Over the past six days, a trio of new drivers have etched their names into season record books as race winners in the 2018 Super DIRTcar Series.

“The Doctor” Danny Johnson made a house call Thursday night at Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, NY, while “The Baldwinsville Bandit” Jimmy Phelps held Johnson back on Sunday for the Freedom Fighter 100 victory at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, NY. 

Then, on Tuesday evening, the series saw Brett “The Jet” Hearn stomp on the field in the Ultimate Outlaw 100 at Outlaw Speedway in Vernon, NY.

Looking back on the three-race weekend, the series point standings have been shuffled around quite a bit. With “Super” Matt Sheppard still in the points lead over Max McLaughlin, Johnson has now snuck his way into the top five, bumping Phelps back a spot. Pat Ward’s finishes have been able to move him up into the top 10 in points, pushing Stewart Friesen right outside the top 10.

Land of Legends Raceway (July 5)

WINNER: Danny Johnson

It was a scorcher Thursday evening with temperatures reaching over 90 degrees at Land of Legends Raceway.

The reigning champ, Matt Sheppard, kicked off the evening by leading time trials with a time of 18.382 over the 35-car field.

Four heat races were run and won by Billy Dunn, Danny Johnson, Mat Williamson, and Brett Hearn.

The Dig Safely 811 pole position went to Johnson.

Johnson and Brett Hearn led the 30-car field to the green flag over Pat Ward and Williamson.

Johnson was able to jump out to a safe lead over Ward until Williamson overcame Ward on the top side for second place.

After slicing and dicing through heavy lap traffic the first half of the race, the yellow flag was thrown on lap 43.

The field then doubled up on lap 55, allowing Williamson the chance to make his move on the doctor.

Sheppard, who was the seventh-place starter, jumped into the mix and started pressuring Williamson for second, allowing Johnson to once again pull away from the field.

Johnson lapped all the way up to 11th and was closing in on tenth when the checkered flag fell for Johnson with the Liberty 100 victory—his first win of the season and 81st overall with the Super DIRTcar Series.

Utica-Rome Speedway (July 8)

WINNER: Jimmy Phelps

With three divisions on hand, the Super DIRTcar Series had a total of 33 modifieds signed in for competition for the Freedom Fighter 100 on a warm and sunny Sunday evening at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, NY.

Stewart Friesen opened the night up with the fastest time overall in group times. Pat Ward, Matt Sheppard, Friesen, and Jimmy Phelps all came out on top to score their heat race victories.

By luck of the draw, The Baldwinsville Bandit drew the pole position with his No. 98h J&B Installations machine.

Phelps and Danny Johnson lead the 30-car field to the green flag.

Friesen, who started in ninth, clawed his way through early in the race to start, knocking on Phelps’ door and continued to do so until lap 70 when Friesen went over the berm in turns three and four, allowing Phelps to pull away.

The last caution of the night fell on lap 82, allowing the field to close up and giving Johnson the chance to make his move on Phelps. However, Phelps was able to hold off some strong contenders who were biting at his heels to pull away with the $6,000 victory.

Outlaw Speedway (July 10)

WINNER: Brett Hearn

The Super DIRTcar Series invaded Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY, for its seventh series race of the season on Tuesday night.

With a 26-car field on hand, Thursday night’s victor, Danny Johnson, led the way with the fastest time overall in time trials.

Johnson went on to win heat No. 1, while Erick Rudolph and Billy Decker won heats two and three.

Rudolph and Brett Hearn brought the 26-car field to the green flag over Kyle Coffey and Stewart Friesen.

It didn’t take long for Hearn to find his way into lapped traffic by lap 10. Friesen jumped into second and was working all over the track to try and close in on Hearn and was able to so by lap 30 to take the lead.

Friesen was slicing and dicing through lapped traffic until he immediately went pit side with his No. 44 machine, handing the lead back over to Hearn with just eight laps remaining.

Hearn pulled away in the final laps to take the Ultimate 100 victory over Sheppard, Johnson, Rudolph, and Tim Fuller. 

Coming off a three-race weekend, here’s a breakdown of the season stats for the Super DIRTcar Series regulars before they head into their next race on Thursday, July 19, at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, NY.

2018 STAT ATTACK

There have been 7 Super DIRTcar Series features this season.    

SEASON WINNERS: Stewart Friesen - 2 (Weedsport Speedway on May 29, Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 26); Matt Sheppard – 2 (Brewerton Speedway on June 15, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 1); Danny Johnson – 1 (Land of Legends Raceway on July 5); Jimmy Phelps – 1 (Utica-Rome Speedway on July 8); Brett Hearn – 1 (Outlaw Speedway on July 10)

Winners (5 Drivers)

Rank, Driver - Wins

T-1. - STEWART FRIESEN - 2

- MATT SHEPPARD – 2

T-3. - DANNY JOHNSON – 1

- JIMMY PHELPS – 1

- BRETT HEARN - 1

Pole Positions (6 Drivers)

