by Dean Reynolds
OHSWEKEN, ONT. – It was a classic battle among two of the best with the Empire Super Sprints Friday night at the Ohsweken Speedway. Second and third in points, Doug Emery and Dan Kaszubinski waged a fast paced battle in front of the largest crowd ever at Glen Styres’ quick 3/8ths mile oval. An inside sweeping move coming off turn two on lap 20 by Kaszubinski was the key move in taking the checkered flag first during the 25 lap Spectro Oils Canadian Invasion Series event.
“I can’t believe I passed Doug Emery on the inside!” exclaimed the exciting Syracuse, N.Y. driver that usually hugs the cushion for all it’s worth. “Actually my car was working good all over the track but there was this lane right in the middle that helped me catch Doug. I was hoping to have enough laps and maybe use lap cars.”
Emery took the lead from Don Sharp Jr. right at the halfway mark and he was using the extreme outside of the Ohsweken oval. Kaszubinski’s Autotech of Syracuse Maxim did the same pass of Sharp just one lap later and the chase was on. As the laps clicked by everyone in the house was noticing the drama as the second place car was closing in on the first.
A lap 18 caution closed the gap for good and when the green lights shined it was game on! Emery stayed to the groove that was working best for his Patterson Motorsports #33, Kaszubinski was just using any lane that the leader wasn’t in.
“I was fast up top but I just knew it wasn’t fast enough as I could tell he was trying to go under me. I saw him a few times so I had to try something to hold him back.” noted Emery who was now on defense of his lead. “I guess it was lap 20, I tried to take his lane away going into one but the car hooked a small hole and jumped a groove. That was all the room he needed.”
Kaszubinski tale was exactly the same. “I saw Doug go low but when his car pushed up I had a lane and took advantage of it. After that I figured he would go back up top as it seemed his car was the best there so I went there to. I guess it worked as we got the win.”
A caution with four laps to go bunched the two up but it was status quo with Kaszubinski opening up a slight lead to collect his 21st. career win and second of the season. Emery continues his string of consistent finishes with a fine second over Lance Yonge who has also put together a strong start to 2004 as he continues to lead both ESS overall and Spectro Oil points. Billy Krull finally saw some good luck come his way with a fourth place finish over Canadian teenager Cody Geldart who brought his Ohsweken Speedway backed sprinter from 14th. Rounding out the top ten were Jeff VanDusen, Sharp Jr., Keith Dempster, Mike Stelter and Tim Kelly.
Four cautions did slow the pace but all were for minor one-car spins: Kyle Moffit on lap three, Luke Eriksen on lap nine, Warren Mahoney in turn one on lap 18 and Moffit again on lap 21.
Taking the Engler Machine and Tool heats were Moffit, Sharp Jr., and Kelly. The Walt’s Hobby Dash was claimed by Emery and the KSE Racing Products B-Main was taken by Brad Knab.
ESS NOTES: A solid field of 28 sprinters filled the pit area…All in ESS would like to thank Pete Turford and the entire Southern Ontario Sprints group for their tremendous support. SOS drivers in Geldart, Dempster, Mahoney, Kyle Patrick , Mark Schulz, Daryl Turford and Jamie Collard joined ESS for some fun…Alain Bergeron had a night he would like to forget as he flipped his main sprinter in the heat. During the B-Main the engine in the back-up blew so the crew had to thrash the first car back into shape. The night wasn’t all lost as Bergeron did come through to finish in 12th to collect the Lane’s Yamaha hard charger bonus…Alex Mosher blew his motor (Bergeron hit him when he lost power to cause the flip) in the heat and he was done for the weekend…Promoter Glenn Styres watched the event on this night and was pleased with the huge crowd on hand. The stars and cars of the Empire Super Sprints will make a return to Ohsweken again in 2005.
RESULTS:
Heat 1 – Kyle Moffit, Randy Years, Cody Geldhart, Dan Kaszubinski, Mike Stelter, Nick Fratto.
Heat 2 – Don Sharp Jr., Jeff VanDusen, Jeff Cook, Warren Mahoney, Luke Eriksen, Bob Podolak.
Heat 3 – Tim Kelly, Doug Emery, Lance Yonge, Billy Krull, Bubby Kerrick, Keith Dempster.
Walt’s Hobby Dash – Emery.
B-Main – Brad Knab, John Karklin Jr., Mark Schulz, Kyle Patrick.
Did Not Qualify – Alex Mosher, Jamie Collard, Daryl Turford, Brian Glasser.
A-MAIN – DAN KASZUBINSKI, Emery, Yonge, Krull, Geldhart, VanDusen, Sharp Jr., Dempster, Stelter, Kelly, Cook, Bergeron, Mahoney, Patrick, Kerrick, Schulz, Karklin Jr., Knab, Fratto, Years, Moffit, Eriksen, Podolak, Mott.
