As the summer months get warmer, the Super DIRTcar Series continues to heat up its 2018 slate with three races in six days in New York.

The series kicks off the holiday week at Land of Legends Raceway on Thursday, July 5, then heads to Utica-Rome Speedway on Sunday, July 8, followed by a trip to Outlaw Speedway on Tuesday, July 10. 

What should we expect heading into the weekend?

THURSDAY, JULY 5

Land of Legends Raceway

7 PM EDT | Canandaigua, NY | Watch LIVE

The last Super DIRTcar Series visit to Land of Legends Raceway was back in June of 2016 when series regular Tim Fuller battled his way through the field to make a late-race pass by reigning champ Matt Sheppard to score his first points victory of the season.

Fuller has been quietly lurking near the top of the leaderboard as he looks to clinch his first victory in this year’s series, collecting three top-10 finishes out of four races. His last win came at Mohawk International last season.

The 2017 champ Sheppard currently sits on top of the points at Land of Legends Raceway. Can Fuller invade Sheppard’s home track once again and dethrone the champ on Thursday?

Sitting in a close second in points at the fast half-mile dirt oval is series regular Jimmy Phelps. His No. 98h team has been consistent and showing strong strides both in the series and at its Saturday night home track. Phelps, who just picked up his first win of the season this past Saturday night at Land of Legends Raceway, will be a strong contender come Thursday night.

Series phenom Peter Britten has been battling major back issues all season, which has put a damper on his racing. However, he didn’t let it hold him back Saturday after collecting the makeup feature at Land of Legends Raceway in true fashion in the Ray Graham-owned No. 21a. Britten now has two wins under his belt at his Saturday night home track.

Another strong contender who will be in play Thursday night is 2018 series regular Erick Rudolph, who sits third in the point standings at Land of Legends Raceway. With nine starts at the half-mile, Rudolph has collected one win, seven top fives, and eight top 10s. Rudolph is looking to end his dry spell. His last victory in the series came back in 2016 at Brockville Ontario Speedway.

@SuperDIRTcar and @ESSprints roll into @LandofLegendsNY on Thursday, July 5th! 100 Lap Big Block Series Race plus 25 Laps Empire Super Sprints! You don't want to miss this! I think @NYVoice13 will be in the house too! pic.twitter.com/AjIQJLVGaD

— Land Of Legends Raceway (@LandofLegendsNY) July 1, 2018

SUNDAY, JULY 8

Freedom Fighter 100 at Utica-Rome Speedway

7 PM EDT | Vernon, NY

Last year’s event at Utica-Rome Speedway saw Stewart Friesen take the lead from Pat Ward on the outside halfway through the race and continue on to take the checkers. 

The Utica victory was Friesen’s first Super DIRTcar Series win of the season for the Sprakers, NY, native. This year Friesen already has two series victories to his name and he will look to make it two in a row at Utica-Rome as the track’s regulars attempt to defend their home turf during the Freedom Fighter 100.

One significant change to Utica-Rome Speedway that will play in effect this Sunday is the recent switch from running big-block modifieds weekly to running DIRTcar 358 modifieds this year. After seeing a handful of the small blocks in the top results at Cornwall Speedway last Sunday, will the small blocks come out on top or will the big blocks show them the way around the 1/2-mile?

Billy Dunn, the current points leader at Utica-Rome, is undecided on whether to race his small-block modified on Sunday that he’s been running weekly at Utica or if he should bring his big block out to play.

“What I’ll probably do is I’ll take them both,” he said. “I’m probably going to run the big block and wish I’d run the small block.”

With only three races in the books at Utica, Dunn isn’t quite sold yet on which car to bring for the Freedom Fighter 100.

“It depends on how many big blocks show up,” Dunn noted. “Having the sprint cars at Utica will play a part as well. Having them there might change my decision on what we run. Utica gets slick. Other than the 9s in the big block, I’m thinking there will be quite a few small blocks in the top 10.”

Which car to bring to Sunday’s event is something that has been on Dunn’s mind for a while now. 

“I’ve always raced more big blocks than small blocks,” he said. “I’ve never been good at Utica, but I’ve been running a small block and running good, so it makes me wonder what I should do.”

As for the series regulars who are running for points, it’s mandatory to run a big block; otherwise, they’ll be penalized.

“If you’re running for points and you choose to run a small block, you’ll lose 75 points,” said race director Mike Perrotte. “It’s a big-block series. The guys that run this series like that, they only have one motor combination so they don’t have to carry two different combinations with them.”

With that being said, Perrotte feels strongly about the big blocks invading Sunday at Utica-Rome.

“It should be interesting because it’s a slippery race track but it’s also a big track,” Perrotte added. “Plus, the sprint cars will be there, so I still expect big blocks to be the dominant combination. The big blocks will prevail.”

TUESDAY, JULY 10

Ultimate Outlaw 100 at Outlaw Speedway

7 PM EDT | Dundee, NY | Watch LIVE

Last year’s race saw the “Franklin Flyer” Billy Decker take the lead from “Lightning” Larry Wight on the outside on a lap-68 restart, then continue to hold off charges from Matt Sheppard over the final 20 laps to win the Ultimate 100 at Outlaw Speedway.

However, Decker has been struggling through four series races this season. The No. 91 team only has one podium finish, which came at Brewerton Speedway on June 15. That doesn’t mean you should count him out of the mix though. 

“Super” Matt, the current points leader and reigning champ, will have the upper hand Tuesday at Outlaw Speedway against the series regulars. Sheppard, who runs Outlaw weekly, has collected five wins and six top fives out of just six starts so far at the Dundee, NY, oval.

Allan Johnson, the driver of the No. 14J out of Middlesex, NY, currently sits on top of the point standings at Outlaw over Sheppard. Johnson has been consistent at Outlaw with two wins and six top-five finishes.

Outlaw is not a DIRT-sanctioned track; therefore, it can run open motors, small block vs. big block.

Looking back at last year’s results, Perrotte is feeling confident that the Outlaw show will be another race dominated by big blocks.

“When we go to Outlaw it’s DIRT rules, so I expect most of the cars to be big blocks,” Perrotte added. “The small blocks that they run at Outlaw aren’t necessary DIRT legal, they’re open motors. Therefore, the small blocks have to be DIRT legal to run on Tuesday. I expect the same results as last year, big blocks at the top.”