Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints: Doug Emery Ends Three Year Drought Wins ESS Opener at Fonda Speedway

By MIKE MALLETT

FONDA, N.Y. – Doug Emery last made a stop in Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint Victory Lane back in the summer of 2006 at Autodrome Granby.

Saturday evening, Emery led all 25-laps of the season opener at the Fonda Speedway to earn his seventh career series victory and the $2,000 winner’s prize courtesy of Herrington Farms.

“It feels good to win here at Fonda,” stated Emery.  “We’ve come so close to winning here a bunch of times with URC (United Racing Company) and ESS.  It was nice to finally have things line up and work out for a change.”

Emery, of South Onondaga, N.Y., started on the front row of the 22 car field alongside Gordy Button.  At the green, Emery jumped out to the lead on the bottom of turns one and two.

By lap eight, Emery had amassed a second lead of the field and he began to battle with the slower traffic at the tail of the field.  He was nearly flawless in his Patterson Motorsports mount as he kept his on the bottom of the speedway.

“Lapped traffic kept washing up the speedway,” stated Emery.  “I stayed right on the bottom and had no trouble at all getting by them.”

The first caution of the event came out at the halfway point when the defending series champion Steve Poirier went up in smoke in turn four.  This closed the field up behind Emery with Lance Yonge and Justin Barger now right behind him.

On the restart, Emery was able to again bolt out in front of the field as Yonge and Barger tried to track him down.  Emery proved to be very strong in his Emery powered F5.

They got one final opportunity on lap 20 when the caution came out for Jason Barney as he rolled over onto his side in turn three.

Emery was perfect on the start and pulled away from Yonge and Barger one more time.  They were never able to challenge him for the lead as Emery kept his No. 33 on the bottom of the speedway.



“My car was great on the bottom all night long,” said Emery.  “I kept waiting for someone to poke their nose around the top but no one ever did.”



Emery got the win while Barger, of Montrose, N.Y., was able to sneak around Yonge with three laps remaining to finish in second with his Cortlandt Auto Body sponsored Maxim.  Barger started on the inside of the sixth row.



“Second isn’t that bad at all,” commented Barger.  “It was tough with the lapped traffic because the leader is on the backstretch and you are on the front stretch.  Hopefully one of these days we’ll get the opportunity to start up front.”



On the last restart, Barger moved into second with his Deming Ford powered mount but he couldn’t get by the slower car of Lee Ladouceur to challenge Emery for the race lead.



“I would have moved out of the way if I were a slower car and guys were racing for the lead but that is the way it goes,” said Barger.  “Emery was able to get too far away for me to do anything to get by him.” 



Yonge, a former series champion from Penn Yan, N.Y., finished third with his Castner Performance powered Maxim.  He started ninth in the field and utilized the bottom of the speedway to make his way forward.



“We got better as the race went on,” stated Yonge.  “I got to thank Dick (Spadaro) for that one.  He took care of the tires today.  We put new tires on and that was the key.  I wanted that last caution but the bleeder let a little too much air of the right rear and that made the car way too tight.”



Dan Kaszubinski, of Syracuse, N.Y., crossed the line in fourth while Chuck Hebing came from 21st starting position to complete the top five.



ESS/Fonda Notes:  A stout field of 30 sprints to kick off the 26th Anniversary Tour…Making first ever ESS starts were Mark Zemcik and Jay Shypinka…Both Steve Poirier (engine) and Chuck Hebing (rear end) had to switch to their back-up mounts after the heats…Jessica Zemken qualified for the A-Main but lost her brakes during the pace laps and was forced to scratch from the feature, Lee Ladouceur was the beneficiary Zemken’s misfortune to start the A-Main…Despite the hour and a half rain delay, the Fonda crew provided a very fast and racy surface…The Lucas Oil Tour will make another stop at Fonda on Sept. 26th as a part of McDonald’s Weekend. 

Herrington Farms A-Main (25 laps) - Doug Emery ($2,200), Justin Barger, Lance Yonge, Dan Kaszubinski, Chuck Hebing, Gordy Button, Jeff VanDusen, Michael Parent, George Suprick, Tommy Wickham, Jeff Cook, Mike Stelter, Tim Kelly, Lee Ladouceur, Brian McDonald, Anthony Cain, Rick Wilson, Jason Barney, Cory Sparks, Warren Alexson, Jared Fink, Steve Poirier.

Lap Leader - Emery 1-25.

Herrington Farms/Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 (10 laps) - Jason Barney, Lance Yonge, Tim Kelly, George Suprick, Jeff Cook, Brian McDonald.

Herrington Farms/Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 (10 laps) - Steve Poirier, Dan Kaszubinski, Rick Wilson, Jeff VanDusen, Tommy Wickham, Anthony Cain.

Herrington Farms/ Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 (10 laps) - Doug Emery, Jessica Zemken, Gordy Button, Justin Barger, Warren Alexson, Cory Sparks.

Winner's Circle/Cobra Motorhomes Dash (4 laps) - Jason Barney.

KSE Racing Products B-Main (10 laps) - Michael Parent, Mike Stelter, Jared Fink, Chuck Hebing.

Scratch - Jessica Zemken, Added Starter - Lee Ladouceur.

Did Not Qualify - Jim Porter, Matt Demitraszek, Brandon Warner, Mark Zemcik, James Hanson, Andy Noto, Jay Shypinka.