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DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Returns to Ransomville Speedway

RANSOMVILLE, NY (December 24, 2025) The DIRTcar 358 Modified Series will make its anticipated return to Ransomville Speedway on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, with the running of the Flyin’ Brian and Ray Stevens Memorial Race. The 50-lap event for the modifieds will pay at minimum $4,444 to win. As part of the racing program, the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series will make an appearance, with a minimum of $1,500 going to the winner.

The appearance by the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series will be the 22nd time that the series has made the pilgrimage to Ransomville. “The Doctor” Danny Johnson, Ransomville’s all-time winningest 358 Modified driver has secured nine series wins at The Big R. “AJ Slideways” Alan Johnson has four series wins, while “The Corporate Jet” Brett Hearn has three 358 Series wins at Ransomville. Scott Gurdak, Vic Coffey, Todd Burley, Chad Brachmann, and Erick Rudolph have all secured one Ransomville series win. Rudolph is also the defending race winner of the Flyin’ Brian and Ray Stevens Memorial.

“Flyin” Brian Stevens had wins spanning four decades, with his first Ransomville Modified win coming on June 16, 1978, and his final checkered flag at the Big R took place on July 8, 2005. His 25 Modified wins in Ransomville sits him ninth on the track’s all-time wins list. With a career spanning over 40 years, Stevens scored nearly 150 career checkered flags at tracks across the region, as well as racing against the best in the business in the 80’s and 90’s in Central New York, including making numerous starts on the Syracuse Mile. “Flyin” Brian passed away in February of 2015, after a courageous battle with cancer. Brian was a 2009 Friends of Auto Racing (FOAR SCORE) Fan Club Hall of Fame inductee.

After an accident that cut his driving career short in 1955, Ray Stevens became one of the top car owners in all of DIRT racing. The list of drivers that drove for Ray include Jimmy Jenkins, Tom Cook, Ted Renshaw, Lloyd Holt, Stan Friesen, Hugh Tripp, Mike Granton, and Davey Moore. When son Brian began driving, the father and son duo found success, with Brian winning two Merrittville Speedway track titles in 1982, and 1992. Ray passed away in August of 2011. Ray was the 1993 recipient of the Leonard J Sammons Jr Award for Outstanding Contribution to Auto Racing at the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame, a 1993 inductee into the Friends of Auto Racing (FOAR SCORE) Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Look for the 2026 schedule to be released in the coming weeks. For more information, follow us on social media and head to our website, www.ransomvillespeedway.com

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