In the last three weeks at Airborne Park Speedway, no one has been able to top Mike Mahaney.
That didn’t change on Thursday night, either.
Mahaney passed Andrew Buff on a Lap 13 restart and never looked back to win the Battle of Plattsburgh, his first DIRTcar 358 Modified triumph of 2026.
It’s also the Elizabethtown, NY driver’s fourth straight win at the Plattsburgh, NY oval.
“This car’s been good for four weeks,” Mahaney said. “It’s just a tribute to how hard Jacob (Powell, his crew chief) works on it. And all these guys. My whole Adirondack Auto Team. This is a great group.”
Buff and Lance Willix led the field to the green in the 75-lap Feature, with Buff gaining the early advantage on Lap 1.
It didn’t take long for Mahaney to start moving forward, though, as he snuck by Willix for second on Lap 3 from his third starting position. Over the next four laps, Mahaney chased Buff, but couldn’t get the break he needed until a caution for Chris Curtis on Lap 8.
When the race resumed, Mahaney nosed ahead of Buff’s No. 92 on the restart. Unfortunately for Buff, his chance to win dwindled in Turn 3 when he went over the track’s banking along with Adam Pierson and Carey Terrance.
Mahaney controlled the race when the green came back out, keeping the position with ease. However, two former Series champions moved forward behind him, as Felix Roy and Mat Williamson both passed Willix to move into the top three.
Roy and Williamson had their opportunity when Mahaney reached lap traffic with 22 laps remaining. The two were within a few car lengths of the No. 35, with Roy getting the closest to him as he navigated traffic in the final 15 laps.
But Mahaney’s momentum and Airborne experience were too much for Roy, as “Smooth Shoe” held on to score the $5,000 prize and his third career Series victory.
“That top was wild and crazy, and if you guys could see how tall the berm is in Turn 4, we were getting on it,” Mahaney said. “I was trying to save a little bit for the end, and as I got into the lead, I didn’t want to wear my stuff out. But then I drove through and ripped the door off, and I thought it was going to get caught under the chassis. Luckily, we were able to come away with a win.”
The victory also extends his Series lead to 42 points over Williamson, who moved into second in points after a third-place finish.
Williamson, from St. Catharines, ON, earned his second straight Series podium after he didn’t finish the Series opener at Lebanon Valley Speedway.
“Nothing to hang our heads about running third there,” Williamson said. “I love this place. I love coming up here. It was just a little bit hard to pass off the top. The top was definitely the preferred lane.
“Hats off to the 35 and the 91, they were two fast race cars. We’ll head to Weedsport in a couple of weeks, and we love going there.”
Roy, from Napierville, QC, crossed the line second, matching his best career Series finish. “Hollywood” said he had a fast car but just didn’t have enough to get by Mahaney.
“We had a great car tonight,” Roy said. “We caught up to Mike, and I thought we had something for him. And then we caught traffic, and he made a move, and the door closed right behind him, and he got away.
“It was a nice race. The track was pretty nice, and the top was pretty fast.”
Steve Bernier finished fourth, and Preston Forbes rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar 358 Modified Series heads to Weedsport Speedway on Tuesday, July 30, as part of the ESS Speed Week Kickoff.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Northeast Facebook page.
Battle of Plattsburgh (75 Laps): 1. 35-Mike Mahaney[3]; 2. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 3. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 4. 1*-Steve Bernier[9]; 5. 45R-Preston Forbes[22]; 6. 15X-Justin Stone[17]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[11]; 8. 90-Dany Gagne[20]; 9. B24-Brendan Gibbons[16]; 10. 21A-Peter Britten[21]; 11. 31-Lance Willix[2]; 12. 21R-RJ Tresidder[15]; 13. 28-Jordan McCreadie[23]; 14. 89-Dylan Madsen[14]; 15. 18R-Brad Rouse[19]; 16. 83B-Dustin Bradley[28]; 17. 5-Jack Butler[26]; 18. 24F-Jordan Fornwalt[31]; 19. 215-Adam Pierson[10]; 20. 35C-Chris Curtis[25]; 21. 11S-Steve Lewis Jr[30]; 22. 55-Matt Woodruff[24]; 23. 14-CG Morey[27]; 24. 117-CJ Castelletti[29]; 25. 5S-Tanner Siemons[13]; 26. 92-Andrew Buff[1]; 27. 66X-Carey Terrance[4]; 28. 01-Chris Raabe[6]; 29. 1NY-Greg Atkins[18]; 30. 26-Dave Camara[12]; 31. 35R-William Racine[8]
Hoosier Racing Tire Award (Free Tire): Justin Stone
Post-Race Tech: Fuel, rev boxes and carburetors were checked. Fuel will be sent to lab for routine verification.
This article was republished with permission from DIRTcar. The original article can be found here: https://dirtcar.com/recap/plattsburgh-smooth-mike-mahaney-extends-dirtcar-358-modified-series-points-lead-with-airborne-win/
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