SWEDESBORO, N.J. — A new King of the Blocks will be crowned at Bridgeport Motorsports Park on May 3, marking the season opener of the Super DIRTcar Series Championship.
The New Jersey track is known among fans for its high-banked configuration that lends itself to creating intense side-by-side action. The series first visited the three-eighths mile track in 2020 and is set to return this season.
There is a stout field of drivers planning to attend.
Eight-time and defending champion Matt Sheppard will try to get a good jump on his “Drive for 9” dream in his No. 9S big block at the event. However, Sheppard has yet to find success at Bridgeport. An issue took him out of the race in 2020 and he finished eighth in 2021.
Sheppard also struggled in the early stages of DIRTcar Nationals this year, but made big gains during the week and has picked up a couple big block wins since then.
Joining him as a prime contender for the win will be one of the top prospects for Rookie of the Year, 17-year-old Alex Yankowski. The young Pennsylvanian stunned the motorsports world in November when he won his first Super DIRTcar Series race in his second start during the World Finals in Charlotte.
He enters the event having competed weekly at Bridgeport. Yankowski is also a past winner of the track’s prestigious Danny Serrano 100.
Of the local drivers in attendance, Rich Scagliotta out of Hillsborough, N.J., enters with the momentum of a career best run at DIRTcar Nationals. He earned two top-five finishes and finished sixth overall in points for the event out of more than 40 competitors.
The team with the most momentum is Heinke-Baldwin Racing. The team’s drivers Jimmy Phelps and Max McLaughlin were at the top of the field at DIRTcar Nationals this year. McLaughlin won in his third race back with HBR and Phelps left Florida with an arm full of gators.
The veteran driver won the final night of the event — his first series win in two years and first at Volusia Speedway Park — and claimed his first Big Gator Championship.
Other drivers with Volusia wins this year are 2019 series champion Mat Williamson, Peter Britten and Stewart Friesen. Williamson and Britten will be poised for a strong start at Bridgeport to have a shot at the championship, after Williamson finished second and Britten finished fourth in points last year.
Friesen, who isn’t running for points, will have no other goal than to win.
The five-time Big Block NAPA Super DIRT Week champion and NASCAR Truck Series star won the series’ inaugural event at Bridgeport in 2020 and then finished second to 2005 series champion Tim Fuller last year. Both will try to be the first repeat winner, but the all-star field of Super DIRTcar Series drivers and local competition will make it a fight to be king.
There is $60,000 on the line for this year’s series champion and Bridgeport Motorsports Park will be a key start to the season for the 19 full-time drivers vying for the title.
Keyword: Battle To Be Crowned King Set For Super DIRTcar Series Opener