VERNON, N.Y. – Dan Kaszubinski hadn’t won a race since the fall of 2006. On Sunday night at the Utica-Rome Speedway, the Syracuse, N.Y., native got back to his winning ways.
Kaszubinski beat Jessica Zemken to the line by nine-one hundredths of a second to win his 30th career Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint SUNY Canton 25-lap main event. He picked up $2,000 for his efforts and moved into fourth on the all-time win list.
“I got to say it’s about time I got career win number 30,” stated Kaszubinski in Victory Lane. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this one.”
It was a nice way to rebound for Kaszubinski at Gene Cole’s half-mile speedway. The last time out on Memorial Day weekend he lost a drive line in his No. 20 while leading the event.
“One got away from us about a month or so ago,” said Kaszubinski. “We had a good shot at getting that one. We really needed this one. We’ve been struggling lately and we were in a little bit of a bad spell.”
Kaszubinski started on the pole alongside veteran driver Lance Yonge. Yonge beat Kaszubinski to the lead in turn one but that was short lived as Kaszubinski dove underneath him to regain the top spot in turns three and four.
Kaszubinski’s next challenge came from Michael Parent. Kaszubinski worked the top groove as Parent used the bottom lane. The lane Parent chose was faster and allowed Parent to sneak by Kaszubinski for the lead for a brief moment on lap nine.
Kaszubinski blasted back by Parent as he found the bottom lane to re-secure the top spot in turns three and four.
“A couple laps before Parent got under me I was starting to get loose off of four,” commented Kaszubinski. “I had the wing half-way back already so I knew I needed to make a change because I could feel the line getting away from me a little bit.
“Then Parent showed me the line when he got by me there so I went down low and there was a lot of bite.”
By the midway point of the event traffic was a factor and it slowed the pace of Kaszubinski. This allowed Zemken to begin to close the gap.
Zemken moved into second on lap 16 and she used the next eight laps to close to within a few car-lengths of Kaszubinski as he worked through heavy lapped traffic.
On the final lap of the event, Kaszubinski got a strong run coming off of turn two but he bobbled slightly in turns three and four. Zemken dove underneath him looking for the win as they race to the line but it was Kaszubinski hanging on to win by less than a second.
“I got loose off of four in the last turn and the motor bobbled a little bit,” said Kaszubinski. “It (motor) got hot on us we’ve been struggling with that lately. When we came off the turn it bobbled again and I thought she (Zemken) was going to go right by.”
Zemken, of Sprakers, N.Y., nearly won her second Utica-Rome event of the season but came up just short. Her progress was impeded late in the race because the nose wing collapsed on her Maxim.
“That hurt me a lot at the beginning and even more at the end,” said Zemken about her nose wing issue. “It is really hard to steer because there is no down force on the front of the car. We had a really good car. I think if that doesn’t happen we had a shot at this one.”
She was extremely happy to be where she was considering the previous night at Can-Am Speedway she blew the motor in her ride. She borrowed a motor from Glenn Styres and a set of stacks for the engine from Jeff Cook.
“I’m just fortunate to be here right now,” stated Zemken. “I have to thank Glenn Styres from Ohsweken Speedway for letting me borrow the motor and Jeff Cook for giving me the stacks to run on it. Without their help and my crew thrashing all night I wouldn’t even be here right now.”
Parent challenged for the lead during the middle portions of the race. The driver from Granby, PQ, had the lead for a moment before Kaszubinski shot back by in turns one and two. Parent later lost a spot to Zemken forcing him to settle for third.
“I think I showed him (Kaszubinski) that there was something on the bottom,” said Parent. “I went a little too high in the next turn after and he got me back. It was a good race. I’m happy with third but I wanted to win.”
Yonge, of Penn Yan, N.Y., backed up his fourth place finish at Can-Am Speedway with a solid fourth place finish at Utica-Rome. Steve Poirier, of St. Mathieu de Beloeil, PQ, rebounded from his awful Saturday night to finish in fifth.
PIT NOTES: 37 cars entered into competition for the night in front of an absolute packed house bringing the total amount of cars to race for the weekend to over 50..Shawn Donath flipped the Doug Emery No. 33 in his heat race. He was uninjured in the event..Bryan Howland, Bruce DeWick, Bubba Broderick, Matt Tanner, Kory Gurney, Kyle Dutcher and Dave Wickham made their first starts of the season with ESS..It was Glenn Styres’ first ever trip to race at Utica-Rome. Motor woes plaqued Chris Jones and Russ Bennett and they loaded up before the heats started…Jason Barney win in the dash event was his first ever dash victory at the speedway…Next Saturday the Lucas Oil Tour will head to the high banks of the Woodhull Raceway.
Utica-Rome Speedway SUNY Canton A-Main (25 laps): Dan Kaszubinski ($2,150), Jessica Zemken, Michael Parent, Lance Yonge, Steve Poirier, Justin Barger, Bryan Howland, Jason Barney, Tommy Wickham, Bubby Kerrick, Blake Breen, Tim Kelly, Jeff Cook, Gordy Button, Bubba Broderick, Bobby Breen, Cory Sparks, Glenn Styres, Mike Stelter, Matt Demitraszek, Warren Alexson, Jared Fink, Anthony Cain, Chuck Hebing.
Lap Leader – Kaszubinski 1-25.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 (10 laps): Jeff Cook, Jessica Zemken, Dan Kaszubinski, Jared Fink, Bubba Broderick.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 (10 laps): Michael Parent, Chuck Hebing, Steve Poirier, Blake Breen, Matt Demitraszek.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 (10 laps): Bryan Howland, Cory Sparks, Bobby Breen, Tim Kelly, Bubby Kerrick.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 4 (10 laps): Jason Barney, Lance Yonge, Justin Barger, Tommy Wickham, Gordy Button.
Walt’s Hobby/Cobra Coaches Dash Series (4 laps): Jason Barney.
KSE Racing Products B-Main (10 laps): Anthony Cain, Warren Alexson, Mike Stelter, Glenn Styres.
Did Not Qualify: Matt Tanner, Bruce DeWick, Lee Ladouceur, Tyler Rand, Chris Jones, Shawn Donath, George Ely, Russ Bennett, Daniel Lampron, Kyle Dutcher, Kory Gurney, Dave Wickham, Justin Harris.
Cash Sponsors:
SUNY Canton A-Main – Kaszubinski $400
Ohsweken Speedway Winner’s Bonus – Kaszubinski $100
Les Constructions Ultra Halfway – Kaszubinski $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger – Kerrick (9 pos.) $50
Cook’s Contracting Services Bridesmaid – Zemken $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heats – Cook, Parent, Howland, Barney $25
Winner’s Contingencies:
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 – Parent $100
Leaf Racewear – Zemken $75
Design 500 – Poirier $50, Demitraszek $50
Keizer Wheels – Howland $50
KSE Racing Products – Cain $50
Zemco Headers – Poirier $50
Joe Hunt Magnetos – Howland $50
Babe Design – Stelter $50
M&W Aluminum Products – Yonge $40
Rod End Supply – Zemken $30
Panchos – Poirier $25, Broderick $25
DMI – Hebing $25
Red Bear Hand Cleaner – Kerrick $10
ISC Racers Tape – Cook $10
Ultra Shield – Zemken $10