A SUPER PIECE OF HISTORY: Stewart Friesen Ties Brett Hearn For Most Billy Whittaker Cars 200 Victories
Jimmy Phelps finishes second after starting ninth, Mat Williamson rounds out podium
OSWEGO, NY (October 13, 2024) – On a historic night for the Super DIRTcar Series, Stewart Friesen added a piece of his own history Saturday night at Oswego Speedway.
In the first Super DIRT Week main event run on Saturday night, the Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON driver led all 200 laps to score his sixth Billy Whittaker Cars 200 victory, tying Brett Hearn for the most all-time.
“Brett set the bar for our sport for a long time,” Friesen said. “This is it. This is the hardest race to win. The track changes so much. The tires come and go. Our guys worked hard to be better here at this place. I appreciate these guys so much.”
Friesen, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, jumping ahead of Fratto Curbing Outside Pole Award winner Darren Smith as the field thundered into Turns 1 and 2.
A caution for Rookie of the Year contender Alex Payne slowed the field on Lap 4. But when the race resumed, Friesen drove away from the field, showing dominance in the early stages.
Behind Friesen, Series points leader Matt Sheppard started climbing toward the front in search of his fourth 200 win, battling with Alex Yankowski and defending race winner Mat Williamson.
Sheppard and Yankowski traded the runner-up spot twice between Lap 40 and Lap 71 until the Waterloo, NY driver dove underneath Yankowski in Turn 4 to wrestle the position back.
In his two stints in second, Sheppard had a couple of opportunities to pass Friesen in traffic, but the No. 44 held him off each time.
Sheppard wasn’t the only car moving forward in the first 100 laps, as Jimmy Phelps picked off cars one by one, moving into fourth from his ninth starting position by Lap 82.
After a competition caution allowed to field to make adjustments and take fuel at Lap 100, Friesen continued his lead when the race resumed on Lap 101.
Friesen, Sheppard, and Yankowski maintained their positions for 15 laps, but positions behind them shuffled on a Lap 118 restart.
When the field raced into Turns 1 and 2, Williamson slid high in Turn 2, hitting the outside wall. While the Buzz Chew Chevrolet No. 88 kept moving, it allowed Phelps to sneak under him and take away fourth down the backstretch.
Phelps didn’t stop there, moving up to third when he drove underneath Yankowski on Lap 120. Then, after a caution for Jeremy Pitts, Phelps used the inside lane on the restart to storm past Sheppard for second on Lap 134.
From there, Phelps chased Friesen for the lead, aiming for his first Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win after finishing second in 2010.
Friesen caught the tail of the field again on Lap 164, trying to navigate through lap traffic while holding off the challenges of the No. 98H. Phelps tried sneaking past Friesen on the bottom in Turns 1 and 2, but Friesen used Marc Johnson, a lap car, as a pick through the corner, allowing him to stay ahead of the “Baldwinsville Bandit.”
On a restart with 30 laps to go, Friesen stormed ahead of the field again, taking advantage of his car’s ability on short runs.
He stayed ahead of Phelps for the next 13 laps before driving away on another restart on Lap 187.
But Friesen couldn’t get away this time, as Phelps cut the lead to eight-tenths of a second with six laps to go. However, that was as close as Phelps would get, as the caution flew again for Tanner Van Doren on Lap 196.
When the race resumed for the final time, Phelps tried to stay with Friesen but couldn’t get by him at the end as Friesen held on for the $52,000 victory, becoming the first driver to lead all 200 laps in the event.
While Friesen looked dominant out front, he said he struggled after the first few laps on restarts.
“We fired in the second hundred really good,” Friesen said. “We had Williamson, Sheppard, [Yankowski]; I mean, it was tough. They threw everything they had, and we were able to hold them off.
“I could bang out a couple of fast laps there on the restart, and then I started skating for a bit. Then we got to lap traffic, and those guys were running the same lanes I wanted to run. We slowed down a bit, so I figured [Phelps] had to be really close.”
Phelps settled for second, his fourth Billy Whittaker Cars 200 podium. The Baldwinsville, NY driver said he felt happy and disappointed at the same time in Victory Lane.
