GEORGETOWN, Del. — For the first time in 16 years, the Beasts of the Northeast are returning to Delaware.
The Super DIRTcar Series will stop at Georgetown Speedway on May 13 for the Delaware Diamond 75.
Drivers will battle in a 75-lap feature paying $10,075-to-win, as part of Georgetown’s 75th anniversary. Along with the five-figure payday, the event offers the first of 11 guaranteed starting spots in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 during Super DIRT Week 53 at Oswego Speedway.
EXPERIENCE
Only three Super DIRTcar Series full-time drivers were in the field the last time the series visited Georgetown in 2008: Sheppard, Phelps and Larry Wight.
The race 16 years ago was Phelps’ only appearance at the half-mile oval, when he finished third. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., driver is looking to rebound after finishing outside the top 10 in the first two points-paying events of the season. If he can turn things around and win at Georgetown, it’ll be his 23rd career series triumph, breaking a tie with four-time Series champion Will Cagle for 15th all-time.
Like Phelps, Wight is aiming to rebound after finishing outside the top 10 in the season’s first two points-paying events. The Phoenix, N.Y., driver finished 19th when the series last visited Georgetown in 2008, and a win on Tuesday would be his 13th career series triumph.
Sheppard, meanwhile, has been successful in 27 starts at Georgetown. The Waterloo, N.Y., driver has five wins at the track, along with 14 top fives and 22 top 10s. He enters the race seventh in the Series standings, after finishing 13th at New Egypt Speedway and seventh at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
“Super Matt” is searching for his 99th career series victory, as he moves closer to joining Brett Hearn in reaching 100 series triumphs.
DELAWARE SUCCESS
Sheppard isn’t the only driver who enters the weekend with five victories at Georgetown. Anthony Perrego has also accomplished that feat, along with 18 top fives and 31 top 10s at the track.
He’s earned top 10s in both points-paying races this weekend and enters Georgetown fifth in the series points standings after a sixth and ninth. The Montgomery, N.Y., driver is searching for his sixth career series win at six different tracks.
Defending Series champion Mat Williamson has also found past success at Georgetown. The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver scored a victory at the track in the Behrent’s Performance Warehouse No. 3 car in 2022, adding three top fives and three top 10s throughout his career.
He’s also had recent success at tracks half-mile or larger. In three points-paying events at those tracks last season, he won both Features at Land of Legends Raceway and finished third at Oswego during Super DIRT Week.
A win by “Money Mat” would be his 32nd series triumph, breaking a tie with Jack Johnson for ninth all-time.
ROCKET POWER
Two drivers to watch with past success at Georgetown are series points leader Alex Yankowski and four-time defending track champion Ryan Godown.
Yankowski, who won the Big Gator championship at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, has two runner-up finishes this season in points-paying events, putting him 11 points ahead of Williamson.
The Covington Township, Pa., competitor, who will drive the Tim and Debbie Millman-owned No. 84y on Tuesday, has two wins at the “First State” facility, along with 11 top fives and 14 top 10s in 22 starts. In the track’s lone modified race of 2025 in March, “Kid Rocket” finished second.
Finishing in front of Yankowski that night was Godown, who’s coming into the race with momentum after winning at New Egypt last weekend. The Ringoes, N.J., competitor has made 80 starts at Georgetown, earning 14 wins, 54 top fives, and 64 top 10s.
If the “Ringoes Rocket” can win at his home track on Friday, it’ll be his second career series triumph after winning at Bridgeport Motorsports Park in 2022.
REGIONAL RACERS
While Sheppard, Phelps, and Wight were the only series drivers in action in 2008, a few regional stars will also return on Tuesday who competed in the event.
That includes H.J. Bunting III, who scored his only series win that night at Georgetown. Throughout his career, Bunting has earned five wins, 20 top fives, and 43 top 10s in 90 starts at the track. Like Godown, the Milford, Del., driver enters the race with momentum after winning at Delaware Int’l Speedway last Saturday.
Rick Laubach crossed the line fifth in the 2008 event and is expected to return to Super DIRTcar Series competition for the first time since DIRTcar Nationals in February. Like Bunting, the Quakertown, Pa., driver has five wins at Georgetown, along with 15 top fives and 24 top 10s.
Laubach is a four-time Super DIRTcar Series winner, with his last victory coming in 2016 at Volusia Speedway Park.
Billy Pauch Jr., the 2020 Georgetown Track Champion, finished 25th in the 2008 event and will also make his first appearance since Volusia. Pauch, from Frenchtown, N.J., has 11 wins, 33 top fives, and 45 top 10s in 64 starts at the track. A win on Tuesday would be his first series victory.
