THOROLD, ONT – In one of the most exciting finishes in the 26 year history of the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints (ESS), Ontario, NY’s Chuck Hebing passed Mikey Kruchka on the last corner of the last lap and also edged Alain Bergeron by inches to pick up the win Saturday night at the Merrittville Speedway.
It took four months and three different tries to get the Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Series event finally in the books but the finish will have this event talked about for the ages.
Here’s the scene: Kruchka took the lead from Hebing with two laps to go looking for his first ever ESS checkered flag. Going into the last corner coming down for the checkered flag, Kruchka went high around a lapped car, jumped the cushion and slammed the front stretch wall.
While Kruchka was doing all he could to hang on, Hebing slipped by on the inside to nose ahead. But, while he was looking to take the win, Bergeron got a run on extreme inside of the track to pull side by side with Hebing making it a photo finish. Hebing was the victor by mere inches. Kruchka’s car came across the line while riding the wall and then stopping shortly after for a fourth place finish
“That was one of the most exciting finishes I have been in!” said the driver of the Roush-Yates Ford powered XXX chassis. “I actually almost lost that one all by myself. With two to go I went down low to pass the slower cars and that gave him (Kruchka) the lead. I just gave it to him.”
“Then coming down for the finish I saw that he had a couple of cars in front of him and all of a sudden he jumped the cushion and it gave me a chance for the win.” said Hebing on the wild finish. “I thought I was good and here came Alain inside of me. We were rubbing and to tell you the truth I couldn’t tell who won…it was that close!”
The win for Hebing was his third on the 2009 season and a part of a strong string of top ten finishes for the exciting driver. “We have gone back to what we want to do instead of what everyone says we should do. It just seems to work better for us. The car is better and we really have this Ford working strong” Hebing said on his recent finishes, “ We had some motor troubles during the summer but they (Roush-Yates) are some real stand up people. They have fixed anything that went wrong and they covered it too. This motor is a good piece”
While Hebing did take home career win #9 with ESS, Kruchka nearly pulled off the upset of the century. The young driver from Hamilton, Ont. hasn’t won an A-Main of any kind with a winged sprinter but he was just a few feet away from making this a memory to remember.
“I almost had it!, Man! I was just so close to getting the win. Wow, I tried so hard!” said the driver of the Jac-Em-Up #01 with excitement in his voice long after the wild finish. “Saw a slower car in front and I just got too high. I went over the cushion, down in the moat and then hit the wall. But, I wasn’t giving up, I put it to the wood and never lifted. If I had to flip the car to win I was going to!”
“I saw more sky than anything as I was riding the wall but I guess I lost too much speed on the wall and they got me.” exclaimed the sophomore sprint car pilot. “Am I disappointed? Sure. But, man, I almost won! I almost beat the best from one of the best clubs. Hell, he (Hebing) has more wins that I have races run and I almost beat him!”
With two to go, Kruchka put the hometown crowd on their feet with the pass of Hebing. “I was gaining a little on each lap but I was running he same lane he was. I had no clue how I was going to pass him.” noted the young driver know as Mikey. “Then all of a sudden he went down low. I just couldn’t believe it, he just got out of the way and I took the lead. But, you need to see the checkered flag first to win.”
At the line it was Hebing by inches over Bergeron, Lance Yonge snuck in for third with Kruchka credited for fourth. Defending ESS champion Steve Poirier rounded out the top five.
The next five was made up of Jeff Cook, the pole sitting Tom Huppunen, Travis Cunningham, Ohsweken Speedway owner Glenn Styres and Doug Emery who was the hard charger after coming from his 22nd place starting spot.
ESS/Merrittville Notes: A total of 31 cars entered the events either on May 30th or Sept. 12th….Emery was on the only driver on hand that wasn’t there on the 30th…Tim Kelly, Jason Barney and Kevin Job were qualified for the A-Main but didn’t return…It will be a short week for the Lucas Oil tour as it’s Canadian Nationals time…On Thursday night it will be the make up from the May 29th rain out at Ohsweken. The event will be the final Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Series event…ON Friday it’s the night before the Nationals and it all comes down to Saturday night where the winner will take home over $9,000 in cash for the 5th annual event.
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints – Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Series A-Main – Chuck Hebing, Alain Bergeron, Lance Yonge, Mikey Kruchka, Steve Poirier, Jeff Cook, Tom Huppunen, Travis Cunningham, Glenn Styres, Doug Emery, Kevin Loveys, Dave Dykstra, Justin Barger, Michael Parent, Chris Jones, Keith Dempster, Joel Lehman, Mike Stelter, Lee Ladouceur, Jim Porter, Tyler Rand, Ryan Hunsinger.
Did Not Start – Tim Kelly, Jason Barney, Kevin Job
Did Not Qualify – Tim Zack, Jason Pietz, Tommy Wickham, Brian McDonald, Daniel Lampron, Anthony Cain
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Dave Dykstra, Alain Bergeron, Mikey Kruchka, Steve Poirier, Justin Barger, Chris Jones.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Jason Barney, Joel Lehman, Travis Cunningham, Tom Huppunen, Lee Ladouceur, Keith Dempster.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Steve Poirier, Jeff Cook, Tim Kelly, Kevin Job, Lance Yonge, Mike Stelter.
Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel/Cobra Coaches Dash – Steve Poirier
KSE Racing Products B-Main – Glenn Styres, Michael Parent, Kevin Loveys, Ryan Hunsinger, Tyler Rand, Jim Porter, Doug Emery.
Cash Bonuses:
Ohsweken Speedway – Hebing $100
Les Constructions Ultra Halfway – Hebing $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger – Emery (12 pos) $50
Cook’s Contracting Services Bridesmaid – Bergeron $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers – Dykstra, Barney, Poirier $25.