By Curtis Berleue
(Vernon, NY) | Every time Paulie Colagiovanni hit the track at Utica-Rome on Friday night, the result was the same: 1st place. Beginning in hot laps, continuing through the heat races and finally in the A-Main, Colagiovanni showed he was the car to beat throughout the night and ultimately earned the $2,000 top prize for his efforts en-route to his first victory in 2023.
Jeff Cook and Matt Tanner brought the 24-car starting field to the green flag. Cook jumped out to the early lead, while Tanner and Matt Farnham waged war for second.
By lap 7, Colagiovanni had worked his way from his 5th place starting position into the top 3, making quick work of the 90 of Tanner. Then on lap 9, Colagiovanni shot by second place Farnham and set his sights on the 10 car of Cook.
As Cook caught lap traffic on lap 11, Colagiovanni was able to use lap traffic to his advantage and got by Jeff cook as they raced into turn 1.
Danny Varin worked his way into the second position past Cook on lap 12, and shortly thereafter 8th starting Shawn Donath set Cook back yet another spot as he took away 3rd.
All 25 laps of the main event were completed without a single caution slowing the action, and when the dust settled it was Colagiovanni who parked on the front stretch victorious by a margin of nearly one second.
“I wasn’t sure whether the top or the bottom would be the fastest in the beginning, but once I moved up top and kept my foot in it just right, it came out good,” said Colagiovanni in victory lane.
Completing the Ashley Lynn Winery podium were Danny Varin and Shawn Donath. Rounding out the top five were Jordan Poirier in 4th and polesitter Jeff Cook in 5th.
With 30 cars in the pits, the field was split into 3 hot lap/time trial sessions at the beginning of the night. Earning the Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards were Danny Varin, Davie Franek, and Paulie Colagiovanni. In E&V Energy heat action, Danny Varin, Jordan Poirier, and Paulie Colagiovanni would pick up victories. The Cobra Coaches Dash presented by Project Support, LLC was won by Dalton Rombough, his first dash victory of the season.
Transferring out of the B-Main were Parker Evans, Kelly Hebing, Lacey Hanson, Chris Jones, Matt Janczuk and Travis Cunningham.
Pit Notes:
Matt Janczuk pulled double duty, running both the crate sportsman and ESS 360 sprint division. He picked up the win in the crate sportsman division.
Jordan Hutton was unable to make the call for his heat race but did make it out for the B-Main.
Jonathan Preston suffered a mechanical issue that ultimately ended his night on the first lap of heat 1.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Friday May 26th at the Brewerton Speedway in Brewerton, NY. For the latest news, information, and schedule updates regarding the Empire Super Sprints be sure to check the series website (www.EmpireSuperSprints.com) and follow along on Facebook (Empire Super Sprints), Twitter (@ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, PJC Spray Foam, Hoosier Racing Tire, Cobra Coaches, E&V Energy, Fondations 4 Saisons, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Lacaillade Masonry, Inc., FX Caprara, ASI Racewear, Lanes Yamaha, Ashley Lynn Winery, Bicknell Racing Products, DirtTrackDigest.com and LC Design.
Empire Super Sprints
Utica-Rome Speedway
Vernon, New York
Friday, May 12, 2023
Qualifying Flight A (3 Laps)
1. #01-Danny Varin, 15.786[7]
2. #87-Jason Barney, 16.100[1]
3. #22-Jonathan Preston, 16.248[2]
4. #45-Chuck Hebing, 16.251[5]
5. #41-Dalton Rombough, 16.291[8]
6. #10-Jeff Cook, 16.455[9]
7. #3-Parker Evans, 16.477[4]
8. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 16.698[10]
9. #36-Logan Crisafulli, 16.869[3]
DNS: #33X-Matt Janczuk
Qualifying Flight B (3 Laps)
1. #28F-Davie Franek, 15.886[9]
2. 28-Jordan Poirier, 15.959[10]
3. #79-Jordan Thomas, 16.043[5]
4. #53-Shawn Donath, 16.109[7]
5. 11J-Chris Jones, 16.171[1]
6. #98-Joe Trenca, 16.202[8]
7. #4P-Chase Moran, 16.253[4]
8. 90T-Travis Cunningham, 16.294[6]
9. #7C-Dylan Swiernik, 16.301[3]
10. #66-Jordan Hutton, 16.480[2]
Qualifying Flight C (3 Laps)
1. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni, 15.877[5]
2. #7NY-Matt Farnham, 15.956[1]
3. #32-Kyle Smith, 16.199[2]
4. #90-Matt Tanner, 16.219[3]
5. #23-Tyler Cartier, 16.280[8]
6. #17-Sammy Reakes IV, 16.307[9]
7. #21-Steve Glover, 16.365[4]
8. #10H-Kelly Hebing, 16.379[10]
9. #33-Lacey Hanson, 16.697[6]
10. #13-Keith Granholm, 17.526[7]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. #01-Danny Varin[2]
2. #87-Jason Barney[1]
3. #45-Chuck Hebing[4]
4. #10-Jeff Cook[6]
5. #41-Dalton Rombough[5]
6. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[8]
7. #3-Parker Evans[7]
8. #33X-Matt Janczuk[10]
9. #22-Jonathan Preston[3]
DNS: #36-Logan Crisafulli
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]
2. #28F-Davie Franek[2]
3. #53-Shawn Donath[4]
4. #79-Jordan Thomas[3]
5. #98-Joe Trenca[6]
6. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[9]
7. 11J-Chris Jones[5]
8. #4P-Chase Moran[7]
9. 90T-Travis Cunningham[8]
DNS: #66-Jordan Hutton
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[2]
2. #7NY-Matt Farnham[1]
3. #90-Matt Tanner[4]
4. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[6]
5. #32-Kyle Smith[3]
6. #21-Steve Glover[7]
7. #10H-Kelly Hebing[8]
8. #33-Lacey Hanson[9]
9. #23-Tyler Cartier[5]
10. #13-Keith Granholm[10]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. #41-Dalton Rombough[1]
2. #98-Joe Trenca[2]
3. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[4]
4. #32-Kyle Smith[3]
5. #21-Steve Glover[6]
6. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[5]
B-Main (10 Laps)
1. #3-Parker Evans[1]
2. #10H-Kelly Hebing[3]
3. #33-Lacey Hanson[6]
4. 11J-Chris Jones[2]
5. #33X-Matt Janczuk[4]
6. 90T-Travis Cunningham[8]
7. #4P-Chase Moran[5]
8. #23-Tyler Cartier[9]
9. #13-Keith Granholm[10]
10. #66-Jordan Hutton[11]
DNS: #22-Jonathan Preston
DNS: #36-Logan Crisafulli
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[5]
2. #01-Danny Varin[4]
3. #53-Shawn Donath[9]
4. 28-Jordan Poirier[10]
5. #10-Jeff Cook[1]
6. #87-Jason Barney[8]
7. #90-Matt Tanner[2]
8. #7NY-Matt Farnham[3]
9. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[6]
10. #79-Jordan Thomas[7]
11. #98-Joe Trenca[14]
12. #45-Chuck Hebing[11]
13. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[15]
14. #28F-Davie Franek[12]
15. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[18]
16. #41-Dalton Rombough[13]
17. #10H-Kelly Hebing[20]
18. #32-Kyle Smith[16]
19. #3-Parker Evans[19]
20. #33-Lacey Hanson[21]
21. 90T-Travis Cunningham[24]
22. 11J-Chris Jones[22]
23. #33X-Matt Janczuk[23]
24. #21-Steve Glover[17]