By Curtis Berleue (Dundee, NY) | For the fourth time in his career, Jared Zimbardi found himself in Empire Super Sprints victory lane on Friday night at the Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY. As part of the 8th annual Outlaw Summer Nationals, Zimbardi’s triumph was worth a cool $3,565.
By virtue of draw, Pinnacle Pole Award winner Jonathan Preston and Jared Zimbardi led the field to the green flag, with Preston jumping out to the early advantage. For the first 17 laps, the top 3 would remain unchanged, with Preston pacing Zimbardi and third starting Jordan Thomas.
Meanwhile, 13th starting Shawn Donath was busy working his way through the field, en-route to earning the PJC Spray Foam hard charger award by advancing all the way to the 5th position.
As the leaders hit lap 18, Zimbardi, Thomas, and Preston put on a clinic trading slide jobs and positions. When the dust settled, it was Zimbardi who came out on top, with Preston close on his heels and Thomas rounding out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium.
“This car is a 10-year-old J&J Chassis,” said Zimbardi. “We have had a lot of success in it over the years. I haven’t bought a lot of new equipment recently, we have just gone back to what we know, put the same setup in it that has been fast for us and it didn’t disappoint.”
“We weren’t really convinced we were on the right track after the heat race, but we made a few changes and hit it just right.”
“When I started to see Preston struggle with lap traffic, I knew we would have a shot. I actually didn’t see him get over the cushion because I was watching the lap cars and next thing I knew I slipped by him.”
“It feels good to be in victory lane again, my six-year-old son Vinny has been giving me grief wanting to get on the wing in victory lane and he’s finally able to do it – he was pretty ecstatic when he pulled the 2 in the redraw too. Being my 50th career win, this one is a little more special.”
On one of the hottest nights of the season thus far, 22 cars lined the pit area at Outlaw. The field was split into three timed hot lap groups, with Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards going to Joe Trenca, Jonathan Preston, and Jordan Thomas. Trenca, Preston and Thomas would all go 2-for2, picking up E&V Energy heat race wins as well. The Cobra Coaches Dash presented by Fratto Curbing was won by Shawn Donath.
Next on the schedule for the Empire Super Sprints is a two-race weekend this coming Friday and Saturday August 4th and 5th at the Utica Rome and Fonda Speedways. 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, August 4 – Utica-Rome Speedway – Vernon, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Saturday, August 5 – Fonda Speedway – Fonda, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Friday, August 25 – Autodrome Granby – Granby, QC ($3,000 to Win)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. #35-Jared Zimbardi[2]; 2. #22-Jonathan Preston[1]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 4. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[5]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[13]; 6. #87-Jason Barney[7]; 7. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[12]; 8. #98-Joe Trenca[10]; 9. #90-Matt Tanner[11]; 10. 28-Jordan Poirier[9]; 11. #10H-Kelly Hebing[4]; 12. #10-Jeff Cook[6]; 13. #41-Dalton Rombough[14]; 14. #36-Logan Crisafulli[8]; 15. 11J-Chris Jones[17]; 16. 11T-Mike Thompson[15]; 17. #3-Parker Evans[18]; 18. #8-Nick Fratto[21]; 19. #13T-Trevor Years[19]; 20. #X-Dan Bennett[20]; 21. 29D-Dylan Menditto[22]; 22. (DNF) #13-Keith Granholm[16]
Fratto Curbing Dash (4 Laps): 1. #53-Shawn Donath[1]; 2. #41-Dalton Rombough[4]; 3. 11T-Mike Thompson[5]; 4. #13-Keith Granholm[2]; 5. 11J-Chris Jones[6]; 6. (DNS) #3-Parker Evans
E&V Energy Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. #98-Joe Trenca[1]; 2. #10-Jeff Cook[2]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. #35-Jared Zimbardi[5]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[8]; 6. #41-Dalton Rombough[4]; 7. #13T-Trevor Years[6]; 8. #8-Nick Fratto[7]
E&V Energy Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. #22-Jonathan Preston[1]; 2. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[2]; 3. #90-Matt Tanner[4]; 4. #87-Jason Barney[3]; 5. #13-Keith Granholm[6]; 6. 11T-Mike Thompson[5]; 7. 29D-Dylan Menditto[7]
E&V Energy Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 2. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[2]; 3. #10H-Kelly Hebing[3]; 4. #36-Logan Crisafulli[4]; 5. #3-Parker Evans[6]; 6. 11J-Chris Jones[5]; 7. #X-Dan Bennett[7]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #98-Joe Trenca; #22-Jonathan Preston; #79-Jordan Thomas
E&V Energy Heat Winners ($25 each): #98-Joe Trenca; #22-Jonathan Preston; #79-Jordan Thomas
Cobra Coaches / Fratto Curbing Dash Winner ($100): #53-Shawn Donath
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #22-Jonathan Preston
PJC Spray Foam Hard Charger Award ($50): #53-Shawn Donath (+8)
PJC Spray Foam Reverse Hard Charger Award ($50): #10H-Kelly Hebing (-7)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($35): #29D-Dylan Menditto
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place (5 gallons fuel): #10H-Kelly Hebing
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #35-Jared Zimbardi; #22 Jonathan Preston, #79-Jordan Thomas
- Barbara Patterson on Jul 29, 2023
- Article Date: 7/29/2023 by Curtis Berleue