Mar 1, 2026 01:33 PM EDT
OUTLAW SPEEDWAY WRAPS UP 2025 SEASON WITH ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
Michael Maresca walks out with lion’s share of point fund money as he claims the $10,000 Modified Track Title.
Chris Fisher (Sportsman), Glenn Whritenour (Street Stocks), Danny Kerrick (Hobby Stocks) Zach Daugherty (Mini Stocks) and Kolston DeCamp (Bandits) all claim Track Championships.
Story by Kenny Shupp Jr.
(Watkins Glen, NY) The Harbor Hotel was the setting for the 2025 Outlaw Speedway Awards Banquet which was held on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
Situated on the southern shore of Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen, NY Harbor Hotel has become the traditional spot for the Outlaw Speedway Awards Ceremony.
“This is a beautiful 5 Star rated venue, and it is a perfect spot for our Awards Banquet. The people that support Outlaw Speedway deserve nothing but the best. They come to my track and support this place all season and I want to make sure they are treated to nothing but the best, first-class facility as a show of appreciation for all their support and efforts.” That is according to Outlaw Speedway owner/promoter, Tyler Siri.
For Siri who just completed his tenth season at the helm of the historic Yates County facility, the Awards Ceremony completed the tracks best season it its 68-year history.
Prior to the traditional prime rib buffet style meal that was professionally managed by the staff of the Harbor Hotel, an Invocation was presented by Pastor Greg Nitz of Racing for Christ Ministries and for the second consecutive year, Nitz and his wife Theresa made the trip from their home near Albany to be part of the Outlaw Speedway Awards Banquet.
After dinner, Outlaw Speedway writer, Kenny Shupp stepped to the podium and gave an overview of the 2025 season as well as mentioning all the Track Champions along with an introduction of class sponsors that were in attendance in addition to numerous other special guests that were part of this year’s Awards Ceremony.
Credit was given to Chris Daugherty and his staff of Big Jim’s Wicked Tee’s in Horseheads, NY for preparing what was without question a massive display of trophies, plaques and other special swards that would be distributed through the evening’s festivities.
The track saw huge car counts all season in addition to big payouts for several extraordinary events. In addition to specials for all the weekly divisions of competition, the track played host to numerous touring groups including the 360 Empire Super Sprints, CRSA 305 Sprints, ULMS Super Late Models, NY PENN IMCA Modifieds as well as the Short Track Super Series for Modifieds.
Outlaw Speedway runs 5 Weekly Adult Divisions as well as a Youth Class and it was quite common to find car counts near or more than one hundred in the pit area every Friday night making the Dundee, NY Speedway one of the most attended tracks in the region.
The Annual Dutch Hoag Memorial in October which traditionally wraps up the season once again pulled in record numbers of fans and car counts with numbers pushing the 300 mark for the two-day affair.
Outlaw Speedway Track Announcer, PR Specialist and Facebook guru, Craig Spazman Simmons was then introduced to the microphone and in his familiar style welcomed some fifty-five plus competitors to receive their hardware and checks for a great 2025 season.
Simmons spearheads the Outlaw Speedway Facebook which draws millions of viewers monthly, it is because of his hard work and dedication to the speedway that Outlaw’s Facebook is the most sought-after social media pages in the country.
Michael Maresca of Baldwinsville, NY made Outlaw Speedway his Friday Night race place in 2025 focusing his attention on racing just one night a week during the regular season. His well calculated philosophy paid huge dividends as the thirty-year-old North Country transplant picked up his first ever Outlaw Speedway Modified Track Championship and the $10,000 that went along with it.
Maresca won three regular season feature events along with numerous other top five and top ten finishes which was enough to claim his first Outlaw Speedway Modified Title, however he was pushed all season by veteran competitor, Bobby Varin of Johnstown, NY who made the four hour drive each week to pilot one of track owner, Tyler Siri’s potent machines.
Varin claimed one feature win during the regular season and like Maresca he was nothing but a picture of consistency all season with solid top tens and fives with no dnf’s.
2024 Outlaw Modified Track Champion, Alex Payne was a threat all season once again and tied Maresca for the most regular season feature wins with three, however a few poor feature finishes was more than he could make up for as the popular twenty-year old Hopewell, NY Speedster had to settle for third in the final point tally.
Jeff Daugherty of Elmira and Tommy Collins both had rock solid seasons; however both were shut out of victory lane, but it was their consistency throughout the twelve-race point season that found them finishing fourth and fifth respectfully in the Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Modified Division.
