RPW Column: Danny Varin Scores ESS A-Main Victory At Fonda Speedway In Eight-Minute Scorcher

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – Well, that didn’t take long.

In just shy of eight minutes, Danny Varin drove from sixth starting spot to victory lane in the Empire Super Sprints Earl Halaquist Memorial A-Main Saturday night at the Fonda Speedway.

Varin grabbed the lead from defending ESS Champion Jordan Poirier at the halfway point of the 25-lap feature and never looked back as the Sharon Springs, NY driver took the $2,000 victory in the non-stop affair.

“We weren’t the greatest in the beginning of the race,” Varin said.  “I was racing with Jason (Barney) and the air was playing big games tonight so I just hit my marks, pulled the wing back and the car got good at the end.”

There really wasn’t much time to rest for Varin who worked his way through the field as quick as possible.  However, as the race went on, the #01 seemed to get better and better and better.

“These guys, Pete and Mason, worked their butts off,” he said.  “They did some wholesale changes a couple weeks ago and if we could keep some motors together we’d be on point.  Hats off to those guys and the whole crew.  They’re just doing a hell of a job for me.”

Second place at the finish was Poirier, who grabbed the lead from Bobby Hackel on lap five and held it until Varin snuck around him on the outside in lap traffic.

All-in-all, though, the 2022 series champ had a solid run at Fonda Saturday.

“We got beat by Danny again here at Fonda,” Poirier said.  “I guess second is the way to go for us.”

It looked like Jordan might have a shot at taking the victory on Saturday but Varin just seemed to know exactly where to go on the track.

“I think our car was close at the beginning,” he said.  “I felt really good but then I got super loose.  When I saw Danny pass me, I knew the outside was getting better but I couldn’t go anywhere as fast as he was and second is good for us.”

Third at the checkers was Jordan Thomas who hasn’t had the best luck at the Track of Champions, but on Saturday night, he put together a solid podium finish.

“This place is tricky,” Thomas said.  “You have to have a ton of laps around here like Danny (Varin) does to be really good here.  Once I got clear of the battle for third, the car really started coming on and I could really flat foot around the track.”

“That’s what it takes to run a place like this,” he said.  “I know our lap times were a little bit quicker at the end of the race and I think starting up a little higher would have helped.”

Paulie Colagiovanni came home fourth and Matt Tanner rounded out the top five.

Saturday night’s Modified winner, Bobby Hackel, didn’t have much time to savor his victory.  He had to quickly run from checkered board square to his #24 Wright Motorsports sprinter where he was scheduled to start on the pole.

When the race was over, Hackel was able lead some laps and muster up a top 10 finish of ninth.

A Feature 1: 1. #01-Danny Varin[6]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[2]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 4. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[9]; 5. #90-Matt Tanner[12]; 6. #53-Shawn Donath[13]; 7. #87-Jason Barney[3]; 8. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[11]; 9. #24-Bobby Hackel IV[1]; 10. #32-Kyle Smith[8]; 11. #10-Jeff Cook[4]; 12. #88C-Chad Miller[14]; 13. #36-Logan Crisafulli[10]; 14. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[7]; 15. #67-Steve Glover[15]; 16. #13T-Trevor Years[17]; 17. 29D-Dylan Menditto[16]; 18. #33-Lacey Hanson[20]; 19. #51-Jeremiah Munson[18]; 20. #6K-Kyle Dutcher[19]; 21. #1HD-Cory Sparks[21]; 22. (DNS) #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr

Dash 1: 1. #53-Shawn Donath[1]; 2. #88C-Chad Miller[4]; 3. #67-Steve Glover[3]; 4. 29D-Dylan Menditto[2]; 5. #13T-Trevor Years[6]; 6. #51-Jeremiah Munson[5]

Heat 1: 1. #79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 3. #90-Matt Tanner[2]; 4. #10-Jeff Cook[3]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath[5]; 6. #88C-Chad Miller[6]; 7. #1HD-Cory Sparks[7]; 8. #33-Lacey Hanson[8]

Heat 2: 1. #01-Danny Varin[1]; 2. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[3]; 3. #24-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 4. #32-Kyle Smith[2]; 5. 29D-Dylan Menditto[5]; 6. #51-Jeremiah Munson[6]; 7. #6K-Kyle Dutcher[7]

Heat 3: 1. #87-Jason Barney[1]; 2. #7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 3. #5D-Jacob Dykstra[2]; 4. #36-Logan Crisafulli[5]; 5. #67-Steve Glover[6]; 6. #13T-Trevor Years[7]; 7. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr[4]

Qualifying 1: 1. 28-Jordan Poirier, 00:16.050[4]; 2. #90-Matt Tanner, 00:16.124[2]; 3. #10-Jeff Cook, 00:16.150[1]; 4. #79-Jordan Thomas, 00:16.232[7]; 5. #53-Shawn Donath, 00:16.269[3]; 6. #88C-Chad Miller, 00:16.621[5]; 7. #1HD-Cory Sparks, 00:16.751[6]; 8. #33-Lacey Hanson, 00:17.008[8]

Qualifying 2: 1. #01-Danny Varin, 00:15.755[7]; 2. #32-Kyle Smith, 00:16.150[4]; 3. #10C-Paulie Colagiovanni, 00:16.279[1]; 4. #24-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:16.932[2]; 5. 29D-Dylan Menditto, 00:16.948[6]; 6. #51-Jeremiah Munson, 00:17.772[5]; 7. #6K-Kyle Dutcher, 00:17.903[3]

Qualifying 3: 1. #87-Jason Barney, 00:16.131[7]; 2. #5D-Jacob Dykstra, 00:16.494[6]; 3. #7C-Dylan Swiernik, 00:16.570[2]; 4. #56-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 00:16.580[5]; 5. #36-Logan Crisafulli, 00:16.768[1]; 6. #67-Steve Glover, 00:16.961[4]; 7. #13T-Trevor Years, 00:16.961[3]