Rank, Driver - Poles

1. MATT SHEPPARD – 2

T-2. STEWART FRIESEN – 1

- CHRIS RAABE – 1

- DANNY JOHNSON – 1

- JIMMY PHELPS – 1

- ERICK RUDOLPH – 1

Time Trial leaders (5 Drivers)

Rank, Driver - Quick Times

1. MATT SHEPPARD – 3

T-2. BILLY DECKER – 1

- TIM FULLER – 1        

- STEWART FRIESEN – 1    

- DANNY JOHNSON – 1    

Podium Finishes (10 Different Drivers)

Rank, Driver - Finishes in the Top 3

1. MATT SHEPPARD – 5

2. JIMMY PHELPS – 4 

3. DANNY JOHNSON – 3

T-4. STEWART FRIESEN – 2

- MAX MCLAUGHLIN – 2

T-6.  BILLY DECKER – 1

- CHRIS RAABE – 1

- KYLE DINGWALL – 1

-  MAT WILLIAMSON – 1

- BRETT HEARN – 1

Heat Race Winners (18 Different Drivers)

Rank, Driver - Win

1. MATT SHEPPARD – 4 

T-2. PAT WARD – 3

- STEWART FRIESEN – 3

- BRETT HEARN – 2

- DANNY JOHNSON – 2

- ERICK RUDOLPH – 2

T-7. MAX MCLAUGHLIN – 1

- LARRY WIGHT – 1

- TIM SEARS JR. – 1

- TIM FULLER – 1

- PETER BRITTEN – 1

- WILLY DECKER – 1

- JESSEY MUELLER – 1

- MICHAEL PARENT – 1

- JIMMY PHELPS – 1

- BILLY DUNN – 1

- MAT WILLIAMSON – 1

- BILLY DECKER – 1

Last Chance Showdown Winners (6 Different Drivers)

Rank Driver, Hometown - Wins

1. ADAM ROBERTS – 2

– ROB BELLINGER – 2

T-3. MATT WILLIAMSON – 1 

- ANDREW FERGUSON – 1 

- TIM MCCREADIE – 1

- ERICK RUDOLPH – 1

29 TOTAL RACES

2018 Super DIRTcar Series Schedule & Winners

28 TOTAL RACES

Sat., 4/28: High Bank Holdup (Fulton Speedway) Fulton, NY — RAIN

MAY

Wed., 5/16: Battle at the Bridge (Bridgeport Speedway) Bridgeport, NJ — RAIN
Mon., 5/28: Memorial Day 100 (Weedsport Speedway) Weedsport, NY — Stewart Friesen

JUNE

Fri., 6/15: Brewerton Speedway; Brewerton, NY — Matt Sheppard
Tues., 6/26: The BIG Show 10 (Albany-Saratoga Speedway) Malta, NY — Stewart Friesen (2)

JULY

Sun., 7/1: Cornwall Motor Speedway; Cornwall, ON — Matt Sheppard (2)
Thurs., 7/5: Land of Legends Raceway; Canandaigua, NY — Danny Johnson
Sun., 7/8: Freedom Fighter 100 (Utica-Rome Speedway) Vernon, NY — Jimmy Phelps
Tues., 7/10: Outlaw Speedway; Dundee, NY — Brett Hearn
Thurs., 7/19: Battle on the Midway (Orange County Fair Speedway) Middletown, NY
Mon., 7/23: Autodrome Granby; Granby, QC
Tues., 7/24: Racing Stock 100 (Autodrome Drummond) Drummondville, QC
Sat., 7/28: Hall of Fame 100 (Weedsport Speedway) Weedsport, NY
Tues., 7/31: Battle of Plattsburgh 100 (Airborne Park Speedway) Plattsburgh, NY

AUGUST

Wed., 8/1: Jack Johnson Tribute (Fonda Speedway) Fonda, NY
Mon., 8/6: Bob St. Amand Sr. Memorial (Merrittville Speedway) Thorold, ON
Tues., 8/7: Summer Nationals (Ransomville Speedway) Ransomville, NY

SEPTEMBER

Sat., 9/1: Mr. DIRT Track USA (Lebanon Valley Speedway) West Lebanon, NY
Mon., 9/3: Labor Day Double Play 100 (Weedsport Speedway) Weedsport, NY
Fri., 9/7: Le RPM Speedway; Saint-Marcel-de-Richelieu, QC
Sat., 9/8: Blackout Race (Autodrome Drummond) Drummondville, QC
Fri., 9/14: Duel at the Demon (Brewerton Speedway) Brewerton, NY
Sat., 9/15: Mohawk 100 (Mohawk International Raceway) Akwesasne, NY
Sat., 9/22: Thunder Along the Mohawk (Fonda Speedway) Fonda, NY

OCTOBER

Sun., 10/7: NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week XLVII (Oswego Speedway / Oswego, NY
Fri., 10/12: The Loud & Dirty Northeast Fall Nationals (Brockville Ontario Speedway) Brockville, ON

NOVEMBER

Friday, 11/2: Textron Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals (The Dirt Track at Charlotte) Concord, NC
Saturday, 11/3: Textron Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals (The Dirt Track at Charlotte) Concord, NC