When Stewart Friesen arrives at Super DIRT Week 54 in October, he’ll have the opportunity to reach a milestone no one has reached before.
After winning the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 in 2024, the Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON driver tied Brett Hearn with six event victories. That means a win at Oswego Speedway in 2026 would give him the most Big Block wins in the event’s iconic history.
“It’s pretty wild to think about,” Friesen said. “The success we had at the Mile and then winning the first one at Oswego was really cool. Then, it took eight or nine years to win another one, and it shows just how tough Super DIRT Week is as an event. Two hundred laps. It doesn’t really matter the venue. It’s the best in the business, and you have to be perfect.”
Perfect is what Friesen was at Super DIRT Week 52, winning the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award, before leading all 200 laps.
That race was also the first time the event was run on Saturday night, creating different variables than what drivers had seen in years past. But that didn’t deter Friesen, who said he enjoyed the new format.
“The nighttime race was something that was well received,” Friesen said. “I was excited about it. Just being a short track, and the track conditions that you get in nighttime racing over afternoon racing are so much more fun. Especially a track like Oswego. The way it’s laid out, you can run top, bottom, or middle. There’s 10 different ways around the place.
“We were able to time trial good and stay out front in clean air and control the race. That worked in our favor. That doesn’t happen all the time. We’ll go there this year with a well -prepared Halmar No. 44 and try to do the best we can again.”
So far in 2026, he’s been the best Big Block Modified driver in Super DIRTcar Series competition. Despite not racing the entire Series due to his NASCAR Trucks Series commitments, Friesen has reached Victory Lane six times and only missed the podium once in 10 starts. That includes a stretch of four wins in his last five Series appearances heading into the Cavalcade Cup 100 at Weedsport Speedway. He’s also moved into fifth on the Series all-time wins list.
Friesen attributed his success to his team’s longevity and said they’re just clicking right now.
“This group’s been together for a number of years,” Friesen said. “Same cars. Same motors. Just fine-tuning stuff across the board. It’s awesome the way it’s come together this year, and surprising, honestly, even from our end. It’s not one thing we’ve figured out or done differently; it’s a combination of probably 10 or 12 different things that we’ve been able to dial in to give the car what it needs every time it hits the racetrack.”
Friesen’s quest for a seventh Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win will have an added wrinkle this season. While he’ll be pulling double-duty, it’ll be between two different cars in two different states. Along with driving his Big Block, the NASCAR Trucks Series is racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, Oct. 9, meaning he’ll fly back-and-forth between Qualifying and the Super DIRT Week 54 finale.
“That’s tricky,” Friesen said. “The last couple of years it’s worked out schedule-wise. A few years ago, I had to bail. We raced Talladega on Saturday, so I ended up leaving, I think, Friday and coming back Saturday night. It’s tricky, but having my great teammates to rely on helps.
“Hopefully there’s no weather that’s an interference, so we’ll get qualified on Thursday with the Big Block. I’ll fly commercially out of Syracuse Friday morning. We race an afternoon-night race with the truck at Charlotte, and then we’ll fly back into Syracuse Saturday morning.”
Friesen and the Super DIRTcar Series will battle for the “Buzzie” at Super DIRT Week 54 presented by StubHub, Oct. 5-10, at Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY. The event culminates with the 54th running of the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Where can you buy Super DIRT Week tickets? Buy them online at SuperDIRTWeek.com.
Where can you watch the Super DIRTcar Series? Watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
