LAFARGEVILLE, N.Y. — A busy April for the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series begins this week, as it opens the 2026 season in Northern New York.
The Series visits Can-Am Speedway on Friday, April 10, to kick off the Thunder in the Thousand IslandsWeekend at the “Nasty Track of the North.” Drivers will battle in a 50-lap feature paying $4,000-to-win.
Joining the 358 Modifieds at Can-Am are the track’s DIRTcar Sportsman and 602 Crate Sprint Car divisions.
One night after the 358s take center stage, the Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region will compete at Can-Am on Saturday, April 11.
Title Defense Begins
Like on the Super DIRTcar Series, Mat Williamson will begin his DIRTcar 358 Modified Series title defense at Can-Am. The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver won his second championship last year, earning five wins, eight top fives, and nine top 10s in nine starts.
In four 358 Modified Series starts at Can-Am, Williamson has never finished outside the top 10, earning two top fives. However, he’s yet to reach victory lane in a series feature. Despite not earning a 358 Series victory there, he’s still won twice at the track over the past two seasons, winning the Super DIRTcar Series R.D. Hutchinson Memorial in 2024 and a Short Track Super Series event last August.
A win by “Money Mat” will be his 21st career DIRTcar 358 Modified Series win, moving him within one victory of Tim Fuller for fourth on the series all-time wins list.
Chasing Mat
The two drivers who battled Williamson for the championship last season were 2024 series champion, Felix Roy, and Mike Mahaney. Both drivers, who also compete on the Super DIRTcar Series, finished second and third, respectively, in the standings.
Roy finished second in last year’s title chase, grabbing seven top fives and eight top 10s. That includes a third-place finish during last year’s Pabst Shootout at Can-Am. The Napierville, Quebec driver has never finished outside the top 10 in five starts at Can-Am and has finished third in both DIRTcar 358 Modified Series events he’s entered at the track.
Mahaney, meanwhile, won the last time the series raced at Can-Am, outdueling Billy Dunn and Roy to earn his second career Series triumph.
Like Roy and Williamson, the Elizabethtown, NY driver has been successful at Can-Am. In 10 Modified starts at the track, “Smooth Shoe” has four top fives, including two between the Small Block and Big Block last season.
North Country Stars
Every Friday night throughout the season, a stout group of track regulars compete for a track championship. That group includes three veteran drivers aiming to start their season on a high note.
Leading those drivers is defending track champion and 2021 Series champion Billy Dunn, who earned five wins at Can-Am last season. Three of the Watertown, N.Y., driver’s 12 DIRTcar 358 Modified Series wins have come at the “Nasty Track of the North.”
Dunn has six straight top fives in 358 series features at the track, including his runner-up finish to Mahaney last year.
Lance Willix, who won last year’s Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship for the 358s, finished second to Dunn in the track’s final standings with two victories. The Theresa, N.Y., driver finished fourth in the standings last year with six top 10 finishes. One of those came at Can-Am when he finished sixth in the Pabst Shootout.
Tim Fuller, the 2003 DIRTcar 358 Modified Series champion, enters Can-Am with 22 career feature wins after earning a victory last year at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Like Willix, the Edwards, N.Y., driver had two wins at Can-Am last season and has been strong in 358 Modified features. Fuller has 13 Series podiums dating back to September 1993, including 12 in a row when he started the race.
