Half-Mile Utica-Rome Speedway Sets the Stage for Super DIRTcar Series Freedom Fighter 100

CONCORD, NC – July 5, 2018 – On Sunday, July 8 the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds invade Utica-Rome Speedway for the Freedom Fighter 100. All important Series Championship points are on the line. Matt Sheppard, Max McLaughlin, Jimmy Phelps and others are tied up in knots at the top of the standings. The HBR stable is poised to take a win, but Sheppard, Erick Rudolph, and Tim Fuller mean to break up their party. Utica-Rome Speedway has been bitten with the rainout bug so far in 2018, and area race fans are eager for the premier Big-Block Modified series in the Northeast to roll into town.

Utica-Rome Speedway’s half-mile circuit rewards only the very best Big-Block Modified drivers and crews. It’s fast, dicey, and only the best and bravest drivers have claimed victories. A total of ten Super DIRTcar Series events have taken place at the Vernon, NY race track. Two of the greatest drivers of all time have a pair of wins each: Billy Decker and Brett Hearn, both of whom have failed to secure wins on the Series trail in 2018.

In 2015 five-time Super DIRT Week Champion and NASCAR Camping World Truck driver Stewart Friesen broke the track record with an 18.816 second lap. Friesen has the most all-time wins at Utica-Rome Speedway with 54 wins under his belt. Also, Series star and points leader Matt Sheppard holds third on the all-time Utica-Rome wins list making him, as always, a serious contender. In 1982 the Super DIRTcar Series made their first appearance at Utica-Rome Speedway. The legendary Jumpin’ Jack Johnson in the no. 12a won that inaugural race.

Last year, in a race halted by two red flags, Friesen shot by Pat Ward around the outside for the checkered flag. Thankfully no injuries occurred in the incidents, however the second incident will go down in history as a defining event in the rivalry between Sheppard and Larry Wight. Sheppard and Wight made contact resulting in Wight’s machine catching air and pirouetting on the backstretch. The drivers were not on same page as to what lead up to the wreck and they showed it.

General admission tickets are $30 with $3 off for seniors and veterans. Kids under 16 years of age get in for just $5. In addition to the $6,000 to win Freedom Fighter 100, the Empire Super Sprints will join the card. Gates open at 4:30 PM with Qualifying Races commencing at 7:00 PM.

The Super DIRTcar Series is the premier Big-Block Modified tour of North America. Tour regulars, such as eight-time Series Champion Brett Hearn and current title-holder Matt Sheppard, pit their 800-horsepower Big-Block Modifieds against the best short track racing drivers over a 27-race schedule on 21 tracks from Canada to Florida. In 2018 there are 17 drivers contending for the Series Championship. Follow along for news and notes on Facebook and Twitter.

Legends Will Be Made on July 5th at Land of Legends Raceway

CONCORD, NC – June 30, 2018 – The Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds returns to the Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, NY. Thursday, July 5 marks the forty-fifth Series visit to the historic half-mile fairgrounds track. Every week at Land of Legends Raceway, DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds contest the sweeping turns for checkered flags. Many Series stars are among the weekly competitors such as Super Matt Sheppard, Erick Rudolph from Ransomville, NY, and HBR’s veteran pilot Jimmy Phelps. Will home track advantage play a part in the 100-lap battle?

Cornwall Motor Speedway is the First Canadian Super DIRT Series Tour Stop in 2018

CONCORD, NC – June 19, 2018 – The Super DIRTcar Series’ first foray into Canada of 2018 will take place on July 1, 2018 at Cornwall Motor Speedway. Since 1994, the Series has visited Cornwall 23 times. Brett The Jet Hearn sits on top of the all-time Series wins list at the quarter-mile Ontario oval with five checkered flags to his credit. The points race is on with Matt Sheppard and Jimmy Phelps battling to stand at the top. As of the June 16 race at Brewerton Speedway, Sheppard has one win and a fifth-place finish, while Phelps has been Mr. Consistent with two third-place finishes.

