Wight Wins Second of CNY Speedweek at Brewerton
COLUMN BY: Curtis Berleue – EMPIRE SUPER SPRINTS – BREWERTON, NY –For the second time in the 2026 version of CNY Speedweek, Larry Wight ended the night in victory lane, this time at the Brewerton Speedway. The victory was worth another $2,500, and would be his sixth in ESS competition at Brewerton, tying him for the most wins at the track in series history with Mal Lane and Danny Varin.
At the drop of the green, Joe Trenca jumped out to the early lead, where he would stay for the first handful of laps. Jordan Thomas fell to second, with Danny Varin in third, Zach Sobotka fourth and Larry Wight fifth.
Varin quickly got by Thomas to secure second place. A few laps later, Varin would take the lead – where he would stay until lap 11 when a hard charging Larry Wight got by him. Wight would immediately open a gap over Varin.
A lap later, Sobotka got by Varin for second, and Varin would remain in third until 11th-starting Paulie Colagiovanni got by him on lap 16.
As the laps clicked away, Wight maintained his lead over Sobotka. A late race opportunity would give Sobotka hope at stealing his first win of CNY Speedweek, but Wight protected his line enough to squash Sobotka’s hopes.
Larry Wight held on to take this win, his second of the week in his 99L machine.
I had a really good car around the bottom,” said Wight in victory lane. “I didn’t think he (Sobotka) was going to pull a slider but I didn’t dare leave the door open for him so I just kept protecting myself.”
“I found a line where I could kind of split the black through the corner and hit the bite down the backstretch.”
“I saw his nose down there (in one and two) but I figured as long as I could hold it wide open in three and four, I’d be alright.”
Zach Sobotka picked up another podium finish, finishing second.
“I thought we were pretty good on the top,” said Sobotka. ”I knew I would have had to hit the bottom perfect in one and two. I tried the best I could, and knew I wasn’t going to have enough room to try a slider going into three.”
Dylan Swiernik passed 20 cars to earn the A-Verdi Storage Containers hard charger award and finish third.
“Honestly, what’s underneath this thing is not even close to what I normally run at all,” said Swiernik of his run through the field. “It’s nice to know that we can go back to the old stuff and it still works.”
“Hats off to Brewerton though, they got the show in and hopefully we put on a show for the fans here tonight.”
With 30 cars in the pit area at Brewerton, the field was split into three timed hot lap groups. Shawn Donath, Dalton Rombough and Dylan Swiernik each earned Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards. Elab Smokers Boutique heats were won by Larry Wight, Dalton Rombough and Joe Trenca. The Donath Motor Worx Dash presented by X-1 Chassis was won by Matt Tanner, and DJ Christie picked up the B-Main win.
The Empire Super Sprints CNY Speedweek wraps up with a trip to the Fulton Speedway in Fulton on Saturday night to cap the week off. 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 ESS Road Ahead:
Friday, July 17 – Albany-Saratoga Speedway – Malta, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Saturday, July 18 – Fonda Speedway – Fonda, NY ($2,000 to Win Earl Halaquist Memorial)
Full Results:
ESS Speedweeks Feature (25 Laps): 1. 99L-Larry Wight[5]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 3. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[23]; 4. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[11]; 5. 01-Danny Varin[4]; 6. 4V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 7. 53-Shawn Donath[9]; 8. 21T-Alex Therrien[16]; 9. 61-Jordan Poirier[17]; 10. 98-Joe Trenca[2]; 11. 41-Dalton Rombough[8]; 12. 5-DJ Christie[19]; 13. 3-Logan Crisafulli[10]; 14. 28F-Davie Franek[13]; 15. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[18]; 16. 31C-Dale Curran[20]; 17. 90-Matt Tanner[7]; 18. 8-Dillon Paddock[15]; 19. 29-Dalton Herrick[24]; 20. 66-Jordan Hutton[21]; 21. 79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 22. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[12]; 23. 21B-Spencer Burley[14]; 24. 13T-Trevor Years[22]
