From Mike Mallett
Fulton, NY — (July 6, 2013) — Bryan Howland ended the Canadian dominance of SUNY Canton Central New York Speedweek on Saturday night as he captured the 25-lap Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint A-Main event at the Fulton Speedway.
Howland, who missed Friday night’s race due to a work commitment, successfully held off the challenges of Matt Tanner over the course of the final five laps to score his first ESS series win since May of 2006 which came at the Fulton Speedway as well.
Howland lead every lap of the Today Option’s Stars and Stripes American Tour/SUNY Canton Series feature earning himself over $2,225 for his efforts in front of a packed house.
“Man what a team effort tonight,” said Howland. “I wouldn’t be here without them. I got to thank all my guys they worked hard tonight, this is great in front of a big crowd and all the cars in the pits.”
Doug Emery started on the pole and he quickly relinquished the top to Howland who road the middle groove through turns one and two to take over the lead.
Howland set a torrid pace early as Emery held off challenges from Jason Barney at first and then Tanner.
The races only caution came out on lap six for Jessica Zemken as she caught an implement tire on the bottom of turns one and two collapsing the front end of here No. 1z.
At the green Howland shot by Emery into the first turn while holding on the lead. Emery couldn’t challenge Howland as Tanner was all over him for second. Eventually a lap later Tanner moved by into second.
With clear track in front of him, Howland set a torrid pace out in front with Tanner about a half straightaway behind him as they reached the halfway point of the feature.
On lap 14, slower traffic became an issue for the leader as he caught the tail-end of the field. Howland was forced to give up his middle groove at times working several different lanes though the traffic. This allowed Tanner to begin his charge.
“Lapped traffic was tight,” stated Howland. “At one point I slid between two cars off of turn two and we hit a little bit but it was a move I thought I had to make to keep everyone behind me.”
Five laps remained and Tanner was to the back bumper of Howland in traffic. Howland masterful worked the traffic forcing Tanner to be equally as strong.
Tanner’s best opportunity came on the final lap as the pulled right up next to Howland as they exited the first turn and raced down the backstretch. Howland used a slower car as a block and rolled off the middle groove to the win by only a few feet over Tanner.
“The last few laps I saw someone sticking their nose underneath me,” commented Howland. “I didn’t know if it was the second place or a lapped car but I figured I better get going. I tried different line around lapped cars and it worked. Everywhere I went my car was just great.”
For Tanner it was another second place finish on a slick track as he finished second last Sunday night at the Humberstone Speedway on the slick as well and it came after he started in the seventh spot.
“We got this thing rolling really good in the black and after the week we’ve had we needed this,” stated Tanner. “We didn’t need the lapped cars at the end because I think we had a shot at Bryan (Howland). The lapped car set a pick for him, congratulations to Bryan he had a real good run.”
It was his best finish of Speedweek thus far and was a nice boost for a team that has had issues all week long with various things on the car.
“We are really confident,” said Tanner. “We brought the same setup here that we ran at Humberstone and Utica-Rome is always slick so hopefully it works tomorrow.”
Barney brought his X-1 Race Cars No. 87 home in the third position. He watched the battle for the lead but he was never able to hop into the fray to challenge for the top spot.
“We started at the bottom on Wednesday and we are steadily climbing toward the front,” said Barney. “We’ve had great race cars and I got to thank all my guys it’s been a grueling five days. We are getting better.”
Emery held on the finish in the fourth position, his best finish on dirt this season and Steve Poirier charged up from the 12th starting position to complete the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Cory Sparks, Shawn Donath, Larry Wight, Speedweek point leader Michael Parent and Paul Kinney.
ESS Speedweek Night 4 Notes – Fulton produced the biggest field of Speedweeks with a huge 40 car field…Brandan Warner made his first appearance…Clint Ide (rear end) and Jordan Thomas (engine) were scratches after warm-ups…The final night of Speedweek will be held at the Utica-Rome Speedway.
SUNY Canton CNY Speedweek A-Main – Bryan Howland ($2,225), Matt Tanner, Jason Barney, Doug Emery, Steve Poirier, Cory Sparks, Shawn Donath, Larry Wight, Michael Parent, Paul Kinney, Tommy Wickham, Dave Ely, Chuck Hebing, Sammy Reakes IV, Lance Yonge, Blake Breen, Etienne Girard, Patrick Vigneault, Steve Collins, James Hanson, Jeff Cook, Joe Trenca, Justin Barger, Jessica Zemken, Jared Zimbardi.
Did Not Qualify – Dylan Swiernik, Kevn Ward Jr., Brandan Warner, Dave Wickham, Paul Habeck, Zach Weigand, Dave Axton, Steve Hutchinson, Mike Stelter, Chris Jones, Tim Hogue, Kyle Moffit, Curt Michael., Clint Ide, Jordan Thomas.
Lap Leader – Howland 1-25
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 – Sparks, Tanner, Barney, Trenca, Zemken
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 – Kinney, Poirier, Emery, Wight, Vigneault
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 – Howland, Parent, Girard, Barger, Ely
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 4 – Reakes, Breen, Donath, Collins, Zimbardi
Cobra Coaches Dash – Kinney
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main 1 – T. Wickham, Hebing
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main 2 – Yonge, Hanson
Bonuses:
Westward Painting Company Halfway – Howland $100
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus – Howland $100
Fondations 4 Saisons Hard Charger – T. Wickham (10 pos.) $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Poirier $50
North Eastern Pool and Spa Power Pick – Donath, Breen $50
Lacailade Masonry B-Main – T. Wickham, Yonge $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers – Sparks, Kinney, Howland, Reakes IV $25
Go Nuclear Go Fast Award – Howland (17.21)
JImmy D’s Speed and Machine Fast Time – Howland (17.12)
Dirt Track Digest Hard Luck Award – Ide $25
Mike Emhof Motorsports – Reakes IV, Swiernik $25