Gater Racing News Lap Leaders – Sharp Jr., 1-12, Emery 13-20, Kaszubinski 21-25.
Lane’s Yamaha Hard Charger – Bergeron (11 pos.) $50.
Brodix Cylinder Heads Halfway – Emery $50.
Winner’s Bonuses: Car-Mate Trailers $50, ATL Fuel Cells $100, Hank’s Performance Products $50, Total Seal $50, Real Racing Wheels $50, American Racer Tires $50, Penske Shocks $100, Racing Optics $30, Frankland Racing Products $25, The Race Depot $25, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse $20, MRE Productions $10.
Other Bonuses:
Weld Racing Hard Luck – Bergeron $100.
Leaf Racewear – Yonge $75.
M & W Aluminum Products – Bergeron $75.
Penske Shocks – Kelly $100.
Design 500 – Years $100, Geldart $50.
Saldana Racing Products – Emery $50.
Zemco Headers – Geldart $50.
B&B Oval Track Products – Sharp Jr. $50.
Joe Hunt Magnetos – Eriksen $50.
KSE Racing Products – Karklin Jr. $50.
Engler Machine and Tool – Moffit, Kelly, Sharp Jr. $25.
DMI – Mott $25.
HRP – Bergeron $25.
Pos. Car # Driver
1 20 Dan Kaszubinski
2 33 Doug Emery – Halfway – Dash
3 17J Lance Yonge
4 7K Billy Krull
5 6 Cody Geldhart
6 56D Jeff VanDusen
7 28NH Donny Sharp Jr – 2nd Heat
8 5K Keith Dempster
9 36 Mike Stelter
10 12 Tim Kelly – 3rd Heat
11 10C Jeff Cook
12 8B Alain Bergeron
13 25 Warren Mahoney
14 33K Kyle Patrick
15 61 Bubby Kerrick
16 32S Mark Schulz
17 69K John Karklin Jr
18 38 Brad Knab – B-Main
19 F1 Nick Fratto
20 2 Randy Years
21 77 Kyle Moffitt – 1st Heat
22 22E Luke Eriksen
23 7 Bobby Podolak
24 5M Phil Mott
DNQ 41M Alex Mosher
DNQ 93 Daryl Turford
DNQ 33C Jamie Collard
DNQ 20G Brain Glasser
car # MR. DIRT SPORTSMAN CHAMPIONSHIP TRAIL WEST FEATURE
1st #26 Scott George
2nd #19j Rob Ledingham
3rd #77 Bill Willard
4th #20 Jay Mallory
5th #9 Boyd Mactavish
6th #44 Lee Mallory
7th #1j Joe Meisel
8th #94 Stan Zanchin
9th #8c Wayne Conn
10th #1 Adam Ferri
11th #19j Greg Panunte
12th #56 Dereck Lemyre
13th #3D Dick Park Jr.
14th #20k Rick St. Pierre
15th #0x Bernard Nieburg
16th #108 Bill Bleich
17th #7 Steve Ruddy
18th #12 Chad Chevalier
19th #01 Mike Kruchka
20th #9j Tim Zack
21st #11Z Allan Blanchard
22nd #14 Greg Wilson
23rd #31 John Burbridge Jr
24th #20I KYLE INMAN
25th #0 Russ Hefti
26th #111 Kevin Wells
27th #13 Dennis Giannola
car # STREET STOCK FEATURE
1st #20 Lindsey Riley
2nd #3 Brad Bacher
3rd 24A A.J.Lewis
4th #11 Michelle Johnson
5th #90 David Brewster
6th #40 Terry Osmond
7th #32 Dave Vogt
8th #14 Amanda Stoner
9th #53 Russ Davidson
10th #69 Rick Simons
11th #5 Jeff Burke
12th #33 Dean Robillard
13th #21 Blake Bombery Sr.
14th #17 Craig Ayers
15th #15 Bill Law ns
16th #1 Mike Cripps ns
Car # MINI STOCK FEATURE
1st #14 MARC HALLETT
2nd #111 ROBBIE ROUNCE
3rd #79 Dan Miller
4th 69e Dan Erskine
5th #2 LEE WINGER
6th #5 Dave/Rick Robinson
7th #11 MIKE GIBERSON
8th #9 Glen Lienen
9th #222 DAVE MAGRIN
10th 17H Kevin Soules
11th mt50 SHARI TURNER
12th #05 DAVID GOODACRE
13th #89 Steve Miller
14th #07 BRAD CRONKWRIGHT
15th #56 Kevin Slater
16th #86 RICK EMBERSON
17th #64 DOUG ERSKINE
18th #191 Gord Bates
19th 27eh Dan stewart
20th #31 A & A Castelein
21st #13 TED HALLETT
22nd #265 MIKE EVERS
23rd #83 Stan Farmer
24th #148 KEVIN MT.PLEASANT
25th #77 John Held NS
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