By Curtis Berleue
(Weedsport, NY) | After a grueling week of action at tracks across NY state, the 2024 version of the Empire Super Sprints CNY Speedweek concluded Sunday night at the Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, NY. Sitting atop victory hill when the dust settled was Danny Varin, $2,500 richer for his efforts.
Pinnacle Pole Award winner Jordan Thomas brought the field to the green flag and jumped out to an early lead over Matt Tanner and Jonathan Preston.
Working the extreme high side of the track, the lead trio caught lap traffic on lap 8, and Thomas was able to extend his lead navigating the slower cars with ease. By lap 12, he had extended his advantage over Matt Tanner to nearly half a track.
As the laps wound down, however, Thomas’ early lead had vanished, and while battling for position with Matt Tanner, his night would end in the fourth turn wall on the last lap.
The ensuing restart set up a one-lap duel between Tanner and Varin, with Varin emerging victorious.
“At the end, I was going to put it in the fence or try to win it,” said Varin. “We just had to pull that wing forward and give it everything we had there for the lap and it paid off.”
“We got about an hour’s worth of sleep last night; drove all the way back to Fonda, pulled two motors out, put one back in – it was just a huge effort and I couldn’t do it without this whole team.”
Matt Tanner would cross the line in second, and Jonathan Preston rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
34 winged warriors signed in for action on the final night of CNY Speedweek, splitting the field into four timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Cory Turner, Jordan Thomas, Danny Varin and Larry wight. E&V Energy heat races were won by Jason Barney, Jordan Poirier, Danny Varin and Larry Wight. The Lacaillade Masonry B-Main went to Kelly Hebing, while Johnny Smith won The Wildcat dash.
After one rainout and four straight nights of action, Jordan Poirier was crowned the 2024 CNY Speedweek champion. The St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec driver was consistent all week, with a second-place finish at Utica-Rome, third at Brewerton, sixth at Fulton and fourth at Weedsport to round out the week.
Davie Franek finished the week second in points, followed by Jason Barney in third, Danny Varin and Matt Tanner to round out the top five.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Friday July 19th at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, 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, A-Verdi Storage Containers, 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.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Thursday, July 11 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT ($5,000 to win NASCAR Night – no points)
Friday, July 12 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT ($10,000 to win Northern Summer Nationals – no points)
Friday, July 19 – Albany-Saratoga Speedway – Malta, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Saturday, July 20 – Fonda Speedway – Fonda, NY ($2,000 to Win Earl Halaquist Memorial)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. #01-Danny Varin[10]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner[3]; 3. 22-Jonathan Preston[4]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 5. #99L-Larry Wight[7]; 6. 28F-Davie Franek[17]; 7. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[12]; 8. 87-Jason Barney[9]; 9. 17X-Cory Turner[8]; 10. 96X-Chad Phelps[22]; 11. 98-Joe Trenca[2]; 12. #41-Dalton Rombough[19]; 13. 0-Glenn Styres[15]; 14. #79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 15. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[16]; 16. 53-Shawn Donath[14]; 17. 4P-Chase Moran[25]; 18. 36-Logan Crisafulli[20]; 19. 33-Lacey Hanson[24]; 20. 3-Parker Evans[11]; 21. 10-Kelly Hebing[21]; 22. 13E-Evan Reynolds[26]; 23. #3Z-John Smith IV[13]; 24. #4-Emily VanInwegen[6]; 25. #88C-Chad Miller[18]; 26. 46-Ryan Coniam[23]
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 10-Kelly Hebing[1]; 2. 96X-Chad Phelps[3]; 3. 46-Ryan Coniam[2]; 4. 33-Lacey Hanson[5]; 5. 4P-Chase Moran[7]; 6. #25G-Tyler Graves[10]; 7. 2-Dave Axton[6]; 8. 13E-Evan Reynolds[13]; 9. 13-Keith Granholm[14]; 10. 23-Eric Cartier[11]; 11. X-Dan Bennett[8]; 12. 29-Dylan Menditto[4]; 13. (DNS) 66-Jordan Hutton; 14. (DNS) 13T-Trevor Years
The Wildcat Dash (4 Laps): 1. #3Z-John Smith IV[4]; 2. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 3. 0-Glenn Styres[1]; 4. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[3]
E&V Energy Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Jason Barney[3]; 2. 17X-Cory Turner[1]; 3. 90-Matt Tanner[2]; 4. 0-Glenn Styres[5]; 5. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 6. 10-Kelly Hebing[6]; 7. 33-Lacey Hanson[9]; 8. 66-Jordan Hutton[7]; 9. 13E-Evan Reynolds[8]
E&V Energy Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier[2]; 2. #79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 3. 3-Parker Evans[3]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath[7]; 5. #88C-Chad Miller[6]; 6. 46-Ryan Coniam[4]; 7. 2-Dave Axton[5]; 8. #25G-Tyler Graves[9]; 9. 13-Keith Granholm[8]
E&V Energy Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. #01-Danny Varin[1]; 2. 98-Joe Trenca[2]; 3. 22-Jonathan Preston[4]; 4. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 5. #41-Dalton Rombough[3]; 6. 96X-Chad Phelps[5]; 7. 4P-Chase Moran[7]; 8. 23-Eric Cartier[8]
E&V Energy Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. #99L-Larry Wight[1]; 2. #4-Emily VanInwegen[2]; 3. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[8]; 4. #3Z-John Smith IV[5]; 5. 36-Logan Crisafulli[3]; 6. 29-Dylan Menditto[4]; 7. X-Dan Bennett[7]; 8. (DNS) 13T-Trevor Years
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #17X-Cory Turner; #79-Jordan Thomas; #01-Danny Varin; #99L-Larry Wight
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #87-Jason Barney; #28-Jordan Poirier; #01-Danny Varin; #99L-Larry Wight
Cobra Coaches / The Wildcat Dash Winner ($125): #3Z-Johnny Smith
Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #10-Kelly Hebing
PJC Spray Foam First Non-Qualifier ($50): #25G-Tyler Graves
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #79-Jordan Thomas
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #96x-Chad Phelps (+12)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #13E-Evan Reynolds
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #98-Joe Trenca
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #01-Danny Varin; #90-Matt Tanner; #22-Jonathan Preston
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #28-Jordan Poirier