8/7/2023
Empire Super Sprints
Varin Wins Earl Halaquist Memorial at Fonda Speedway
By Curtis Berleue (Fonda, NY) | For the fourth time in his career, Danny Varin is again a winner in the Earl Halaquist Memorial. With Saturday night’s win, the Sharon Springs driver has further etched his name into the record books at ‘The Track of Champions’ as it was his 7th triumph overall, extending his lead as the winningest driver in ESS competition there.
It was Bobby Hackel who drew the Pinnacle Pole Award and led the field to the green flag alongside current point leader Jordan Poirier for the 25-lap main event. Having just won the modified portion of the night’s events, Hackel would lead lap 1 over Poirier and Jason Barney.
As Hackel and Poirier came around to complete lap 5, Poirier was able to slip underneath the #24 of Hackel and take the lead.
Meanwhile, 6th starting Danny Varin was marching his way towards the front. After having passed two cars on lap 1, he had worked his way into second by lap 8 and was then able to set his sights on Poirier. As the duo neared lap traffic on lap 12, Varin was able to use a lap car as a pick and slide by Poirier on the high side coming off turn 4.
With Varin well in command of the field, the battle for third was starting to heat up. Barney had momentarily taken the third position from Hackel, but Jordan Thomas kicked it into high gear and got around them both on the extreme high side of the speedway.
With a 4.2 second lead, it was Danny Varin who crossed the line first in a green-to-checkers effort just under 8 minutes after the initial green waved.
“We weren’t the greatest there in the beginning,” said Varin. “The air was playing big games tonight. We just hit our marks, pulled the wing back and got good there at the end.”
Jordan Poirier held on for a second-place finish and was able to extend his points lead ever so slightly.
“I guess second is the way it goes for us,” said Poirier. “I feel our car was close at the beginning, I felt really good but then I got super loose. When I saw Danny pass me, I knew the outside was getting better but I just couldn’t go anywhere with as fast as he was.”
Harding, PA’s Jordan Thomas rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium finishing in the third position.
“This place is really tricky, you have to have a lot of laps around here to really get good,” said Thomas. “I know our lap times were a little bit quicker there at the end there. Starting up front would have helped us, but all in all it was a good night.”
As 22 cars filled the pit area Saturday night, the field split into three groups for timed hot laps, with Jordan Poirier, Danny Varin and Jason Barney earning Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards in their respective groups. E&V Energy heat wins went to Jordan Thomas, Danny Varin and Jason Barney, while Shawn Donath won the Cobra Coaches dash presented by Herrington Farms.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Friday August 25th at Autodrome Granby in Granby, Quebec. 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, August 25 – Autodrome Granby – Granby, QC ($3,000 to Win)
Saturday, August 26 – Autodrome Drummond – Drummondville, QC ($3,000 to Win)
Friday, September 1 – Brewerton Speedway – Brewerton, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Full Results:
A-Main: 1. #01-Danny Varin[6]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[2]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 4. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[9]; 5. #90-Matt Tanner[12]; 6. #53-Shawn Donath[13]; 7. #87-Jason Barney[3]; 8. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[11]; 9. #24-Bobby Hackel IV[1]; 10. #32-Kyle Smith[8]; 11. #10-Jeff Cook[4]; 12. #88C-Chad Miller[14]; 13. #36-Logan Crisafulli[10]; 14. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[7]; 15. #67-Steve Glover[15]; 16. #13T-Trevor Years[17]; 17. 29D-Dylan Menditto[16]; 18. #33-Lacey Hanson[20]; 19. #51-Jeremiah Munson[18]; 20. #6K-Kyle Dutcher[19]; 21. #1HD-Cory Sparks[21]; 22. (DNS) #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr
Herrington Farms Dash: 1. #53-Shawn Donath[1]; 2. #88C-Chad Miller[4]; 3. #67-Steve Glover[3]; 4. 29D-Dylan Menditto[2]; 5. #13T-Trevor Years[6]; 6. #51-Jeremiah Munson[5]
E&V Energy Heat 1: 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 3. #90-Matt Tanner[2]; 4. #10-Jeff Cook[3]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[5]; 6. #88C-Chad Miller[6]; 7. #1HD-Cory Sparks[7]; 8. #33-Lacey Hanson[8]
E&V Energy Heat 2: 1. #01-Danny Varin[1]; 2. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[3]; 3. #24-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 4. #32-Kyle Smith[2]; 5. 29D-Dylan Menditto[5]; 6. #51-Jeremiah Munson[6]; 7. #6K-Kyle Dutcher[7]
E&V Energy Heat 3: 1. #87-Jason Barney[1]; 2. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 3. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[2]; 4. #36-Logan Crisafulli[5]; 5. #67-Steve Glover[6]; 6. #13T-Trevor Years[7]; 7. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[4]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #28-Jordan Poirier; #01-Danny Varin; #87-Jason Barney
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #79-Jordan Thomas; #01-Danny Varin; #87-Jason Barney
Cobra Coaches / Herrington Farms Dash Winner ($100): #53-Shawn Donath
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #24-Bobby Hackel IV
PJC Spray Foam Hard Charger Award ($50): #90-Matt Tanner; #53-Shawn Donath (+7)
PJC Spray Foam Reverse Hard Charger Award ($50): #24-Bobby Hackel IV (-8)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($35): #6K-Kyle Dutcher
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #10-Jeff Cook
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #01-Danny Varin; #28-Jordan Poirier; #79-Jordan Thomas
Article Credit: Curtis Berleue
Submitted By: Barbara Patterson
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