MALTA, N.Y. — Mike Mahaney couldn’t help but dance while atop his big-block modified on Saturday night.
The adrenaline, the joy and the relief moved through him in a way he’d never experienced before.
After 115 starts with the Super DIRTcar Series, Mahaney finally celebrated his first series victory, claiming the $13,000 top prize in the Massive Malta event at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Stewart Friesen finished second after charging up 19 positions and Matt Sheppard continued to build his bid for an eighth Super DIRTcar Series championship with his third-place finish.
With a handful of laps remaining, Mahaney and Friesen lined up side-by-side for a restart. Both cars fired nearly simultaneously. Friesen sent his No. 44 sideways with a hard, clean slider. As Friesen balanced the car on the lip of the cushion on top of turn two, Mahaney turned down the track and was able to pass him back in turns three and four.
Friesen used every inch of the track and every horsepower in challenging, but Mahaney held on.
“I really wanted to let it sink in,” Mahaney said. “I’ve won races before and afterward, it felt like it happened so fast. This is a big one. It’s the most money I’ve earned in a race: $13,000. With it being my first Super DIRTcar Series win, it was just something I really wanted to take in up there.”
Mahaney stood on the podium many times with the Super DIRTcar Series but this time he’s in the middle.
“I am so glad it was those two on the podium with me,” he said with a grin. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood next to them on the side. They are the very best in dirt modifieds. Right now in this era, they are the best. They are winning all the races. To finally get it and have them there means something super special for me. They didn’t drop out. We raced them.”
Friesen finished second.
“The Halmar guys worked really hard all night,” Friesen said. “I was in Ronnie Johnson’s trailer grabbing springs and worked it out.”
Point leader Matt Sheppard finished third after starting ninth.
“This place hasn’t been great to us the last few times we’ve been here,” Sheppard noted. “To come away with a podium is great since we’ve been on a roll. Our qualifying effort was great and we got a podium. We’ll certainly take it.”
The finish:
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 35M-Mike Mahaney [2][]; 2. 44F-Stewart Friesen [21][]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard [9][]; 4. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson [3][]; 5. 21A-Peter Britten [13][]; 6. 88W-Mat Williamson [11][]; 7. 111D-Demetrios Drellos [14][]; 8. 99L-Larry Wight [10][]; 9. 91D-Billy Decker [5][]; 10. 5H-Chris Hile [8][]; 11. 2L-Jack Lehner [20][]; 12. 83X-Tim Sears [1][]; 13. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [16][]; 14. 32CC-Max McLaughlin [12][]; 15. 215p-Adam Pierson [6][]; 16. M1-Dave Marcuccilli [4][]; 17. 25R-Erick Rudolph [25][]; 18. 42P-Pat Ward [15][]; 19. 28M-Jordan McCreadie [19][]; 20. 19M-Jessey Mueller [17][]; 21. 7D-Donald Ronca [22][]; 22. 44P-Anthony Perrego [7][]; 23. 34R-Kevin Root [26][]; 24. 97B-Bobby Hackel [23][]; 25. 9X-Tyler Trump [24][]; 26. 32CM-James Meehan [18][]