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By KEVIN RICE
Photo Michael Jaworecki/Myracewnews
Swedesboro, NJ- Dillon Steuer continues to make strides as a young driver in dirt Modified racing. He was at one of his favorite tracks on Saturday night, competing in a 25-lap feature at Bridgeport Speedway.
The Long Island racer who called Orange County Speedway in Middletown, New York home this season, used Saturday’s event as a tune-up for this weekend’s season finale at Bridgeport. He started eighth in his heat race and finished third to qualify for the feature redraw.
Unfortunately, that draw placed him eleventh in the starting lineup, but Steuer was able to make passes throughout the short 25-lap main to finish in fourth place.
“Started off with a bad draw,” he confirmed. “Started last in the heat. We had to get to the redraw spot. We got there and drew eleventh, so we went right back to working hard for every spot. You just need more laps when you start that deep. It’s tough to come from eleventh and win in 25 laps.”
Steuer has had a pretty successful season that includes a track championship at Orange County. In part, because of an uncertain future for that track, Steuer is unsure what his plans are for next season. He took time to reflect on his 2023 racing year before strapping in to race last Saturday.
“It was an up and down season,” he began. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start. We tried to eliminate a lot of mechanical issues we had last year. We came out with a couple of wins at Orange County- big block and small block, and a win at Accord.
“We try to travel whenever we can. We have had good speed. Just sometimes we need to put a whole night together. We have been good early or good late. Hopefully tonight we can be good throughout the night.”
Steuer further explained why they made the trip to Bridgeport, admitting that he would have liked to race there more, but mother nature foiled those plans.
“It’s racey,” he said. “It’s wide and it’s just a lot of fun. It is fast paced, and I like to go fast. We try to come here whenever the schedule allows. We are committed to Orange County weekly, but anytime we get a chance to come here, we do.
“Without rainouts that should have been at least five times, but it’s looking like we’ve got one more next weekend, so that will make it three times this year. Everything is up in the air right now for next year. Not sure where we are going to race, but it will be mostly on dirt. We never plan ahead, we’re kind of week-by-week.”
Before next season, Steuer has some work to do on the pavement, as he plans a return to Wall Stadium on Turkey Derby weekend. He will definitely compete in the dirt Modified on asphalt race, but the strong payoff has him considering also running the pavement Modified in the headline event as well. The former winner of the Islip 300 Modified event at Riverhead Raceway might not compete in that November 11 event.
“We’re up in the air on that,” Steuer noted. “We’ve got to sit down and figure out if it makes sense for us and see what everybody wants to do. We will be at Turkey Derby for sure though. With the dirt car we are three-for-three now, so obviously we’ll be there with that. With the asphalt Modified paying $2,000 to start it almost pays to bring both cars now, so I am pretty sure we will.”
Steuer’s next test, however, will be back at Bridgeport this weekend, where the New Jersey oval plays host to a 50-lap Modified race paying $5,000 to win on Saturday evening.
