The Super DIRTcar Series will be storming west this coming Monday and Tuesday to Merrittville and Ransomville Speedway for a pair of 100-lap events.

The Harvey’s 100 will take place on Monday, August 6^that Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ontario.

Last year saw Matt Sheppard take the lead on a late race restart to pull away with the victory. Sheppard, the current points leader, has three victories on the series so far this season and will be looking to pick up win number four Monday night.

Track regular and current points leader at Merrittville Speedway, Mat Williamson, will be looking to defend his turf when the stars and cars come to town.

Williamson, who has made a few rare appearances with the Super DIRTcar Series this season, currently has six victories in his small block modified at the 3/8-mile banked clay oval.

Last year saw Williamson finish in the top-five when the series invaded his home track, this year, Williamson is feeling confident with his small block modified combination to be in the hunt for the victory against the big blocks.

“The small blocks get a 50lb weight break,” noted Williamson. “We usually weigh 2,400 there, this race we have to weigh 2,450. It’s added weight but it’s still an advantage on the big blocks that have to weigh 2,500. At the end of the night we’ll be better than we would be if we had our big block car. We run our small block every week, so we know what works. If we ran our big block we wouldn’t have the home track advantage since we don’t run it there.”

As per Super DIRTcar Series rules, if a driver who is contending for the points championship chooses to drive a small block modified will be penalized, therefore, you won’t see any of the top series drivers in a small block modified.

“Merrittville is one of those places that it’s small enough you can run a small block when the track has bite,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be an advantage early in the night, the big block will be the way to go early on, we’ll just hope the track will get slippery and play in our favor. You never know though. A big block won the race last year, so it throws our theory out the window. Anytime Matt Sheppard, Max McLaughlin, Jimmy Phelps, or Brett Hearn go racing, they’re going to be tough to beat with a small block or not. It’s still tough to win these races so we’ll see what we can do.”

With good weather in the forecast, Williamson believes the small block modifieds will be tough to beat.

“I think the weather has been challenging for us,” Williamson said. “We go there one week and it’s really good, the next week after a week of rain, it makes it tough to pass. If the weather plays out in our favor this week, it’ll be good for small block racing.”

With the home track advantage in his favor, Williamson is looking to be a huge contender come Monday night.

“I’m excited,” he added. “It’s one of those races we look forward to every year. It’s probably the best chance we have at winning these races. We have the home track advantage which plays a big part for these races.”

On Tuesday August 7th, the stars and cars will be crossing back over the border into Ransomville, NY to take on Ransomville Speedway for the Summer Nationals 100-lap event.

Last year saw Sheppard collect his first career win at Ransomville Speedway. This year, the hot shoe out of Ransomville, NY and Super DIRTcar Series regular, may be the man to beat come Tuesday night.

Erick Rudolph, the current small block modified points leader at Ransomville Speedway, has two victories under his belt at his Friday night home track.

Rudolph, who just picked up his first series win of the season at Weedsport Speedway, is looking forward to showing the big boys around his town.

“Being that we have a home track advantage, we’re looking forward to the race,” Rudolph said. “We have somewhat of a momentum going for us. We’ve finished in the top five a bunch of races in a row there so we’re looking forward to getting back there.”

Ransomville Speedway runs small block modifieds weekly and with the Super DIRTcar Series rules and Rudolph being in close contention for the championship, that means Rudolph will be behind the wheel of his big block modified instead of his weekly small block modified.

“I don’t know if I’d call it a disadvantage,” he said. “I’m used to running a small block there. They look the same and drive the same, but it can throw you off a little bit.”

Before breaking the ice at Weedsport Speedway, Rudolph had been a quiet contender making his way up through the field every race. Now, Rudolph sits in a close second in points behind Sheppard.

“We’ve been hitting the road hard running the series the last couple of weeks, so it’ll be a breath of fresh air to run at a few local tracks here on the series.”

Will the small block modified regulars prevail on this trip or will the stars and cars come out on top and show them how it’s done?