By Curtis Berleue
(Dundee, NY) | For the first time in over two years, Jared Zimbardi found himself in victory lane Friday night at the Outlaw Speedway. After chasing Davie Franek down through the midpoint of the race, Zimbardi took the lead with 7 laps to go and didn’t look back, scoring $4,011 in the process.
Denny Peebles and Shawn Donath led the field to green for 25 laps, with Peebles taking the lead over Donath and Davie Franek on lap one. Franek made quick work of Donath, and by lap six he passed Peebles for the lead.
As the field reached lap traffic, an incident on the front stretch collected three of the top five, with Peebles, Donath and Dylan Swiernik all involved.
When action resumed, Franek again jumped out to the lead. Jason Barney got by Jared Zimbardi, for second, with Zimbardi falling into line in third.
Zimbardi quickly got back by Barney for the runner-up position, and then set his sights on Franek. By lap 15, he had caught the leader, and on lap 16 took the lead.
Zimbardi initially extended the gap between himself and Franek, though in the closing stages Franek was able to cut into his lead.
With Zimbardi successfully navigating lap traffic, Franek was unable to get back by and ‘The Juice’ held on for his first win since 2024.
“This one feels good,” said Zimbardi in victory lane. “I’ve just been struggling for a while. I just kept digging, didn’t give up hope. We’ve got different shocks on tonight.”
“It’s actually something we did a long time ago with the right rear shock and we won a lot of races with it. We did it tonight and it was fast.”
Davie Franek held on for second, continuing his streak of good finishes at Outlaw.
“After the red, I don’t know what was going on there, the tire sealed over or something,” said Franek. “He (Zimbardi) was good, he was going to get us either way. We were kind of getting back to him in lap traffic, but out in clean air he was definitely better.”
Matt Farnham rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.
“The car was really good, it was fast early on in the night,” said Farnham. “We got lucky a couple of times missing the wreck on the front straightaway. On that restart, we lost a couple of spots but was able to get them back and have a good run here tonight.”
With 23 cars in the pit area Friday, the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Matt Farnham, Davie Franek and Jordan Thomas. Elab Smokers Boutique heats were won by Jordan Poirier, Davie Franek and Jared Zimbardi, while Jason Barney won the Donath Motor Worx Dash in memory of Bob ‘Bub’ Thomas.
The Empire Super Sprints have two events remaining on the 2026 schedule. This coming Friday will be the points finale at Fulton Speedway for the Outlaw 200 weekend, while the season will conclude back at Outlaw on Friday October 16 for a non-points affair. 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, October 2 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win Outlaw 200 Weekend)
Friday, October 16 – Outlaw Speedway – Dundee, NY ($4,000 to Win Hoag Memorial)
Full Results:
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Jared Zimbardi[5]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 3. 7NY-Matt Farnham[8]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[7]; 5. 66-Jordan Hutton[3]; 6. 38-Zach Sobotka[10]; 7. 28-Jordan Poirier[9]; 8. 79-Jordan Thomas[11]; 9. 25G-Tyler Graves[14]; 10. 21B-Dillon Paddock[13]; 11. 29-Dalton Herrick[16]; 12. 90-Matt Tanner[18]; 13. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[20]; 14. 3E-Parker Evans[15]; 15. 41-Dalton Rombough[12]; 16. 13T-Trevor Years[23]; 17. 77-Matt Rotz[19]; 18. 33-Lacey Hanson[17]; 19. 739-Nicholas Kruger[21]; 20. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[22]; 21. 3-Denny Peebles[1]; 22. 53-Shawn Donath[2]; 23. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[6]
In Memory of Bob ‘Bub’ Thomas Dash (4 Laps): 1. 87-Jason Barney[1]; 2. 7NY-Matt Farnham[2]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 4. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 5. 79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 6. 41-Dalton Rombough[6]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier[1]; 2. 3-Denny Peebles[2]; 3. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[3]; 4. 7NY-Matt Farnham[4]; 5. 21B-Dillon Paddock[5]; 6. 29-Dalton Herrick[6]; 7. 77-Matt Rotz[7]; 8. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[8]
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 2. 66-Jordan Hutton[2]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 4. 41-Dalton Rombough[6]; 5. 25G-Tyler Graves[7]; 6. 33-Lacey Hanson[5]; 7. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[1]; 8. (DNS) 13T-Trevor Years
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Jared Zimbardi[2]; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 3. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[1]; 5. 3E-Parker Evans[6]; 6. 90-Matt Tanner[3]; 7. 739-Nicholas Kruger[7]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 7NY-Matt Farnham, 13.548[7]; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik, 13.560[8]; 3. 3-Denny Peebles, 13.710[5]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier, 13.786[2]; 5. 21B-Dillon Paddock, 13.843[3]; 6. 29-Dalton Herrick, 14.058[6]; 7. 77-Matt Rotz, 14.589[1]; 8. 30-Kirsten Dombroski, 15.425[4]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek, 13.752[1]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka, 13.841[8]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton, 13.895[6]; 4. 33-Lacey Hanson, 14.473[5]; 5. 41-Dalton Rombough, 14.548[2]; 6. 25G-Tyler Graves, 14.569[7]; 7. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 15.781[3]; 8. 13T-Trevor Years, 15.781[4]
Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 79-Jordan Thomas, 13.825[7]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner, 13.902[2]; 3. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 14.041[1]; 4. 87-Jason Barney, 14.073[5]; 5. 53-Shawn Donath, 14.324[3]; 6. 3E-Parker Evans, 14.327[6]; 7. 739-Nicholas Kruger, 14.700[4]
Awards & Contingencies (full members only eligible for payout):
Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #7NY-Matt Farnham; #28F-Davie Franek; #79-Jordan Thomas
Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #28-Jordan Poirier; #28F-Davie Franek; #35-Jared Zimbardi
Donath Motor Worx / In Memory of Bob ‘Bub’ Thomas Dash Winner ($125): #87-Jason Barney
Keizer Wheels 5th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #66-Jordan Hutton
King Motorsports 10th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #21B-Dillon Paddock
Pinnacle Investments 11th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #29-Dalton Herrick
Swagger Factory 12th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #90-Matt Tanner
Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #56V-Billy VanInwegen
All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #41-Dalton Rombough
A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #56V-Billy VanInwegen (+7)
PJC Sprayfoam Reverse Hard Charger ($100): #3-Denny Peebles (-20)
Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #35-Jared Zimbardi; #28F-Davie Franek; #7NY-Matt Farnham
Hoosier Tire Award (RR Hoosier tire): #41-Dalton Rombough
Slade Shock Tech ($50 Certificate): #7C-Dylan Swiernik