A big weekend of Northeast dirt modified racing is upon us. The weather looks decent and three tracks will be in action. On Friday, the Georgetown Speedway will host the Mark “Coot” Williams Memorial featuring super late models and modifieds. The modified feature will be 25 laps and pay $3,000 to win. Bridgeport Motorsports Park will have their rescheduled Doug Hoffman Memorial weekend in conjunction with their opening points night. The modifieds will go for 40 laps and $4,000 to win on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the Super DIRTcar Series will hold their championship season opener at New Egypt Speedway. That race will go for 75 laps and pay $7,500 to the winner.
Georgetown Speedway
Georgetown has already held a modified race this season, and it didn’t quite go as planned. Daytime racing mixed with difficult weather conditions made for a rough track surface and a lot of blown tires. I don’t expect to see much of the same, as this race will be at night and the track crew will have plenty of time to prepare. For this event, the modifieds are technically the support class, as the super late models will be the headliner. Still, $3,000 to win on a Friday night is still a pretty good payday for northeast modifieds.
Billy Pauch Jr, Ryan Godown, Ryan Krachun, and Jordan Watson are a few names expected to be in action. Godown is the defending track champion, narrowly beating Danny Bouc for the 2023 title. It has been a rough start to the year for Pauch Jr, but he will look to turn things around at a track he has found a lot of success at in the past. With both New Egypt and Bridgeport racing the following night for more money, it is difficult to tell how many cars will be at Georgetown. Either way, you can catch all of the action live on FloRacing if you cannot be there in person.
Bridgeport Motorsports Park
With the unfortunate rainout of the Doug Hoffman Memorial last weekend, Bridgeport made the decision to move the race to this upcoming weekend. It was a move that puzzled some, as going up against the Super DIRTcar race at New Egypt might impact car counts. However, it is unlikely that many of the Bridgeport regulars would have attended the SDS race anyway, as most teams are not willing to buy Hoosier tires for just one race. A 40-lap, $4,000 to win event will see plenty of modifieds in the pit area come Saturday.
Neal Williams, Billy Pauch Jr, Matt Stangle, Cale Ross, HJ Bunting, Jordan Watson, Ryan Krachun and many more are expected to be at the Kingdom of Speed. Many, if not all, of those drivers plan to compete for the track championship in 2024. It will be the start of what should be a very competitive season for the modifieds. 2023 track regular, Duane Howard, will not be returning full-time, but the addition of Pauch Jr and Matt Stangle will be fun to watch.
Jordan Watson will look to begin his title defense, but multi-time 2023 winner, Neal Williams, has other ideas. Williams would have been right in the championship mix last season had he not missed a few races. Cale Ross has shown that he is capable of winning on any given night at Bridgeport, and will be another name to watch on Saturday. If you can’t be there in person, you can catch the Bridgeport action live on Dirt Track Digest TV.
Super DIRTcar Series
The Super DIRTcar Series will kick off their championship season at New Egypt Speedway on Saturday. The lineup of full-time SDS drivers for 2024 is arguably one of the best in years. A mixture of veterans and young talent will look to dethrone Super Matt Sheppard for the series title. Sheppard has already racked up six wins in just nine races, including the $50,000 to win STSS event at Port Royal.
Joining the full-timers at New Egypt will be Ryan Godown, Louden Reimert, Brandon Grosso, Rich Scagliotta, and David Schilling. New Egypt Speedway has a unique shape, giving track regulars an advantage over some drivers on the SDS tour. It has been nearly 10 years since the Super DIRTcar Series raced at New Egypt. Matt Sheppard and Rick Laubach were the last two SDS winners at the New Jersey facility.
On top of defending his series title, Sheppard will look to capture his 100th career SDS win in 2024. The driver currently sits at 96 wins, just four away from the historic milestone. If there is anyone who will be in the field on Saturday that can keep Super Matt out of victory lane, it’s Mat Williamson, Ryan Godown and Louden Reimert. Godown will be one of the most experienced drivers in the field and Reimert has started his 2024 season very strong. If you can’t be at New Egypt on Saturday, you can catch all of the racing action live on DIRTVision.
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