From Mike Mallett
FONDA, N.Y. – Justin Barger started the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint season with a win at the Fonda Speedway and he capped off the regular season with a win at that same Montgomery County oval this past Saturday night.
The Montrose, N.Y., native briefly gave up the lead to Jessica Zemken during the 25-lap A-Main but rebounded in the closing laps to score his fourth win of the season and his 22nd career series victory giving him $1,700 for his efforts.
“This feels good,” said Barger. “The first couple restarts at the beginning of the race it was tough because we went with a harder tire but we were able to do what we had to do tonight.”
The win wasn’t enough as Barger came up a few points short of claiming his second consecutive series title as he finished second in the final standings to Steve Poirier.
“We were decent during the summer,” commented Barger. “We had a lot of top fives but we didn’t have the dominant car when we needed it. We ended up getting crashed out of Utica and we didn’t need that.”
Poirier earned his third series title after also claiming that title in 2008 and 2009. Along with the overall title, Poirier also claimed the SUNY Canton series title on the night.
“It feels really good,” said Poirier. “It was a long season and we tried really hard to win the championship this year. We were really focused on winning it this year, I’m really proud of my team and this accomplishment.”
Barger started on the pole with his Dan Deming Ford powered Maxim for the feature with Shawn Donath on the outside. Barger jumped to the lead at the initial green flag but that was negated by a caution. After three attempts to get the race underway the field was finally successful at taking the green.
With only two laps complete in the main, Rick Wilson and Mike Goodman came together on the back straightaway after Goodman broke. The contact caused Wilson to flip off the speedway in turn three. He was uninjured in the accident.
The single file restart gave Barger the edge and he again pulled away. As the laps clicked off he led with Zemken in pursuit. Slower traffic became an issue for Barger on lap 10 and this was the break Zemken was looking for as she quickly closed the gap.
The duo remained the top two as the laps made their way up closer to the end. They were in traffic on lap 18 when Zemken made her move. Barger attempted to pass a lapped car on the outside and this mistake allowed Zemken to slide below him to take the lead.
As Zemken paced the field she struggled with the same issue that Barger did, slower traffic. She wasn’t able to move through the traffic and when she attempted to go the outside on lap 24 this cost her the lead as she gave it back to Barger.
“I ended up squeezing back by there as I had just enough to get back by her,” said Barger. “She (Zemken) ran a hell of a race but I was happy the race ended when it did.”
Barger never left the fast line on the bottom of the track in the final lap as he went on to take the checkered.
Zemken, of Sprakers, N.Y. was forced to settle for second at a track only minutes from where she grew up. A solid finish after she’s been on the road racing at numerous places with her new crew chief Mike Woodring.
“It’s really good to come back to my home track,” stated Zemken. “All my friends and family are here and I couldn’t do it without them and all of my sponsors.”
Zemken knew she made a mistake in traffic because if she had kept her car on the bottom of the speedway she may have been able to hang on to grab her sixth win of the season.
“So close but not close enough,” stated Zemken after the second place finish. “The lapped car was tough. That was the only way I got Justin (Barger). Once I got by him (Barger) I should have been smart enough to just pull it in and stay in the rubber on the bottom. I thought for sure he was going to be able to get by me because the rubber was widening out. I tried to make the pass and it didn’t work.”
Donath brought Doug Emery’s No.33 home in the third spot. A very strong showing considering Donath made hard contact with the outside wall on the front straightaway in hot laps causing him to break many parts on the front end.
“This Patterson Motorsports team surprises me every time I go out,” said Donath. “We usually have a lot better car than what I show for it. After the wreck in hot laps these guys all worked really hard and they gave me a great race car.”
Bobby Varin earned his second fourth place finish of the night as he was also fourth in the accompanying Modified feature event. Poirier finished in fifth giving him enough to earn the series title. Rounding out the top ten were, All-Star Circuit of Champions regular David Gravel, Lance Yonge, Jeff Cook, Michael Parent and 21st place starting Dylan Swiernik.
ESS/Fonda Notes: A stout field of 35 sprints filled the pits on day one of McDonald’s Weekend…Making first ever ESS starts were Gravel, Oklahoma’s Mike Goodman subbing for Jami Russell and Chris Seely, a 600 micro sprint driver who was aboard Bruce DeWick’s mount…With the new additions, ESS played host to a record 109 different drivers during its full point shows…The Lucas Oil Tour will now join forcers with the United Racing Company on Friday night Oct. 8th as a part of the $3,000 to win New York State Sprint Challenge at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway as a part of Super Dirt Week…Then on November 20th it’s the 28th annual awards banquet.
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints:
SUNY Canton A-Main – Justin Barger, Jessica Zemken, Shawn Donath, Bobby Varin, Steve Poirier, David Gravel, Lance Yonge, Jeff Cook, Michael Parent, Dylan Swiernik, Tim Kelly, Josh Pieniazek, Chuck Hebing, Shayne Ely, Chris Jones, Tommy Wickham, Cory Sparks, Mike Stelter, Kevin Ward Jr., Mike Goodman, Rick Wilson, Dan Kaszubinski, Chris Seely, Alain Bergeron.
Lap Leaders – Barger 1-17, Zemken 18-23, Barger 24-25.
Did Not Qualify – Jason Barney, Brian McDonald, April Wilson, Austin Ely, Warren Alexson, Mark Zemcik, Zach Weigand, Kory Gurney, Don Sharp Jr., Floyd Billington.
Car Mate Custom Built TRailers Heats:
Heat 1 – Shawn Donath, Jessica Zemken, Jeff Cook, Tim Kelly, Mike Stelter, Rick Wilson.
Heat 2 – Justin Barger, Lance Yonge, Bobby Varin, Dan Kaszubinski, Cory Sparks, Michael Parent
Heat 3 – David Gravel, Steve Poirier, Mike Goodman, Josh Pieniazek, Chris Seely, Chuck Hebing
Dover Brake and Clutch/Cobra Coaches Dash – Lance Yonge
B-Main – Alain Bergeron, Shayne Ely, Dylan Swiernik, Chris Jones
Provisonal Starters – Kevin Ward Jr., Tommy Wickham
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus – Barger $100
Cook’s Contracting Services Halfway – Barger $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charegr – Swiernik (11 pos.) $50
MVCC Aviation Extra – Yonge $50
HG Associates Fast Time – Wickham (18.253) $25
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heats – Donath, Barger, Gravel $25