The Super DIRTcar Series had to wait an extra month for its season to get underway due to Mother Nature, but Stewart Friesen and the rest of the Big Block Modified drivers ensured their 2018 debut was well worth the delay on Memorial Day at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, New York.

In the night’s $7,500-to-win finale, Friesen held off mounting pressure from Heinke-Baldwin Racing teammates “Mad" Max McLaughlin and Jimmy Phelps for 100 laps to capture the Heroes Remembered 100 and kick off the series with his fourth career Big Block win at the track.

With the victory, the 34-year-old Sprakers, NY, driver—who also runs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series—has earned a guaranteed starting spot for the Billy Whittaker Cars and Trucks 200 at Super DIRT Week 47 in October at Oswego Speedway (NY).

“This isn’t my favorite race track, but we’ve had some good results here,” Friesen said. “I’m no spring chicken so running against those kids in the Trucks Series is teaching me to stay hydrated and take a little bit better care of myself so that’s just paid dividends. And the work ethic on that end has paid dividends to this Modified program.”

Friesen last notched a Super DIRTcar win at Weedsport in July. This time he led the field of 31 cars wire to wire while making use of all lines on the 3/8-mile circuit to hold off McLaughlin in the hard-charging 6h.

“We had a great race car,” Friesen said. “The start was key. When the track is slick and as challenging as it was tonight, it’s good to have some track position. I saw Max shove his nose in there a couple times and just knew I had to calm down and hit the bottom.”

McLaughlin came within 0.4 seconds of Friesen as they navigated traffic with five laps to go, but the 18-year-old Mooresville, NC, native, couldn’t close the gap while searching for his breakthrough Super DIRTcar win. However, he did walk away with another career-best series race finish and his first top 10 at Weedsport.

“We’ve been really bad here and I’ve tried my hardest to give (Heinke-Baldwin Racing Team owner) Al Hinkie a good finish here,” McLaughlin said. “It’s his race track, he’s a great car owner, and I can’t thank him enough for giving me this opportunity. I’ve struggled for 2 1/2 years now and I started to get a little bit better at the end of the year. Again, we struggled with these cars this year. We’ve got great race cars and now I’m finally comfortable enough to where I can do my job too.”

Finished 2nd to @StewartFriesen tonight at @WeedsportSpdwy for the @SuperDIRTcar Race! Side by side for the last 75 laps. Always badass racing with Stew.

— Max McLaughlin (@MaxMcLaughlin_) May 29, 2018

Meanwhile, Phelps, who’s also the track promoter at Weedsport, earned his third straight podium finish in a Big Block event at the 3/8-mile. Erick Rudolph crossed close behind in fourth, and defending series champion Matt Sheppard rounded out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 was comprised of Tim Fuller, Larry Wright, Billy Dunn, Alan Johnson, and Brett Hearn, respectively.

“It’s funny, we didn’t fire the greatest and were kind of living and dying by the cushion air,” Phelps said. “The cushion went away and we didn’t feel like we had what we needed on the bottom and kind of got it done just by pure luck. 

"Sheppard got racing lapped traffic and put me up on the outside and we were able to clear both of them. We were able to roll for quite a few laps out there and started catching them when they got into traffic. I thought it was going to get fun, and then they got back away from me. All in all, it’s another podium finish and we’re just going to keep rolling. We’ll get there.” 

The Super DIRTcar Series’ 2018 points opener came after two prior schedule races at Fulton Speedway (NY) on April 28 and Bridgeport Speedway (NJ) on May 16 were canceled due to rain. The series remains in New York for its next two events, beginning June 15 at Brewerton Speedway, followed by a June 26 date for The BIG Show 10 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Heroes Remembered 100

Weedsport Speedway – Weedsport, NY
Monday, May 28

Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds
1. 44 – STEWART FRIESEN, 2. 6H – Max McLaughlin, 3. 98H – Jimmy Phelps, 4. 25 – Erick Rudolph, 5. 9S – Matt Sheppard, 6. 19 – Tim Fuller, 7. 99L – Larry Wight, 8. 3RS – Billy Dunn, 9. 14J – Alan Johnson, 10. 20 – Brett Hearn, 11. 5H – Chris Hile, 12. 21A – Peter Britten, 13. 6M – Mat Williamson, 14. 42P – Pat Ward, 15. 88 – Mike Mahaney, 16. 27J – Danny Johnson, 17. 66X – Carey Terrance, 18. 91 – Billy Decker, 19. 43 – Keith Flach, 20. 00 – Bobby Varin, 21. 21R – Ryan Jordan, 22. 7F – Matt Farnham, 23. 8 – Rich Scagliotta, 24. 109 – Billy Whittaker, 25. 07 – Tim Kerr, 26. 63 – Adam Roberts, 27. 48 – Dave Rauscher, 28. 6H – Josh Hohenforst, 29. 1X – Willy Decker, 30. 84 – Gary Tomkins, 31. 16B – Alan Barker

Heat Winners: Friesen, Ward, Sheppard, McLaughlin
Last Chance Showdown Winners: Roberts, Williamson