Zemken Uses Last Lap Pass to Win Lucas Oil ESS Main at Utica-Rome

By MIKE MALLETT

VERON, N.Y. – Jessica Zemken had to overcome a lot of disappointment on Saturday night after her car lost brakes prior to the start of the A-Main at Fonda Speedway.  She wanted to win one for her hometown fans.

On Sunday night, many of those same fans rose to their feet as Zemken made a daring three-wide pass to take the lead for the first time and then as she drove to the bottom of turn three to retake the lead in slower traffic on final lap to win her second career Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint SUNY Canton Series 25-lap A-Main.

“We had a really bad night last night,” said Zemken.  “We really wanted that one because Fonda (Speedway) is our home track.   We didn’t even get to start the race last night and that was disappointing, but to come out here tonight and win at a track we’ve struggled a little bit at is awesome.”

The main-event got underway with a two lap duel by front row starters Cory Sparks and Dan Kaszubinski.  This was won by Kaszubinski on the second circuit.

Kaszubinski looked strong for the first nine laps but misfortune struck when he had the drive line let go as he came off of turn four.  This caused him to slow and it brought out the caution on lap nine as he left pieces on the track in turn four.  This handed the lead to Chuck Hebing.24

Once Hebing assumed command of the feature, he was never able to get away from the field as Lance Yonge and Zemken were working their way up through the field from their middle of the pack starting positions.

Hebing was the leader when the final caution of the event came out on lap 15.  Jeff VanDusen slid off the top of turn four in his Guy Howie owned ride.  This set up a nose to tail restart with Yonge and Zemken tight to the back of Hebing’s No. 45.

At the green, Yonge drove under Hebing in turn one but he was unable to complete the pass for the lead which allowed Zemken to tuck under him on the bottom of the turn two to set up a three car race for the lead.

The trio continued to battle as Hebing continued to run the high side of the speedway with Yonge in the middle and Zemken never taking her Maxim off the bottom of the big half-mile. 

This paid off for her as on lap 18 she went three wide with Hebing and Yonge to drive by both of them on the bottom of turns one and two.

“I noticed those guys getting looser and looser on the top,” said Zemken.  “I knew I had to try something.  I had run the top for a couple of laps but the car didn’t feel very good up there.  I knew there would be some bite down on the bottom and when I moved down there it worked.”

Zemken pulled away from both Hebing and Yonge but a new challenger emerged as Mike Stelter’s No. 36 began to come to the front. 

Zemken led until lap 23 when she encountered slower traffic running her line on the bottom allowing Stelter to drive by her on the outside of turn two for the lead. 

“When Stelter got by me I knew that I had to be patient,” commented Zemken.  “He was good from the middle to the top and I was only good on the bottom.  I knew I had to stay on the bottom or I was going to end up buzzing my tires and losing ground to him (Stelter).”

Although she lost the lead she continued to stay on the bottom after she cleared the slower car.  She tracked down Stelter and on the final lap in the final turn she stuck her car underneath Stelter as they raced into turn three.  She squeezed her way by both Stelter and a slower car to earn her the win and the $2,000 top prize.

“When we got to traffic I knew it was going to be a little bit rough on the bottom,” commented Zemken.  “I didn’t want to get off the bottom at all because I knew that was I had to be.  I thought I was going to be in a wreck (turn three) when I got into the lapped car on the last lap.  I had to go for it so I drove it in there and it stuck.” 

Stelter ended up getting together with the slower car and the contact caused him to spin around forcing the race to end under the yellow and checkered flags.  The benefactor of this was Tim Kelly, of Rock Stream, N.Y.  Kelly earned his way into the A-Main after winning the B-Main event.  As a result of running that extra 10-lap event, the crew worked on his Avenger chassis and got it to near perfection as he was able to finish second behind Zemken.

“It actually helped us by running the B-Main,” said Kelly.  “We got to change the car around a little bit and it really made a big difference in the end.”

Kelly was running in third when Zemken and Stelter nearly came together in turn three causing some concern that he may be collected in an accident.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” stated Kelly.  “I was hoping Mike (Stelter) wasn’t going to keep spinning.”

Yonge chased Hebing for much of the race but he was unable to get by him for the lead in the middle of the corner which allowed Zemken to get by on the bottom.  As a result of Stelter’s misfortune on the final lap, he ended up crossing the line third.

“It kind of hurt me battling with Chuck (Hebing) because I burned my tires up a little bit,” stated Yonge.  “Then Jessica (Zemken) snuck under both of us.  I’m real happy though that we ended up third.”

Steve Poirier started eighth on the field and patiently worked his way forward with his Eagle mount to earn his best finish of the season as he came home fourth.  Like Kelly, Tommy Wickham came through the B-Main to earn a fifth place finish.

ESS/Utica-Rome Notes: A solid field of 34 sprints played host to a packed house as a part of Memorial Day Weekend…Making first ever ESS starts were Joe August and Matt Tanner…First starts for ’09 were Daniel Lampron, Bubby Kerrick and Jeff Frasier…Lee Ladouceur had engine troubles after warm-ups and was scratched for the rest of the night…ESS will make two more stops to Gene Cole’s half-mile on July 5th and Sept. 6th, also part of the SUNY Canton Series…Next weekend is the first two events of the Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Car Series with stops at Ohsweken and Merrittville.

SUNY Canton Series A-Main - Jessica Zemken ($2,000), Tim Kelly, Lance Yonge, Steve Poirier, Tommy Wickham, Chuck Hebing, Cory Sparks, Doug Emery, Justin Barger, Bubby Kerrick, Brandon Warner, George Suprick, Michael Parent, Anthony Cain, Rick Wilson, Jeff VanDusen, Mike Stelter, Daniel Lampron, Jeff Cook, Brian McDonald, Warren Alexson, Jason Barney, Gordy Button, Dan Kaszubinski.

Lap Leaders - Sparks 1, Kaszubinski 2-9, Hebing 10-17, Zemken 17-22, Stelter 23,24, Zemken 25.

Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 - Mike Stelter, Cory Sparks, Doug Emery, Jeff VanDusen, Justin Barger, George Suprick.

Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 - Chuck Hebing. Michael Parent, Jessica Zemken, Gordy Button, Anthony Cain, Warren Alexson.

Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 - Dan Kaszubinski, Jason Barney, Steve Poirier, Lance Yonge, Bubby Kerrick, Brandon Warner.

Walton's Farm and Auto Repair/Cobra Motorhomes Dash - Mike Stelter

KSE Racing Products B-Main - Tim Kelly, Daniel Lampron, Brian McDonald, Tommy Wickham.

Added Starters - Jeff Cook, Rick Wilson.

Did Not Qualify - Matt Demitraszek, Jeff Frasier, Matt Tanner, Lee Ladouceur, Andy Noto, Joe August, Mark Zemcik, Jared Fink, James Hanson, Jim Porter.

Cash Sponsors:
SUNY Canton A-Main – Zemken $400
Ohsweken Speedway Winner’s Bonus – Zemken $100
Les Constructions Ultra Halfway – Hebing $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger – Kelly (17 pos.) $50
Cook’s Contracting Bridesmaid Bonus – Kelly $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers – Stelter, Hebing, Kaszubinski $25