By Dean Reynolds
ELBRIDGE, NY – Ontario, NY’s Chuck Hebing, known as the “Cobra”, put on a driving clinic Saturday night at the Rolling Wheels Raceway Park winning the final night of the Sprint Car Summer Shootout. The current Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints (ESS) point leader started 14th and without an aid of a caution passed Robbie Stillwaggon on lap 19 to claim the $3,000 victory.
The win was his fourth on the 2011 racing season and completed a sweep by the ESS touring series in an event that pitted the very best from the United Racing Company (URC) and the Patriot Sprint Tour (PST).
“When you don’t have a yellow and where we started it can be tough but the crew just gave me a great car. I could put it anywhere on the track.” said the driver of the Wilkins RV Center #45. “The track was a lot slicker than last night but we seem to have a good set up for these type of tracks. It didn’t really matter if I was high or low on the track the car was good.”
Stillwaggon, who currently sits fifth in the URC point standings, jumped out front from his pole starting position and opened up a sizable lead over Justin Barger and Jessica Zemken. Hebing started to make his move to the front immediately and was in the top five by lap 10.
“Once I saw Justin and Jessica I knew I got to the front.” Hebing noted on his rivals. “Then I saw on the scoreboard as I was going down the back stretch the #89 (Stillwaggon) was leading so it gave me an idea where I needed to be.”
As Stillwaggon was trying to maneuver through lapped traffic, Hebing closed on and then made the winning move coming around to score lap 19. He then opened up his own lead and went on to the popular victory at the half-mile track.
For Stillwaggon it was a hard fought second but the driver of the Quality Auto Body #89 wanted a win. “We had the best starting position and led most of the race but we got beat.” said the young driver from Burlington, NJ. “I got bogged down behind slower traffic a few times and when your lead that’s not good, the second place car usually has the advantage. He (Hebing) got me but second is a good run.”
Barger outlasted Zemken in a race long battle to take third but for the Montrose, NY driver his big break came in his heat. Running in seventh and out of a qualifying position, the two cars in front of him made contact and did 360 spins. Taking advantage Barger drove by and finished fifth, he got his time back and started in front of the A-Main.
Zemken backed up her runner-up finish from the night before with a fourth place finish. Shawn Donath nipped Jason Barney at the line by mere inches for fifth. Two-time ESS champion Lance Yonge was seventh with URC’s Josh Weller in for eighth followed by ESS’ Jeff Cook and Michael Parent.
Taking the qualifying heat events were Zemken, Yonge, Hebing and Matt Tanner with Cory Sparks claiming the B-Main.
Summer Shootout Notes – A total of 35 cars in the pits on night two…New entries were Tanner, Kyle Moffit and Josh Pieniazek with Brad Knab and Jeff Frasier not returning…Steve Poirier, the winner of the first night, blew his engine early in the A-Main and was the only car not to finish the 25 lap event…Andy Best had mechanical woes early and loaded up before the heats were run…Drivers that finished the two nights in the top ten each night were Hebing, Barger, Zemken, Donath, Yonge and Parent.
A-Main – Chuck Hebing ($3,000), Robbie Stillwaggon, Justin Barger, Jessica Zemken, Shawn Donath, Jason Barney, Lance Yonge, Josh Weller, Jeff Cook, Michael Parent, Randy West, Don Adamczyk, Kyle Moffit, Scott Kreutter, Cory Sparks, Alain Bergeron, JJ Grasso, Rory Janney, Tommy Wickham, Matt Tanner, Paul Habeck, Shayne Ely, Jared Zimbardi, Steve Poirier.
Did Not Qualify – Dylan Swiernik, Kramer Williamson, Curt Michael, Tim Hogue, Bob Ries, Tim Kelly, Josh Pieniazek, Steve Collings, Kyle Dutcher, Andy Best.
Lap Leaders – Stillwaggon 1-18, Hebing 19-25
Heat 1 – Zemken, Kreutter, Barney, Habeck, Adamczyk
Heat 2 – Yonge, Moffit, Donath, T. Wickham, Barger
Heat 3 – Hebing, Ely, Cook, Stillwaggon, Parent
Heat 4 – Tanner, Bergeron, Janney, Weller, West
B-Main – Sparks, Howland, Grasso, Poirier
Provisional – Zimbardi
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