WORLD OF PAYNE: Alex Payne Wins Super DIRTcar Series Finale at Charlotte
November 7th has been good to Alex Payne.
Exactly one year since his first victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, the Hopewell, NY driver struck again Saturday night to win the Super DIRTcar Series finale at the Dave Smith Motors World Finals.
His sixth Super DIRTcar Series win capped off a season in which he finished fourth in the final standings.
“There’s nothing better than this,” Payne said. “Holy shit. It’s been a long summer. We’ve had a really good racecar, and it’s just been tough. Not everything went our way, but we just kept fighting.
“I’m so blessed to be able to do this every day. And have these people to stand by us.”
Payne, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the 40-lap Feature, beating Jimmy Phelps to Turn 1 to gain the advantage. That advantage was short-lived, though, as cautions for Tim Sears Jr. and Justin Stone slowed the field in the first five laps.
When the race resumed, Payne grabbed the advantage again and pulled away from the No. 98H as a long green flag run began. But as the “Slidejob Express” clicked off laps, he got into lap traffic, allowing Phelps and Mike Maresca to close in on the No. 70A.
Payne mastered his way through traffic, threading the needle to keep distance from Phelps. However, the win almost slipped away on Lap 34. As Payne rolled into the corner, trying to split the middle between Matt Stangle and Mike Mahaney, lap cars, it opened the door for Phelps on the bottom. Payne slid up the track in Turn 3, allowing Phelps to sneak underneath Payne in the middle of the corner. But Payne’s momentum was too much, as he kept the lead while they exited Turn 4.
That was as close as Phelps got, as Payne moved Stangle in Turn 1 to separate himself from the veteran driver.
From there, not even a green-white-checkered finish could keep Payne from the victory, as he held on for the $15,000 win and second World Finals triumph.
In Victory Lane, Payne had one sentence to describe the race. “Thank god for hard tires.”
“I didn’t know what to do there in lap traffic,” Payne said. “I slipped up there, and I’m pretty sure I saw Jimmy’s roof. I didn’t think he was that close. I thought I did a really good job with lap cars. It’s just tough here trying to get cars off the bottom. I had to use the nerf bar there quite a bit.”
Maresca snuck underneath Phelps in traffic with four laps to go to gain the runner-up spot, earning the Baldwinsville, NY driver his second consecutive podium finish.
Phelps settled for third, beating Payne by three points to earn third in the Super DIRTcar Series standings.
Tyler Dippel, the MD3 Rookie of the Race, finished fourth, and Alex Yankowski rounded out the top five. The 2026 Super DIRTcar Series champion drove from 13th to fifth in the final two laps, after pitting for a right-rear flat tire.
RACE NOTES:
Bicknell Racing Products Heat Race 1 Winner: Jimmy Phelps
DIG Race Products Heat Race 2 Winner: Alex Yankowski
Wix Filters Heat Race 3 Winner: Mat Williamson
The Greatest Store on Dirt Heat Race 4 Winner: Mike Maresca
SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award Winner: Alex Payne
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse One Lap to Go: Alex Payne
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series returns heads to Florida to kick off the 2027 season at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL on Feb. 16-20, as part of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.
Where can you buy tickets to Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals? You can buy tickets atDIRTcarNationals.com.
Where can you watch the Super DIRTcar Series? Watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
Super DIRTcar Series Feature (40 Laps): 1. 70A-Alex Payne[1]; 2. 7MM-Michael Maresca[3]; 3. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[2]; 4. 1-Tyler Dippel[5]; 5. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[8]; 6. 26-Ryan Godown[4]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard[10]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[7]; 9. 88-Mat Williamson[6]; 10. 16-Louden Reimert[12]; 11. 11-Matt Caprara[15]; 12. 12-Darren Smith[13]; 13. 21A-Peter Britten[11]; 14. 35-Mike Mahaney[9]; 15. 6-Matt Stangle[21]; 16. 2-Jack Lehner[14]; 17. 4M-Logan Watt[17]; 18. 29-Ryan Krachun[28]; 19. 7M-Paul Mancini[29]; 20. 28-Michael Trautschold[18]; 21. 35C-Chris Curtis[22]; 22. 44G-Sebastien Gougeon[24]; 23. 165-Rex King Jr[30]; 24. 15X-Justin Stone[20]; 25. 17-Marcus Dinkins[27]; 26. (DNF) 25-Erick Rudolph[16]; 27. (DNF) 83X-Tim Sears Jr[25]; 28. (DNF) 99L-Larry Wight[19]; 29. (DNF) 9-Tim McCreadie[23]; 30. (DNF) 3-Justin Haers[26]
