BROCKVILLE, Ontario — Growing up, Alex Payne dreamed of reaching Super DIRTcar Series victory lane.
That dream became a reality Thursday night at Brockville Ontario Speedway.
Payne held off challenges from Matt Sheppard and Anthony Perrego to win the Canadian Classic, earning his first Super DIRTcar Series win.
After fist-pumping with joy on the roof of his big-block modified, the 18-year-old driver broke out in tears, overcome with emotion from what he accomplished.
“I don’t know if I’ve figured out a word yet to describe it,” Payne said. “It sounds crazy, but it’s absolutely unbelievable. It’s so hard at this level with these guys to find yourself in a position (to win).
“I was nervous the whole race, and then we had the red, and I was like, it’s over; there’s no way I’m holding these guys off. Then the laps kept counting down, and I heard Matt there next to me. But it’s unbelievable.”
Jimmy Phelps led the field to the green in the 75-lap feature, aiming for his second win of 2024. Phelps paced the first 18 laps of the feature before a yellow flag for Tim Fuller and Danny Johnson on lap 16, placed Payne outside of him on the restart.
Payne needed two corners to power around Phelps’ No. 98h. With a burst of speed, he cleared the “Baldwinsville Bandit” down the backstretch, taking the lead on lap 19.
Payne quickly drove away from the field, jumping to a full straightaway lead over Perrego, who passed Phelps on lap 25.
However, Payne almost lost the lead on lap 32. With a three-second advantage, he went too high in turn three, sending his Bicknell Chassis over the banking. Luckily, he regrouped as he exited turn four, re-entering the track ahead of Perrego.
While Payne and Perrego battled for first, Sheppard charged forward behind them from 15th. After picking up five positions in the race’s first 18 laps, he gained five more by lap 30 to enter the top five.
Sheppard continued moving forward, getting by Felix Roy and Phelps to reach a podium position by lap 42.
Sheppard’s opportunity to catch the top two came on lap 49 after a red flag for Ryan Arbuthnot, who flipped on the front stretch.
When the green flag came back out on lap 50, Payne drove away, leaving Perrego to fend off Sheppard. “Super Matt” tried multiple lanes to get by Perrego, finally passing him on the inside of turn four on lap 57.
He needed three more laps to catch Payne, reaching the back bumper of the No. 70a on lap 60.
Sheppard tried the inside and outside lanes, hoping to sneak by Payne for the lead.
But every time, Payne defended his lead, whether sliding in front of him on the outside line or shutting the door on Sheppard’s momentum on the inside.
After six laps of trying, Sheppard’s chances for a second Brockville victory ended abruptly. Like Payne earlier in the race, Sheppard slid off the banking in turns three and four on lap 66, allowing Payne to get away and Perrego to drive by.
“I thought I was just about to go around him on the outside,” Sheppard said. “Then he swapped lanes in front of me, and we started battling through traffic. I took a run at the outside of him into (Turn) 3, and he slid up a little bit, and I kind of slid up a little bit too high, and I just got over the edge.”
From there, Payne went untouched to score his first Super DIRTcar Series triumph, worth $7,500.
“I missed my mark in (turn three), Payne said. “I didn’t have enough front brake in the car and I just drove off. When I came back out, I hoped I was still in the top five. I went down the backstretch and said, where are they? I couldn’t believe I was still leading.
“I knew I was one of the ones that found the outside early. Once we all evened out, I didn’t know how it would play out. But as the laps wound down, I felt I was getting better.”
Perrego crossed the line second, his first Super DIRTcar Series podium since the Hall of Fame 100 at Weedsport Speedway in July.
“It seemed like about lap 40, our stuff really got going,” Perrego said. “I was struggling a little bit on where to be, and Alex showed us where that outside was. I got rolling pretty good, and in lapped traffic was dogging him.
“But he did a really good job tonight behind the wheel. In lap traffic, our car came to life, and it seemed like when we had cold tires, we just weren’t as good.”
Sheppard rounded out the podium, extending his points lead to 39 over Mat Williamson, who finished seventh.
“This car was absolutely awful all night long,” Sheppard said. “Usually, when you qualify bad here, you have a bad night. Starting back there in the 15th, I realistically was hoping for a top 10, but a top five might be a stretch. And then we got rolling in that middle part of the race and found ourselves up there and then your mindset changes quite a bit.”
Tim Sears Jr. finished fourth, his second consecutive top five finish, and Phelps was fifth.
The finish:
Feature (75 Laps): 1. 70A-Alex Payne[5]; 2. 4-Anthony Perrego[3]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[15]; 4. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[10]; 5. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[1]; 6. 91-Felix Roy[7]; 7. 88-Mat Williamson[8]; 8. ONE-David Hebert[11]; 9. 35-Mike Mahaney[14]; 10. 17X-Tristan Draper[17]; 11. 11-Matt Caprara[2]; 12. 12-Darren Smith[23]; 13. 44F-Johnathon Ferguson[22]; 14. 2-Jack Lehner[9]; 15. 28C-Samuel Charland[18]; 16. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[16]; 17. 99L-Larry Wight[12]; 18. 15X-Justin Stone[26]; 19. 17-Marcus Dinkins[24]; 20. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur[20]; 21. 66X-Carey Terrance[21]; 22. (DNF) R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[13]; 23. (DNF) 66D-Kyle Dingwall[19]; 24. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[25]; 25. (DNF) 27J-Danny Johnson[6]; 26. (DNF) 19-Tim Fuller[4]