BREWERTON, N.Y. — After finishing second three times in the first three races of the season, Danny Varin was finally able to find Empire Super Sprints victory lane Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway.
It was Chuck Hebing who jumped out to an early lead in the 25-lap Don Gillette Memorial, pacing the field for the first eight laps of the main event. On lap nine, Varin was able to slip by and take the lead away from Hebing, although his time at the top was short lived. Jonathan Preston got by Varin on lap 11, and for the next 14 laps the duo swapped the lead a handful of times, but it was Varin who ultimately finished on top.
“After the last three seconds, we were riding second there with a couple laps to go and I said to myself ‘Not another second!’” said an ecstatic Varin. “Not that they’re bad or anything, but we want to pick some wins up. Consistency is important too though.”
After leading the most laps in the A-Main (10), Jonathan Preston would have to settle for a second place finish.
“Lap traffic didn’t play in my favor, they were kind of in my line. I moved down and didn’t quite have the grip I needed to get by them,” said runner-up Preston of his second-place finish.
Completing the Ashley Lynn Winery podium was Larry Wight with a third-place finish. Rounding out the top five were Jason Barney in 4th and early leader Chuck Hebing in 5th.
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
1. #01-Danny Varin[6]; 2. #22-Jonathan Preston[4]; 3. #99L-Larry Wight[5]; 4. #87-Jason Barney[7]; 5. #45-Chuck Hebing[3]; 6. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[14]; 7. #98-Joe Trenca[12]; 8. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[9]; 9. 28-Jordan Poirier[19]; 10. #10-Jeff Cook[10]; 11. #90-Matt Tanner[11]; 12. #41-Dalton Rombough[13]; 13. #28F-Davie Franek[2]; 14. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[15]; 15. #79-Jordan Thomas[21]; 16. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[20]; 17. #23-Tyler Cartier[22]; 18. #14B-Brett Wright[16]; 19. #4P-Chase Moran[23]; 20. #17-Sammy Reakes IV[24]; 21. #33-Lacey Hanson[17]; 22. #36-Logan Crisafulli[25]; 23. (DNF) #10H-Kelly Hebing[18]; 24. (DNF) #53-Shawn Donath[8]; 25. (DNS) #5H-Chris Hile