Pete Stefanski added another milestone to his Pro Stock career Sunday at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.
The North Tonawanda, NY driver passed Brandon Emigh with three laps to go to win his first DIRTcar Pro Stock Series event at the 1/4-mile bullring.
Veteran Pro Stock driver Kim Duell grabbed the early lead in the 30-lap Feature, thundering past Shawn Perez Jr. as the field exited Turn 2. Stefanski followed him on the inside lane, taking over second by the time Lap 1 was complete.
Duell continued his lead while defending DIRTcar Pro Stock Series champion Luke Horning drove to second before a caution came out on Lap 8 for Ken Griffin, who spun between Turn 3 and 4.
When the race resumed, contact between Horning and Duell in Turn 2 sent Duell’s No. 14 into the Turn 2 wall, bringing out the yellow again.
As a result of the contact, Horning was sent to the rear of the field.
That gave Stefanski the lead as he drove ahead of Brandon Emigh on the Lap 9 restart. The two drivers battled side-by-side for the next 12 laps before Emigh used Toby Cooper, a lap car, as a pick in Turn 2.
Stefanski lost momentum as they exited the corner, allowing Emigh to thunder underneath Stefanski and Cooper to take the lead on Lap 21.
However, a caution for Dean Charbonneau in Turn 1 on Lap 26 gave Stefanski another chance to take the lead.
It was a chance he didn’t waste. Stefanski and Emigh made contact in Turn 2, allowing Stefanski to get ahead as they battled down the backstretch on Lap 27.
From there, Stefanski held on to earn the $1,000 victory—his 28th career DIRTcar Pro Stock triumph.
“It’s just a fast racetrack and it was really smooth tonight,” Stefanski said. “You had to concentrate every lap so you didn’t run into the wall, but what a great race.”
Emigh crossed the line second. With his second podium finish of the year, the Ballston Spa, NY driver extended his points lead.
Shawn Perez Jr. finished third, earning a career-best DIRTcar Pro Stock Series finish. Devon Camenga finished fourth, and Beau Ballard rounded out the top five.
DIRTcar Pro Stock Feature: 1. 2-Pete Stefanski[3]; 2. 2E-Brandon Emigh[4]; 3. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[1]; 4. 110-Devon Camenga[9]; 5. 15-Beau Ballard[12]; 6. 711-Rich Crane[7]; 7. 48-Jocelyn Roy[11]; 8. 25J-Chad Jeseo[5]; 9. 7-Chucky Dumblewski[20]; 10. 324-Jason Casey[14]; 11. 57-Charles Mcspirit[15]; 12. 2H-Luke Horning[8]; 13. 25-Steve Cosselman[27]; 14. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[16]; 15. 80-Dan Krajewski[19]; 16. 9B-Slater Baker[23]; 17. 2F-Jay Fitzgerald[13]; 18. 15M-Michael Hill[21]; 19. 6P-Shane Playford[17]; 20. 58-Roxanne Roy[22]; 21. 4-Dean Charbonneau[6]; 22. 4C-Toby Cooper[24]; 23. 25Y-Ken Griffin[26]; 24. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[10]; 25. 28-Philip DeFiglio[18]; 26. 14-Kim Duell[2]; 27. 08-Doug Sheely[25]
