FULTON, N.Y. – One night after losing a Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint A-Main in the closing laps, Jason Barney rebounded strongly at the Fulton Speedway with a win in the 25-lap feature worth $2,125. The win came on night four of SUNY Canton/Einstein Construction Speedweek.
The win was Barney’s first of the season and came after he wrestled the lead away from Larry Wight and then held off the challenges of a hard charging Matt Tanner in the final laps.
“I owed my guys this one,” said Barney in Victory Lane. “We had the greatest car last night and the driver let them down and I wasn’t going to let that happen tonight. We came in with a game plan and stuck to it. What an unbelievable week.”
Wight charged to the lead from the pole at the green flag and led over Tanner who started alongside him on the front row. Wight was a half-straightaway in front by the time the first caution came out as Charlie Donk stopped in turn two with a broken frontend.
At the green, Wight again led with Steve Poirier taking over second and Tanner falling in line in third. All three drivers worked with the top of the speedway with Barney charging on the bottom of the track to fourth after starting ninth.
With nine laps showing complete, Wight caught the back of the field and began working traffic. By this point Barney had moved into the second spot by working the extreme bottom of the track.
As Barney got close to making a move on Wight the final caution of the race came out for Zach Weigand. Weigand hit an implement tire on the bottom of the speedway wrecking the front-end of his family owned No. 20.
Wight jumped out to lead again on the restart. He flew to the outside of the speedway opening up a full straightaway gap on Barney as he sat in second battling with Tanner and Poirier.
Things changed again for Wight as he hit traffic on lap 16. That impeded his progress enough allowing Barney to again charge up to his back bumper. Wight struggled with the slower cars while Barney continued to make up ground passing cars on the bottom.
Barney made his move on lap 21 as Wight got caught behind two slower cars battling for position. Barney drove off the bottom of turn two and found an opening between the two cars. He shot through the gap into the lead. From there he opened a slight edge on both Wight and Tanner.
“He (Wight) got out about a straightaway on us and I kept working on my line and working my line,” commented Barney. “I kept trying to get off the corners the best I could without hitting those tires. I got close to them but I had to go for it. I knew I had to sneak up on Larry (Wight) in lapped traffic and that was only chance I was going to have to get him.”
There were only two laps remaining when Barney found himself in the same predicament as Wight earlier. He was caught behind lapped cars running his line. As a result Tanner and Wight pulled up to his backside.
On the final lap Barney was behind a slower car on the bottom and Tanner jumped to the top. Barney made a bonsai move off of the second turn to get under car going down the backstretch. He raced to the bottom of turns three and four while Tanner threw it in on the top. At the checkered it was Barney in his Pit Stop Convenience Stores No. 87 by a car-length over Tanner.
For the second year in a row Tanner came home in the second spot. Tanner made a final lap effort on the top-side but it was to no avail giving him a second place effort which is his best effort of Speedweek.
“I thought that last lap I had something for Jason (Barney),” said the Stephentown, N.Y., native. “The top down here was burned off and he got a good run off the bottom. Congratulations to those guys. I don’t know but I’m starting to get sick of the seconds and thirds this year. We’ve struggled a little this week but we are looking forward tomorrow to Utica-Rome. That is a place we usually run well.”
Wight crossed the line in the third position but was later disqualified for utilizing an illegal tire on his No. 99L. As a result Steve Poirier was credited with the third position. It was his best finish of Speedweek to this point.
“The way Speedweek got started we are happy with third,” commented Poirier. “I tried the bottom once but I couldn’t stay down there. I put a bigger left rear tire on the car because we didn’t plan on running the bottom. I felt like the power steering had a problem. At one point I got tired and stayed where I was.”
Jessica Zemken advanced form the 17th starting position to finish in fourth while Paul Kinney came from 15th to complete the top five. Making up the next five were Chuck Hebing, Ohio star Paige Polyak, Michael Parent, Davie Franek, who came into the night the Speedweek point leader and Doug Emery.
ESS/Fulton Notes – A big field of 35 sprints filled the pits in front of a big crowd…Emery, Wight and Jim Gleason joined the Speedweek for the first time…After his spectacular flip, Etienne Girard made his return but engine woes saw him a DNQ…Bryan Howland also had issues under the hood which hindered his ability to repeat his win one year ago.
SUNY Canton/Einstein Construction Group A-Main – Jason Barney ($2,125), Matt Tanner, Steve Poirier, Jessica Zemken, Paul Kinney, Chuck Hebing, Paige Polyak, Michael Parent, Davie Franek, Doug Emery, Cory Sparks, Joe Trenca, Steve Hutchinson Jr., Sammy Reakes IV, George Suprick, Parker Evans, Scott Kreutter, Dave Axton, Tim Axton, Danny Varin, Zach Weigand, Jeff Cook, Charlie Donk, Kevin Ward Jr., Larry Wight.
Note – Larry Wight placed third but was credited for last with an unapproved left rear tire.
Did Not Qualify – Etienne Girard, Tommy Wickham, Paul Habeck, Paul Pekkonen, Kelly Hebing, Yan Bilodeau, Dave Wickham, Jim Gleason, Mike Stelter, Clint Ide, Bryan Howland
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Jeff Cook, Davie Franek, Jason Barney, Steve Hutchinson Jr., Jessica Zemken
Car Nate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Matt Tanner, Larry Wight, Charlie Donk, Cory Sparks, Paige Polyak
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Kevin Ward Jr., Danny Varin, Steve Poirier, Paul Kinney, Parker Evans
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 4 – Chuck Hebing, Scott Kreutter, Doug Emery, Sammy Reakes IV, George Suprick
Donath Motor Worx/Cobra Coaches Dash – Kevin Ward Jr.
Lacaillde Masonry B-Main – Michael Parent, Zach Weigand, Dave Axton, Joe Trenca
Provisional Starter – Tim Axton
Bonuses:
Westward Painting Company Halfway – Barney $100
Insinger Performance Hard Charger – Zenken (12 pos.) $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Kinney $50
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main – Parent $50
Car Mate Trailers Heats – Cook, Tanner, Ward Jr., Hebing $25
Go Nuclear Late Models Go Fast – Barney $50
Bitner Automotive Blistering Fast Time – Hebing $50