WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Super DIRTcar Series Celebrating America’s Birthday With Stars and Stripes Spectacular at Land of Legends
COLUMN BY: Mike Warren – DIRTCAR NORTHEAST – CANANDAIGUA, NY – An annual Fourth of July weekend tradition continues this week as the Super DIRTcar Series prepares to bring fireworks and an America 250 celebration to the Finger Lakes.
The Beasts of the Northeast head to Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, NY, on Thursday, July 2, for the Stars and Stripes Spectacular. Drivers will battle in a 76-lap Feature paying $6,076-to-win.
Joining the Super DIRTcar Series are the CRSA Sprint Cars.
Along with the action on the track, Land of Legends will also induct former official John Schrader and former driver Scott Schrader onto its Wall of Fame.
How can you watch the Super DIRTcar Series? Live on DIRTVision.
Here’s a look at what to watch for at Land of Legends:
A Pivotal Stop: Last season’s Stars and Stripes Spectacular was a pivotal point on the road to Mat Williamson’s 2025 Series title. The St. Catharines, ON driver wrestled the points lead away from Alex Yankowski with a win and then never relinquished it.
This season, Williamson finds himself in the same position, trailing Yankowski by three points entering Thursday’s race.
“Money Mat” already has two wins at the track this season and leads the track’s points standings. He’s also won the last three Super DIRTcar Series Features at Land of Legends. Overall, he’s won 13 times at the Canandaigua, NY dirt track, adding 40 top fives and 54 top 10s.
A win on Thursday would be his 40th Series victory, breaking a tie with Bob McCreadie for seventh on the all-time wins list.
Yankowski, meanwhile, will make his sixth start at the 1/2-mile track. The Covington Township, PA driver has two top fives and three top 10s in five starts at Land of Legends. However, both top fives, including a runner-up finish in 2024, are in his last two Series starts.
If “Kid Rocket” reaches Victory Lane on Thursday, it’ll be his seventh Series win at seven different tracks.
Super Consistency: Since a 28th-place finish at Georgetown Speedway in May, 10-time Series champion Matt Sheppard has quietly moved into third in the Series standings, trailing Yankowski by 46 points.
The Savannah, NY driver has been the most consistent of the top three drivers over the past three races, earning three consecutive top fives, including a second last week at Ransomville Speedway. Sheppard’s been successful at Land of Legends throughout his career, winning on 96 occasions in a Modified and eight times with the Super DIRTcar Series. Along with the wins, he has 218 top fives and 283 top 10s.
“Super Matt” is aiming for his 104th Series triumph.
Home in Canandaigua: Along with Sheppard and Williamson, full-time Super DIRTcar Series drivers Alex Payne, Jimmy Phelps, Mike Trautschold, and Marcus Dinkins also call Land of Legends home every Saturday night.
Out of those four competitors, Payne has had the best season at the track so far with three top fives and four top 10s in four starts. Overall, the Hopewell, NY driver has five wins, 31 top fives, and 50 top 10s at the track. In Super DIRTcar Series competition, the “Slidejob Express” has finished in the top 10 in each of his last four starts, including back-to-back fourths.
Phelps, meanwhile, has eight wins at the track in his career, along with 58 top fives and 95 top 10s. He’s finished in the top 10 in five of his last seven Series starts, including a third-place finish on two occasions in 2022 and 2024. The Baldwinsville, NY driver also has a DIRTcar 358 Modified Series win at the track in 2008.
Trautschold and Dinkins will be on the hunt for their first Series win.
The Land of Legends: In addition to the Super DIRTcar Series drivers looking for a home win at Land of Legends, there will be a stout group of track regulars with the same objective.
That group is led by Peter Britten, who earned his first Land of Legends win of the season last Saturday, and the 17th of his career. Britten is a five-time Series winner after victories at Volusia Speedway Park and Weedsport Speedway in 2025.
Joining Britten is veteran Land of Legends driver Justin Haers, who narrowly missed out on a win in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 at Super DIRT Week last year. The Phelps, NY driver, and reigning Gerald Haers Memorialwinner, is a 22-time Feature winner at the track.
“T-Bone” already has two Series top fives this season, both coming at Volusia.
Other than Britten, the only driver to beat Williamson at Land of Legends this season is Nick Root, who’s aiming to make his first Super DIRTcar Series start. The Geneva, NY driver, who just graduated from high school last week, earned his first career win at the track earlier this year and has momentum after a win at Utica-Rome Speedway last Friday.
WHEN AND WHERE
Land of Legends Raceway (1/2-mile) in Canandaigua, NY, on Thursday, July 2
TRACK RECORD
Land of Legends Raceway: 17.125 seconds by Billy Decker on Aug. 9, 2007
FEATURE WINNERS: (4 Drivers)
Rank- Driver- Hometown-Wins
- Mat Williamson, St. Catharines, ON-3
Stewart Friesen, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON-3 - Alex Yankowski, Covington Township, PA-2
- Larry Wight, Phoenix, NY-1
