By Curtis Berleue
(Fulton, NY) | For one final time in 2025, the Empire Super Sprints hit the track at the Outlaw Speedway on Friday night. ‘No Panic’ Davie Franek backed up his triumph back in July at the 4/10 mile oval with another trip to victory lane, earning $4,000 along the way.
Franek would draw the Pinnacle pole award, and line up alongside of Josh Hansen for the 25-lap main event. Hansen took the lead early, using the high side of the track to open up a decent gap between himself and Franek, while Sammy Reakes IV fell into third.
Hansen continued to set a torrid pace out front, and survived a few restarts early in the event that saw Franek line back up alongside of him. By lap 10, 7th-starting DJ Christie had worked his way into the top three, following Hansen and Franek.
As the laps clicked off, Franek started to slowly cut into Hansen’s lead. On lap 15, Franek had caught Hansen as the duo worked through lap traffic. Using the outside lane through turns one and two, Franek was able to get by Hansen to take the lead.
Through the final 10 laps, the leaderboard would remain unchanged, and Franek took the checkers first over Josh Hansen. DJ Christie rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third, while A-Verdi Storage Containers hard charger of the night Jordan Hutton came home fourth and Sammy Reakes IV completed the top five.
With $4,000 on the line Friday night along with a $5,000 bonus if a driver could win both Friday in the 360 and Saturday in a 305 at Outlaw, 50 cars signed into the pits for the final night of action in 2025. The field was split into 6 timed hot lap groups with DJ Christie, Davie Franek, Ryan Turner, Sammy Reakes IV, Spencer Burley and Dalton Rombough earning Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards.
Elab Smokers Boutique heat wins went to DJ Christie, Davie Franek, Ryan Turner, Jason Barney, Jonathan Preston and Dalton Rombough. Lacaillade Masonry B-Mains were won by Chase Moran and Shawn Donath.
The final event on the schedule for the Empire Super Sprints in 2025 is the annual rules meeting and awards banquet at Vernon Downs Hotel and Casino on Saturday November 15. 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:
Saturday, November 15 – Vernon Downs Hotel & Casino – Rules Meeting and Awards Banquet
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[1]; 2. 88H-Josh Hansen[2]; 3. 5-DJ Christie[7]; 4. 66-Jordan Hutton[15]; 5. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[4]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas[14]; 7. 41-Dalton Rombough[12]; 8. 21-Spencer Burley[3]; 9. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[9]; 10. 4P-Chase Moran[19]; 11. 35-Jared Zimbardi[22]; 12. 38-Zach Sobotka[16]; 13. 15-Ryan Turner[8]; 14. 21K-Kyle Phillips[11]; 15. 77T-Tyeller Powless[18]; 16. 32-Kyle Smith[24]; 17. 8-Dillon Paddock[6]; 18. 84-Mike Lichty[17]; 19. 96X-Chad Phelps[21]; 20. 6-Ryan Coniam[13]; 21. 3A-Jeff Trombley[23]; 22. 53-Shawn Donath[20]; 23. 87-Jason Barney[5]; 24. 36-Jonathan Preston[10]
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 4P-Chase Moran[2]; 2. 96X-Chad Phelps[1]; 3. 3A-Jeff Trombley[4]; 4. 1R-Christian Rumsey[6]; 5. 21B-Blake Warner[3]; 6. 33-Scott Landers[5]; 7. 99-Adam Depuy[9]; 8. 4ST-Mikey Smith[13]; 9. 100-Chris Hulsizer[12]; 10. D9-Dustin Sehn[8]; 11. 29-Dalton Herrick[7]; 12. 21X-Will Glover[16]; 13. 13-Keith Granholm[10]; 14. (DNS) 27W-Nick Webb; 15. (DNS) 10-Paul Colagiovanni Sr; 16. (DNS) 66X-Scott Nash
Lacaillade Masonry B-Main 2 (10 Laps): 1. 53-Shawn Donath[4]; 2. 35-Jared Zimbardi[1]; 3. 32-Kyle Smith[2]; 4. 25G-Nolan Groves[3]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[5]; 6. 24-Bobby Hackel IV[7]; 7. 4S-Johnny Smith[8]; 8. 121-Steve Glover[6]; 9. #18C-Dan Craun[9]; 10. 10P-Nathan Pierce[11]; 11. Z28-Tucker Donath[15]; 12. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[13]; 13. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[14]; 14. 81K-Dalton Martin[12]; 15. 17E-Ethan Gray[10]; 16. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[16]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 5-DJ Christie[1]; 2. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[2]; 3. 6-Ryan Coniam[3]; 4. 96X-Chad Phelps[5]; 5. 3A-Jeff Trombley[6]; 6. 29-Dalton Herrick[4]; 7. 13-Keith Granholm[7]; 8. 4ST-Mikey Smith[9]; 9. 21X-Will Glover[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[1]; 2. 88H-Josh Hansen[2]; 3. 79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 4. 35-Jared Zimbardi[3]; 5. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 6. 24-Bobby Hackel IV[6]; 7. 17E-Ethan Gray[7]; 8. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[8]; 9. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[9]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 15-Ryan Turner[1]; 2. 21K-Kyle Phillips[2]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[3]; 4. 4P-Chase Moran[4]; 5. 33-Scott Landers[5]; 6. D9-Dustin Sehn[6]; 7. (DNS) 27W-Nick Webb; 8. (DNS) 10-Paul Colagiovanni Sr
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Jason Barney[2]; 2. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[1]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 4. 32-Kyle Smith[3]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[7]; 6. 4S-Johnny Smith[5]; 7. 10P-Nathan Pierce[6]; 8. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 36-Jonathan Preston[2]; 2. 21-Spencer Burley[1]; 3. 84-Mike Lichty[3]; 4. 21B-Blake Warner[4]; 5. 1R-Christian Rumsey[5]; 6. 99-Adam Depuy[7]; 7. 100-Chris Hulsizer[6]; 8. 66X-Scott Nash[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 41-Dalton Rombough[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[2]; 3. 77T-Tyeller Powless[3]; 4. 25G-Nolan Groves[5]; 5. 121-Steve Glover[6]; 6. #18C-Dan Craun[4]; 7. 81K-Dalton Martin[8]; 8. (DNS) Z28-Tucker Donath
Awards & Contingencies:
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #5-DJ Christie; #28F-Davie Franek; #15-Ryan Turner; #17-Sammy Reakes IV; #21-Spencer Burley; #41-Dalton Rombough
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #5-DJ Christie; #28F-Davie Franek; #15-Ryan Turner; #87-Jason Barney; #36-Jonathan Preston; #41-Dalton Rombough
Lacaillade Masonry B Main Winner ($50): #4p-Chase Moran; #53-Shawn Donath
Pinnacle Pole Draw Award ($25): #28F-Davie Franek
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #17-Sammy Reakes IV
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #4P-Chase Moran
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #35-Jared Zimbardi
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #15-Ryan Turner
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #77t-Tyeller Powless
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #66-Jordan Hutton
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #96X-Chad Phelps
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #28F-Davie Franek; #88H-Josh Hansen; #5-DJ Christie
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #36-Jonathan Preston
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #36-Jonathan Preston