Story By: JOE GRABIANOWSKI / DIRTCAR – CONCORD, NC – On Tuesday, June 26 the Albany-Saratoga Speedway hosts The Big Show X with a $10,000 check for the winner and guaranteed starting position in the 47th running of NAPA Super DIRT Week. After ten years of incredible racing, this year’s Big Show has all the elements to make for a memorable Super DIRTcar Series race.
The Championship chase is young and so is HBR no. 6H driver Max McLaughlin, the 18-year-old who appears to be on his way to having a banner season. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series breakout driver Stewart Friesen will join the Super DIRTcar Series at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in the Halmar Racing no. 44 as well. Friesen is looking to snatch the $10,000-to-win prize money and assert his dominance in the first two of seven NAPA Super DIRT Week Qualifiers.
Last year’s Big Show victor, Tim McCreadie, will pilot the no.39 Sweetner’s Plus Big-Block Modified to go grab some of “Brett Hearn’s” money, as he said in his Big Show IX Victory Lane interview. McCreadie, from Watertown, NY, is the son of legendary Big-Block Modified driver Bob McCreadie. After some success in the Big-Block and 358 Modifieds, McCreadie’s dirt track racing career sparked in the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model series. Even after winning a World of Outlaws Championship, he always makes his way home to take on NAPA Super DIRT Week and other marquee Big-Block Modified events like The Big Show X.
Super DIRTcar Series star Brett Hearn not only boasts a 900+ career win tally, but he has also successfully promoted The Big Show at Albany-Saratoga Speedway for ten years. Over the last decade, The Big Show has become one of the most sought after checkered flags in Big-Block Modified racing. This year’s festivities will include a tribute to the man and machine Gary Balough and The Batmobile. Gary Balough designed a radical Big-Block Modified and dominated NAPA Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds. His creative design, with its attention to downforce and drag reduction, inspired years of engineering ingenuity. Gary Balough and The Batmobile started a technological trend that continued until we arrived at the 800-horsepower Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds we have today. Be sure to check out the new book by Gary Balough with Bones Bourcier, Hot Shoe! A Checkered Past: My Story.
The Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Big Show X, and the Super DIRTcar Series want to see fans in the stands early and often. From 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM race fans will have the opportunity to Pick the Quick. If you name the top five fastest drivers in Time Trials, you’ll take home a $1,000 cash prize. Also during pre-race, the Super DIRTcar Series will host a Tweetup from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Stop by the NAPA Super DIRT Week Pace Car to pick up some giveaways, talk Big-Block Modified racing, and discuss who your drivers are for Pick the Quick. Directly following the Tweetup at 5:00 PM, there will be a Super DIRTcar Series driver autograph session. That gives fans more than enough reasons to get to the race track early.
The Super DIRTcar Series is the premier Big-Block Modified tour of North America. Tour regulars, such as eight-time Series Champion Brett Hearn and current title-holder Matt Sheppard, pit their 800-horsepower Big-Block Modifieds against the best short track racing drivers over a 27-race schedule on 21 tracks from Canada to Florida. In 2018 there are 17 drivers contending for the Series Championship. Follow along for news and notes on Facebook and Twitter.