September 8 2026

DJ Christie Wins $10,000 Cole Cup at Utica Rome

By Curtis Berleue (Vernon, NY) | DJ Christie made the long tow from north of the border worth the trip as he led every lap of the longest and highest paying race on the Empire Super Sprints schedule Sunday night. Christie’s dominating win leading all 40 laps of the Cole Cup was worth $10,000.

DJ Christie and Larry Wight led the field to green, with Christie taking the lead over Danny Varin and Larry Wight.

Behind the leaders, Davie Franek went from seventh to fourth on lap one, and then got by Wight to crack the top three just one lap later.

As the top four maintained position, Sammy Reakes and Zach Sobotka battled for the fifth spot behind them. Sobotka would eventually come out ahead, taking sole position of the spot.

The first yellow of the event came out on lap 7 as Jeff Trombley clipped an infield tire in turn four, spinning just in front of the leaders.

On the ensuing restart, Christie again took the lead with Wight grabbing second from Varin, though it was short lived as another caution flew before a lap could be completed.

With the field reset, Wight again was able to catapult forward, though this time he only got by Franek to take third.

In front of the field, Christie was working masterfully through lap traffic when the caution flew on lap 20 for Jordan Thomas slowing on the track. The break would serve as the competition red for fuel as well.

When action resumed Christie again set sail out front, bringing Wight with him as he slipped under Varin for the second spot. While Christie opened up a multiple second gap over Wight in clean air, the advantage was erased when he reached lap traffic.

Wight had cut the lead to around a half second with five laps to go, but would not get any closer as Christie led wire-to-wire, picking up his first ESS win of the season.

“That was wild, what a race,” exclaimed Christie in victory lane. “40 laps is a long time, I don’t think I’ve ever done a race that long, I’m a little out of breath.”

“Honestly, I didn’t even see the white flag, I just saw the checkers. I had no idea where the rest of the field was, I was just doing my best to pick off the lap cars.”

Larry Wight continued his run of podiums on the weekend, finishing second.

“The lap cars were tough,” said Wight. “You’d think they were going to hold the bottom, and then they’d slide up. I just misjudged a couple of them and let the five car get out on us.”

Danny Varin rounded out the Ashley Lynn Winery podium in third.

“After this weekend, this was a great run for the team to try to build some momentum,” said Varin. “I feel like we had something there at the end, like the last five laps but I just can’t restart. Hats off to them (Christie and Wight), Larry’s been the show this weekend and that five car was bad fast tonight.”

With 32 cars signed in, the field was split into four timed hot lap groups. Rifenburg Contracting fast time awards went to Danny Varin, Dalton Rombough, DJ Christie and Larry Wight. Elab Smokers Boutique heats were won by Danny Vain, Dylan Swiernik, DJ Christie and Larry Wight. The Donath Motor Worx Dash in memory of Tom Patterson was won by Davie Franek, while Jordan Thomas won the B-Main.

The Empire Super Sprints will be back in action on Friday September 11 at the Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville, NY. 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, September 11 – Can-Am Speedway – LaFargeville, NY ($2,000 to Win)

Friday, September 18 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT (Northern Sprint Nationals Weekend)

Saturday, September 19 – Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, ONT (Northern Sprint Nationals Weekend)

Full Results:

ESS A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 5-DJ Christie[1]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight[2]; 3. 01-Danny Varin[3]; 4. 28F-Davie Franek[7]; 5. 38-Zach Sobotka[5]; 6. 87-Jason Barney[10]; 7. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[15]; 8. 4-Billy VanInwegen Jr[16]; 9. 21-Alex Therrien[14]; 10. 90-Matt Tanner[22]; 11. 3-Denny Peebles[8]; 12. 66-Jordan Hutton[12]; 13. 53-Shawn Donath[11]; 14. 29-Dalton Herrick[13]; 15. 28-Jordan Poirier[17]; 16. 98-Joe Trenca[19]; 17. 13T-Trevor Years[24]; 18. 88C-Chad Miller[18]; 19. 63-Josh Weller[9]; 20. 17S-Kyle Smith[23]; 21. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[4]; 22. 79-Jordan Thomas[21]; 23. 3A-Jeff Trombley[20]; 24. 33-Lacey Hanson[26]; 25. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[6]; 26. (DNS) 24-Jeremy Lafleur

ESS B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 2. 90-Matt Tanner[1]; 3. 17S-Kyle Smith[12]; 4. 13T-Trevor Years[7]; 5. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[5]; 6. 3E-Parker Evans[4]; 7. 33-Lacey Hanson[11]; 8. 31C-Maverick Coffey[2]; 9. 739-Nicholas Kruger[9]; 10. 8-Dillon Paddock[8]; 11. (DNS) 41-Dalton Rombough; 12. (DNS) 25G-Tyler Graves

