By Curtis Berleue
BREWERTON, NY-As the 40th anniversary tour for the Empire Super Sprints marches on, a doubleheader is up next with action this coming Friday and Saturday at the Brewerton and Fulton Speedways, respectively.
The tour’s first visit of the season will come this Friday for the 21st running of the Don Gillette Memorial paying $2,000 to win for the 25-lap main event. The evenings action honors the late Don Gillette, a Brewerton NY native who was climbing the ranks through the United Racing Club and on his way to getting an Indy Car ride. Before he made it to Indy, he tragically lost his life at Trenton Speedway when he was 29 years old.
Thomas Schmeh, former curator of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum and passionate supporter of sprint car racing, is coordinating lap sponsorships for Fridays Don Gillette Memorial. Each lap is $20 and 100% of the money goes directly to each lap leader.
Friday evenings Cobra Coaches dash will be presented by Cartier Motorsports and Trailer Sales, a dealer of Sure-Trac, Bilzzard and PJ Trailers located in Mexico, NY.
The tour will then move 25 minutes up the road to the Fulton Speedway for its second visit of 2023. Just a month ago, ‘Racin’ Jason Barney was victorious at the Oswego County oval and will look to repeat this Saturday in the evening’s $2,000 to win event. In 85 ESS sanctioned events at Fulton, there have been 31 different feature winners.
Saturdays Cobra Coaches dash will be run in memory of former Empire Super Sprints competitor George Ely. George scored 3 ESS main event wins with ESS throughout his career.
After three nights of action thus far in 2023, Danny Varin is the current point leader over Shawn Donath, Jordan Poirier, Matt Tanner, and Jason Barney.
More information for this weekend’s events including gate times, order of events and admission prices can be found on both Brewerton and Fulton Speedway’s websites, along with their Facebook pages and the Empire Super Sprints Facebook page.
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), Twitter (@ESSprints) and Instagram (@empiresupersprints).
The Empire Super Sprints would like to thank the following series sponsors for their continued support: Rifenburg Contracting Corp, PJC Spray Foam, Hoosier Racing Tire, Cobra Coaches, E&V Energy, Fondations 4 Saisons, Pinnacle Investments, LLC, Lacaillade Masonry, Inc., FX Caprara, ASI Racewear, Lanes Yamaha, Ashley Lynn Winery, Bicknell Racing Products, DirtTrackDigest.com and LC Design.
The ESS Road Ahead:
Friday, May 26 – Brewerton Speedway – Brewerton, NY ($2,000 to Win Don Gillette Memorial)
Saturday, May 27 – Fulton Speedway – Fulton, NY ($2,000 to Win)
Friday, June 2 – Albany-Saratoga Speedway – Malta, NY ($2,000 to Win)
