Empire Super Sprints Crown a New Champion

By Barbara Patterson

Vernon, NY – On November 12, at the Vernon Downs Hotel, the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints celebrated their 39th season by honoring the top 15 drivers. A familiar last name was etched on the championship eagle trophy, but the first name was not eight-time champion Steve Poirier but rather his nephew Jordan.

The highlight of the evening was the crowning of Jordan Poirier as the 2022 Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Champion. Jordan beat out runner up Davie Franek, 3rd place Jason Barney, 4th place Shawn Donath and 5th place Danny Varin. Jordan hails from St-Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec, Canada and began his racing career in 1000cc Lightning Sprints with championships in 2016 and 2018. He started to dabble in 360 sprint cars in 2015 and won the Pintys Knights of Thunder Series in 2020. Since the border opened after a two-year shut down, Jordan was able to commit to 2022 as his first year racing the full ESS tour. During the season, he amassed 6 Rifenburg Contracting Corp. fast time awards, 7 E & V Energy heat wins, 2 Cobra Coaches dash wins and feature wins at Airborne, Orange County Fair and Albany-Saratoga Speedways. He earned 15 top 5s, 18 top 10s and landed on the podium at 10 of the 21 races. All these accomplishments were done with his 2017 Eagle chassis and Al Parker engine. 

Several special annual awards were also given out. The peer-voted Mechanic of the Year award went to Pete Northrup and Mason Olmstead, mechanics on the Danny Varin race team. Davie Franek won the last night of Speedweek at Fulton Speedway to solidify and become the Lane’s Yamaha Speedweek Champion. Jordan Poirier was presented with the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars throughout the season and won the Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time Series for consistently posting the fastest times during timed hot laps. Jeff Cook attained the Cobra Coaches Dash Series with three dash victories. He was presented a unique trophy of race car parts with snakeskin cowboy boots for him and his wife by Cobra Coaches owner Chuck Hebing. The drivers with perfect attendance and this season’s feature winners were also honored.

ESS would like to thank Lucas Oil Products, Hoosier, FX Caprara, Cobra Coaches, Rifenburg Contracting Corp, Pinnacle Investments, E & V Energy, Ashley Lynn Winery, Lacailade Masonry, and numerous dash sponsors for their support throughout the season. A big thank you to the drivers, their crews and families, the officials, and fans for a fantastic 2022 season!