), Tommy Wickham ($550), Steve Poirier ($525), Parker Evans ($500), Etienne Girard ($500)
Lap Leaders – Wickham 1-8, Smith 9-25
Car Mate Trailers $25 to win Heats – Poirier, Barney, Kinney
Bonuses:
Insinger Fuels Hard Charger – Smith (9 pos.) $50
Engler Machine and Tool Halfway – Smith $50
Ohsweken Speedway 20th Anniversary – Wickham $50
SUNY Canton Smart Move – D. Axton $50
Beard Sewer and Drain Determination Award – Ladouceur $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Caron $35
Bitner Automotive Blistering Fast Time – Smith $25
9/11 Restoration – T. Axton and Colagiovanni $25
Hoosier Tire – Kinney $200
Vahlco Wheels – Tanner $190