By The Numbers: Matt Sheppard Notches Win No. 60 In Super DIRTcar Series

“Super” Matt Sheppard may have finished off the podium in the Super DIRTcar Series’ season opener last month, but the defending tour champion did not have to wait long to find his way back to victory lane.

On Friday evening, Sheppard tamed the D-Shaped Demon at Brewerton Speedway in New York by dominating a whopping field of 36 modified drivers who signed up for the series’ second points race of 2018.

Check out the rest of Mandee Pauch's article and find out how to live stream select Super DIRTcar Series races at FloRacing! 

Big Show X Winner guaranteed a starting position in 47th annual NAPA Super DIRT Week

CONCORD, NC – June 18, 2018 - On Tuesday, June 26 the Albany-Saratoga Speedway hosts The Big Show X with a $10,000 check for the winner and guaranteed starting position in the 47th running of NAPA Super DIRT Week. After ten years of incredible racing, this year’s Big Show has all the elements to make for a memorable Super DIRTcar Series race. The Championship chase is young and so is HBR no. 6H driver Max McLaughlin, the 18-year-old who appears to be on his way to having a banner season. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series breakout driver Stewart Friesen will join the Super DIRTcar Series at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in the Halmar Racing no. 44 as well. Friesen is looking to snatch the $10,000-to-win prize money and assert his dominance in the first two of seven NAPA Super DIRT Week Qualifiers.

CONCORD, NC – June 4, 2018 – To some, the 1/3-mile Central New York race track is known as Brewerton Speedway. To others amongst the Big-Block Modified faithful, it’s known as the D-Shaped Demon. On Friday, June 15 the Super DIRTcar Series will attempt to tame the beast and take home valuable Championship points in the Showdown at Sundown 100. With the first points-paying contest in their rear-view mirror, 2018 contenders have begun to emerge. Defending Series Champion Matt Sheppard has visited Victory Lane in three out of the last five races at Brewerton Speedway and will look to improve on his fifth-place performance at Weedsport Speedway.

Orange County Fair Speedway Returns to Super DIRTcar Series Schedule with the first Battle on the Midway

CONCORD, NC – June 1, 2018 – The Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds will return to the hallowed 99-year-old Orange County Fair Speedway on Thursday, July 19 for the Battle on the Midway. The victor takes home $10,000 and a guaranteed starting position at the 47th annual NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week. The Series has not raced on the Middletown, NY, 5/8-mile speedway since 2014. For many years prior to that, race fans and drivers alike cured their post-NAPA Super DIRT Week blues with a trip the Eastern States 200 in mid-October. The first Super DIRTcar Series OCFS race was held in 1972 when Buzzie Reutimann took the checkered flag.

By Clayton Johns, FloRacing.com

When the Super DIRTcar Series season finally gets underway on Memorial Day with the Heroes Remembered 100 at Weedsport Speedway in New York, Erick Rudolph will be in the field. And for every series race after that in 2018.

The 26-year-old native of Ransomville, NY, is making his second attempt to run full-time with the Super DIRTcar Series, which is starting a full month later than it was scheduled to after rain washed out races at Fulton and Bridgeport speedways. He last competed as a tour regular in 2014 at just 22 years old. The series’ offseason decision to eliminate DIRTcar home track points as part of the championship was a big reason Rudolph decided to tackle the entire tour this year, he said.

Series Director Mike Perrotte to Step Down at the End of the 2018 Season

CONCORD, NC – May 22, 2018 – As rain continues to plague the onset of the 2018 Super DIRTcar Series season — leaving not a single race run since McCreadie’s late race charge past Stewart Friesen for the DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator on February 17 — already Series Director Mike Perrotte is thinking ahead and planning for upcoming years. It won’t be until Monday, May 28 that the Big-Block Modifieds will come to life under his watch again. This race will have a notable significance to Perrotte as it will be the first Series race to run since he decided 2018 would be his last as Series Director. The NY native plans on retiring from Series management at the end of the season, remaining in the DIRTcar family as a driver.