LAFARGEVILLE, N.Y. — A showdown in New York’s North Country is up next for the Beasts of the Northeast, as the road to Super DIRT Week 54 continues.
The Super DIRTcar Series visits Can-Am Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 12, for the R.D. Hutchinson Memorial. Drivers will battle in a 67-lap feature paying $6,067-to-win.
Joining the Super DIRTcar Series are the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series and the Northeast Late Model Alliance.
Inching Closer
After a runner-up finish on Sunday at Weedsport Speedway, Alex Yankowski is inching closer to his first Super DIRTcar Series title.
The Covington Township, Pa., driver enters this weekend 94 points ahead of three-time Series champion Mat Williamson and returns to a track where he’s found success. Yankowski is the defending winner of the R.D. Hutchinson Memorial, holding off challenges from Larry Wight and Alex Payne throughout the event.
“Kid Rocket” is the only driver who’s finished in the top 10 in all 15 points-paying features this season and has 11 top fives. He’s searching for his ninth career Super DIRTcar Series victory.
The Battle For Second
While Yankowski pulls away from Williamson, the St. Catharines, Ontario, driver is being challenged by Payne for second. The two drivers are 20 points apart entering this weekend, with both drivers aiming for their second points-paying win of the season.
Williamson has two feature wins at the “Nasty Track of the North” in his career, including an R.D. Hutchinson Memorial win in 2024.
In six Super DIRTcar Series starts at the track, “Money Mat” has finished in the top five in four of them, including each of the last three.
A win on Saturday would be his 40th series triumph.
Payne, meanwhile, has made three starts at the four-tenths-mile track, but has been successful despite not reaching victory lane. The Hopewell, N.Y., driver has finished in the top 10 in both of his series starts, which includes a runner-up finish to Yankowski last year.
If Payne wins on Saturday, it’ll be his sixth Super DIRTcar Series win.
Caprara’s House
For the first time in 2026, MD3 Rookie of the Year contender Matt Caprara gets the chance to race at his home track.
The Clayton, N.Y., driver is a three-time winner in the track’s 358 Modified division in 2026 and added four top fives and 11 top 10s in 16 starts.
Caprara is currently 57 points behind Tyler Dippel in the battle for MD3 Rookie of the Year and has the advantage at Can-Am. While Caprara has made 17 starts at Can-Am, this will be the first time Dippel has raced there.
Both drivers are searching for their first Super DIRTcar Series victory.
Super Matt
With a fourth-place finish last weekend at Weedsport, Matt Sheppard moved back up to fourth in the standings, 10 points ahead of Jimmy Phelps.
That momentum carries into a track where Sheppard has been the most successful of the Super DIRTcar Series stars, winning on three occasions in 2009, 2019, and 2022. A win by the Savannah, N.Y., driver would tie Steve Paine for the most series wins at the track and be his 104th series triumph.
Phelps, meanwhile, has two podium finishes at the track in 2007 and 2008, and was running second last year before a mechanical failure ended his night. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., driver has two wins on similar tracks already this season at Mohawk International Raceway and Airborne Park Speedway and is searching for his 25th series victory.
Fuller Is Due
Since the inaugural R.D. Hutchinson Memorial in 2024, no one has had worse luck in the event than Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame driver Tim Fuller.
In each of the last two seasons, Fuller lost potential podium finishes after tangling with a lap car while leading in 2024, and had a flat tire last year while running third.
The Edwards, N.Y., driver, and six-time track champion, already has a Super DIRTcar Series victory in 2026, winning the Stars and Stripes Spectacular at Land of Legends Raceway in July. A win by Fuller on Saturday would be his 38th series victory, and 53rd at Can-Am.
