BREWERTON, N.Y. — Under cool spring temperatures and a brisk breeze that settled in as the sun disappeared, fans still packed the grandstands Friday night as Brewerton Speedway officially kicked off its 2026 season opener with a full night of racing action across four divisions.
The nights sponsor, Neivel Precision Plumbing added an additional $4000 in purse monies leading to a strong field of racers. Including 26 Tracey Road DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds and 25 DOT Foods Sportsman entries.
In the headline event for the Tracey Road DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, Darren Smith put together a smooth and consistent drive to score the season opening victory. The closing laps kept fans on edge as Smith had to navigate heavy lap traffic while holding off a hard-charging Larry Wight, who was rapidly closing the gap in the final circuits. Despite the pressure, Smith stayed composed and crossed the line first to secure the opening night win.
The DOT Foods Sportsman feature belonged to Hunter Hollenbeck, who dominated the event from the drop of the green flag. Hollenbeck showed impressive speed throughout the feature and never relinquished control on his way to a convincing victory. The race did see one of the biggest incidents of the night when several cars piled up exiting turn four, briefly clogging the racing surface and bringing out the red flag so the crew could clear the track.
Last season’s Mirabito 4-Cylinder Superstock champion Chris Bonoffski picked up right where he left off in 2025, capturing the feature win in the division’s season opener. Bonoffski’s strong run continued the momentum from his championship campaign a year ago.
In the AmeriCU Mod Lite STARS feature, Joseph Garafolo just beat out the 88z of Zack Babcock to the line, rounding out the evening’s winners.
