PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — In the last three weeks at Airborne Park Speedway, no one has been able to top Mike Mahaney.
That didn’t change on Thursday night, either.
Mahaney passed Andrew Buff on a Lap-13 restart and never looked back to win the Battle of Plattsburgh, his first DIRTcar 358 Modified triumph of 2026.
It’s also the driver’s fourth straight win at Airborne.
“This car’s been good for four weeks,” Mahaney said. “It’s just a tribute to how hard Jacob (Powell, his crew chief) works on it. And all these guys. My whole Adirondack Auto Team. This is a great group.”
Buff and Lance Willix led the field to the green in the 75-lap feature, with Buff gaining the early advantage on Lap 1.
It didn’t take long for Mahaney to start moving forward, though, as he snuck by Willix for second on Lap 3 from his third starting position. Over the next four laps, Mahaney chased Buff, but couldn’t get the break he needed until a caution for Chris Curtis on Lap 8.
When the race resumed, Mahaney nosed ahead of Buff’s No. 92 on the restart. Unfortunately for Buff, his chance to win dwindled in Turn 3 when he went over the track’s banking along with Adam Pierson and Carey Terrance.
Mahaney controlled the race when the green came back out, keeping the position with ease. However, two former Series champions moved forward behind him, as Felix Roy and Mat Williamson both passed Willix to move into the top three.
Roy and Williamson had their opportunity when Mahaney reached lap traffic with 22 laps remaining. The two were within a few car lengths of the No. 35, with Roy getting the closest to him as he navigated traffic in the final 15 laps.
But Mahaney’s momentum and Airborne experience were too much for Roy, as “Smooth Shoe” held on to score the $5,000 prize and his third career Series victory.
“That top was wild and crazy, and if you guys could see how tall the berm is in Turn 4, we were getting on it,” Mahaney said. “I was trying to save a little bit for the end, and as I got into the lead, I didn’t want to wear my stuff out. But then I drove through and ripped the door off, and I thought it was going to get caught under the chassis. Luckily, we were able to come away with a win.”
The victory also extends his Series lead to 42 points over Williamson, who moved into second in points after a third-place finish.
Steve Bernier finished fourth, and Preston Forbes rounded out the top five.
Two weeks after reaching victory lane for the first time in 2026 at Airborne Park Speedway, Michael Wright backed it up with his most significant win yet.
He led 26 laps and held off three-time track champion Travis Bruno to score his first DIRTcar Sportsman Series East Region victory.
The finish:
Feature (75 Laps): 1. 35-Mike Mahaney[3]; 2. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 3. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 4. 1*-Steve Bernier[9]; 5. 45R-Preston Forbes[22]; 6. 15X-Justin Stone[17]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[11]; 8. 90-Dany Gagne[20]; 9. B24-Brendan Gibbons[16]; 10. 21A-Peter Britten[21]; 11. 31-Lance Willix[2]; 12. 21R-RJ Tresidder[15]; 13. 28-Jordan McCreadie[23]; 14. 89-Dylan Madsen[14]; 15. 18R-Brad Rouse[19]; 16. 83B-Dustin Bradley[28]; 17. 5-Jack Butler[26]; 18. 24F-Jordan Fornwalt[31]; 19. 215-Adam Pierson[10]; 20. 35C-Chris Curtis[25]; 21. 11S-Steve Lewis Jr[30]; 22. 55-Matt Woodruff[24]; 23. 14-CG Morey[27]; 24. 117-CJ Castelletti[29]; 25. 5S-Tanner Siemons[13]; 26. 92-Andrew Buff[1]; 27. 66X-Carey Terrance[4]; 28. 01-Chris Raabe[6]; 29. 1NY-Greg Atkins[18]; 30. 26-Dave Camara[12]; 31. 35R-William Racine[8]
