LaFARGEVILLE, N.Y. – On Saturday night at the Can-Am Motor Speedway, Justin Barger edged Jeff Cook by .009 seconds to win a wild SUNY Canton Racing 25-lap Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint (ESS) A-Main.
En route to the $2,150 victory, Barger set a new track record in his heat race with a lap of 15.373 which is an average speed of just over 117 mph around the big half-mile speedway.
“The car was real fast all night,” stated Barger. “We kept up with the car all night long and it was great. I have to thank Dan Deming, this is his new engine here and it blistered all night. It was an awesome deal to drive.”
After a delayed start due to afternoon rains, Barger and Gordy Button led the 26 car starting field to the green flag.
Barger took full advantage of his pole starting position as he took the lead when the field raced into turn one for the first time. Button tried to tuck underneath him getting into turn one, but Barger was too strong.
With only six laps complete, Barger began catching the backside of the field. He navigated his way through without letting the rest of the field close in on him.
Barger was the leader when the caution came out on lap 13 for defending series champion, Steve Poirier. Poirier got into a marker tire on the inside of the speedway and heavily damaged the front end of his ride.
On the restart, Barger got the lead with his Maxim while Cook moved from the fifth spot to third behind Button.
As the laps clicked off, Barger was the leader with Cook moving into second with less than five laps to go.
In the final two laps of the race, Barger was battling with slower traffic while Cook was busy tracking him down exciting the home town crowd.
“I wish they had graded the top of one and two a little bit because it was a little rough up there,” commented Barger. “It was hard to get by lapped cars up there because it would bounce you around a little bit.”
On the final lap, the duo entered turn three nearly even with Barger electing to go to the bottom while Cook put his No. 10 up on the high-side.
At the finish line it was Barger by mere centimeters over the fan favorite Cook in one of the most exciting finishes in the 26 year history of ESS
“That was a lot closer than I really wanted it to be,” said the driver of the Cortland Auto Body No. 32. “I heard him (Cook) coming but there was nothing I could do. I ran out of tear-offs near the end of the race and I couldn’t see where the tires were on the bottom.”
Cook, from nearby Antwerp, N.Y., was one of a few drivers that jumped out of line to go to the outside. A move that paid off for him as he nearly won the feature event after starting tenth.
“I knew that those guys weren’t going to go up there,” stated Cook. “I knew if I held my foot into it I would be good. I couldn’t drive through those guys so I had to do something else.”
Cook was somewhat disappointed at the finish as in this event last year the same outcome transpired. He finished second to Barger after he got passed late in the race.
“I owed him (Barger) one for last year,” said Cook with a smile after the race. “We’ll take it. I thought I had him. We worked our tails off tonight and I was working extra hard inside that cock pit tonight. We were coming.”
Button, of Kirkville, N.Y., held on to finish the event in third after losing the power steering on his No. 714 in the early stages of the race.
“We lost the power steering on lap 13,” said Button after the race. “It was hard to turn the wheels out there. I’m happy to come home in third.”
Current point leader Lance Yonge, of Penn Yan, N.Y., brought his Maxim to the line in fourth while Brian McDonald of Cornwall, Ont., crossed the line in fifth.
ESS/CAN-AM NOTES – A stout field of 38 sprints filled the pit area…After many showers during the afternoon, the Can-Am crew never threw in the towel as teams and fans greeted with a record breaking track, no less than 22 cars broke the track record on the night!…Making first starts for 2009 were Shawn Donath in the Doug Emery #33, Billy White, Russ Bennett, the ageless George Ely, Kyle Moffit, and Tim Devendorf as he was on the only to crack the A-Main starting line-up…With the fast track motors took its toll, Donath, Jessica Zemken, Bennett, Moffit, Joe August Jr., Hebing and Andy Noto all suffered problems under the hood…White was the only flip victim of the night…The Friday night show did get rained out and a possible rain date might be worked out.
SUNY Canton A-Main – Justin Barger ($2,150), Jeff Cook, Gordy Button, Lance Yonge, Brian McDonald, Rick Wilson, Alain Bergeron, Blake Breen, Jason Barney, Tim Kelly, Bobby Breen, George Suprick, Tommy Wickham, Michael Parent, Cory Sparks, Glenn Styres, Mike Stelter, Lee Ladouceur, Steve Poirier, Chris Jones, Dan Kaszubinski, Anthony Cain, Justin Harris, Tyler Rand, Chuck Hebing, Tim Devendorf.
Lap Leader – Barger 1-25
Margin of victory – .009
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Anthony Cain, Brian McDonald, Alain Bergeron, Tim Devendorf, Glenn Styres.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Lance Yonge, Tim Kelly, Jeff Cook, Lee Ladouceur, Michael Parent.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Gordy Button, Cory Sparks, Tyler Rand, Rick Wilson, George Suprick.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 4 – Justin Barger (NTR – 15.373), Bobby Breen, Justin Harris, Jason Barney, Dan Kaszubinski.
Cook’s Plumbing, Heating and Hardware/Cobra Coaches Dash – Anthony Cain.
KSE Racing Products B-Main – Steve Poirier, Chris Jones, Blake Breen, Mike Stelter.
Provisionals – Tommy Wickham, Chuck Hebing.
Did Not Qualify – Jared Fink, Andy Noto, Shawn Donath, Kyle Moffit, George Ely, Russ Bennett, Billy White, Joe August Jr., Jessica Zemken, Paul Pekkonen, Brandon Warner, April Wilson
Cash Sponsors:
SUNY Canton – Barger $400
Ohsweken Speedway Winner’s Bonus – Barger $100
Les Constructions Ultra Halfway – Barger $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger – Blake Breen (15 pos.) $50
Cook’s Contracting Bridesmaid – Cook $50
HG Associates Fast Time – Barger (15.973) – $25
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heats – Cain, Yonge, Button, Barger $25.
Winner’s Contengincies:
Lucas Oil $115, Design 500 $100, Saldana Racing Products $50, GME Steering $50, Hank’s Performance Products $50, Kreitz Oval Track Products $50, Racing Optics $30, Rod End Supply $30, Area Auto Racing News $25, Brake Man $25, Ultra Shield $10.
Other Contingencies:
ATL – Button $100
Leaf Racewear – McDonald $75
Design 500 – McDonald $50, Ladouceur $50
Keizer Wheels – Bergeron $50
KSE Racing Products – Poirier $50
Zemco Headers – McDonald $50
Joe Hunt Magnetos – Rand $50
Babe Design – Donath $50
M&W Aluminum Products – Button $40
Rod End Supply – Cook $30
Panchos – McDonald $25, Styres $25
DMI – Devendorf $25
Red Bear Hand Cleaner – Kelly $10
ISC Racers Tape – Wickham $10
Ultra Shield – Cook $10