WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — A mid-August tradition continues next week, as the Super DIRTcar Series thunders into Central New York for the fifth annual SummerFAST.
Drivers will battle for four straight nights at four different racetracks, earning points throughout the week to determine this year’s SummerFAST champion.
Kicking off the four-night spectacular is a stop at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, NY, on Sunday, Aug. 16, for the Hall of Fame 100. The first of two stops at the “Port” in 2026 will be a 100-lap feature, paying $10,000-to-win.
Then, the Beasts of the Northeast head to Brewerton Speedway in Central Square, N.Y., on Monday, Aug. 17, for its lone stop of the season at the “D-Shaped Dirt Demon.” After Brewerton, the Series returns to Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, N.Y., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, before crowning a SummerFAST champion at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y., on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The final three features of the event will each be 60 laps, paying $6,000-to-win.
Three Champions
In four years of SummerFAST, only three drivers have earned the coveted mini-series championship. They also happen to be the top three in the 2026 Super DIRTcar Series standings.
Alex Yankowski, the 2024 SummerFAST champion, leads the Series points standings by 37 points over Mat Williamson entering Sunday’s race at Weedsport. The Covington Township, Pa., driver is the only competitor to finish in the top 10 in all 10 points-paying events so far this season.
At the four tracks the series visits next week, Yankowski has recent consistency at all of them. He finished in the top 10 in all three series starts at Weedsport in 2025 and has finished in the top five in his last three starts at Land of Legends, including a fourth in July. “Kid Rocket” also finished sixth in last year’s stop at Brewerton.
Utica-Rome is Yankowski’s best track out of the four, with four wins this season, one in a Big Block and three in a 358. He has one SummerFAST victory in his career, winning the finale at Fulton Speedway in 2024.
Williamson, meanwhile, has been successful at all four tracks in his career, scoring 37 total victories between them. The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver and defending SummerFAST champion already has two Big Block wins at Weedsport this season, sweeping the Empire State Challenge last month. He’s also added two wins at Utica-Rome, and two wins at Land of Legends where he’s won three of the last four series events.
Brewerton is the only track this week where the two-time SummerFAST feature winner hasn’t made a start. However, he’s won seven times at the three-eighths-mile track, including series triumphs in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Matt Sheppard, the only two-time SummerFAST champion, has been even more successful than Williamson at these four tracks, winning on 257 occasions. That includes 23 in Super DIRTcar Series features, and three during SummerFAST.
The Savannah, N.Y., driver is searching for his first Series win of 2026 as he builds momentum entering this year’s event. In each of his last starts at all four tracks this season, he’s finished in the top two, including a victory at Land of Legends on Aug. 1.
“Super Matt” is currently third in points, 69 points behind Yankowski, and four points ahead of Alex Payne, who’s in fourth.
Heating Up
One of the drivers building momentum heading into SummerFAST is Jimmy Phelps, who’s won two of the last three Super DIRTcar Series events.
With those two wins, the “Baldwinsville Bandit” has vaulted to fifth in the Series standings and enters a string of four consecutive tracks where he’s either won a Super DIRTcar Series or DIRTcar 358 Modified Series event.
Phelps has a DIRTcar 358 Modified Series win at Weedsport already this season, along with multiple top fives at Land of Legends.
A win by Phelps during SummerFAST would be his 25th career series triumph.
Cast of Outsiders
While all the Super DIRTcar Series stars are competing for a SummerFAST title this weekend, there are few others to watch throughout the week.
Sunday’s race at Weedsport also marks the return of Tim McCreadie to the Big Block Modifieds. The Watertown, N.Y., competitor will drive a Vince Vitale-owned No. 9 machine, lettered like his dad Bob’s old car.
McCreadie’s return comes three days after he’s inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.
“T-Mac” is a 23-time series winner, with three of them coming at Weedsport.
NASCAR Trucks Series star Stewart Friesen, who’s won more Super DIRTcar Series Features than anyone in 2026, will be in action at Weedsport and Utica-Rome. The Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, driver has 68 wins at Utica-Rome and 11 at Weedsport, including his last two series starts at the three-eighths-mile facility.
Despite his 56 series wins, he’s searching for his first SummerFAST triumph.
You also can’t count out Tim Sears Jr. and Peter Britten, who each earned their first SummerFAST victories last season. Sears, from Hastings, N.Y., thrilled the home crowd with his first Super DIRTcar Series win at Brewerton, while Britten, from Brisbane, Australia, outdueled Sheppard for the win at Weedsport. They are expected to be in action all four nights.
Chasing The Top Five
Four drivers are within 20 points of Phelps for fifth in the championship standings entering next week’s event, and with four nights to earn valuable points toward the championship, those positions could change hands on multiple occasions.
Felix Roy is sixth in the standings, five points behind Phelps entering Sunday’s race at Weedsport. Between the four tracks that are part of SummerFAST, “Hollywood” has two top fives and seven top 10s. He’s never made a start at Utica-Rome.
Behind Roy is Jack Lehner, who has momentum after winning at Orange County Fair Speedway last weekend. Lehner, from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has 10 top fives and 30 top 10s between the four tracks, with his best finish a third at Land of Legends in 2023.
Both Lehner and Roy are searching for their first series victory.
Mike Mahaney, meanwhile, is eighth, trailing Phelps by 16 points heading into Weedsport. “Smooth Shoe” is the only one of the three to earn a victory at any of the SummerFAST facilities, winning six times at Utica-Rome, once at Weedsport, and once at Land of Legends.