Multi time Outlaw Speedway Track Champion, The Hurricane Steve Paine was able to fend off another ageless veteran, The Doctor Danny Johnson as the pair wound up sixth and seventh in the final points with Will Shields, 2024 Class Rookie of the Year, Kreg Crooker and Jim LaRock completing the top ten.
Johnson and Shields each had one feature event win in 2025.
There was no eligible Rookie of the Year contenders in the Friendly Chrysler Didge, Jeep, Ram Modified’s in 2025.
All total fifty-one different Modified drivers accumulated points during the 2025 point paying season which began in early May and concluded in late August.
Knapp and Schlappi Lumber 602 Crate Sportsman had another stellar year at Outlaw Speedway in 2025 and like their big brother the Modified Division, the Sportsman also had fifty-one different drivers acquire points during the year.
In a division where the competition is extremely close due to the strict scrutinization of the 602 Crate Engine Rules Package, no one driver ruled the roost in fact eleven different competitors visited victory lane during the twelve-race point schedule with young gun Blake Parsons the only driver to win more than once.
It all came down to driver experience and at the end of the day, Chris Fisher was able to hold off a slew of other veteran drivers and some up and coming young talent to claim his fourth Crate Sportsman title in the past five years and that is amazing in a division that is so deep with talent.
Fisher picked up one lone feature win on May 30, but it was his experience in knocking down top fives and top tens all season that propelled him to the title even after suffering through a tough opening point night where he finished deep in the field.
Former Youth Bandit Division standout and now a Crate Sportsman regular, Blake Parsons did what he had to do to pressure Fisher throughout the entire season and with two wins under his belt had a legitimate shot to claim the title on the season ending double point finale, but a solid runner-up finish by Fisher to eventual race winner, Tim Guild coupled with a disappointing seventh place run for Parsons was the deal maker and the Championship for Fisher.
Parsons did finish in the runner-up spot followed by veteran competitor, Dale Welty who had one feature win on July 18.
Former Hoosier Tire Sportsman Outlaw Speedway Track Champion, AJ Lloyd never was able to smell victory lane in 2025, but weekly steady performances found him fourth in points with Tim Guild competing the top five.
Josh Nobriga’s season mirrored that of Lloyd with no feature wins, but enough solid finishes throughout the year to capture sixth in the final tally with 2024-point runner-up Daryl Krebs nailing seventh.
Former Track Champion, Karl Comfort opened the season with a win and a second place finish and looked like the man to beat, but a string of late season problems relegated the Penn Yan veteran to eighth in the finally standings as he was followed by third generation driver and University of Buffalo Engineering student, Cayden Lawson who was ninth and perhaps the real surprise of the year in the Knapp and Schlappi Lumber Crate Sportsman Division was Woodhull native, George Schweigart who completed the top ten after only racing for a couple of seasons in the division.
Kevin DeCamp was crowned Rookie of the Year in the Knapp and Schlappi Lumber 602 Crate Sportsman Division.
Glenn Whritenour has made a career racing in the Street Stock Division. Aside from one year where he raced and won track titles at Outlaw in both the Street Stocks and IMCA Modified Classes GW has focused solely on Street’s.
His determination was never more apparent than in 2025 when he totally dominated the action at Outlaw Speedway in the Swarthout Recycling Street Stock Division winning eight of twelve point paying feature events.
However, with all those trips to victory lane it still came down to the regular season double point finale on August 27, and Whritenour still had to have a solid finish as four- time 2025 winner, Jimmy Grant was still in hopes of collecting his first Outlaw SS Championship.
The entire top five in points had a mathematical shot at winning the title, however Whritenour was way too much to manage and not only went on to win, but in doing so clinched yet another Outlaw Speedway Track Title.
Grant had some problems and was relegated to a disappointing finishing spot allowing last season’s Street Stock Champion, Gene Sharpsteen a chance to move into second in the decisive point standings with Grant dropping to third with Rookie of the Year contender, Willy Easling finishing fourth and Joey Giardina completing the top five.
Brett Crawford’s purchase of a new car early in the season made the investment pay off as he led the charge of the second group of five-point finishers with veteran Dundee competitor, Carl Cleveland coming home in seventh place.
John Burritt, Zach Teed and Tim Grady all received hardware and checks for finishing in the top ten.
