By Curtis Berleue
(Weedsport, NY) | After a heartbreaking mistake while leading on the last lap the last time the Empire Super Sprints were in town back in July, Jordan Thomas was hungry for redemption as the tour returned for the finale of the ‘Cavalcade Cup’. And get redemption he did, as he led the final 15 laps en-route to a $2,000 victory.
Logan Crisafulli and Scott Kreuter would lead the field to the green flag, with Crisafulli taking the early lead down the backstretch. Kreutter followed in second, but Jordan Thomas slipped by him before the flag stand to take over the runner-up spot.
With 5 laps complete, the lead duo of Crisafulli and Thomas had opened a significant gap over the rest of the field. Joe Trenca was solidly in third, with Kreutter and Matt Tanner racing for the fourth position.
As Crisafulli worked his way through lap traffic on lap 10, Thomas used that to his advantage and was able to pull right to the tail tank of the #36. Switching his line from high to low, Thomas slid Crisafulli going into turn 3, and exited turn 4 with the lead, leading lap 12.
Working the high side of the speedway, Thomas was able to masterfully work lap traffic and extend his lead over Crisafulli. Behind Crisafulli, Larry Wight had climbed to fourth and was trying everything he could to get by the #98 of Trenca. On lap 20, Wight slid Trenca in turns 3 and 4, but Trenca was able to cross him over and defend third for the time being.
With a clear track ahead of him, Thomas crossed under the checkers first, earning his first victory of the season.
“The car was really good, it was a really technical track tonight,” said Thomas. “It really slicked up compared to what we had in the July race.”
“It feels good to get the win, we’ve got a big week of us headed into Ohsweken, a lot of money on the line and we run pretty good up there, hopefully we can bring home some money.”
Logan Crisafulli continued the momentum he has built over the second half of the season and racked up another podium finish, coming in second behind Thomas.
“I was kind of hoping lap traffic would help me a little bit there,” said Crisafulli. “He had a fast car all night though, so I’m just glad to be up here. This car has been awesome lately, hats off to my team.”
At the line, Larry Wight slipped by Joe Trenca to round out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium.
“I just needed a caution to regroup everyone,” said Wight. “I think we definitely had a second-place car, I couldn’t see the 79 to see where he was, I figure he was probably ripping the lip though.”
“This is the second race on this car, and it hasn’t finished off the podium yet so we’re happy with it.”
With 30 cars in the pits for the final night of the Cavalcade Cup weekend, the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Jordan Poirier, Kelsey Ivy and Matt Tanner. E&V Energy heat race wins went to Larry Wight, Chris Hile and Matt Tanner, while the Kinney’s Kar Kare Dash was won by Chase Moran. Davie Franek won the Lacaillade Masonry B-Main.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is the Northern Sprint Car Nationals at the Ohsweken Speedway for a non-points event. The tour’s next full points event will be on Friday September 20 at the Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY for the $4,000 to win Outlaw Fall Nationals.
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), X (formerly 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:
Saturday, September 14 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT ($30,000 to Win NSCN – no points)
Friday, September 20 – Outlaw Speedway – Dundee, NY ($4,000 to Win Outlaw Fall Nationals)
Friday, October 4 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win Outlaw 200 Weekend)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 2. 36-Logan Crisafulli[1]; 3. #99L-Larry Wight[8]; 4. 98-Joe Trenca[3]; 5. 90-Matt Tanner[6]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 7. 01-Danny Varin[7]; 8. 5H-Chris Hile[9]; 9. 87-Jason Barney[10]; 10. 22-Jonathan Preston[14]; 11. #52-Scott Kreutter[2]; 12. #41-Dalton Rombough[16]; 13. 4P-Chase Moran[13]; 14. #7NY-Matt Farnham[11]; 15. 3A-Jeff Trombley[15]; 16. 28F-Davie Franek[19]; 17. 10-Kelly Hebing[20]; 18. 8-Dillon Paddock[21]; 19. 2-Dave Axton[18]; 20. 13T-Trevor Years[22]; 21. 13E-Evan Reynolds[23]; 22. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[17]; 23. 38-Zach Sobotka[24]; 24. 53-Shawn Donath[12]
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main: 1. 28F-Davie Franek[3]; 2. 10-Kelly Hebing[1]; 3. 8-Dillon Paddock[2]; 4. 13T-Trevor Years[6]; 5. 13E-Evan Reynolds[5]; 6. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 7. X-Dan Bennett[8]; 8. 18-Timmy Lotz[11]; 9. 17E-Ethan Gray[12]; 10. #25G-Tyler Graves[10]; 11. 23-Eric Cartier[7]; 12. (DNS) 66-Jordan Hutton
Cobra Coaches Dash: 1. 4P-Chase Moran[1]; 2. 22-Jonathan Preston[3]; 3. 3A-Jeff Trombley[5]; 4. #41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[2]; 6. 2-Dave Axton[4]
E&V Energy Heat 1: 1. #99L-Larry Wight[2]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 3. #52-Scott Kreutter[5]; 4. 36-Logan Crisafulli[4]; 5. 4P-Chase Moran[8]; 6. 2-Dave Axton[7]; 7. 10-Kelly Hebing[6]; 8. 38-Zach Sobotka[10]; 9. 23-Eric Cartier[9]; 10. #25G-Tyler Graves[3]
E&V Energy Heat 2: 1. 5H-Chris Hile[3]; 2. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 3. #7NY-Matt Farnham[2]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[1]; 6. 3A-Jeff Trombley[7]; 7. 8-Dillon Paddock[6]; 8. 13E-Evan Reynolds[10]; 9. X-Dan Bennett[8]; 10. 18-Timmy Lotz[9]
E&V Energy Heat 3: 1. 90-Matt Tanner[1]; 2. 98-Joe Trenca[3]; 3. 87-Jason Barney[2]; 4. 01-Danny Varin[4]; 5. 22-Jonathan Preston[5]; 6. #41-Dalton Rombough[7]; 7. 28F-Davie Franek[6]; 8. 13T-Trevor Years[8]; 9. 66-Jordan Hutton[9]; 10. 17E-Ethan Gray[10]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #28-Jordan Poirier; #20I-Kelsey Ivy; #90-Matt Tanner
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #99L-Larry Wight; #5H-Chris Hile; #90-Matt Tanner
Cobra Coaches / Kinney’s Kar Kare Dash Winner ($125): #4p-Chase Moran
Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #28F-Davie Franek
PJC Spray Foam First Non-Qualifier ($50): #X-Dan Bennett
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #36-Logan Crisafulli
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #99L-Larry Wight (+5)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #38-Zach Sobotka
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #52-Scott Kreutter
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #79-Jordan Thomas; #36-Logan Crisafulli; #99L-Larry Wight