By MIKE MALLETT
VERNON, NY – Chuck Hebing’s night started with a spin in his heat race. From that point forward everything got a lot better. He went on to qualify from his heat race for the A-Main. From there he won the dash and then he went out and passed the current series point leader for his second win of the season with the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints.
Hebing passed Steve Poirier on the final lap of the SUNY Canton series 25-lap A-Main to walk away with his 12th career victory with the club by a mere .053 seconds. It also tied him with several drivers with four career Sprint Car victories at the Utica-Rome Speedway.
“It’s nice to get back to Victory Lane,” said Hebing after getting his first series win since Autodrome Edelweiss back on June 18. “Steve (Poirier) and I are good friends and that was a good race. I was gaining on him and I got a run the one time and it worked in our favor.”
The feature event got off to a rough start when several cars got together and Lance Yonge got sideways after attempting to avoid contact. He slid to a stop in turn three which set off a melee that included Shawn Donath, Justin Barger, James Hanson and Don Sharp Jr. Yonge and Sharp ended up getting over but neither driver suffered any injuries.
When action was able to resume, Poirier, of St. Mathieu de Beloeil, PQ., took the lead from his pole starting position. For the first few laps of the race no one was able to compete with Poirier’s AMB Moteurs powered Eagle as he showed the way. He had just reached the back of the field when Brian McDonald spun on lap six bringing out the final caution of the race.
Poirier held the lead when racing continued and he was looking for his second win of the weekend while Jason Barney sat in the second spot. Hebing, at this point in the race, remained fifth after starting from that position.
The race remained green and as the laps began to creep higher Hebing was slowly making his way to the front. By the midway point of the race he was up to fourth. He charged by Jeff Cook for third and then closed in on second running Jason Barney by lap 15.
For three laps Hebing worked Barney over with his Maxim No. 45 before he was finally able to the second position away on lap 20. He now set his sites on the race leader Poirier. Poirier entered the corners through the middle while Hebing was putting his right rear Hoosier tire right up on the cushion. As the laps clicked off, this allowed Hebing to close in.
“We weren’t very good at the beginning because I couldn’t find anything on the top,” commented Hebing. “All of a sudden the top came in for us and I started catching back up again.”
Hebing attempted to make the pass for the lead as the two completed lap 24 on the outside of three and four but to no avail. They stayed together as they drove through turns one and two and then Hebing got another chance. As they entered turn three Poirier went the middle leaving the bottom open for Hebing. Hebing went low and then slid up in front of Poirier to take the lead.
“I had no choice because Steve (Poirier) had to run around the top to avoid the lapped car,” stated Hebing. “I decided to drive all the way across the track and I figured I could clear him on the other side and we did.”
As the pair came off the fourth turn for the final time Poirier nearly was able to drive back by and keep the lead but Hebing held on to win by a nose over Poirier at the checkered flag.
In Victory Lane Poirier remembered back to the race in 2007 when Hebing used the very same move to beat him for a win. So this wasn’t the first time Poirier’s been beat by Hebing on the final circuit.
“This is the second time he’s passed me in the last corner,” said Poirier. “When I saw he was second on the lap counter I was thinking that I needed to be perfect. I thought I had it on the last lap there but when he gave me the slide job I couldn’t believe it was happening again.”
With Poirier having another strong night and Barger being involved in the first lap incident, it helped him increase his overall point lead as he searches for this third series title.
“I didn’t want to make a mistake tonight because of the championship,” stated Poirier. “I knew I was good where I was. I didn’t want to do anything stupid where I would get off the top side of the speedway.”
Barney, of Constantia, N.Y., finished in third aboard his self-owned mount. Midway through the race Barney elected to run the bottom as he was looking for a way to get the lead and it may have cost him a chance at a second place finish.
“I wasn’t good on the top of one and two,” said Barney. “I was good on the top in three and four where Steve was running. When I got to him I tried the bottom a couple times down here and Chuck drove around me.”
Dan Kaszubinski rebounded from a tough night Friday at Can-Am Speedway to finish in fourth while rookie driver, Kevin Ward Jr., of Port Leyden, N.Y., completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Cook, Michael Parent, Tommy Wickham, Barger and Cory Sparks.
ESS/Utica-Rome Notes: A total of 30 cars entered in action at the third and final appearance at Utica-Rome Speedway in 2010 for the Empire Super Sprints…Stewart Friesen (In a Doug Emery prepared car), George Ely and Jeff Fraiser made their first starts on 2010…Jami Russell flipped in qualifying but he was uninjured in the crash…Tyler Rice suffered through fuel problems all evening and loaded up early….Zach Weigand drove Ron Dutcher’s mount after his motor was blown on Friday night…After a severe oil leak during warm-ups, Tommy Wickham used back-up mount for the rest of the evening….The Lucas Oil Series will once again be at Gene Cole’s half-mile for the three holiday weekends in 2011.
SUNY Canton Series A-Main (25-laps): Chuck Hebing, Steve Poirier, Jason Barney, Dan Kaszubinski, Kevin Ward Jr., Jeff Cook, Michael Parent, Tommy Wickham, Justin Barger, Cory Sparks, Mike Stelter, Shayne Ely, Josh Pieniazek, Curtis Bradshaw, Zach Weigand, Stewart Friesen, Ryan Smith, Bobby Varin, Matt Tanner, Brian McDonald, Lance Yonge, Shawn Donath, Don Sharp Jr., James Hanson.
Did Not Qualify – Kory Gurney, George Ely, Tyler Rice, Jami Russell, Warren Alexson, Jeff Fraiser
Lap Leaders – Poirier 1-24, Hebing 25
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heats
Heat 1 – Bobby Varin, Lance Yonge, Justin Barger, Kevin Ward Jr., Mike Stelter, Matt Tanner
Heat 2 – Jason Barney, Chuck Hebing, Jeff Cook, Michael Parent, Josh Pieniazek, Curtis Bradshaw
Heat 3 – Steve Poirier, Shawn Donath, Dan Kaszubinski, Tommy Wickham, Cory Sparks, Shayne Ely
B-Main – Brian McDonald, Stewart Friesen, Don Sharp Jr., Ryan Smith.
Added Starters – Zach Weigand, James Hanson
Walt’s Hobby/Cobra Coaches Dash – Hebing
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus – Hebing $100
Cook’s Contracting Halfway – Poirier $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger – Weigand (8 pos.) $50
MVCC Aviation Extra – Parent $25
HG Associates Fast Time – Poirier (17.131) $25
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers – Varin, Barney, Poirier $25
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Points
1
28FM
Steve Poirier
2072
2
32
Justin Barger
2001
3
17J
Lance Yonge
1889
4
20
Dan Kaszubinski
1649
5
45
Chuck Hebing
1615
6
10
Jeff Cook
1311
7
13
Kevin Ward Jr.
1279
8
8B
Alain Bergeron
1183
9
75
Tommy Wickham
1094
10
25
Michael Parent
1064
The Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints are brought to you by: Lucas Oil, Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports, SUNY Canton, 730 Truck Stop, Hoosier Racing Tires, Les Constructions Ultra, Cooks Contracting Services, Fondations 4 Saisons, Car Mate Trailers, The National Parts Peddler Newspaper, WestFront Construction, Cobra Coaches, The Ohsweken Speedway, Mohawk Racing Parts, Engine Research, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Total Race Supply, Riverside Bar and Grill, Coffrage Daniel Lampron, Mohawk Valley Community College, FX Chevy and many, many associate sponsors.