HAZLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Eastern Motorsport Press Association announced the class of 2026 entering its prestigious Hall of Fame.
This announcement comes in advance of the 53rd EMPA Convention January 16-18 at the Holiday Inn in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Members of EMPA, professionals in motorsports media, voted to induct those selected for entry into the Hall of Fame.
The EMPA Hall of Fame inductees for 2026 represent various forms of racing. Kenny Bernstein represents the NHRA. Nicknamed both the “Bud King” and “The King of Speed,” he left his mark as a Funny Car drag racer. The first drag racer to break 300 mph on a standing-start quarter mile dragstrip, Bernstein also owned King Racing, and he fielded cars in both NASCAR and IndyCar over the years. Bernstein was previously inducted into both the NHRA Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Frank Cozze has transcended the decades, beginning in the 1970s and he is still competitive, capable of winning any race he enters. A winner in dirt modifieds up and down the east coast, in 2008 he captured the crown jewel when he won at Super Dirt Week at the Syracuse Mile. Cozze promoted special events at Bridgeport Motorsports Park, and he and his family ran Nazareth Speedway through its final year.
The late Rick Ferkel was nicknamed “The Buckeye Traveler” as the Ohio native chased big events and was an early star when the World of Outlaws Sprint series began. One of the winningest sprint car drivers (250+ wins), he also spent many years as an official, crew chief for Doug Kalitta’s USCA Sprint Car team, and as a team owner. In the 1970’s, he regularly had 30+ wins, earning a career-high 38 race victories in 1978.
Jan Leaty’s asphalt racing career began in a Street Stock in 1978. He moved to a Late Model and won his first title in 1981. His career rocketed skyward when he jumped up to the Modified division. The Williamson, N.Y., hot shoe won 9 times on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and has 18 wins on the RoC Tour, along with countless wins during weekly action at several tracks. Leaty won the prestigious Race of Champions at Pocono Raceway and had wins at North Wilkesboro, New Hampshire, and Nazareth Speedways. Jan has already been inducted into the Oswego Speedway, FOAR Score Racing Club and Race of Champions Halls of Fame.
“The Voice of the 500”, Paul Page has worldwide recognition, whether on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Radio Network or on ABC-TV broadcasts of the Indy 500. His co-hosting duties with Bobby Unser and Sam Posey, begun in 1988, were both entertaining and popular ‘500” broadcasts. Page returned to the IMS Radio Network in 2014-2015 as the “Voice of the 500” and he then co-hosted the 100th Indianapolis 500 broadcast in 2016.
Steve Smith Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps throughout his 31-year career in sprint car racing. He won 222 features, with 84 of them on the WoO Series. His highlights include Port Royal’s Tuscarora 50, Williams Grove’s National Open (3 times), the Grove’s Mitch Smith Memorial (3 times), the ’94 Gold Cup at silver Dollar Speedway, and the ’05 Brad Doty Classic. In 2015 he won the PA Sprint Speedweek title and earned 15 wins there over the years. In 2015 Smith won the Ohio Sprint Speedweek title. Smith was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and now joins his father in the EMPA Hall of Fame.
The EMPA/Richie Evans Memorial Northeast Driver of the Year goes annually to both an asphalt and a dirt racer. For the second consecutive year the asphalt honoree won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship. Austin Beers, a former EMPA Young Gun award winner, became the youngest Tour champion in their history. On the dirt side Anthony Macri won the PA Speedweek title, and he picked up $200,000 for winning the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.
EMPA’s Al Holbert Memorial National Driver of the Year was left open for members to write in the driver he or she felt had put together the most award-worthy season. Thirteen racers earned votes, but it was Kyle Larson who is receiving this prestigious award for the fourth time.
The 2025 EMPA/John Blewett III Young Gun award, presented by New England Race Fuels, will go home with 20-year-old dirt modified racer Alex Payne.
Halmar/Friesen Racing has won the 2025 EMPA/Chris Economaki Memorial Newsmaker of the Year Award. Team co-owner Stewart Friesen had a great season underway until he sustained severe injuries in a vicious racing incident. The team rebounded putting Kayden Honeycutt in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Alex Yankowski in the modified.
Rex Merritt is the recipient of the 2025 EMPA/Junie Dunlavey Memorial Spirit of the Sport Award. His career in IMCA Modifieds dates back to what was a new concept in 1979. The winner on both dirt and asphalt hundreds of times, his sweetest win of all came when he won the A-Modified title at Lucas Oil Speedway the same year his granddaughter won the B-Modified crown. His four decades of racing clearly demonstrated his passion for the sport.
Kolten Gouse from BAPS Motor Speedway will accept a pair of awards. His versatility in race track promotions earned him the 2025 EMPA Promotional Effort of the Year. In 2025 he held a $5 admission to a 410 sprint car show, a Halloween Tour with race cars throughout several nearby towns, a special media day event, a “Photo of the Day” promotion, a tribute to engine builders, and he held a fundraiser that resulted in $10,000 for area police officers killed or injured in the line of duty.
Gouse will also receive the Jerry Riegle Contribution to Sprint Car Racing Award, determined and presented annually by World Racing Group.
Elections also took place for the EMPA Board of Directors. Current President Dino Oberto retained his seat, while Matt Mallett will join the Board. Both are for three-year terms.
