From Mike Mallett
Lafargeville, NY — (July 7, 2012) — Chuck Hebing capped off a five race in eight day stretch with the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints with his second win of the week and his third of the 2012 season. The 25 lap SUNY Canton A-Main went from green to checker.
The Ontario, N.Y., native led all 25-laps of the Universal American, Le Groupe Ultra Tour of Canada, SUNY Canton Series feature event and collected $2,275. For Hebing, the defending series champion, it was his 21st career series win and his second series win at the North Country oval.
“We had a real good car tonight,” stated Hebing. “I don’t know how close anyone was but she sure was fast tonight. It feels good to get going again. When you get struggling and you think you forgot how to race and it’s tough. When you get on a roll like this it’s nice.”
Hebing redrew the pole with Ohsweken Speedway owner, Glenn Styres on the outside. Hebing took advantage of his knowledge of the speedway and used the bottom groove to take the lead as they raced into the first turn.
“It’s always nice to start up front,” commented Hebing about starting on the front row. “With a car like this though I’m sure starting farther back wouldn’t have been too bad.”
As Hebing led the way in his Roush-Yates powered Maxim, Sammy Reakes IV was working from his sixth starting into second on the third lap. He won the opening event at the speedway and moved around looking for a way to track down Hebing.
The race reached the halfway point with Hebing control the event and Reakes taking advantage of traffic to close the gap. Jason Barney, who had moved into third on lap nine, began closing on the top two.
Hebing lapped the first few cars with ease but as the laps wound down it became much more difficult for him to move around the surface as the setup in his car began going away. He couldn’t get by Paul Habeck to put him down a lap.
“I wasn’t that good near the end for some reason,” said Hebing. “When I got to Paul (Habeck) there at the end I had a hard time. I couldn’t roll by him like I had others earlier in the race.”
Even with his difficulty in traffic, Hebing held on over the course of the final five laps to bring home the win.
Reakes, of Fulton, N.Y., got close but was never able to seriously challenge Hebing for the lead.
“The car was good in the beginning but if faded there at the end,” said Reakes. “I think I was over driving it when I got into lapped traffic. I think the car was better than it showed but the Cobra (Hebing) got the better of the Honey Badger (Reakes) tonight.”
It was a much needed boost for his team as he’s struggled to finish the last few events they’ve entered.
“We had three DNF’s in a row there,” stated Reakes. “To come back out to get a second to the probably the best guy out there we’ll take it.”
Barney struggled for much of the week with fuel pickup issues. On this night those problems went by the wayside as he drove to the third place finish.
“This feels like a win to us,” said Barney. “We’ve had broken motors, broken rear-ends, upside down racecars so to be in the top three is good for us. I’m really happy with it. Sammy (Reakes) shared some stuff with us here and that really helped tonight.”
Michael Parent finished the race in fourth after battling for much of the race with Styres for the position. Cory Sparks, who won the Cook Contracting Services/Cobra Coaches Dash completed the top five.
Rounding out the top ten were Styres, Tim Kelly, Mike Stelter, Alain Bergeron and Dylan Swiernik, who finally shook off some of his bad luck.
ESS/Can-Am Notes – A solid field of 30 sprints were in the pits to celebrate the holiday weekend and close out the week of speed…April Wilson lost a motor at the start of the B-Main…Jamie Collard was on hand as a team mate to Styres as he made his first ever visit to fast half-mile…The scheduled visit to Glen Ridge for this weekend has been cancelled due to financial concerns, ESS hopes to make its return to the exciting quarter-mile in 2013.
SUNY Canton A-Main – Chuck Hebing ($2,275), Sam Reakes IV, Jason Barney, Michael Parent, Cory Sparks, Glenn Styres, Tim Kelly, Mike Stelter, Alain Bergeron, Dylan Swiernik, Paul Kineny, Lance Yonge, Tommy Wickham, Kevin Ward Jr., Lee Ladouceur, Paul Habeck, Patrick Vigneault, Matt Tanner, Jamie Collard, Justin Barger, Jeff Cook, Shawn Donath, Kyle Dutcher, Rick Wilson.
Lap Leader – Hebing 1-25
Did Not Qualify – Devin Caron, Etienne Girard, April Wilson, Brandon Warner, Joe Trenca, James Hanson.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Yonge, Barney, Habeck, Vigneault, Bergeron, Ladouceur
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Kelly, Reakes IV, Parent, Wickham, Swiernik, Barger
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Hebing, Sparks, Stelter, Styres, Kinney, Cook
Cooks Contracting Services/Cobra Coaches Dash – Sparks
B-Main – Ward Jr., R. Wilson, Collard, Donath
Added Starters – Tanner, Dutcher
Bonuses:
Westward Painting Company Halfway – Hebing $100
Lee’s Repair Auto and Truck Hard Charger – Ward Jr. (5 pos.) $50
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus – Hebing $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Sparks $50
North Eastern Pool and Spa Power Picks – Hebing, Ward Jr. $50
Car Mate Trailers – Yonge, Kelly, Hebing $25
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Points
1. Justin Barger 1024
2. Chuck Hebing 922
3. Lance Yonge 916
4. Shawn Donath 836
5. Paul Kinney 755
6. Michael Parent 729
7. Matt Tanner 684
8. Cory Sparks 667
9. Alain Bergeron 625
10.Kevin Ward Jr. 615