LAFARGEVILLE, N.Y. — Mike Mahaney knows the goals he wants to accomplish in 2026.
Win more than 10 races. Earn a top-three finish in points with the Super DIRTcar Series. And win the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series championship.
The Elizabethtown, NY driver will begin his quest to accomplish all three goals during the Thunder in the Thousand Islands weekend at Can-Am Speedway, April 10-11.
When it comes to the Big Block, “Smooth Shoe” is coming off a sixth-place finish in the season standings, earning seven top fives and 16 top 10s. But while he acknowledged he was consistent all season, he also said he expected better results.
“I was hoping to get a few victories,” Mahaney said. “I felt like we were a little off on our motor program for the bigger tracks, but on the shorter tracks, I feel like we had part of the season where we were qualifying well and just didn’t have the balance in the Feature a lot of nights. Later in the year, we started figuring out the Features and just had some little things happen.
“But it was consistent. We had good, consistent finishes and finished well in the points. It was one of our better years, points-wise. But as a racer, you’re always looking to win.”
While Mahaney was chasing wins with the Super DIRTcar Series, he was also chasing a title on the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series. He went back and forth with eventual Series champion Mat Williamson throughout the year, until a 30th-place finish at Albany-Saratoga Speedway during Malta Massive Weekend took him out of title contention.
Despite falling short, Mahaney returns to the Series with added motivation.
“We started out extremely well on that Series,” Mahaney said. “Just had a great notebook for a lot of those tracks and came out swinging. We had an unfortunate fuel cell fire at Albany-Saratoga, one of the track’s we expected to do well at and had done well at throughout the season. It took us right out of contention and out of a night we expected to potentially win.
“That was a simple fuel cell vent issue, I think we’ve resolved. And it’s all the little things like that that can come around and bite you. Hopefully, we have a little bit of luck on our side and can come through.”
Mahaney gets the chance to start the year at Can-Am, a track he’s found past success at. He won the 358 Series’ lone stop at the “Nasty Track of the North” last July and added a fifth during the R.D. Hutchinson Memorial with the Super DIRTcar Series last September.
However, next weekend will be the first time he’s raced a Series event Can-Am in the Spring since he earned an eighth-place finish with the Big Block in 2021.
“It’s a place that I definitely feel comfortable at, “Mahaney said. “But the time of year weather-wise, is an uncomfortable thing. You wonder what the track’s going to be like. It’s the first race on that track all year. You never know what it’s going to be like. When you show up at Can-Am in the summer, it’s the regular old Can-Am. It’s always pretty slick and smooth. We have a better notebook for that than the season opener.”
Even with the unpredictability, it won’t be long before Mahaney returns to a place where he knows what to expect. Six days after racing at Can-Am, the Super DIRTcar Series returns to Albany- Saratoga Speedway, where he’s the reigning Big Block track champion.
“We’re really looking forward to that opener,” Mahaney said. “I think we’ve got some great equipment ready, and I’m really excited to get started there.”
Mahaney kicks off his 2026 season with a doubleheader weekend at Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville, NY. First, he’ll join the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series on Friday, April 10, before opening the Super DIRTcar Series championship season on Saturday, April 11, in the Thunder in the Thousand Islands.
