Column: Super DIRTcar Series Stars Set to Battle Brewerton Speedway’s ‘Demon’ Tuesday

Column By: JOE GRABIANOWSKI / DIRTCAR – BREWERTON, NY – The Super DIRTcar Series goes full throttle, Tuesday, Aug. 17, at Brewerton Speedway for the $10,000-to-win Demon 100.

Series superstars like Billy Decker, Mat Williamon, Larry Wight, Matt Sheppard, Peter Britten, Jimmy Phelps and Tim Sears, Jr., along with an elite field of local talent, will tackle one of the most driver-demanding, elbows-up, fan-favorite tracks around: Brewerton Speedway – The D-Shaped Dirt Demon.

They’ll be competing for the $10,000 top prize and an illustrious 49th NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week (Oct. 6-10) guaranteed starting spot in the Series’ 11th visit to the ⅓-mile Central New York track.

Here are the top storylines to follow:

STOMPING GROUNDS: A strong cadre of Super DIRTcar Series stars race weekly at Brewerton Speedway on Friday nights. Gypsum Racing drivers Larry Wight, Billy Decker, and recent Northeast Dirt Hall of Fame inductee Pat Ward will all have their Big Blocks ready to defend home territory.

Chris Hile, Jimmy Phelps, and Tim Sears Jr. are all running in the top five in Brewerton points. Hile is coming off of a second-place run at Orange County Fair Speedway in the Centennial 102. The last time the Super DIRTcar Series stormed through Brewerton, The Hile Driver came just short of hunting down race-winner Mat Williamson. Hile could find himself one step higher on the podium for the first time against the Series.

TURNING POINT: Mat Williamson, from St. Catharines, ON, won the last Series race at Brewerton Speedway. He then went back-to-back by winning at Mohawk International Raceway the next day. Those wins helped propel the Buzz Chew Racing #88 into the championship in 2019. A win tomorrow could potentially mark another turning point for Williamson. He’s currently fourth in points with one win on the season.

NAPA Super DIRT Week Qualifier: The winner of the Demon 100 will receive the guaranteed starter status for the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 on Sunday, Oct. 10. If the winner already has that status, the guaranteed start will be awarded to the next highest finishing driver without one. For example, Chris Hile took second place at Orange County behind Stewart Friesen but because Friesen had already won (six times), Hile picked up the award.

That creates a scenario for a driver like hometown hero Tyler Trump to shock the field and pick up the NAPA Super DIRT Week guaranteed start for himself, which pays a minimum $1,500.

INVADERS FROM THE NORTH: Two warriors from the North Country have made it known that they will attempt to slay The D-Shaped Dirt Demon on the backs of their own Beasts of the Northeast. The St. Lawrence Radiology cars of Tim Fuller, from Watertown, NY, and Michael Maresca, driver of the #7mm, will go the $10,000 prize.

Fuller has one win and four top-10s in six starts so far in 2021. Maresca has one top-10 in three starts but Brewerton is his home track and the #7mm is sure to turn up the heat for The Demon 100.