Mohawk International Raceway Ready For Mega Race Weekend

Column By: Robert Hill Jr / MOHAWK RACEWAY – HOGANSBURG, NY  – Mohawk International Raceway is ready to return to action this upcoming weekend with two full days of adrenaline-filled, high-octane racing action. Our Mega Race Weekend features hundreds of laps, dozens of cars, and thousands of dollars on the line. The two-day show includes two DIRTcar series races in the Sportsman and Pro-Stock divisions, as well as a handful of Canadian Super Dirt Weekend provisionals up for grabs.

The DIRTCar 358 Modified division will pay tribute to two racing legends this weekend. Friday night features a 40-lap, $2,000-to-win Ovide Doiron Memorial, followed by Saturday’s Dale Planck Memorial 77-lap, $7,700-to-win feature event. These events officially kick off the fall special shows in the area and are expected to attract many of the top drivers in the region. Among those expected to join us are MIR track champion and the winningest driver in 358 Modified history, Chris Raabe, in his Ovide Doiron tribute car; 2025 Cornwall Motor Speedway champion Corey Wheeler; and 2025 Can-Am Speedway champion Billy Dunn. Raabe had a strong summer at MIR, with four feature wins—including his 40th career victory. Wheeler has two career 358 Modified wins at Mohawk, with his last in June 2017. Dunn has 24 career 358 Modified victories at MIR, with his most recent in July 2017.

The DIRTCar Sportsman will also be on hand for both days, competing in 35-lap, $1,500-to-win feature events. The DIRTCar Sportsman Championship series highlights Friday night’s action. Entering this round, our 2024 champion Tristan Ladoucer and 2025 champion Shane Pecore occupy the top two spots in the points standings, with perennial contender Gavin Eisele in third. While Ladoucer hasn’t yet won an MIR feature in 2025, his consistency and perseverance have kept him in the fight every week at his second home track en route to a 2nd place points finish. Pecore has had a record-setting season, with seven feature wins—including his 29th career MIR Sportsman victory, a record at the track. Both drivers are expected to contend for victory this weekend. Other notable drivers include Joshua Jock, who claimed a 358 Modified victory earlier this summer and remains a consistent threat in the Sportsman ranks, and Matt Barbour, who won with the Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club earlier this season at MIR and finished in the top five in points at Brockville and Cornwall in his Sportsman ride.

The Pro-Stocks have been an entertaining class this season, boasting five different feature winners at MIR in 2025, with many others within striking distance each week. Friday’s event will be a 35-lap, $1,000-to-win race, while Saturday’s show features the DIRTCar Pro-Stock series with a 35-lap, $1,500-to-win feature. Dakota Sharp enters our Mega Weekend as the back-to-back defending champion, fresh off a season with four feature wins, narrowly edging out recent winner Zack Daniels by three points for the 2025 title. Expected front-runners include points leader Pete Stefanski, second-place Jocelyn Roy, and MIR regular and third-place driver Marc Lalonde.

The Mini-Stock division features two of the biggest-paying races in its history this weekend. Friday’s race is a 20-lap, $1,000-to-win event, and Saturday’s is a 20-lap, $1,500-to-win race. The division was highly competitive this season, with five different winners: Francis White (4 wins), CJ Lavair (3 wins), Felix Lavictoire (1 win), Sebastien Raymond Beauregard (1 win), and 2025 track champion Emily Massy (2 wins). All five drivers are expected to attend, along with Can-Am Speedway front-runner Corey Valade, Cornwall Motor Speedway contender Antoine Dumochel, Autodrome Granby champion Dominik Blais, runner-up Mathieu Voghell, and Brockville Ontario Speedway champion Clayton Celovsky.

The Limited Sportsman will also be part of the weekend, with a 20-lap, $800-to-win feature on Friday and a 20-lap, $1,500-to-win event on Saturday to wrap up their season. In 2025, five different drivers reached victory lane, with consistency being key for our champion, Graysen Reddick. Expected to be on hand are feature winners Kobe Hernandez (4 wins), Bryan Tarbell (2 wins), Jackson Welling (2 wins), Keith Pelkey (1 win), and Mason Rogers (1 win). Visitors to watch include a trio of young female drivers—sisters Sarah-Ann and Lea-Jeanne Lauziere, and Haily Brownell—who have quickly shown they will be names to watch for years to come.

The Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour is the final division to join our Mega Race weekend, competing in the penultimate round of their 2025 season. Top drivers include Aaron Pugh, Megan Ciglich, and Ryan Hegarty. Pugh aims to secure the 2025 series championship with a strong run at MIR, which would be a bit of deja vu, as John Stanley claimed the 2017 title in the same #2 car Pugh will pilot this weekend. Also expected to attend is Ian Gordon, a driver well-known at MIR with a victory on June 6th, who will certainly contend for victory in this nostalgic event.

Drivers in the 358 Modified and Pro-Stock divisions will have the opportunity to race for provisional starting spots for Cornwall’s Canadian Super Dirt Weekend on Friday night. The winners in both divisions will be locked into the entire Super Dirt Weekend, while second and third place drivers will each receive a provisional to be used for one event during the weekend. On Saturday, the Sportsman field will have a chance to qualify for Super Dirt Weekend, with the feature winner earning a guaranteed spot all weekend long and second and third place drivers receiving one-time provisional starting spots.

We look forward to an exciting weekend of racing at Mohawk International Raceway!