By Curtis Berleue
(Fulton, NY) | Shawn Donath picked up his second win of 2025 on Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway with the Empire Super Sprints. It was the South Onondaga, NY drivers first ESS win at ‘The Highbanks’, and he pocketed $2,000 for his efforts.
Leading the field to green was the Pinnacle Pole winner Josh Hansen alongside of Shawn Donath. Donath grabbed the early lead, with Hansen settling into second. On lap four, however, Larry Wight had simultaneously moved into second and caught Shawn Donath, and one lap later Wight got by him for the lead.
Wight proceeded to lead laps 5-13, when Donath got back by him. For the remainder of the race, Donath was unchallenged, and continued on to cross the checkers first, earning his second win of the season and his first at the Fulton Speedway.
“we’ve had a rough stint here over the last few races,” said Donath. “I didn’t know how close it was (on the last restart) so I kind of slid myself going into one to make sure there was enough room for him (Wight).”
Larry Wight finished second for the second night in a row.
“I didn’t want to see any of those yellows,” said Wight. “It seemed like as soon as I got him at the line, the yellow would come out.”
“We had a good car, it just seemed toward the end we needed a couple of laps to get some heat back into the right rear before it would start taking off.”
Rounding out the Ashely Lynn Winery podium for his second podium on the weekend was Zach Sobotka.
“We had a fast car, I never really got in clean air,” said Sobotka. “I was just praying for restarts, because that’s when I felt the car was the best.”
28 cars signed into the pits Saturday night, and the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Larry Wight, Davie Franek and Mikey Kruchka, while Elab Smokers Boutique heats were won by Danny Varin, Josh Hansen and Sammy Reakes IV. The Kross Welding & Fabrication Dash was won by Joe Trenca, and the Lacaillade Masonry B-Main went to Spencer Burley.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Sunday August 31st at the Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, NY. For the latest news, information, and schedule updates regarding the Empire Super Sprints be sure to check the series website (www.EmpireSuperSprints.com) and follow along on Facebook (Empire Super Sprints), X (@ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, Hoosier Racing Tire, Cobra Motorhomes & Trailers, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Elab Smokers Boutique, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Lacaillade Masonry, Inc., Wilwood Disc Brakes, FX Caprara, Lanes Yamaha, Ashley Lynn Winery, Slade Precision Shocks, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Bicknell Racing Products, and DirtTrackDigest.com.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Sunday, August 31 – Utica-Rome Speedway – Vernon, NY ($10,000 to Win Cole Cup)
Saturday, September 6 – Can-Am Speedway – LaFargeville, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Friday, September 12 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT (Northern Sprint Car Nationals)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 2. #99L-Larry Wight[5]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[12]; 4. 21T-Alex Therrien[8]; 5. 87-Jason Barney[4]; 6. 28F-Davie Franek[11]; 7. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[9]; 8. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 9. 41-Dalton Rombough[14]; 10. 01-Danny Varin[10]; 11. 98-Joe Trenca[13]; 12. 79-Jordan Thomas[15]; 13. 96X-Chad Phelps[22]; 14. 17S-Kyle Smith[16]; 15. 13T-Trevor Years[23]; 16. 36-Mikey Kruchka[17]; 17. 28-Jordan Poirier[7]; 18. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[21]; 19. 88H-Josh Hansen[1]; 20. 66-Jordan Hutton[18]; 21. 13E-Evan Reynolds[25]; 22. 81-Tyler Reynolds[24]; 23. 33-Lacey Hanson[26]; 24. 8-Dillon Paddock[20]; 25. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[3]; 26. 21-Spencer Burley[19]
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 21-Spencer Burley[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[2]; 3. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[4]; 4. 96X-Chad Phelps[3]; 5. 13T-Trevor Years[7]; 6. 81-Tyler Reynolds[5]; 7. 13E-Evan Reynolds[6]; 8. 33-Lacey Hanson[10]; 9. 29-Dalton Herrick[9]; 10. 67-Steve Glover[8]
Kross Welding & Fabrication Dash (4 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Trenca[1]; 2. 41-Dalton Rombough[3]; 3. 79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 4. 17S-Kyle Smith[2]; 5. 36-Mikey Kruchka[6]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[5]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 01-Danny Varin[3]; 2. #99L-Larry Wight[4]; 3. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[1]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[5]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas[6]; 7. 21-Spencer Burley[8]; 8. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[7]; 9. 13T-Trevor Years[9]; 10. 33-Lacey Hanson[10]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 88H-Josh Hansen[2]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 21T-Alex Therrien[1]; 5. 17S-Kyle Smith[7]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[5]; 7. 8-Dillon Paddock[6]; 8. 81-Tyler Reynolds[9]; 9. (DNF) 67-Steve Glover[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[2]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 3. 87-Jason Barney[1]; 4. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[5]; 5. 41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 6. 36-Mikey Kruchka[4]; 7. 96X-Chad Phelps[7]; 8. 13E-Evan Reynolds[9]; 9. 29-Dalton Herrick[8]
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #99L-Larry Wight; #28F-Davie Franek; #36-Mikey Kruchka
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #01-Danny Varin; #88H-Josh Hansen; #17-Sammy Reakes IV
Cobra Motorhomes & Trailers / Kross Welding & Fabrication Dash Winner ($125): #98-Joe Trenca
Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #21-Spencer Burley
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #88H-Josh Hansen
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #87-Jason Barney
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #01-Danny Varin
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #98-Joe Trenca
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #96X-Chad Phelps
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #13T-Trevor Years
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #38-Zach Sobotka (+9)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #24-Jeremy Lafleur
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #53-Shawn Donath; #99L-Larry Wight; #38-Zach Sobotka
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #28F-Davie Franek
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #13E-Evan Reynolds