By Curtis Berleue
(Port Royal, PA) | Quebec driver Alex Therrien made the long 10+ hour drive from Victoriaville, QC to Port Royal, PA worth it on Saturday night as he picked up his second career ESS win at the ‘Speed Palace’. Therrien outdueled Vermont native Kyle Smith on a late race restart to pick up the $4,000 winners check.
By virtue of drawing the Pinnacle pole award, Kyle Smith led the field to green alongside of ‘No Panic’ Davie Franek. Smith took the early lead, but his advantage was erased when a red flag for an incident involving Ryan Turner, Spencer Burley and Josh Spicer stopped the action before a lap could be scored official.
When action resumed, Smith again took command with Franek, Alex Therrien and Tyler Ross hot on his heels. After four laps, Therrien was able to sneak by Franek on the low side of turn two to take the second spot.
While Smith and Therrien set sail from the rest of the field, the battle for fourth, fifth and sixth was heating up behind them. Chase Dietz, who had won the 410 feature just minutes before the start of the ESS A-Main, had caught Tyler Ross from his sixth starting position.
On lap ten, Dietz looked to the inside of Ross, and at the same time defending champion Jordan Poirier entered the mix to make it three wide down the backstretch. Poirier briefly took control of fourth, but Dietz would slip by him in the next set of corners.
With 10 laps remaining, another red slowed the action, this time for Paulie Colagiovanni in turn four. On the ensuing restart, Therrien used his outside starting position to his advantage and was able to get by Smith through the middle of turns one and two.
With laps winding down, Therrien opened his gap at the front of the field as Smith and Dietz raced for third behind him. Ultimately, nobody had anything for Therrien and he took the checkers first ahead of Smith and Dietz.
“This is unbelievable,” said Therrien in victory lane. “I always do that (start by running on the bottom) on this type of track, that’s what we set the car up for tonight.”
Kyle Smith led the majority of the race, but wound up coming home in second.
“The car was really good, it just sucks to lose it like that on a start,” said Smith. “It is what it is, we had a good run and the car was really good.”
Chase Dietz rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
“Yeah, it was a really good night, glad to be here for the ESS race and be a part of this,” said Dietz. “We kind of wanted shake things down for Knoxville later in the year for the 360 nationals.”
32 cars signed into the pits at Port Royal, which split the field into four timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Josh Spicer, Chase Dietz, Dylan Swiernik and Kyle Smith. Elab Smokers Boutique heats were won by Tyler Ross, Chase Dietz, Alex Therrien and Kyle Smith. The Donath Motor Worx dash presented by Travis Racing Engines was won by Derek Locke, and the B-Main went to Zach Sobotka.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is this coming Friday May 22nd at the Brewerton Speedway in Brewerton, NY, followed by a trip to the Fulton Speedway in Fulton on Saturday night. 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, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Elab Smokers Boutique, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Wilwood Disc Brakes, FX Caprara, Ashley Lynn Winery, Slade Shock Technology, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Bicknell Racing Products, Swagger Factory, PJC Sprayfoam, Donath Motor Worx, Transport Benoit Lafleur, All Star Performance, Stirling Lubricants, Trenca & Co. Realty, Speedway Press, Primal Tee, and Glenn Styres Racing.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Friday, May 22 – Brewerton Speedway – Brewerton, NY ($2,000 to Win Don Gillette Memorial)
Saturday, May 23 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Friday, May 29 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT ($2,000 to Win)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 21-Alex Therrien[4]; 2. 32-Kyle Smith[1]; 3. 23-Chase Dietz[6]; 4. 28F-Davie Franek[2]; 5. 669-Tyler Ross[5]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[9]; 7. 7-Michael Walter[14]; 8. 90-Matt Tanner[15]; 9. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[8]; 10. 38-Zach Sobotka[21]; 11. 63-Josh Weller[12]; 12. 77-Derek Locke[7]; 13. 88J-Joey Amantea[20]; 14. 35S-Jason Shultz[11]; 15. 41-Dalton Rombough[18]; 16. 87-Jason Barney[16]; 17. 3-Logan Crisafulli[17]; 18. 66-Jordan Hutton[19]; 19. 35-Jared Zimbardi[13]; 20. 3A-Jeff Trombley[10]; 21. 79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 22. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[24]; 23. (DNS) 71-Josh Spicer; 24. (DNS) 15-Ryan Turner; 25. (DNS) 21B-Spencer Burley
B-Main (11 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 2. 71-Josh Spicer[1]; 3. 15-Ryan Turner[6]; 4. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[4]; 5. 21B-Spencer Burley[8]; 6. 99K-Mike Kiser[2]; 7. 29R-Seth Schnoke[5]; 8. 22R-Ronald Helmick[11]; 9. 53-Shawn Donath[7]; 10. 33-Lacey Hanson[12]; 11. 13T-Trevor Years[10]; 12. 98-Joe Trenca[9]
Travis Racing Engines Dash (4 Laps): 1. 77-Derek Locke; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier; 4. 3A-Jeff Trombley; 5. 35S-Jason Shultz; 6. 63-Josh Weller
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 669-Tyler Ross[5]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[2]; 3. 35S-Jason Shultz[3]; 4. 35-Jared Zimbardi[4]; 5. 3-Logan Crisafulli[6]; 6. 71-Josh Spicer[1]; 7. 29R-Seth Schnoke[8]; 8. (DNS) 98-Joe Trenca
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Chase Dietz[1]; 2. 3A-Jeff Trombley[2]; 3. 77-Derek Locke[4]; 4. 7-Michael Walter[6]; 5. 41-Dalton Rombough[5]; 6. 99K-Mike Kiser[3]; 7. 15-Ryan Turner[7]; 8. 13T-Trevor Years[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Alex Therrien[2]; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[1]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 90-Matt Tanner[5]; 5. 66-Jordan Hutton[6]; 6. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 7. 53-Shawn Donath[7]; 8. 22R-Ronald Helmick[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Kyle Smith[1]; 2. 63-Josh Weller[2]; 3. 79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[5]; 5. 88J-Joey Amantea[6]; 6. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[4]; 7. 21B-Spencer Burley[7]; 8. 33-Lacey Hanson[8]
Awards & Contingencies (full members only eligible for payout):
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #71-Josh Spicer; #23-Chase Dietz; #7C-Dylan Swierink; #32-Kyle Smith
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #669-Tyler Ross; #23-Chase Dietz; #21-Alex Therrien; #32-Kyle Smith
Donath Motor Worx / Travis Racing Engines Dash Winner ($125): #77-Derek Locke
Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #38-Zac Sobotka
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #32-Kyle Smith
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #28-Jordan Poirier
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #38-Zach Sobotka
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #7C-Dylan Swiernik
Swagger Factory 12th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #35S-Jason Shultz
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #87-Jason Barney
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #41-Dalton Rombough
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #38-Zach Sobotka (+11)
PJC Sprayfoam Reverse Hard Charger ($100): #79-Jordan Thomas (-18)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #3A-Jeff Trombley
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #21-Alex Therrien; #32-Kyle Smith; #23-Chase Dietz
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #7C-Dylan Swiernik
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #22R-Ron Helmick