Stewart Friesen grabbed the lead on an early restart and never looked back Thursday night at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, NY, as he became the first driver to win three Super DIRTcar Series races this season.

Friesen’s previous victories include the SDS season opener at Weedsport Speedway on May 28 and the Big Show 10 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 26. However, the Battle on the Midway on Thursday was the first time he returned to the top five in his last three series starts.

Not only did Friesen end his unlucky streak—which included two straight DNFs—but he also pocketed $10,000 in winning his second Super DIRT Week Qualifier of the year. Being Friesen already owns a qualifier win, the automatic spot went to Thursday’s second-place finisher, Matt Sheppard, who made a late charge and had Friesen within his sights after a caution flag reset the field with one lap remaining.

.@StewartFriesen celebrates his $10,000 win! pic.twitter.com/sHWfdfBctL

— Super DIRTcar Series (@SuperDIRTcar) July 20, 2018

“At Outlaw last week, we had a broken axle and then I saw a caution come out with one to go and I thought, ‘Man, anything can happen,’” Friesen said. “Especially when the No. 9s there is behind you, you never know. We had enough, we got it done, and I’m just proud of all my guys.”

After starting sixth on the redraw, Friesen worked his way into the lead on a lap 28 restart before the race went under a red flag due to a three-car wreck between Rich Scagliotta, Danny Johnson, and Bob McGannon in which Johnson’s car went airborne. All three walked away from the crash unharmed.

Friesen went on to lead the final 73 laps of the race, which came one night after he finished third in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. 

“I knew we had to get rolling there at the beginning of this one and try to get to the front as quick as we can and just kind of save our stuff,” Friesen said. “I love racing at this track. It’s so strategic and just a lot of fun.”

Sheppard, the current SDS points leader, started seventh in the field before finishing as runner-up for the second straight race. 

Through eight starts this season, Sheppard has a series-leading seven top-five finishes overall.

“I’m happy with our run tonight,” Sheppard said. “Stewie was obviously in a league of his own. He’s really good here. We’re usually not so good here so we’ll take the second tonight—good points night for us. We’ll take a few notes and maybe we can improve for the next time back.” 

.@StewartFriesen wins the Battle on the Midway 100! Matt Sheppard grabs the guaranteed @SuperDIRTWeek starting spot! pic.twitter.com/sbXaOG6QGU

— Super DIRTcar Series (@SuperDIRTcar) July 20, 2018

Erick Rudolph came from 10th to round out the podium—his second third-place finish in his last three starts. In the late stages of Thursday’s race, the driver of the No. 25 edged Jimmy Horton in a battle for the fifth spot. Horton would eventually finish fourth, with Billy Decker surging from 14th on the redraw to cross the line in fifth place.

“[It was a] long race and I’m not sure what happened on the red flag, but it seemed like it was about a 40-minute delay there,” Rudolph said. “We finally got back under green and we were plenty racy. We were just kind of pecking our way up and it looked like we were going to get a top five and then something happened to a couple of the leaders and we were able to get a podium finish tonight.”

The Super DIRTcar Series is back in action next week for a trio of races, beginning Monday at Autodrome Granby in Granby, Quebec (LIVE on FloRacing). One night later, the series heads to Autodrome Drummond in Drummond, Quebec, before returning to New York’s Weedsport Speedway on Saturday (LIVE on FloRacing) for the second time this season.

From Super DIRTcar Series Timing & Scoring pic.twitter.com/DVpo9xfRmT

— Super DIRTcar Series (@SuperDIRTcar) July 20, 2018