7.3.14 Empire Super Sprints Results
ELBRIGE, N.Y. – It was a strange night at the Rolling Wheels Raceway for the stars of the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint tour. Rain delayed the start of the program for several hours and then the unthinkable happened on more than one occasion. At the end of the night, it was Stewart Friesen coming home with his second tour win in the SUNY Canton/Einstein Construction Group Speedweek 25-lap E&V Energy Tour of the States main-event.
“I got to thank Barb (Patterson) and Doug (Emery),” said Friesen. “This is awesome. Doug gave me a great race car tonight. I don’t know if we had anything for the Cobra (Hebing) there, we were going to be close or maybe a distance second. That was a lot of fun and I’m thankful for the opportunity to drive it.”
Davie Franek and Steve Poirier started on the front row of the first night of racing for Speedweek with Poirier taking the lead at the start. Poirier maintained that lead through an early caution and then a red flag period on lap four.
Jeff Cook, Etienne Girard and Patrick Vigneault came together in turns one and two. Girard got the worst end of the deal flipping high into the air before landing on all four wheels. He was shaken in the incident but uninjured as were Vigneault and Cook.
Poirier blasted back to lead at the green with a new challenger emerging in the second position in Chuck Hebing. Hebing drove around the extreme top of the speedway to make his way to the front from the fourth position. He began hounding Poirier for the lead.
On lap 10, as the pair raced in traffic, Poirier and Hebing entered turn one with Hebing entering above the cushion and Poirier bouncing off of it. As they raced off of the second corner Hebing dove under Poirier for the lead. Poirier shot to the right and he spun off the top of the speedway. He had broken the front end and his spin brought out the caution.
At this point Hebing looked to go on for his fifth career win at the big five-eighths mile facility. He was trailed by Jessica Zemken, Franek and Friesen who now ran fourth after starting in position 12.
At the halfway point of the feature it was Hebing running away while Friesen, driving an Donath Motor Worx powered Eagle, raced second. Behind them Jason Barney and Bryan Howland began racing for spots in the top five after both drivers started deep in the field.
“I tried to keep the car in clean air to build my momentum up,” stated Friesen. “I had to roll the corners. If a guy got chocked up a little bit you could really zing by them on the top or the bottom.”
Zemken slowed and stopped on lap 16 with smoke billowing from her No. 1z as she lost an engine. At this point Hebing continued to hold Friesen at bay for the top spot in the feature.
Race resumed and Hebing picked up right where he left off, with the top spot. One lap later that changed as the top wing broke apart on Hebing’s car causing him to slow and stop in the first turn giving the lead to Friesen.
“We had a little fortune go our way there with Hebing ripping that side board off,” said Friesen. “I got up and tried the line he was running, it was a lot fun and it was really fast, but it felt like it was going to break the car down. These things are pretty brittle. I’m glad he was able to hold on to it because I’ve seen what can happen when that happens.”
With the green flag out once more, Friesen drove his Doug Emery owned No. 33 away from the field to go on for the $2,000 triumph. Howland advanced from 18th spot to finish second at the line. Howland was pleased with a result on the quick racing surface.
“It was a lucky night for us,” commented Howland, of Union Springs, N.Y. “We rolled the car into the trailer in one piece. We held on for a second place run. I don’t know what Stewy does, but him and Doug are a lethal combination. You are pretty much racing for second every time they show up. I tried to race with him on the last two restarts but the car wouldn’t fire worth a crap.
Franek, of Wantage, N.J., held on to finish in third after battling with both Howland and Danny Varin in the final laps.
“I think there was a little bit of a lack of experience of the driver part,” stated Franek. “The track was heavy and fast. At the beginning the race you had to run above the curb and the drivers didn’t want to go up there. Usually we are good when the track is like that. It was just a lack of experience on my part.”
Varin, of Fonda, N.Y., came home in the fourth position with Cory Sparks having a solid night after starting 17th to finish in fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Barney who was as high as third but was running our of fuel, Tommy Wickham, Paige Polyak, Sammy Reakes IV and Matt Tanner.
ESS/Rolling Wheels Speedweek Notes – A nice field of 32 sprints in the pits…young Paige Polyak from Ohio made her first ever ESS start aboard a car owned by ESS Hall of Famer Mike Woodring…Sammy Reakes IV made his first start of 2014 after job commitments kept him away until now…Despite threatening weather all night, thanks to the track crews, the sprint and modified teams that show get in against all odds and a big crowd was rewarded with an exciting show.
SUNY Canton/Einstein Construction Group A-Main – Stewart Friesen ($2,000), Bryan Howland, Davie Franek, Danny Varin, Cory Sparks, Jason Barney, Tommy Wickham, Paige Polyak, Sammy Reakes IV, Matt Tanner, Scott Kreutter, Dave Axton, Glenn Styres, Paul Habeck, Steve Poirier, Chuck Hebing, Jessica Zemken, Steve Collins, Jeff Cook, Kevin Ward Jr., Paul Kinney, Patrick Vigneault, Etienne Girard.
Did Not Qualify – Zach Weigand, Joe Trenca, Charlie Donk, Steve Hutchinson Jr., Shawn Donath, Yan Bilodeau, Tim Axton, Mike Stelter, Steve Glover.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Poirier, Kreutter, Friesen, Hebing, Zemken, Kinney
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Cook, Polyak, Ward Jr., Varin, Girard, Sparks
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Tanner, Franek, Reakes IV, Vigneault, Styres, Howland
Walt’s Hobby/Cobra Coaches Dash – Tanner
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main – Wickham, Collins, D. Axton, Habeck
Provisional Starter – Barney
Bonuses:
Westward Painting Company Halfway – Hebing $100
Insinger Race Performance Fuels Hard Charger – Barney (17 pos.) $50
Fondations 55 – Pick 5 – Sparks $50
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main – Wickham $50
Car Mate Trailers Heats – Poirier, Cook, Tanner $25
Go Nuclear Late Models Go Fast – Hebing $25
Bitner Automotive Blistering Fast Tme – Hebing $25