By Curtis Berleue
(Brighton, ONT) | Zach Sobotka is $2,000 richer after picking up his first Empire Super Sprints win of 2026 on Saturday night in the Transport Benoit Lafleur ESS Canada Tour event at the Brighton Speedway. After starting on the outside pole, Sobotka led early but had to fight back by Jordan Thomas after Thomas got by him during the early stages of the race.
Jordan Thomas and Zach Sobotka brought the field to green, with Sobotka getting the early advantage over Thomas. Trevor Years settled into third, with Dillon Paddock just behind him.
By lap 6, Paddock was able to make his way around Years to into third, but up front it was still Sobotka setting the pace over Thomas.
On lap 11, Thomas was able to get by Sobotka, and he would stay there or the next 10 laps. Thomas wasn’t ever able to open a large margin over Sobotka, and with five laps to go Sobotka re-took the lead from Thomas.
Sixth-starting Davie Franek has been slowly making his way through the field, and on lap 23 he had worked his way into a podium spot. With two laps to go, he got by Thomas for second, but with just over a one second lead he was unable to catch Sobotka who scored his first win of 2026.
“Jordan showed me the bottom there, I felt like it picked up some grip there,” said Sobotka in victory lane. “I knew it was going to take some rubber down there, I just really didn’t know when. It was good to get the win.”
Davie Franek would finish second after starting sixth.
“The track was excellent, you couldn’t ask for anything better,” said Franek. “It was slick to a curb up top. Once it got blown off a little bit as the race went on, our car just kept getting better and better.”
Jordan Thomas rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium for his second third-place finish on the weekend.
“When I got to the lead I was kind of judging myself on the lap cars,” said Thomas. “I wasn’t really gaining on them, and I heard him (Sobotka) on the top. He was carrying momentum and I was just a sitting duck.”
With 21 cars in the pits, the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Jordan Poirier, Tyeller Powless and Davie Franek. Elab Smokers Boutique heat races were won by Logan Crisafulli, Alex Therrien and Zach Sobotka, while the Donath Motor Worx Dash presented by Advanced Electrical and Communications went to Dale Curran.
The next scheduled event for the Empire Super Sprints is Friday June 12th at the Freedom Motorsports Park in Delevan, NY for the Julia Horton Memorial paying $5,000 to win. 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, E&V Energy, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Elab Smokers Boutique, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Wilwood Disc Brakes, FX Caprara, Ashley Lynn Winery, Slade Shock Technology, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Bicknell Racing Products, Swagger Factory, PJC Sprayfoam, Donath Motor Worx, Transport Benoit Lafleur, All Star Performance, Stirling Lubricants, Trenca & Co. Realty, Speedway Press, Primal Tee, and Glenn Styres Racing.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Friday, June 12 – Freedom Motorsports Park – Delevan, NY ($5,000 to Win Julia Horton Memorial)
Friday, June 19 – Mohawk International Raceway – Akwesasne, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Saturday, June 20 – Brockville Ontario Speedway – Brockville, ONT ($2,000 to Win)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[6]; 3. 79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier[9]; 5. 21T-Alex Therrien[8]; 6. 8-Dillon Paddock[4]; 7. 31C-Dale Curran[7]; 8. 13T-Trevor Years[3]; 9. 21K-Kyle Phillips[11]; 10. 3-Logan Crisafulli[10]; 11. 77T-Tyeller Powless[14]; 12. 98-Joe Trenca[16]; 13. 87XS-Skyler Evans[15]; 14. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[17]; 15. 87-Jason Barney[13]; 16. 19KC-Mathieu Bardier[19]; 17. 70-Baily Heard[20]; 18. 66-Jordan Hutton[18]; 19. 90-Matt Tanner[5]; 20. 84-Tyler Rand[21]; 21. 53-Shawn Donath[12]
Advanced Electrical and Communications Dash (4 Laps): 1. 31C-Dale Curran[1]; 2. 21T-Alex Therrien[2]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 3-Logan Crisafulli[4]; 5. 21K-Kyle Phillips[6]; 6. 53-Shawn Donath[5]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Logan Crisafulli[1]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[4]; 3. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 4. 79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 5. 87-Jason Barney[5]; 6. 98-Joe Trenca[7]; 7. 19KC-Mathieu Bardier[6]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21T-Alex Therrien[2]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[3]; 3. 90-Matt Tanner[1]; 4. 21K-Kyle Phillips[5]; 5. 77T-Tyeller Powless[4]; 6. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[7]; 7. 70-Baily Heard[6]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 3. 31C-Dale Curran[6]; 4. 13T-Trevor Years[1]; 5. 87XS-Skyler Evans[3]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[5]; 7. 84-Tyler Rand[7]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier, 12.326[1]; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas, 12.524[4]; 3. 53-Shawn Donath, 12.555[7]; 4. 3-Logan Crisafulli, 12.557[5]; 5. 87-Jason Barney, 12.660[3]; 6. 19KC-Mathieu Bardier, 12.717[2]; 7. 98-Joe Trenca, 12.759[6]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 12.394[4]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock, 12.483[7]; 3. 21T-Alex Therrien, 12.491[6]; 4. 90-Matt Tanner, 12.567[3]; 5. 21K-Kyle Phillips, 12.735[1]; 6. 70-Baily Heard, 12.802[2]; 7. 24-Jeremy Lafleur, 12.860[5]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek, 12.329[2]; 2. 87XS-Skyler Evans, 12.424[7]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka, 12.486[1]; 4. 13T-Trevor Years, 12.676[3]; 5. 66-Jordan Hutton, 12.694[6]; 6. 31C-Dale Curran, 12.746[4]; 7. 84-Tyler Rand, 13.082[5]
Awards & Contingencies (full members only eligible for payout):
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #28-Jordan Poirier; #77T-Tyeller Powless; #28F-Davie Franek
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #3-Logan Crisafulli; #21T-Alex Therrien; #38-Zach Sobotka
Donath Motor Worx / Travis Racing Engines Dash Winner ($125): #31C-Dale Curran
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #21T-Alex Therrien
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #3-Logan Crisafulli
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #13T-Trevor Years
Swagger Factory 12th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #98-Joe Trenca
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #87XS-Skyler Evans
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #87-Jason Barney
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #28-Jordan Poirier (+5)
PJC Sprayfoam Reverse Hard Charger ($100): #90-Matt Tanner (-14)
Pinnacle Investments Last Car Running ($30): #66-Jordan Hutton
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #38-Zach Sobotka; #28F-Davie Franek; #79-Jordan Thomas
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #66-Jordan Hutton
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #90-Matt Tanner