By Curtis Berleue (LaFargeville, NY) | After waiting nearly two and a half months to complete what he started, Dalton Rombough is an Empire Super Sprints winner. After rain postponed the A-Main of the $2,500 to win ESS CNY Speedweek event at Can-Am, the remainder of the program was completed on Friday September 11. Rombough earned his first Empire Super Sprints victory on dirt, having won previously on Asphalt in the non-points Kevin Ward Jr. Memorial event at Evans Mills.
Alex Therrien led the field to green, with Dylan Swiernik to his outside. Therrien grabbed the lead off turn two, but he had to fend off a slide job from Swiernik in three and four. Jordan Thomas dropped into third, with Jordan Poirier and Zach Sobotka completing the top five.
A lap two restart again saw Therrien take the lead over Swiernik and Poirier. Swiernik was not to be denied, though, as he took the lead on the extreme top side just two corners later.
The top three remained close enough to throw a blanket over for the next handful of laps. Poirier was able to get by Therrien on lap nine, but Therrien took it right back.
Another restart on lap 10 this time saw Jordan Thomas come from fourth to the lead off of turn two utilizing the extreme high side of the speedway. He would immediately open up a 10 car-length advantage over Swiernik and Poirier.
Behind the leaders, Dalton Rombough had quietly worked into the top five from his 13th starting position. By lap 19, he had gotten by Swiernik for third.
While Thomas had opened up a two-second lead, Rombough set his eyes on Poirier, and made his way into second just two laps later.
In just a lap, Rombough cut Thomas' lead in half, and with one to go, was close enough to attack off turn two. Thomas was unable to fight back, and Rombough would cross the finish line first for his first ESS win on dirt.
"We had a good car earlier tonight and I think I just over adjusted for the feature," said Rombough in victory lane. "This one I just didn't second guess myself, and we got her here."
"I saw it was two to go and I just put it right to the floorboard, it was what it was at that point. Luckily, I got to him before the last corner and he didn't see me coming."
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Jordan Thomas finished second after leading the second half of the A-Main.
"I figured somebody would be coming there late," said Thomas. "The way the night started, the engine was running on seven cylinders but we got it figured out for the first feature."
Jordan Poirier rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
"Hats off to all my team," said Poirier. "We changed everything, the second car wasn't ready so we had to change the whole rear end, bird cage, everything.
"My car was good in the middle, we missed a few things we could have changed inside the cockpit. A third place like that with a car we just put together 15 minutes ago, I'll take that."
30 cars signed into the pits on July 1 before the rain came, splitting the field into three timed hot lap groups. Shawn Donath, Jordan Hutton and Danny Varin earned Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards, while Jordan Poirier, Jordan Thomas and Dale Curran won Elab Smokers Boutique heat races. 17 cars returned to finish the program on Friday September 11, so the B-Main and Dash were not completed.
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), X (@ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, Hoosier Racing Tire, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Elab Smokers Boutique, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Wilwood Disc Brakes, FX Caprara, Ashley Lynn Winery, Slade Shock Technology, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Bicknell Racing Products, Swagger Factory, PJC Sprayfoam, Donath Motor Worx, Transport Benoit Lafleur, All Star Performance, Stirling Lubricants, Trenca & Co. Realty, Speedway Press, Primal Tee, and Glenn Styres Racing.
The ESS Road Ahead: Friday, September 18 - Ohsweken Speedway - Ohsweken, ONT (Night Before the Nationals) Friday, September 18 - Ohsweken Speedway - Ohsweken, ONT (Northern Sprint Car the Nationals) Friday, September 25 - Outlaw Speedway - Dundee, NY ($4,000 to Win Outlaw Fall Nationals)
Full Results: A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 41-Dalton Rombough[13]; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[2]; 5. 38-Zach Sobotka[8]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[7]; 7. 28F-Davie Franek[12]; 8. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[10]; 9. 90-Matt Tanner[6]; 10. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[14]; 11. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[9]; 12. Z28-Tucker Donath[18]; 13. 33-Lacey Hanson[16]; 14. 13T-Trevor Years[19]; 15. 25-George Sanford[17]; 16. 3W-Nick Webb[11]; 17. (DNS) 53-Shawn Donath; 18. (DNS) 87-Jason Barney; 19. (DQ) 21T-Alex Therrien[1] Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 2. 21T-Alex Therrien[2]; 3. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath[4]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[5]; 6. 5-DJ Christie[10]; 7. 41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 8. 87-Jason Barney[8]; 9. 3-Logan Crisafulli[7]; 10. 25G-Tyler Graves[9] Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 2. 4V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[3]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[4]; 4. 6-Ryan Coniam[2]; 5. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[5]; 6. 28F-Davie Franek[6]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres[10]; 8. 33-Lacey Hanson[7]; 9. 25-George Sanford[8]; 10. 16-Anthony Fiorentino[9] Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 31C-Dale Curran[1]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner[2]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 4. 01-Danny Varin[4]; 5. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[8]; 6. 3W-Nick Webb[6]; 7. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[5]; 8. 13E-Evan Reynolds[9]; 9. Z28-Tucker Donath[7]; 10. (DNF) 13T-Trevor Years[10] Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 53-Shawn Donath, 17.988[5]; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik, 18.293[3]; 3. 21T-Alex Therrien, 18.514[2]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier, 18.631[10]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca, 18.656[6]; 6. 41-Dalton Rombough, 18.689[4]; 7. 3-Logan Crisafulli, 18.735[8]; 8. 87-Jason Barney, 18.762[7]; 9. 25G-Tyler Graves, 18.989[9]; 10. 5-DJ Christie, 19.348[1] Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 66-Jordan Hutton, 18.799[2]; 2. 4V-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 18.885[6]; 3. 6-Ryan Coniam, 18.963[7]; 4. 79-Jordan Thomas, 18.972[5]; 5. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni, 19.097[4]; 6. 28F-Davie Franek, 19.325[3]; 7. 33-Lacey Hanson, 19.407[1]; 8. 25-George Sanford, 20.010[9]; 9. 16-Anthony Fiorentino, 20.100[8]; 10. 0-Glenn Styres, 20.403[10] Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 01-Danny Varin, 18.785[7]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka, 19.194[3]; 3. 90-Matt Tanner, 19.240[6]; 4. 31C-Dale Curran, 19.255[5]; 5. 24-Jeremy Lafleur, 19.664[2]; 6. 3W-Nick Webb, 19.684[1]; 7. Z28-Tucker Donath, 19.745[9]; 8. 17-Sammy Reakes IV, 19.902[10]; 9. 13E-Evan Reynolds, 20.130[8]; 10. 13T-Trevor Years, 20.406[4]
Awards & Contingencies (full members only eligible for payout): Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #53-Shawn Donath; #66-Jordan Hutton, #01-Danny Varin Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #61-Jordan Poirier; #79-Jordan Thomas; #31C-Dale Curran Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #38-Zach Sobotka King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #24-Jeremy Lafleur Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #17-Sammy Reakes IV Swagger Factory 12th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #90-Matt Tanner Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #33-Lacey Hanson All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #13T-Trevor Years A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #41-Dalton Rombough (+12) PJC Sprayfoam Reverse Hard Charger ($100): #3-Denny Peebles (-5) Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #41-Dalton Rombough; #79-Jordan Thomas; #28-Jordan Poirier Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): $98-Joe Trenca Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #41-Dalton Rombough