Dash In Memory of Tom Patterson (4 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek[1]; 2. 3-Denny Peebles[4]; 3. 63-Josh Weller[2]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[6]; 5. 53-Shawn Donath[5]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[3]

Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Danny Varin[1]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek[4]; 3. 17-Sammy Reakes IV[2]; 4. 29-Dalton Herrick[5]; 5. 28-Jordan Poirier[6]; 6. 90-Matt Tanner[3]; 7. 24-Jeremy Lafleur[7]; 8. 739-Nicholas Kruger[8]

Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7C-Dylan Swiernik[2]; 2. 87-Jason Barney[4]; 3. 3-Denny Peebles[3]; 4. 21-Alex Therrien[5]; 5. 88C-Chad Miller[7]; 6. 31C-Maverick Coffey[6]; 7. 41-Dalton Rombough[1]; 8. 25G-Tyler Graves[8]

Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-DJ Christie[1]; 2. 53-Shawn Donath[4]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[7]; 4. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[2]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[6]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 7. 13T-Trevor Years[3]; 8. 33-Lacey Hanson[8]

Elab Smokers Boutique Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 99L-Larry Wight[1]; 2. 63-Josh Weller[3]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 4. 4-Billy VanInwegen Jr[7]; 5. 3A-Jeff Trombley[2]; 6. 3E-Parker Evans[5]; 7. 8-Dillon Paddock[8]; 8. 17S-Kyle Smith[6]

Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 01-Danny Varin, 16.300[4]; 2. 17-Sammy Reakes IV, 16.411[1]; 3. 90-Matt Tanner, 16.672[5]; 4. 28F-Davie Franek, 16.727[6]; 5. 29-Dalton Herrick, 16.748[7]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier, 16.820[3]; 7. 24-Jeremy Lafleur, 16.986[2]; 8. 739-Nicholas Kruger, 17.151[8]

Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 41-Dalton Rombough, 16.548[2]; 2. 7C-Dylan Swiernik, 16.614[4]; 3. 3-Denny Peebles, 16.688[8]; 4. 87-Jason Barney, 16.728[6]; 5. 21-Alex Therrien, 16.963[1]; 6. 31C-Maverick Coffey, 17.414[5]; 7. 88C-Chad Miller, 17.524[7]; 8. 25G-Tyler Graves, 17.527[3]

Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 5-DJ Christie, 16.509[3]; 2. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni, 16.740[1]; 3. 13T-Trevor Years, 16.832[4]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath, 16.840[8]; 5. 79-Jordan Thomas, 17.096[5]; 6. 98-Joe Trenca, 17.194[2]; 7. 66-Jordan Hutton, 17.232[7]; 8. 33-Lacey Hanson, 17.417[6]

Rifenburg Contracting Qualifying 4 (1 Laps): 1. 99L-Larry Wight, 16.790[4]; 2. 3A-Jeff Trombley, 16.982[2]; 3. 63-Josh Weller, 17.011[1]; 4. 38-Zach Sobotka, 17.079[7]; 5. 3E-Parker Evans, 17.226[6]; 6. 17S-Kyle Smith, 17.349[8]; 7. 4-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 17.425[3]; 8. (DNS) 8-Dillon Paddock

Awards & Contingencies (full members only eligible for payout):

Rifenburg Contracting Fast Time ($25 each): #01-Danny Varin; #41-Dalton Rombough; #5-DJ Christie; #99L-Larry Wight

Elab Smokers Boutique Heat Winners ($25 each): #01-Danny Vain; #7C-Dylan Swiernik; #5-DJ Christie; #99L-Larry Wight

Donath Motor Worx / In Memory of Tom Patterson Dash Winner ($125): #28F-Davie Franek

Keizer Wheels 5^th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #38-Zach Sobotka

King Motorsports 10^th Place Finisher ($25 Certificate): #90-Matt Tanner

Pinnacle Investments 11^th Place Finisher (5 Gal Fuel): #3-Denny Peebles

Swagger Factory 12th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #66-Jordan Hutton

Wilwood Disc Brakes 13th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #53-Shawn Donath

All-Star Performance 15th Place Finisher ($50 Certificate): #28-Jordan Poirier

A-Verdi Storage Containers Hard Charger Award ($50): #90-Matt Tanner (+12)

Ashley Lynn Winery Podium Finish (bottle of wine): #5-DJ Christie; #99L-Larry Wight; #01-Danny Varin