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Barger Gets Clean Sweep in ESS Opener at Black Rock
By MIKE MALLETT
DUNDEE, N.Y. – Justin Barger had the Sprint Car racing equivalent of a perfect game on Saturday night. Barger won his heat, captured the dash and then proceeded to claim his 11th career win in the 25th Anniversary Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint 25-lap A-Main season opener at the four-tenth mile Black Rock Speedway.
“This is a good way to start the season,” stated the 24-year-old Barger. “We won last year’s opener and hopefully we can keep picking them off as the season goes on.”
Barger, whose last victory came on July 21st of last year at the Fonda Speedway, was the class of the field in his Rider powered Maxim ride. He took the lead at the drop of the green flag and held on through several cautions to keep his No.32 out front.
Barger’s biggest challenge came on the final circuit as Bryan Howland got a run to his inside in the third and fourth turns. Barger came down to get underneath a slower car and he was able to block the line of Howland allowing him to win by a half car length at the checkered flag.
Howland, 20, of Auburn, N.Y., finished second after starting the race from the inside of the second row. Local favorite and former ESS champion, Lance Yonge, of Penn Yan, N.Y. finished third.
Chuck Hebing, of Ontario, N.Y., moved his way up from the 11th starting position to secure a fourth place run while Doug Emery of South Onondaga, N.Y. had a shock mount break late in the event causing him to fall from third to fifth in the closing laps.
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STARTING OUT FRONT: Barger, by the luck of the draw, started second and took the lead in the very first corner by utilizing the outside lane. Brian McDonald, who started on the pole, went to the bottom opening up the cushion for Barger.
SEVERAL RESTARTS: The field was slowed three times prior to the halfway point of the event. The initial caution flag came out with only three laps complete when Scott Bonnell, Tommy Wickham and George Suprick tangled in the fourth turn as they raced in the middle of the pack. Two laps later Anthony Cain and Michael Parent came together damaging the front of Parent’s no. 25. Tim Kelly brought out yet another caution on lap eight when he skated off the top of the speedway in turn three. After each caution, Barger was able to retain his advantage.
A GOOD CAUTION: On lap 16 the last caution came out for Brian McDonald when he spun in turn four. This caution cleared the track for Barger as he had just begun to encounter the slower cars running at the tail of the field.
“Those cautions seemed to fall at just the right time for me,” stated Barger. “The cautions opened up the track and I was happy because the car was really good on restarts. The only problem that I had was that it took a couple of laps to get my rhythm back.”
LOSING GROUND: Barger again gained the lead when the green came back. As the laps clicked off Barger continued to run out in front in his AEM Dryflow Air Filters sponsored mount, but Howland was starting to close the gap. Lap after lap Howland was able to make up more and more ground on Barger with his best chance to take the lead coming as the white flag was displayed.
HANGING ON BY A NOSE: Barger led off of turn two but Howland stayed with him as the raced down the back straightaway one final time. As they entered turn three, Barger went to the outside with Howland making the choice to run the bottom. When they exited the corner, Barger was forced to avoid the slower car of Normand Beaudreault and he came down the speedway. This move allowed him to win the event by half a car length over Howland.
“I saw him (Howland) get to my inside when we raced into three,” stated Barger. “The slower cars were side-by-side and I couldn’t get through so I had to come down and block him (Howland) a little bit.”
ALMOST GOT IT DONE: Howland, who started third, was almost able to pull off the upset on the final lap, but rather than make contact with Barger he got off the gas momentarily to avoid a collision.
“I had to check up so I didn’t get into him (Barger),” said Howland. “I didn’t want to drive into him to win the race. His car was on rails all night and he earned the win.”
SLOWER TRAFFIC KEY: Howland was able to close the gap on Barger partly because he was mired in heavy lapped traffic. Without the benefit of the slower traffic Howland may not have been able to make the race so close at the finish.
“On the longer green flag runs I was able to gain on him,” commented Howland. “He (Barger) had to slow up a little bit when he reached the rear of the field and I could make up some ground.”
VETERAN BATTLE: Yonge had a hard fought third place finish after battling for much of the event with Emery. Yonge and Emery battled it out for the position with Yonge taking the position for good on lap 16.
“Doug (Emery) and I have been at this a longtime,” commented Yonge. “We gave each other enough room but it was hard racing.”
RACE NOTES: A field of 28 sprints were on hand for ESS’ earliest opener since 2003…With the threat of rain all day, the Black Rock staff did a great job getting the show completed in just three hours…The early opener did see some teams not ready: Both Andy Noto and James Hanson were spectators while Gordy Button, Brandon Warner and Bobby Magner just couldn’t get their mounts ready in time…Both Jeff Cook and rookie Robbie Shuttleworth didn’t attend due to sprint break vacation…Making his first ever ESS full point show appearance was Josh Weller…Next up for the Lucas Oil tour will be a May 25th visit to the Utica-Rome Speedway for a $2,000 to win event. This race will also be the first part of the GSSI I-90 Challenge where there will be a $1,000 point fund being offered.
RACE RESULTS (4/12/08)
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Feature A-Main (25 laps): Justin Barger, Bryan Howland, Lance Yonge, Chuck Hebing, Doug Emery, Steve Poirier, Blake Breen, Josh Weller, Alain Bergeron, Jeff VanDusen, Dan Kaszubinski, Geoff Quakenbush, Jared Zimbardi, Normand Beaudreault, Brian McDonald, Bobby Breen, Gary Troutman, Scott Bonnell, Bubby Kerrick, Tim Kelly, Anthony Cain, Michael Parent, George Suprick, Tommy Wickham
KSE Racing Products B-Main (10 laps): Norman Beaudreault, George Suprick, Tommy Wickham, Gary Troutman
Lane’s Yamaha Walt’s Hobby Dash (4 laps): Justin Barger
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 (10 laps): Jared Zimbardi, Doug Emery, Scott Bonnell, Lance Yonge, Blake Breen, Geoff Quakenbush
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 (10 laps): Michael Parent, Josh Weller, Brian McDonald, Anthony Cain, Tim Kelly, Dan Kaszubinski
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 (10 laps): Justin Barger, Chuck Hebing, Bobby Breen, Bryan Howland, Steve Poirier, Alain Bergeron
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