The Quick 32 Sportsman Series, the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS), and the 5.50 Super Series, along with the Box and No-Box divisions, will kick off their season this coming weekend at Empire Dragway’s eighth-mile track surface and compete for their respective Championship Point Award Series on June 20 – 21, 2025, along with rounds of Box and No-Box eliminators.
Complete fields are expected in all divisions, including reining, Quick 32 Sportsman Series 2024 Point Award Series Champions Charlie Emler from Spencerport, NY, driving his 738 CID 1968 Chevrolet Top Sportsman 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, and PBSS rider Lee Burgess from Canton, PA, riding his 1340 CC 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa.
A partial list of entries will include the Top Dragster teams of Brett Bennett, Craig Chadderdon, Ashton Halas, Mike Kalin, Burt Lyon, Davy Markle, Dave Markle, Stephen Markle, Joe Masullo, Tony Platania, Cody Reome, Mark Romanofsky, Tyler Rudolph, Ron Wightman, Rich Yacos from New York, Art Cioffi from Ohio, John Vergotz Jr. III from Pennsylvania, and Ontario’s Ryan Harris and Shawna Woudstra.
Top Sportsman teams include New York State’s Dan Germano, Gary Grahner, Andy Gregoire, Matt Gregoire, Bobby Jaus Sr., Tony Madonia, Gary O’Connell, Allan Runions II, Tom Simone, Bill Stevens and Ron Szewczyk. Also making the trip to Empire will Bryan Borders from Pennsylvania and Ontario’s Dave Burchell, Luke DeJonge, Mike Wagg, and Kayden Wicke.
The Pro Bike and Sled Series teams will include Ontario’s Josie Brooks. Brian Babiak, Josh Costa, Haley Feher, Brandon MacCombie, Drew Nearhoof, Mike Puglia, Joel Rivera, Kevin Sutliffe, and Tom Varney are all from New York state and race in Pro Bike. Nichole Albin from Ontario, along with Frankie Amalfi, Brian Baker, Ron Dean, and Bob Salerno from New York State, will compete in Pro Sleds.
Qualifying rounds will be held Friday, June 20, at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 21, at 10:00 a.m., with eliminations starting at noon.
Paul “Fast By” Gast will highlight the season opener with a personal appearance as Grand Marshall of the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS).
The Quick 32 Sportsman Series, the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS), the 5.50 Super Series, along with the Box and No-Box divisions will compete on the Empire Dragway eighth-mile track surface and compete for their respective Championship Point Award Series on June 20 – 21, July 18 – 19, August 15 – 16 and September 12 – 13, 2025.
Standbackperformance.com has webcams and a weather station at Empire Dragway that runs 24/7. See for yourself what’s going on at the track at any time. (track temp only updates during a live stream event) standbackperformance.com/webcams.html
Also, during select weekends, we will be live-streaming on YouTube. Check here to connect to an active live stream, watch past live streams, or learn about the schedule. https://standbackperformance.com/livestreams.html
Visit the Pro Modified Racing Association at facebook.com/promodifiedracing, the Quick 32 Sportsman Series at facebook.com/quick32, the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS) at facebook.com/probikeandsledseries and the Empire Dragway at EmpireDragway.com for more information and event updates.
This story was originally published on June 18, 2025. 
