After struggling early in the 2025 season, Super DIRTcar Series veteran Jimmy Phelps is starting to peak at the right time.
The Baldwinsville, NY driver finished second at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last month and backed it up with a win in the Encore 50 at Weedsport Speedway last weekend. That gives him momentum heading into Super DIRT Week 53 (Oct. 6-11), and the $53,000-to-win Billy Whittaker Cars 200 on Saturday, Oct. 11.
“[The win] was big,” Phelps said. “There was a good field of cars, and it was extra distance. It validated what was quietly a nice stretch of races for the 98. Before that race, we had four seconds in our last five races. While we were getting frustrated that we weren’t winning, things were still starting to click.”
This burst of momentum for Phelps comes after an undesirable start to the season, only finishing in the top 10 twice through the first 10 points-paying Features of 2025. Since then, he’s finished in the top 10 in seven of the last 10 races, including two podium finishes at Brewerton Speedway and Albany-Saratoga.
“It’s funny, we’re not approaching things differently than we were earlier,” Phelps said. “We just weren’t happy, started to search, and got off track. I think we got to a point where we reined it in a little bit and found a baseline that’s comfortable for us.
“I feel like we were good in the Features, but we weren’t qualifying good. We just buried ourselves and didn’t have much to show for it. But now, we’ve got a baseline. We’re not making major changes, and it’s helping with the confidence, which is a huge part of qualifying and decision making.”
He’ll rely on that confidence entering the season’s most significant event, the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 at Oswego Speedway. Last year, Phelps went from ninth to second and had opportunities to wrestle the lead away from Stewart Friesen in the closing laps.
Finishing second at “Racing’s Biggest Party” has the “Baldwinsville Bandit” hungrier than ever to win his first Big Block Feature at Super DIRT Week.
“I thought that was as close as we’ve come at Oswego to having a car at the end of the 200 that could win,” Phelps said. “I think we needed to restart a little better. It’s not necessarily a factor, but all the yellows combined slowed us down.
“I thought we were better on longer runs, but we were also going up against one of the best race cars we’ve seen in the past couple of years until his crash.”
Having that baseline setup could be key for Phelps entering this year’s 200. With his experience in long-distance races, he said you must be good right away to have a chance at the $53,000 prize.
“You don’t fall into an Oswego 200,” Phelps said. “There was some real outside influences that factored into the mile. This is just a really long short track race. Having the best car and putting yourself in a position to win is difficult.
‘The best car typically wins at Oswego.”
This year’s edition of the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 will be Phelps’ 22nd start, after earning a guaranteed starting spot for the race during Malta Massive Weekend at Albany-Saratoga in September.
While an Oswego triumph would be the biggest win of anyone’s career, Phelps said taking home the checkered flag this year would mean a ton.
“I don’t know when retirement is, but I’m closer to that than the start of my career, that’s for sure,” Phelps said. “The clock is ticking, so to be able to X that off would be a huge relief.
“It would mean so much to do it for Al Heinke, my family, and my crew who’ve stuck around through everything. To win it for them would be huge.”
Phelps and the Super DIRTcar Series return to Oswego Speedway for Super DIRT Week 53, Oct. 6-11, culminating in the $53,000-to-win Billy Whittaker Cars 200 on Saturday, Oct. 11.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Super DIRT Week action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