“It stings a little,” Phelps said. “It seemed like our car was really good after we got some tire heat built up. I knew the car would be able to cut harder in the middle to be able to get to the infield to catch that brown. On the short runs, all I could do was really stay in his tire tracks enough to keep pace.
“A great run for us, but I thought we had a car we thought could win the race.”
Willamson crossed the line third, his fifth consecutive Billy Whittaker Cars 200 podium.
“I was tight at the beginning,” Williamson said. “I kind of put an emphasis on not changing the car too much this week. It probably bit us in the ass. I beat the crap out of the car, and it says a lot about my guys to make it survive for 200 laps out there after I hit the wall.”
With his third-place finish, Williamson cut Sheppard’s points lead to 15 points with three races left in the 2024. Sheppard fell out of the top five in the last 50 laps, finishing ninth.
Max McLaughlin finished fourth in his Super DIRTcar Series return, and Jack Lehner earned his best Super DIRT Week finish, rounding out the top five.
UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series finishes its 2024 season at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 6-9, where the Series crowns its 2024 champion. For Tickets, CLICK HERE
Billy Whittaker Cars 200 (200 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[1]; 2. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[9]; 3. 88-Mat Williamson[3]; 4. 8H-Max McLaughlin[12]; 5. 2-Jack Lehner[21]; 6. 12-Darren Smith[2]; 7. 66-Alex Yankowski[4]; 8. 35-Mike Mahaney[14]; 9. 9S-Matt Sheppard[7]; 10. 25-Erick Rudolph[22]; 11. 3-Justin Haers[13]; 12. 9-Marc Johnson[19]; 13. 49-Billy Dunn[27]; 14. 99L-Larry Wight[35]; 15. 1-Tyler Dippel[31]; 16. 4*-Anthony Perrego[11]; 17. 21A-Peter Britten[6]; 18. 91D-Billy Decker[8]; 19. 27J-Danny Johnson[24]; 20. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 21. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[15]; 22. 98-Rocky Warner[16]; 23. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[38]; 24. 15X-Justin Stone[37]; 25. Z1-David Schilling[23]; 26. 10C-Tanner Van Doren[32]; 27. 7Z-Zachary Payne[20]; 28. 58M-Marshall Hurd[29]; 29. (DNF) 26G-Ryan Godown[25]; 30. (DNF) 37S-Gary Lindberg[18]; 31. (DNF) 11-Matt Caprara[36]; 32. (DNF) 15-Todd Root[28]; 33. (DNF) 19-Tim Fuller[17]; 34. (DNF) 27P-Jeremy Pitts[30]; 35. (DNF) 28-Michael Trautschold[39]; 36. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[40]; 37. (DNF) 26R-Corey Cormier[26]; 38. (DNF) 07-Gary Tomkins[34]; 39. (DNF) 14J-Alan Johnson[41]; 40. (DNF) 70A-Alex Payne[10]; 41. (DNF) 20-Rick Laubach[33]
ARTICLE: https://superdirtcarseries.com/recap/a-super-piece-of-history-stewart-friesen-ties-brett-hearn-for-most-billy-whittaker-cars-200-victories/
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Super DIRT Week is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Billy Whittaker Cars and Trux, Chevrolet Performance and SIS Insurance. Other Super DIRT Week sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), A-Verdi, Area Auto Racing News, ASI Race Wear, Bart Contracting Inc, Best Western Plus-Oswego, Beyea Custom Headers, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Bicknell Racing Products, C&S Companies, City of Oswego, Clarion Hotel – Oswego, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Dig Race Products, Empire Golf Cars, Fast Line Performance, Fast Shafts, Firebull, Fox Factory, Fratto Curbing, Gypsum Express, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Intercomp, iRacing, JAM Performance, Kirkey, MSD, Oswego County, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, SRI / SCAS, Swift Springs, Toyota, Tracey Road Equipment, Velocita, VP Racing Fuels, WELD Racing, Wieland and Winters. Special thanks to New York State.
The Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, and iRacing (Official Online Racing Game). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear, Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Bicknell Racing Products, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, DIG Race, Fox Factory, MSD, SRI / SCAS, Swift Springs, Wieland (Exclusive Racing Aluminum) and Wilwood; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FIREBULL, Intercomp and JAM Performance.