From Mike Mallett
Fonda, NY — (May 23, 2015) — Chuck Hebing has never had much luck at Fonda Speedway. He’s had good race cars and a few strong performances but he’s never been able to seal the deal. On Saturday night the Ontario, N.Y., driver finally shook off the gremlins to win his first ever Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint feature at the legendary Montgomery County oval.
It was Hebing’s 25th career win with the traveling road show and it was worth $2,125 as part of the NAPA US Tour. Hebing held off good friend and 2014 series champion Steve Poirier for the victory. Not only was his No. 45 sputtering as he was running out of a fuel as he took the checkered but he also had a broken w-link in the rear-end.
“I think with four to go it started skipping, then with three to go it got real bad and then it ran out of fuel right after the checkered,” stated Hebing. “Fonda has been tough on me in the past so it is good to win one I’ll tell you that.”
Hebing started on the front row of the 25-lap main-event and jumped to the lead at the onset. He held off the advances of Tim Axton and Stewart Friesen for the first few circuits. The race was caution plagued over the in the early stages with Hebing remaining the leader while Poirier moved into second after starting fifth.
Hebing and Poirier remained the class of the field as they raced away from the rest of the competition on each and every restart. The two were never separated by more than a few car-lengths as Poirier searched around for a way by Hebing. Each time he got a run Hebing was able to drive back by him for the lead.
At the halfway point Hebing and Poirier led the trio of Paul Kinney, Davie Franek and Cory Sparks. Franek came from 13th while Sparks advanced from the 19th spot to challenge for a podium spot. The three swapped lanes multiple times as they each looked to gain an advantage on the others.
While those three battled, Hebing and Poirier continued to duke it out of the race lead. Each time Poirier got close Hebing was able to power back by and open the gap once again.
Hebing was the leader when the final caution of the race came on lap 17 when Dylan Swiernik spun and collected Tim Axton. Both cars received damage and were forced to pits. The yellow allowed Hebing to remain the leader as it looked like Poirier was going to drive by as they raced into turn one as the caution flag came out.
The restart saw Poirier give Hebing everything he had. He tried to work the bottom of turns one and two and then the top of turns three and four. No matter what Poirier tried Hebing was able to keep him behind him. At the checkered flag it was Hebing by a car length of Poirier for the victory.
“There is nothing better than beating the best,” said Hebing of the battle with Poirier. “He likes to beat me just like I like to beat him. We are good friends and it is good to see his health is good and he is here racing with us. He’s going to run you clean and run you hard but it’s always good.”
Poirier, of St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Que., was forced to be happy with a second place finish. Poirier capped of the 2014 season by winning at Fonda but it was not to be on this night. He just needed a little bit more to get by Hebing.
“That was a fun race,” said Poirier. “It is always a pleasure to race with Cobra (Hebing). I tried everything. I was good for one or two laps on the inside but after that I was losing my momentum. I think at some point I had a good run out of three and four but the caution came out. I was going to slide Chuck to give him a run for his money. We brought the car home in one piece and we had fun.”
Kinney ended up getting the better of both Franek and Sparks to take home the third position at a track he typically struggles. It was a solid opening night for the Canastota, N.Y., pilot.
“I was surprised how we started out with just how fast we were in hot laps and the heat race,” said Kinney. “We didn’t do much to the car and we went into the feature pretty confident. I do know I’m out of shape. I don’t know if I could have gone five more laps. We’ll take third. I was counting down the laps at the end of it, but I’m happy to be here in third.”
Franek, of Wantage, N.J., ended up finishing in the fourth position in his first start at the facility while Sparks rebounded from some tough luck early in the night to finish in fifth.
FONDA/ESS NOTES: 26 cars entered into competition for the season opener…Sparks was knocked out of his heat race early after contact at the start of the race. He qualified through the Lacaillade Masonry B-Main…James Hanson, Bobby Varin, Jordan Thomas and Etienne Girard had motors expire…Girard went to his back-up mount while Thomas was forced to scratch from the A-Main after qualifying in the B-Main. His scratch found Keith Prutzman made the field as a bubble car.
Lucas Oil ESS A-Main – Chuck Hebing ($2,125), Steve Poirier ($1,000), Paul Kinney ($825), Davie Franek ($730), Cory Sparks ($615), Danny Varin ($660), Jason Barney ($430), Tommy Wickham ($445), Paulie Colagiovanni ($520), Jeff Cook ($600), Parker Evans ($410), Kory Gurney ($345), Dave Axton ($300), Mike Stelter ($315), Dylan Swiernik ($285), Tim Axton ($355), Shawn Donath ($325), Stewart Friesen ($270), Matt Tanner ($265), Etienne Girard ($310), Keith Prutzman ($255), Jessica Zemken ($250).
Did Not Qualify – Bobby Varin, Jordan Thomas, James Hanson, Zach Weigand
Car Mate Trailers $25 to win Heats – Kinney, Hebing, T. Axton
Dover Brake/Cobra Coaches Dash – Franek ($100)
Laciallade Masonry $50 to Win B-Main – Donath.
Scratch – Thomas
Added Starter – Prutzman
Other Bonuses:
Insinger Performance Hard Charger – Sparks (14 pos.) $50
Engler Machine and Tool Halfway – Hebing $50
Ohsweken Speedway 20th Anniversary – Girard $50
SUNY Canton Smart Move – T. Axton $50
Fondations 55 Pick 5 – Sparks $35
911 Restoration – Colagiovanni and Evans $25
Hoosier Tire – Cook $200
Vahlco Wheels – D. Varin $190