By Curtis Berleue (Dundee, NY) | For the first time in his career, Jordan Thomas is an Empire Super Sprints winner. Starting on the pole, Thomas led every lap en-route to the $4,220.20 payday in the Cal Lane Memorial Fall Nationals at Outlaw Speedway.
It was Thomas and outside pole sitter Jeff Cook who brought the field to the green flag, with Thomas taking the lead as the field exited turn two. After just two trips around the speedway, however, the only caution of the night flew for Kyle Drum who slowed coming off turn four.
On the ensuing restart, it was again Thomas who jumped out to the lead. By lap 5, Thomas had built up nearly a straightaway advantage over Dylan Swiernik, Cook and fourth-starting Jared Zimbardi.
Thomas caught the rear of the field on lap 8 and began working lap traffic on the high side. Luckily for him, the lap traffic would not slow his pace.
As the laps wound down, the running order would remain largely unchanged at the front of the field, and Thomas soared to a near 3 second victory.
“You have to be quick every time you’re on the track, and have a little bit of luck with the redraw too,” said Thomas. “We’ve been struggling pretty bad this year, and now we’ve picked it up at the end of the year here.”
“I was actually worried there for a little bit. I got behind (Matt) Tanner and (Logan) Crisafulli and had to go to the bottom a couple of times. I was worried that someone was going to go by me on the top, but I guess we were good enough to hold on.”
Dylan Swiernik advanced one spot from his third starting position to come home in second place on the night.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we made the changes we needed to on the shocks, and it kinda bit us a little bit coming off of the corners,” said Swiernik. “We were still pretty good, and after the month we have had, to come away with a second-place finish – I’ll be happy with that.”
Rounding out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium was Jared Zimbardi.
“The track was in good shape, the top was dominant so you had to get up there,” said Zimbardi. “It was pretty good early on, a little bit tackier through the night. I thought the bottom would stay, but you had to get right up against the wall, that’s what makes it fun.”
20 cars entered the nights action at Outlaw Speedway. The field was divided into three timed hot lap groups, with Robbie Stillwaggon, Jordan Poirier and Jordan Thomas earning Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards. E&V Energy heat wins went to Stillwaggon, Matt Farnham, and Shawn Donath, while the Cobra Coaches Dash presented by Fratto Curbing was won by Matt Tanner.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is this coming Friday September 29th at the Fulton Speedway in Fulton, 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, 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:
Friday, September 29 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win Outlaw 200 Weekend)
Tuesday, October 3 – Weedsport Speedway – Weedsport, NY (Continuation of 9/9 event)
Friday, October 20 – Outlaw Speedway – Dundee, NY ($3,500 to Win Dutch Hoag Memorial)
Full Results:
A-Main: 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 2. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 3. #35-Jared Zimbardi[4]; 4. #53-Shawn Donath[5]; 5. #22-Jonathan Preston[10]; 6. #98-Joe Trenca[7]; 7. 28-Jordan Poirier[12]; 8. #10-Jeff Cook[2]; 9. #7NY-Matt Farnham[9]; 10. #89-Robbie Stillwaggon[6]; 11. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[11]; 12. #36-Logan Crisafulli[14]; 13. #90-Matt Tanner[13]; 14. #4P-Chase Moran[15]; 15. 11J-Chris Jones[16]; 16. #41-Dalton Rombough[17]; 17. #25G-Tyler Graves[18]; 18. #13T-Trevor Years[19]; 19. (DNF) #24-Bobby Hackel IV[20]; 20. (DNF) #47-Kyle Drum[8]
Fratto Curbing Dash: 1. #90-Matt Tanner[2]; 2. #36-Logan Crisafulli[5]; 3. #4P-Chase Moran[1]; 4. 11J-Chris Jones[3]; 5. #41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 6. #25G-Tyler Graves[4]
E&V Energy Heat 1: 1. #89-Robbie Stillwaggon[2]; 2. #98-Joe Trenca[1]; 3. #35-Jared Zimbardi[3]; 4. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[4]; 5. #4P-Chase Moran[6]; 6. (DNF) #25G-Tyler Graves[7]; 7. (DNS) #24-Bobby Hackel IV
E&V Energy Heat 2: 1. #7NY-Matt Farnham[1]; 2. #22-Jonathan Preston[3]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[2]; 4. #10-Jeff Cook[4]; 5. #90-Matt Tanner[5]; 6. #36-Logan Crisafulli[6]; 7. #13T-Trevor Years[7]
E&V Energy #53-Shawn Donath[1]; 2. #79-Jordan Thomas[2]; 3. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 4. #47-Kyle Drum[5]; 5. 11J-Chris Jones[4]; 6. #41-Dalton Rombough[6]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #89-Robbie Stillwaggon; #28-Jordan Poirier; #79-Jordan Thomas
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #89-Robbie Stillwaggon; #7NY-Matt Farnham; #53-Shawn Donath
Cobra Coaches / Fratto Curbing Dash Winner ($100): #90-Matt Tanner
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #79-Jordan Thomas
PJC Spray Foam Hard Charger Award ($50): #22-Jonathan Preston; #28-Jordan Poirier (+5)
PJC Spray Foam Reverse Hard Charger Award ($50): #10-Jeff Cook (-6)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($35): #13T-Trevor Years
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #5D-Jacob Dykstra
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #79-Jordan Thomas; #7C-Dylan Swiernik; #35-Jared Zimbardi