Honors Handed Out During EMPA Convention

Posted by Racers Guide in Latest News 8 years ago 1108 Views Comments Off

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KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. – Professional members of the Eastern Motorsport Press Ass’n (EMPA), along with associate members and corporate sponsors, convened at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in King of Prussia, Pa., for their annual convention last weekend.
Friday night the organization welcomed various track champions to celebrate their successes and to expose them to various member of the motorsport press. The remainder of the weekend included seminars, a panel discussion and the presentation of various awards.
Brian Carter of World Racing Group served as Keynote speaker. Much of his talk focused on the Syracuse finale and the planning that went in to providing a fitting finale. In an ironic twist of fate, the membership viewed the emotional imploding of the fairgrounds grandstand while in the seminar auditorium. Members recognized their effort by voting the Super DIRT Week finale at the New York State Fairgrounds as the winner of the Chris Economaki Newsmaker of the Year Award. World Racing Group also presented the Jerry Reigle Outstanding Contribution to Sprint Car Racing Award to Donnie Kreitz, Jr.
The annual Junie Donlavey Spirit of the Sport Award honored a special group of longtime racers from eastern Pennsylvania, The Bailey Bunch. That award goes to a person or group competing despite long odds and without major financial backing. Donny Schatz and Stewart Friesen were named the Al Holbert Memorial and Richie Evans Memorial drivers of the year at the national and northeast regional level, respectively. Freddie and Brandon Rahmer were named co-winners of the John Blewett III Young Guns Award, which recognizes young talent on the racing scene.
Five legends of the sport were added to the EMPA Hall of Fame: mechanical wizard Davey Brown; racing magazine editor and TV motorsports personality Dr. Dick Berggren; retired NASCAR driver Ricky Craven; nine-time NASCAR modified and K&N champion Mike Stefanik; and former Syracuse Mile dominator Gary Balough. All five were on hand to thank the membership for the honor, and each spoke of how the prestigious award involved many dedicated people over the course of his career.
During the Sunday business meeting EMPA members elected Ron Hedger, Lenny Sammons, Earl Krause, Dino Oberto and Jeff Gromis to the Board of Directors. Officers for 2016 include: Hedger, president; and Oberto, vice president. Gromis, teeasurer, and Carol Houssock, secretary, round out the slate of officers for 2016.