By Curtis Berleue
(Dundee, NY) | For the second time in 2024, Jordan Thomas is an Empire Super Sprints winner. After taking the lead on lap 8, Thomas never looked back en-route to a $4,000 victory in the annual Hoag Memorial at the Outlaw Speedway.
Pinnacle Pole award winner Chase Moran and Jared Zimbardi brought the field to green for the 25-lap event. Zimbardi took an early lead utilizing the high side of the speedway, with Moran falling into second.
Moran’s time in second was short lived, however, as fourth starting Jordan Thomas quickly made his way by the driver of the #4p. With his sights set on the lead, Thomas and Zimbardi would trade slidejobs for a handful of laps, while Moran and Shawn Donath battled behind them for the third position.
As the field clicked off lap 9, Thomas had managed to get by Zimbardi before the first caution of the event flew for DJ Christie, who had a flat left rear tire.
On the enduing restart, Thomas chose the high side of the speedway. Zimbardi would hold pace with Thomas for a handful of laps, but as the duo reached lap traffic Thomas was able to extend his lead.
One last restart with a lap remaining gave Zimbardi a final attempt to get by Thomas, but Thomas slid himself going into turn one to protect the bottom and sailed away to his second victory of the season.
“It’s really good to cap off the year with a win,” said Thomas in victory lane. “I raced him (Zimbardi) a little harder than I wanted to, but it worked out in the end.”
“He’s a really good racer, been doing it a long time. On those restarts when I saw he was lining up next to me, I knew I had to play a little bit of a game to get an advantage.”
Jared Zimbardi held on for second after leading the first 7 laps.
“He had the dominant car for sure,” said Zimbardi. “When I’m running the top pretty much wide open and all the sudden, I heard him through the middle, I knew we were in trouble.”
“I’ve been able to watch Jordan mature over the years, and that last restart – that was a mature move. I didn’t expect him to go to the bottom, I expected him to blast the top and when he did that it caught me off guard.”
With a new car to end the season, Shawn Donath rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
“I was pretty happy with that thing, it was ripping tonight,” said Donath. “I could go anywhere. These guys gave me one heck of a racecar, I could run bottom, middle, top.”
“I was a little nervous when we got out there and the dew set in, but the track was super-fast.”
26 cars signed in for the final night of action for the Empire Super Sprints in 2024. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Jason Barney, Jared Zimbardi and Davie Franek. E&V Energy Heat wins went to Joe Trenca, Zimbardi and Ryan Turner. The Cobra Coaches Dash presented by Fratto Curbing was won by Logan Crisafulli.
While on track action has concluded for the Empire Super Sprints in 2024, there is still one event remaining on the schedule. The annual awards banquet and rules meeting will be held on Saturday, November 9. More information on that event will be released in the coming days.
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, November 9 – ESS Awards Banquet and Rules Meeting
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 2. 35-Jared Zimbardi[2]; 3. 53-Shawn Donath[7]; 4. #7NY-Matt Farnham[10]; 5. #89-Robbie Stillwaggon[3]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[11]; 7. 28F-Davie Franek[12]; 8. 47-Kyle Drum[5]; 9. 22-Jonathan Preston[24]; 10. 87-Jason Barney[8]; 11. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[25]; 12. #15-Ryan Turner[9]; 13. 36-Logan Crisafulli[13]; 14. #5-DJ Christie[14]; 15. 38-Zach Sobotka[16]; 16. 9L-Liam Martin[15]; 17. 84-Mike Lichty[18]; 18. 3-Parker Evans[17]; 19. 2-Dave Axton[20]; 20. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[19]; 21. 4P-Chase Moran[1]; 22. 98-Joe Trenca[6]; 23. #41-Dalton Rombough[23]; 24. #18C-Dan Craun[22]; 25. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[26]; 26. (DNS) M1-Mark Smith
Fratto Curbing Dash: 1. 36-Logan Crisafulli[1]; 2. #5-DJ Christie[3]; 3. 9L-Liam Martin[6]; 4. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 5. 3-Parker Evans[4]; 6. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[5]
E&V Energy Heat 1: 1. 98-Joe Trenca[2]; 2. #89-Robbie Stillwaggon[1]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[6]; 5. 36-Logan Crisafulli[4]; 6. 3-Parker Evans[8]; 7. 84-Mike Lichty[9]; 8. M1-Mark Smith[5]; 9. 22-Jonathan Preston[7]
E&V Energy Heat 2: 1. 35-Jared Zimbardi[6]; 2. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 3. 47-Kyle Drum[4]; 4. #7NY-Matt Farnham[3]; 5. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 6. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[9]; 7. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[7]; 8. #18C-Dan Craun[1]; 9. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[8]
E&V Energy Heat 3: 1. #15-Ryan Turner[2]; 2. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 3. 28F-Davie Franek[6]; 4. 4P-Chase Moran[1]; 5. #5-DJ Christie[3]; 6. 9L-Liam Martin[5]; 7. 2-Dave Axton[8]; 8. #41-Dalton Rombough[7]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #87-Jason Barney; #35-Jared Zimbardi; #28F-Davie Franek
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #98-Joe Trenca; #35-Jared Zimbardi; #15-Ryan Turner
Cobra Coaches / Fratto Curbing Dash Winner ($125): #36-Logan Crisafulli
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #4P-Chase Moran
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #22-Jonathan Preston
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #77E-Ashton VanEvery
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #10V-Billy VanInwegen
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #79-Jordan Thomas; #35-Jared Zimbardi; #53-Shawn Donath
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #4P-Chase Moran