HOGANSBURG, N.Y. – Davie Franek sprinted to victory in Friday’s 25-lap Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint feature at Mohawk Int’l Raceway.
Franek would make the pass for the lead off turn two with a bold three wide move on Matt Tanner and Shawn Donath and begin to pull away from the field on the opening circuit.
By lap 10 Franek enjoyed a solid straight away lead but behind him everyone was looking to avoid making a mistake as Tanner, Donath, Patrick Vigneault and Kyle Moffit completed the top-five.
Traffic became the issue just past the halfway point and Franek was doing a masterful job at picking his spots and working through the slower traffic without any issues but behind him the battle from second on back was intense with positions being traded back and forth between Tanner, Donath, Moffit and Josh Pieniazek, who began to show his strength as he slipped into the top-five by lap 17.
It appeared the race was going to go caution free, but Jason Barney changed all that as he broke his front end on lap 22, slowing to a stop in turn one. On the final restart without any traffic to deal with, Franek was able to pull away from the field to record his first win of the year with the Empire Super Sprints.
Tanner would hold on for second, with Moffit, Donath and Pieniazek completing the top-five.
Other winners Friday at Mohawk Int’l Raceway included Eric Sundborg in the Quebec Lightning Sprints, Brian Hudson in the Crossroads Tobacco Sportsman, Nolan Swamp in the Novice Sportsman, Nick Mallette in Mod Lites and Francis White in the Bandit division.
The finish:
Davie Franke, Matt Tanner, Kyle Moffit, Shawn Donath, Josh Pieniazek, Steve Poirier, Alex Vigneault, Brett Wright, Paulie Colagiovanni, Scott Holcomb, Jordan Poirier, Chuck Hebing, Billy VanInwegen, Jeff Cook, Denny Peebles, Dale Gosselin, Pete Richardson, Parker Evans, Tyler Cartier, Jason Barney, Chad Miller, Chris Jones, Paul Pekkonen, Matt Hoyt, Dave Axton.