Alex Payne will never forget his first Super DIRTcar Series trip to Canada.
The 18-year-old Rookie of the Year contender earned his career-best finishes during Autodrome Drummond’s King of the North, finishing fifth the first night and third the next.
Those results were a breakthrough for Payne, who said he knows what it’ll take to grab his first Series win.
“No matter what, we have top five and ten speed,” Payne said. “I’ve been searching for that third to first place speed, I think. We were running well at Weedsport and broke there. Really, for the most part, we just need that little bit more of an edge to get to Victory Lane, and I feel like we’re on that path.”
He’ll have three consecutive nights to get that edge during SummerFAST, Aug. 12-14, including a trip to Land of Legends Raceway on Tuesday, Aug. 13 – a track Payne has three wins at this year and is currently second in its points.
No matter the track conditions, Payne said he thinks he’ll have a car capable of winning.
“I feel like in the past, we’ve done well there, and we’ve had a couple of wins,” Payne said. “But I feel like the past month or two, we’ve found something to be really good all-around, whether the track has character or it’s slick.”
Part of the challenge of SummerFAST is having a car ready for three straight nights of racing.
“For the most part, it’s myself and Nate, who’s another young kid out of school in the summer,” Payne said. “He and I are in the shop all the time. I have really good help at the racetrack, but getting these cars turned around and prepared is a lot. But I think at the end of the day, if we can come out with some good runs, it’s worth it.”
His back-to-back top five finishes are building his confidence with the Super DIRTcar Series and for Super DIRT Week 52 at Oswego Speedway in October, which will see the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 under the lights on Saturday, Oct. 12.
His experience racing against the Super DIRTcar Series stars has prepared him for this year’s Billy Whittaker Cars 200, he said.
“The last two years, we’ve went there and haven’t had a whole lot of time with a Big Block at a place like that,” Payne said. “Now, we’ve traveled with the best of the best all year, and I think we’ll have the right equipment lined up to be the best prepared that we can.”
Payne and the Super DIRTcar Series roars into SummerFAST with visits to Brewerton Speedway (Monday, Aug. 12), Land of Legends Raceway (Tuesday, Aug. 13), and Fulton Speedway (Wednesday, Aug. 14). For Tickets, CLICK HERE.
SummerFAST is one of many stops on the road to Super DIRT Week 52, Oct. 7-12, at Oswego Speedway. For tickets to “Racing’s Biggest Party,” CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the Super DIRTcar Series action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