With Whritenour’s eight feature wins and Grant’s four they were the only feature winners in class during the regular point season.
Willy Easling was crowned Rookie of the Year in the Swarthout Recycling Street Stock Division.
Of the twelve-point races staged in the Street Stock Division in 2025, thirty-three different drivers accumulated points and for Whritenour his title garnished him a 6” Trophy and a huge Track Champions check for $2,000.
For the second straight year the point battle in the Addison, Corning, Hornell, Wellsville NAPA Hobby Stock Division was decided by just a scant few points as third generation Stanley, NY driver, Danny Kerrick picked up his first ever Outlaw Hobby Stock Title and what made it even more impressive was he did it as a Rookie.
Kerrick rode a wave of four regular point season feature wins to hold off perennial NAPA Hobby Stock Track Champion, Mr. Smooth Marc Minutolo of Phelps in claiming the championship by just two markers.
For Minutolo it was a tough pill to swallow as he also lost the 2024 Hobby Stock Title to Jeredd Dennis by only a handful of points making it a pair of runner-up point finishes after dominating the action and winning numerous Track Championships in the popular NAPA Hobby Stock Division for the past several seasons.
Like all other weekly divisions the NAPA Hobby Stocks also came down to the last point night to decide the title and with Double Points on the line and a handful of very capable drivers having a mathematical chance at winning the 2025 Championship it came down to a Minutolo/Kerrick slugfest and even thought Minutolo did everything he could in winning the event it was Kerrick’s second place finish in the twenty-lap feature that secured the Track Title.
Kerrick and Minutolo each visited victory lane four times during the regular point season with Jesse Balance and Jared Hill who finished third and fourth in points respectively each had one win.
Kerrick’s biggest win of the “25” season was the 40 lap Salute to the Veteran’s Event where he was able to hold off a stellar field of Hobby Stock competitors including both track regulars along with invaders from numerous other venues.
Former Outlaw Speedway Mini Stock Track Champion, The Nature Boy Mike Stone of Campbell had an up and down year to complete the top five in his rookie season in the division.
Rich Sharpsteen ran an on again off again schedule at Outlaw in 2025 but when he was there made it count as he finished sixth in points followed by Will Bradley, Rich Rider, Mike Charette and a young female competitor from Cameron Mills, Meadow Dgien who is still in high school who rounded out the top ten in the final NAPA Hobby Stock Point standings.
In addition to the Rookie of the Year Title claimed by Kerrick he left with $2,000 for the Track Championship.
Over the course of the ten- event point season for the Addison, Corning, Hornell, Wellsville Hoby Stock season, some thirty-three different competitors accumulated points as the division continues to grow at Outlaw Speedway.
The Winner’s Circle Deli Mini Stocks features a mix of both front and rear wheel driven creations and the 2025 season was also a mixture of youth versus veteran as Rookie of the Year contender and 2024 Youth Bandit Track Champion, Zach Daugherty was trying to accomplish something that is rarely done and that is to win both the Rookie and Track Titles in the same season.
Could Daugherty win two consecutive track titles in separate classes and join Danny Kerrick and Kolsten DeCamp, both a 2025 Track Champion as well as class Rookie of the Year in Adult Class Competition?
It would all come down to the final 20-lap, Double Point event on Friday, August 29 and when the checkered flag waved it was a veteran and former Outlaw Mini Stock Track Champion, Jayson Smart picking up his fourth feature win of the campaign, but with Daugherty’s fourth place feature finish it sealed the deal for the Elmira, NY High School Senior.
Daugherty comes from an exceptionally good bloodline as he is the son of Chris Daugherty who had a lengthy career at the Outlaw and Chemung Speedways prior to giving way to the supporting of his two sons Jeffery and Zach.
Entering the final point event of the year, Daugherty had a slim margin over Smart as well as former class Track Champion, Mike Stone, but like many of the other class Track Champions, Daugherty kept eventual winner, Smart and Stone within eye sight the entire distance and his third place run was more than enough to claim the title and the $2,000 Champions check.
Fourth place in points went to Mike Ayers with Connor Erick completing the top five. Neither driver found victory lane, however their consistent performance all season found them within the top five.
Finishing just outside the top five in the final tally it was Parker Cunningham and Gavin Hall finishing sixth and seventh with eighth place going to Craig DeCamp.
DeCamp had a pair of back-to-back feature wins mid-season, however missing the first four-point shows coupled with a few other poor finishes kept him from finishing much higher in the standings.
