Empire Super Sprints Crown A Three-Peat Champion
By Barbara Patterson
Vernon, NY – On November 9, at the Vernon Downs Hotel, the Empire Super Sprints celebrated their 41st season by honoring 16 drivers. A familiar name was etched on the championship eagle trophy, as Jordan Poirier earned his third ESS Championship in back-to-back-to-back years.
The highlight of the evening was the crowning of Jordan “the Canadian Cannon” Poirier as the 2024 Empire Super Sprints Champion. Jordan beat out runner up Jason Barney, 3rd place Davie Franek, 4th place Matt Tanner and 5th place Billy VanInwegen. During the season, Jordan amassed 6 Rifenburg Contracting Corp. fast time awards, 9 E & V Energy heat wins, 1 Cobra Coaches dash win and 1 feature win at Autodrome Drummond Speedway in front of a packed house of family and friends. Jordan earned 13 top 5s, 21 top 10s and landed on the podium at 10 of the 22 races. In 76% of the A-mains, “Mr. Consistency” maintained his starting position, which often was from a top 12 redraw spot, or improved his finish 16 times.
Several special awards were handed out. The Malcolm Lane Award of Excellence was presented to Shawn Donath for exhibiting a most extraordinary commitment to sprint car racing. Jordan Poirier solidified the Coffrage 4 Saisons Canada Series Championship by winning the last race in the series. The peer-voted Mechanic of the Year award went to Mathieu Dubois, crew chief on the Jordan Poirier race team. Jason Barney was presented with the A-Verdi Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars (78) throughout the season. The DTD Most Improved Driver was Logan Crisafulli who bettered his stats by finishing 9th in points while earning 4 top 5s, 8 tops 10s and driving to his 1st ESS win. Jordan Poirier was presented with the perpetual Speedweek championship belt for being the CNY Speedweek Champion and won the Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time Series for consistently posting the fastest times during timed hot laps. Shawn Donath attained the Cobra Coaches Dash Series with four dash victories. He was presented a unique cobra snaked trophy and snake-skin cowboy boots for his crew chief daughter Briahna by Cobra Coaches owner Chuck Hebing. The Lane’s Yamaha Rookie of the Year was Evan Reynolds who moved from crate to 360 sprints this year, earned 4 top 10s, 2 hard charger awards and finished 12th in points. ESS Secretary Lori Cook was honored with a standing ovation for her 18 years of service. The drivers who competed in the entire tour and this season’s 12 feature winners were also honored.
ESS would like to thank Hoosier Tire Canada, FX Caprara, Cobra Coaches, Rifenburg Contracting Corp, Pinnacle Investments, A-Verdi Storage Containers, E & V Energy, Marathon Petroleum, Ashley Lynn Winery, Lacaillade Masonry, PJC Spray Foam, Coffrage 4 Saisons, Lane’s Yamaha, Dirt Track Digest and numerous dash sponsors for their support throughout the season. Thanks to the 16 promotors that bring “America’s Race Cars” to their tracks. A big thank you to the drivers, their crews and families, the staff, officials, and fans for a fantastic 2024 season!
