West Lebanon, NY — (June 15, 2013) — Michael Parent has lost his fair share of races to Steve Poirier over the years. On Saturday night at the Lebanon Valley Speedway Parent held off the challenges of Poirier to secure his first win of the 2013 season.
It was Parent’s third career Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint series victory in his family owned No. 25. His win added to his point total in the overall chase for the championship as well as the Today’s Options American Stars and Stripes tour. Parent earned in excess of $1,750 for his efforts in the 25-lap feature presented by Camara Slate and Herrington Farms.
“This is really cool,” said Parent after the win. “We had a fifth place here last year and I wasn’t comfortable. This year I was comfortable on the cushion and the car felt really good. I’m very happy to get the win.”
Parent started on the outside of the front row with Jeff Cook on the point. Parent surged to the lead from that position at the green flag to take the lead.
It was Parent and Cook showing the way with Poirier working his way forward from the 12th starting position as the laps clicked off early.
The race reached lap 10 without a caution and by this point Parent worked slower traffic with Cook doing everything possible to keep Poirier behind him. Parent and Cook stayed in the outside groove while Poirier worked low.
“My car was really good on the top,” commented Parent. “It got a little loose at the end with the fuel load burned off at the end but I pulled the wing back and it was good.”
On lap 14 the first caution of the race slowed the field as Dale Gosselin came to a stop on the front straightaway with a bent right rear wheel. Another quick caution came out on the restart when contact caused Russ Bennett to lose his left front wheel.
With a single file restart now in order, Parent drove away from Cook and Poirier. That lead lasted only two laps before the field was bunched up again after a red flag for Cook who caught the outside wall exiting turn four and flipped. He was uninjured.
Another double-file restart was called for with Parent now forced to deal with Poirier to his inside. Parent brought the field to a very slow pace for the green and got the jump on Poirier.
“I didn’t know who was behind before we had that double-file restart,” said Parent. “I knew my motor (AMB Moteurs) was good on restarts. Steve had a different motor and I knew his doesn’t take off as good as the AMB we got. I knew he was fast but I knew as long as I kept doing what I had been doing I was going to be good.”
Parent moved out to a couple car length lead before Poirier started tracking him down. Over the final two laps, Poirier dove to the bottom of the speedway several times trying to get by Parent but it was to no avail. Parent went on to score the win.
Poirier, a former winner at Lebanon Valley, settled for the runner-up finish. Poirier pushed Parent in the closing laps but couldn’t make the pass for the lead. Although it wasn’t the win he wanted it continued his run toward another Empire Super Sprint championship.
“I was really good on longer runs and I missed that last restart,” stated Poirier. “The engine stumbled after Michael (Parent) started very slow. It doesn’t like that. It took me a couple of laps to get back to him. It seemed like everyone I followed before Michael was a bit slower on the outside. When I got to Michael he was a little faster than me. I’m happy for Michael, I pushed I’m him really hard and he didn’t make a mistake. He deserved the win.”
Paul Kinney took advantage of the final restart to advance from fifth to third in the final rundown. The Canastota, N.Y., driver had an extended battle with Jessica Zemken throughout the feature before finishing third.
“We won the dash and started up front and stayed up there,” said Kinney. “We had a good race there with Jessica (Zemken) and on that last restart I got a good jump and we are very happy with the third place we got.”
Chuck Hebing was able to advance from the 10th starting position to finish in fourth while hometown favorite, Matt Tanner, of Stephentown, N.Y., completed the top five.
ESS/Lebanon Valley Notes: A good field of 28 sprints in the pits with a huge crowd on hand…Car changes were done after warm-ups, Dylan Swiernik flipped his car and picked up a ride in Zach Weigand’s mount for the A-Main and he picked up the hard charger bonus…Josh Pieniazek had engine woes and switched to the Warren Alexson mount…Shawn Donath was forced to scratch the A-Main with James Hanson added…Jason Herrington, a small block regular at Lebanon Valley, made his first start of 2013 in the Doug Emery mount and ran well…The Lucas Oil ESS Tour is off this weekend, a chance for the teams to regroup and then its off to the Niagara Frontier for a Merrittville/Humberstone weekend and then the Wednesday after that it’s SUNY Canton Speedweek!
Luacs Oil A-Main – Michael Parent ($1,750), Steve Poirier, Paul Kinney, Chuck Hebing, Matt Tanner, Jessica Zemken, Cory Sparks, Patrick Vigneault, Jason Barney, Dylan Swiernik, Bryan Howland, Kevin Ward Jr., Lance Yonge, Jason Herrington, Joe Trenca, Etienne Girard, Dale Gosselin, Jared Fink, James Hanson, Jeff Cook, Justin Barger, Russ Bennett, Josh Pieniazek.
Did Not Start – Shawn Donath
Did Not Qualify – Zach Weigand, Dick Spadaro, Kyle Dutcher, Warren Alexson
Lap Leader – Parent 1-25.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Barger, Zemken, Hebing, Bennett, Vigneault, Herrington
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Donath, Kinney, Howland, Cook, Gosselin, Trenca
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Parent, Tanner, Poirier, Sparks, Yonge, Pieniazek
G&R Electronics/Cobra Coaches Dash – Kinney
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main – Ward Jr., Girard, Fink, Barney, Hanson
Provisional – Swiernik
Westward Painting Company Halfway – Parent $100
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus – Parent $100
Fondations 4 Saisons Hard Charger – Swiernik (14 pos.) $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Tanner $50
North Eastern Pool and Spa Power Pick – Poirier, Herrington $50
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main – Ward Jr. $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers – Barger, Donath, Parent $25
Go Nuclear Late Models Go Fast – Parent (19.085) $25
Jimmy D’s Speed and Machine Fast Time – Zemken (18.526) $25