GRANBY, QBC – That is exactly what Chuck Hebing and crew did on Friday night at the Autodrome Granby and it proved to be perfect formula for the talented Ontario, N.Y. driver.
Hebing earned his second win of the season at Autodrome Granby in the Fondations 4 Saisons 25-lap Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint main event as part of the Lasalle Motorsports/Northwood 2 Construction Canadian Sprint Car series.
“We started doing stuff that we did last year,” commented Hebing. “We tried to get back to what we used to do to the race car instead of what we thought we should be doing to the car. It’s good to run good and keep the car in one piece. It’s nice to get out of here with a win.”
The field was brought down to the green flag with Jeff Cook and former series champion Lance Yonge on the front row.
Cook got the jump at the green with Yonge falling in line behind him. While those two battled for the lead, Hebing bided his time as he sat in the third position.
The battle for the lead picked up on lap 14 as Cook and Yonge ran side-by-side for an entire lap with Cook way out on the outside and Yonge running the bottom.
As they entered slower traffic a lap later, Hebing moved in and looked for a way by in his Roush-Yates Ford powered Triple X ride.
He got by Yonge on the outside on lap 16 and then one lap later made his move for the lead. As Cook attempted to get around slower cars, Hebing dove to the inside in turn one and then slid up in front of Cook as they came off of turn two.
“Jeff (Cook) and Lance (Yonge) started getting to the lapped traffic,” stated Hebing. “I was about five car lengths behind them. I noticed they started leaving the top open in turns one and two and I could really get a run going into there, that gave me the momentum I needed. They were cautious in lapped traffic and that is what you do when you’re leading.”
“I wasn’t going to be cautious. I found a hole and got by Lance and then Jeff went to the top in slower traffic and I was able to get underneath him and then up in front of him.”
Now in control of the event, Hebing controlled his own fate as he now was forced to deal with the very same slower traffic that cost Cook the lead.
Contact with a slower car with five laps remaining bent the front wheel on his No. 45, but fortunately it didn’t hinder Hebing.
Several times in the last three laps Hebing was forced to get off the gas and look for a way through traffic that in places was two and three wide battling for position. This allowed Alain Bergeron to close in from his eighth starting position.
“Lapped traffic was tough because they were three wide in some places,” commented Hebing. “At times I had to lift on the straightaway and I hate doing that because that’s when they are gaining on you. Any time you lift in slower traffic that’s when you get in trouble. It was nice that luck went our way tonight for change.”
The checkered flag flew for Hebing with Yonge diving to the bottom off of turn four to take the runner-up spot at the checkered flag. It was a much needed solid run for the driver from Penn Yan, N.Y.
“I thought we had a good enough car to win,” said Yonge. “I screwed around a little too much there with Jeff (Cook) and let Cobra (Hebing) get by me. I’m happy with second though. It’s been a tough month because we lost a car at Dundee (Black Rock Speedway) and that hurt. We had trouble with this car at Mohawk and I was so upset afterwards I didn’t touch the car for a week. It’s nice to have a good run for a change.”
Yonge, piloting a now two race old Castner Performance powered Maxim, came on late in the race thanks in part to a harder compound Hoosier tire on the right rear. Once he started driving the car harder he was able to start moving forward.
“I ran 25 compound on the right rear and once I started running the car harder that helped,” stated Yonge. “I was kind of waiting to see if Jeff was going to make a mistake and it cost me. Chuck got by and then Alain got by and I said to myself that I have to go.”
Bergeron earned the hard charger of the race for advancing five positions in his Don Ott powered F5. He made a mistake in slower traffic on the last lap which ultimately cost him and gave him the third place finish.
“I had a very fast car on the top of the turns,” said Bergeron. “I saw the lapped the car and I changed my groove. I went too high and I saw Lance on the bottom and I new I was in trouble.”
Cook, of Antwerp, N.Y., faded back to the fourth position after leading much of the first half of the race. Justin Barger, the current overall series point leader, crossed the line in fifth with his No. 32.
Rounding out the top ten were Brian McDonald, Steve Poirier, who started 12th, Tommy Wickham, Doug Emery and Granby’s own Michael Parent.
ESS/Granby Notes: A field of 22 sprints in the pits…Making his first winged sprint car start ever was International star Andrew Ranger. The second generation driver really impressed as Parent’s teammate by finishing in 13th on the lead lap in the non-stop 25 lap affair…New Englander’s Jeff Ries and Chris Sweeney also made their first starts of ’09…Wickham blew an engine during warm-ups and had to use his back-up mount for the remainder of the night…Daniel Lampron’s heat win was his first ever checkered flag in ESS competition.
Fondations 4 Saisons A-Main (Green to Checker) – Chuck Hebing ($2,000), Lance Yonge, Alain Bergeron, Jeff Cook, Justin Barger, Brian McDonald, Steve Poirier, Tommy Wickham, Doug Emery, Michael Parent, Jessica Zemken, Lee Ladouceur, Andrew Ranger, Jim Porter, Daniel Lampron, James Hanson, Anthony Cain, Dale Gosselin, Donald Lemire, Jeff Ries, David Renaud, Chris Sweeney
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Daniel Lampron, Justin Barger, Tommy Wickham, Michael Parent, Dale Gosselin, James Hanson, Donald Lemire
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Chuck Hebing, Lance Yonge, Jim Porter, Doug Emery, Jessica Zemken, Anthony Cain, Lee Ladouceur, Chris Sweeney
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Steve Poirier, Jeff Cook, Alain Bergeron, Brian McDonald, Andrew Ranger, Jeff Ries, David Renaud