Empire Dragway (Leicester)
ActiveActive Still racing today.
Also known as Dragway 36; New York International Raceway Park
Empire Dragway was acquired by IHRA in 2026 and later included in Darana's auction portfolio, with bids due November 17.
- Claimed the longest shutdown area on the East Coast, 3,000 feet
- Hosted a 1972 rock concert with Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac
- First IHRA Empire Nationals held in 1990
- Raced
- 1968-present
- State
- New York
- Raced on
- Built as a drag strip
- First race
- August 29, 1968
- Track
- 1/8 mile
- Address
- 2011 New Rd
Leicester, NY 14481 - People
- Nick Abraham, co-owner (1968)
- Robert S. Brody, co-owner and manager (1968)
- Peter Geib, co-owner (1968)
- Ron Mangone, co-owner (1974)
- Bob and Donna Metcalfe, owners (1986-)
- Jerry and Clara Scaccia, owners (2013-)
- Sanction
- IHRA
- Elevation
- 908 ft (277 m)
- Coordinates
- 42.79724, -77.93304
- Contact
- empiredragway.com
Big races
IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series and Small Tire BRATZ
IHRA's outlaw nitro tour and the BRATZ small-tire series share a weekend at the track after IHRA bought it.
Quick 32 Sportsman Series and Pro Bike & Sled Series
Recurring weekends for quick sportsman cars, index classes and drag bikes and snowmobiles.
Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Challenge
Outlaw Pro Mod race that has run several editions at Empire.
History
Owners Nick Abraham, Robert Brody and Peter Geib first tried to build in the town of Murray. When that fell through they got approval in Leicester, and after four years of money troubles and $500,000 the track opened officially on August 29, 1968, under NHRA sanction, racing every Sunday with Robert S. Brody managing. It’s three miles due west of Geneseo and northwest of the hamlet of Leicester. A September 16, 1971 Canandaigua Daily Messenger story called it one of the most modern racing plants in the East. Its early years need more research.
By 1971 it was IHRA sanctioned and seated 6,000. The first big race, the New York State Fuel Funny Car Championships on Sunday, September 19, 1971, paid a $5,000 purse to the eight fastest qualifiers and drew Tom “Smoker” Smith, Don Carlton, Gene Altizer and Al Segrini. The track claimed the longest shutdown area on the East Coast at 3,000 feet. In early September 1972 it hosted a rock concert with Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac. The Gold Cup was an annual event through the 1970s.
The track sat idle and for sale in 1973. It reopened in 1974 under new management, with Ron Mangone a co-owner, and switched from IHRA to NHRA in 1975. A 1981 attempt to rename it Dragway 36 didn’t stick. Bob and Donna Metcalfe bought it in 1986 and ran it under NHRA, going back to IHRA in 1989. It held its first IHRA Empire Nationals in 1990, as New York International Raceway Park. The Empire Dragway name came back in 2009. Jerry and Clara Scaccia bought the track after the 2013 season, and it still runs under IHRA sanction.
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