Neither Jeff Moore nor Ralph Teeter had perfect attendance during the regular point season, however when they were on track made it count as they completed the top ten in points.
For the past twenty-five or more years, Outlaw Speedway has proudly presented the Youth Division Winner’s Circle Deli beginners class where young men and women can hone their skills piloting 4-cylinder Mini Stock cars.
In 2025, the kids ran seven feature events and Kolston DeCamp added his name to an extensive list of both male and female drivers who have won the title with the end game of going on to greatness in future years.
DeCamp had won the opening six feature events and was hoping to wrap up a perfect seven-win season on Double Point Championship Night, however it was a third-generation young man from Bath, NY named Dodge Smith who spoiled DeCamp’s undefeated season by winning the finale.
However, DeCamp’s solid third place run was more than enough to claim his first Outlaw Speedway Title as he was able to secure the Championship over a pair of young ladies in Danica Hall and Kassitie Klugstone who completed the podium.
Fourth place was picked up by Connor Crane, another third gen driver who made it two top five finishes in the decisive point standings in the past two seasons.
Dodge Smith, who still competes regularly in regional go-karting action, completed the top five.
Courtney Thomas finished sixth and completed the list of Young Guns that ran in the Bandit Class.
Each youngster received beautiful trophies but no point money to not jeopardize their amateur status.
After some insights by Spazman Simmons and an outlook for 2026, it was time for the owner/promoter of the Outlaw Speedway, Tyler Siri, to take his turn at the podium and present plaques to an extensive list of sponsors, driver and car owner’s, employees and other special honorees.
This tradition for Siri began ten years ago when he purchased the historic Yates County Facility and it is his firm belief that he cannot continue to run this facility without the support of all the tracks sponsors, drivers, fans and employees, many which he heavily depends on a weekly basis.
Numerous members of Siri’s staff, including many in high profile positions, have been with the track for more than thirty years with a few celebrating forty or more seasons supporting the track.
“There is no way I can run this place by myself, exclaimed Siri. I have a staff here that most tracks would love to have. These folks know their respective jobs, and I do not have to worry about things getting done in a professional manner and done right.”
Drivers were informed that they will see a raise in pay for 2026 with positions from ten to last all receiving more money for each adult division.
In addition, the 2026 Track Champions in the Sportsman, Street, Hobby and Mini Stock Divisions will all receive $2,500 which is an increase of $500 per class.
The Mighty Modified Track Champion in 2026 will continue to pick-up a hefty check for $10,000, like the past three years.
Siri presented several plagues to numerous worthy recipients including the following.
Car Owner of the Year. Chris Daugherty
Sportsmanship Award. Will Shields
Employee of the Year. Jared Hill
Dedication to Motorsports. Dr. Michael Maresca
Most Improved Driver. Daniel Kerrick
Media Awards. Craig Spazman Simmons, Dan Tome, Kenny Shupp Jr. and Mark Sincock.
Tow -Truck Driver of the Year. Dan Dykes.
Bandit the Clown. Brian Buckle.
Hard Charger at 82 Main Street Award. Josh McMillan
Do whatever it takes to get the job done. Theresa Siri.
Put up with the Bossman Award. Cuppie Drane.
Sponsor Awards. Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram of Penn Yan, Knapp and Schlappi Lumber of Penn Yan, Swarthout Recycling of Beaver Dams, The Addison, Corning, Hornell and Wellsville NAPA Stores, Winner’s Circle Deli, Fritz Masonry, Fisher Tree Service, Lane’s Yamaha, St. Lawrence Radiology, Hurd Development, CRC Body Shop, MDS Mobile Diesel and Equipment Repair, Sawyer’s RV and Trailer Service Center, Leland F. Harris Inc.
Countless Special Appreciation Plaques were handed out by Tyler Siri to many of his staff members that were in attendance including track general management, on track officials, scoring and handicapping, pit stewardship, kitchen staff, wrecker crews, fire, safety and EMT’s, track preparation, ticket sales, payouts and many more.
All total, some 130 plus trophies and plaques were distributed to many worthy recipients.
The track has plans for open Practice on Saturday, March 28, 2026, with the Season Opener set for the following weekend on Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4 with the Lucas Oil Nationals and from there it is full speed ahead right through October.
The complete and printable 2026 Outlaw Speedway Schedule of Events is available at www.comFacebook/OutlawSpeedwayLLC/.
