From Curtis Berleue
FULTON, N.Y. (July 1, 2023) — Due to early evening rain showers and more forecasted as the night went on, Fulton Speedway officials made the difficult decision to cancel the racing action on Saturday July 1, which was scheduled to include the finale of the 2023 Empire Super Sprints CNY Speedweek.
As a result of the cancelation, Paulie Colagiovanni was crowned the 2023 CNY Speedweek champion for the second time since the event’s inception. Consistency was key throughout the week for the Cicero, NY driver, as he didn’t finish outside of the top 5 once en-route to his championship.
His week started off strong with a second place showing at Can-Am on Wednesday, and then stayed within striking distance of point leader Jordan Poirier Thursday at Utica-Rome with a 5th place finish. Friday night at Brewerton, the stars aligned just right and Colagiovanni was able to win his first event at the track and take the week-long points lead in the process.
Going into Saturdays scheduled finale at Fulton, Colagiovanni had a 35-point lead over Poirier. Mother Nature had other plans, however, and the week-long championship was awarded to Colagiovanni as a result.
“It feels really good to win another Speedweek Championship,” said Colagiovanni. “Part of me wishes we would have been able to race tonight to battle it out with Jordan (Poirier) on the track, but I’m certainly not complaining about the result. We had speed all week, and this is a great way to cap it all off.”
“None of this and the success we have had this year would be possible without my family, crew, and some great sponsors in Stirling Lubricants, Randy’s Racing Filters and Paul Wehnau’s Snap-On Tools. Racing this many nights in a row isn’t easy, and to have the success we have had on top of it is a testament to all of the great people we have in our corner.”
A total of 38 drivers competed in at least one night of the 2023 Empire Super Sprints CNY Speedweek, with Jordan Poirier finishing second in the week-long standings followed by Jason Barney, Shawn Donath, and Matt Tanner.
After a well-deserved off weekend next week, the Empire Super Sprints will roar back into action with a doubleheader weekend on July 14th and 15th at the Freedom Motorsports Park in Delevan, NY and the Woodhull Raceway in Woodhull, NY.