By Curtis Berleue
(Malta, NY) | For the fourth time in 2025, Jordan Poirier is an Empire Super Sprints winner. Though he started on the pole, it was far from an easy night for the Quebec driver as he held off multiple charges from Paulie Colagiovanni and Danny Varin en-route to his $2,000 victory.
Jordan Poirier and Jeff Trombley brought the field to the initial green flag, and it was Poirier who grabbed the early lead. Paulie Colagiovanni followed in his tracks to take second, but Trombley fought back to reclaim the runner-up spot. Behind the lead trio, Shawn Donath was comfortably in fourth with Danny Varin just behind in fifth.
After 5 laps, Trombley came under fire once again from Colagiovanni, with Colagiovanni clearing the #3A of Trombley via a slide job in turns one and two.
As Poirier caught lap traffic, Colagiovanni was catching him and by lap 9 Colagiovanni was right on his tail tank. He wasn’t able to make anything of his hard work though, as the caution flew for Jeff Trombley who had slowed in turn four.
On the ensuing restart, Poirier again jumped out to the lead with Colagiovanni and now Danny Varin in tow for third. A handful of laps later, Colagiovanni was again within striking distance of Poirier and cleared a slide job in turns one and two.
His lead was short lived, however, as Poirier was able to turn back under Colagiovanni and re-take the lead down the backstretch.
A late race restart would allow Danny Varin to get by Colagiovanni, and for the next few laps the duo would trade sliders for second until Varin mis-stepped on the cushion in turn two and went over the bank, bringing out another caution.
With a clear track in front of him, nobody was able to catch Poirier who picked up his fourth win of 2025.
“I knew he (Colagiovanni) was good up top early in the night,” said Poirier. “I was cheating the cushion a little bit and then I started hearing him so I tried to venture up a little bit more.”
“My car was really good on the cushion, I thought 3 & 4 was going away at some point, but I just didn’t want to miss out by going to the bottom and then it stayed good up top all race.”
Paulie Colagiovanni held on to second for his season-best finish thus far.
“I thought I had a run on Jordan coming into three and four and I was going to slide him, but the caution came out,” said Colagiovanni. “Every time the caution came out after that a couple of cars just got under me but I’m glad we hung on for second.”
Dylan Swiernik continued his strong season with another podium finish, rounding out the top three.
“This is probably our favorite place to come to on the calendar,” said Swiernik. “To come from twelfth to third here, we’ll take it and move on to Fonda tomorrow.”
24 cars signed into the pits on Friday night at Albany-Saratoga, and as such the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Jason Barney, Danny Varin and Jordan Thomas earned Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards, while Barney, Davie Franek and Paulie Colagiovanni won Elab Smokers Boutique heat races. The We Know Tools dash was won by Kyle Smith.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Saturday July 19th at the Fonda Speedway in Fonda, 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), X (@ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, Hoosier Racing Tire, Cobra Coaches, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Elab Smokers Boutique, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Lacaillade Masonry, Inc., Wilwood Disc Brakes, FX Caprara, Lanes Yamaha, Ashley Lynn Winery, Slade Precision Shocks, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Bicknell Racing Products, and DirtTrackDigest.com.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Saturday, July 19 – Fonda Speedway – Fonda, NY ($2,000 to Win Earl Halaquist Memorial)
Friday, July 25 – Outlaw Speedway – Dundee, NY ($4,000 to Win Outlaw Fall Nationals)
Saturday, July 26 – Woodhull Raceway – Woodhull, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 2. 3C-Paulie Colagiovanni[4]; 3. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[12]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[11]; 5. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 6. 41-Dalton Rombough[10]; 7. 98-Joe Trenca[14]; 8. 90-Matt Tanner[6]; 9. 17S-Kyle Smith[13]; 10. 79-Jordan Thomas[16]; 11. 21-Spencer Burley[23]; 12. 3A-Jeff Trombley[2]; 13. 01-Danny Varin[7]; 14. 33-Lacey Hanson[18]; 15. #3G-Dale Gosselin[19]; 16. 3-Parker Evans[15]; 17. 28F-Davie Franek[9]; 18. 4P-Chase Moran[8]; 19. 12-Tyler Chartrand[24]; 20. 36-Logan Crisafulli[20]; 21. 19-Floyd Billington[21]; 22. 33H-Chuck Hebing[17]; 23. 23-Travis Billington[22]; 24. #88C-Chad Miller[3]
We Know Tools Dash (4 Laps): 1. 17S-Kyle Smith[1]; 2. 98-Joe Trenca[2]; 3. 3-Parker Evans[4]; 4. 79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 5. 33H-Chuck Hebing[5]; 6. 33-Lacey Hanson[6]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Jason Barney[4]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner[1]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath[3]; 5. 17S-Kyle Smith[2]; 6. 3-Parker Evans[8]; 7. #3G-Dale Gosselin[6]; 8. 23-Travis Billington[7]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[2]; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 3. 01-Danny Varin[4]; 4. 3A-Jeff Trombley[1]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[5]; 6. 33H-Chuck Hebing[7]; 7. 36-Logan Crisafulli[8]; 8. 21-Spencer Burley[6]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 3C-Paulie Colagiovanni[3]; 2. 4P-Chase Moran[2]; 3. 41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 4. #88C-Chad Miller[1]; 5. 79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 6. 33-Lacey Hanson[5]; 7. 19-Floyd Billington[7]; 8. 12-Tyler Chartrand[8]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #87-Jason Barney; #01-Danny Varin; #79-Jordan Thomas
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #87-Jason Barney; #28F-Davie Franek; #3C-Paulie Colagiovanni
Cobra Coaches / We Know Tools Dash Winner ($125): #17S-Kyle Smith
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #28-Jordan Poirier
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #53-Shawn Donath
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #79-Jordan Thomas
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #21-Spencer Burley
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #01-Danny Varin
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #3G-Dale Gosselin
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #21-Spencer Burley (+12)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #36-Logan Crisafulli
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #28-Jordan Poirier; #3C-Paulie Colagiovanni; #7C-Dylan Swiernik
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #33-Lacey Hanson
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #53-Shawn Donath