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Danny Varin Wins Night 2 of ESS CNY Speedweek at Utica-Rome

By Curtis Berleue (Vernon, NY) | For the second time in 2023, Danny Varin found himself in Empire Super Sprints Victory Lane, this time at the Utica-Rome Speedway for the Bill Shea Memorial night as part of the 2023 ESS CNY Speedweek.

Leading the field to the green flag in the 25-lap main event were Pinnacle Pole Award winner Chuck Hebing and Jeff Cook. As the field made their way through turns one and two, Hebing would jump out to an early lead over Cook and the #01 of Danny Varin.

The first caution of the event flew on lap 3 for the #22 of Jonathan Preston, who got over the bank in turn 2 while running in 12th.

On the ensuing restart, Danny Vain was able to slip by the #10 of Cook, and the following lap continued right by Hebing to take the lead. As Varin pulled away, Cook fought his way back into the second spot past Hebing.

While Cook began to track down Varin for the lead, last nights winner Jordan Poirier was busy passing cars and had made his way into the top 3 from his 7th starting position by lap 15.

As the lead duo reached lap traffic, Varin was able to use the slower cars to his advantage and put some distance between himself and Cook.

A caution for Lacey Hanson bunched the field up and gave the field one more shot at improving their finish. As the green flag waved again, Hebing was able to get back by both Poirier and Cook and make a last-ditch effort to get by Varin, but ultimately he had nothing for the #01 and Varin would pick up his second ESS victory of 2023.

“The track was tricky tonight, it was almost like you had something to lean on with your right rear, but the left rear was slick,” said Varin in victory lane. “When I got past Cobra, I moved down a lane and felt better there.”

“Towards the end, I kept seeing Cook poke his nose under me, and I said, ‘I think the bottom is where we have to be’ and at the end it felt good down there.

Starting on the pole, Chuck Hebing led the first handful of laps before falling back as far as 4th before rebounding for a second-place finish.

“We had a good car all night,” said Hebing. “That restart helped me, nobody wanted the top so I gave it one more shot and it worked out.”

Rounding out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium was Jeff Cook.

“I was doggin’ him (Varin) pretty hard on the bottom there for a while,” said Cook. “Once he saw me keep coming to his inside, a good racer – which he is – will take care of that pretty quick.”

“We’ve been working at our program really hard, hopefully it will come around our way soon.”

With 30 cars signed into the pit area, the field was split into three timed hot lap groups to start the night. Earning Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time Awards were Shawn Donath, Jordan Thomas and Chuck Hebing. E&V Energy heat race wins went to Dylan Swiernik, Danny Varin and Paulie Colagiovanni, while the Cobra Coaches/Kinney’s Car Care dash was won by Shawn Donath.

In B-Main action, Logan Crisafulli picked up the win and punched his ticket into the A-Main along with Josh Pieniazek, Jordan Thomas, Tyler Cartier, Bobby Breen and Lacey Hanson.

The 2023 ESS CNY Speedweek continues tonight, June 30th at the Brewerton Speedway in Brewerton, 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, June 30 – Brewerton Speedway – Brewerton, NY ($2,500 to Win CNY Speedweek)

Saturday, July 1 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,500 to Win CNY Speedweek)

Friday, July 14 – Freedom Motorsports Park – Delevan, NY ($2,000 to Win)

Full Results:

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. #01-Danny Varin[4]; 2. #45-Chuck Hebing[1]; 3. #10-Jeff Cook[2]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier[7]; 5. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[9]; 6. #87-Jason Barney[24]; 7. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[8]; 8. #90-Matt Tanner[5]; 9. 56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[16]; 10. #99K-Mike Kiser[6]; 11. #53-Shawn Donath[13]; 12. #28F-Davie Franek[11]; 13. #3-Parker Evans[15]; 14. #79-Jordan Thomas[20]; 15. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[10]; 16. #41-Dalton Rombough[17]; 17. #36-Logan Crisafulli[18]; 18. #13T-Trevor Years[3]; 19. #4P-Chase Moran[25]; 20. 9B-Bobby Breen[22]; 21. #33-Lacey Hanson[23]; 22. #7NY-Matt Farnham[12]; 23. #22-Jonathan Preston[14]; 24. #9-Josh Pieniazek[19]; 25. #23-Tyler Cartier[21]

B-Main (10 Laps): 1. #36-Logan Crisafulli[1]; 2. #9-Josh Pieniazek[3]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[8]; 4. #23-Tyler Cartier[2]; 5. 9B-Bobby Breen[6]; 6. #33-Lacey Hanson[7]; 7. #4P-Chase Moran[4]; 8. #13-Keith Granholm[5]; 9. 29-Dalton Herrick[10]; 10. (DNS) #87-Jason Barney; 11. (DNS) 5Z-Zack Burd; 12. (DNS) #10H-Kelly Hebing

Kinney’s Car Care Dash (4 Laps): 1. #53-Shawn Donath[1]; 2. #22-Jonathan Preston[3]; 3. #3-Parker Evans[4]; 4. 56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 5. #41-Dalton Rombough[5]; 6. (DNS) #88C-Chad Miller

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[1]; 2. #7NY-Matt Farnham[3]; 3. #28F-Davie Franek[2]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[6]; 6. #3-Parker Evans[4]; 7. #36-Logan Crisafulli[7]; 8. #4P-Chase Moran[8]; 9. #33-Lacey Hanson[10]; 10. 29-Dalton Herrick[9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. #01-Danny Varin[4]; 2. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[2]; 3. #13T-Trevor Years[1]; 4. #99K-Mike Kiser[5]; 5. #88C-Chad Miller[7]; 6. #41-Dalton Rombough[3]; 7. #23-Tyler Cartier[8]; 8. #13-Keith Granholm[9]; 9. #79-Jordan Thomas[6]; 10. (DNS) 5Z-Zack Burd

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[4]; 2. #10-Jeff Cook[1]; 3. #45-Chuck Hebing[6]; 4. #90-Matt Tanner[2]; 5. #22-Jonathan Preston[5]; 6. 56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[8]; 7. #9-Josh Pieniazek[7]; 8. 9B-Bobby Breen[9]; 9. #87-Jason Barney[3]; 10. (DNS) #10H-Kelly Hebing

Awards & Contingencies:

Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #53-Shawn Donath, #79-Jordan Thomas, #45-Chuck Hebing

E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #7C-Dylan Swiernik, #01-Danny Varin, #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni

Cobra Coaches / Kinney’s Car Care Dash Winner ($100): #53-Shawn Donath

Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #36-Logan Crisafulli

PJC Spray Foam First Non-Qualifier ($50): #13-Keith Granholm

Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #45-Chuck Hebing

PJC Spray Foam Hard Charger Award ($50): #87-Jason Barney (+18)

Reverse Hard Charger Award: #13T-Trevor Years (-15)

Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($35): #9B-Bobby Breen

Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #53-Shawn Donath

Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #01-Danny Varin, #45-Chuck Hebing, #10-Jeff Cook

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