ESS: Autodrome Edelweiss report 2001-07-20

Steve Dow Conquers Autodrome Edelweiss For First Empire Super print Win Sof 2001.

CANTLEY, QC. - It took just four laps for Steve Dow to come from his fifth place starting spot to pass Ryan Coniam and go on to win his first Empire Super Sprint (ESS) Tour 2001 A-Main of the season. The win for the Byron, N.Y. native was his third career victory and also marked the 11th different winner 15 events so far on the season.

The victory was performed in front of a record standing room only crowd at Autodrome Edelweiss located just North of Ottawa, Canada's capital. It marked the return of the ESS super sprints after a one-year absence for the Friday night facility just North of Canada's capital.

"This feels good to finally get a win for 2001." noted the driver of the family owned Henchcraft built sprinter. "We have been fast for the most part and we are up there in the points but just haven't found the right breaks to get a win."

Dow's charge came right from the drop of the green flag as he went from fifth to second by the second lap and then passing Coniam's mount for the lead two laps later. "I really didn't know if the car was going to be that good at the start. I ran it hard at the beginning and it worked." said Dow.

While Dow's Miller Sand Blasting sprint was in deed strong, there was two challenges that faced the fourth year driver; lapped traffic and a strong running Don Sharp Jr.

"I was real worried when it came to the lapped cars, they're racing for positions also and near the end the track started to get real narrow. You really couldn't get off the bottom and if I did I was afraid someone might get be me." said Dow.

That someone was New Hampshire's Sharp Jr. who came from his seventh place start up to second on lap 15. Sharp Jr. actually had a shot to get a wheel under Dow with two laps to go but Dow never made the mistake for Sharp Jr. to get by. "They told me Donnie was right there, he just might had the fastest car tonight and I figured that when I took the lead that he might be there also." noted Dow on his challenger. "Luckily there was no bad luck and I was happy to get a win in front of this big crowd."

At the checkers it was Dow over Sharp Jr. Rob Dietrick shook off some bad luck with a fine third place finish over hard chargers in Mike Woodring, who came from 15th, and Justin Barger, who came from 14th. Making up the next five were 16 year old rookie Kyle Drum, Coniam, Tim Zimbardi, Ray Preston and Scott Holcomb.

The fast paced 20 lap feature event was slowed only one time on lap four with a spin by Mike Stelter. Stelter restarted and came back to finish in 12th.

Taking Brodix Cylinder Heads heat events were Preston, Sharp Jr and Dietrick. The Walt's Hobby Dash was also won by Dietrick.

ESS NOTES: A total of 25 sprinters made the Friday night tow to Western Quebec...Lance Yonge earned the Walt's Hobby Hard Charger bonus as he came from his dead last starting spot to place 11th....With Bonuses on the evening, Dow took home over $2200 in cash and prizes...After the event, Ryan Coniam continues to lead the Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar/LaBrie Design Canadian Invasion points...The new management at Edelweiss rolled out the red carpet for all in ESS and a return for 2002 is already in the works. <pre> RESULTS:

Heat 1 - Ray Preston, Justin Barger, Jeff VanDusen, Tim Zimbardi, Tom Taber, Shawn Felt.

Heat 2 - Don Sharp Jr., Ryan Coniam, Scott Holcomb, Dan Kaszubinski, George Ely, John Karklin Jr.

Heat 3 - Rob Dietrick, Steve Dow, Mike Woodring, Kyle Drum, Mike Stelter, Alain Bergeron.

A-MAIN - STEVE DOW, Sharp Jr., Dietrick, Woodring, Barger, Drum, Coniam, Zimbardi, Preston, Holcomb, Lance Yonge, Stelter, Rick Wilson, Bill Coffey, Bergeron, Kaszubinski, VanDusen, R.C. Faigle, Randy Years, Felt, Bubby Kerrick, Karklin Jr., Taber, Ely, Bob Podolak.

Lap Leaders - Coniam 1-3, Dow 4-20. Walt's Hobby Hard Charger - Yonge (14 pos.) $50. Vicomp Graphics Halfway - Dow $50.

Winner's Bonuses: Car-Mate Trailers $50, ATL Fuel Cells $200, Extreme Racewear $100, Flag2flag.com $145, Penske Shocks $200, Tire Comp. East $75, Hank's Performance Products $50, Duralite Racing Wheels $50, Griffin Thermal Products $50, Bicknell Racing Products $35, Total Seal $30, Hazlitt Vineyards $30, Red's Speed Shop $25, Behrent's Performance Warehouse/Mechanix Wear $20.

Other Bonuses: Weld Racing Hard Luck - Yonge $75. Extreme Racewear - Sharp Jr. $75, Dietrick $50. Design 500 - Faigle $100, Barger $50. C&R Racing Radiators - Dietrick $50. Joe Hunt Magnetos - Taber $50. Bailey Racing Products - Holcomb $35. Hazlitt Vineyards - Sharp Jr. $20, Dietrick $20. Total Seal - Holcomb $20. Thunder Mt. Wings - Sharp Jr. $20.

-ESS-