When Super DIRT Week 52 concluded at Oswego Speedway, Pete Stefanski added to his impressive DIRTcar Pro Stock Series resume.
The North Tonawanda, NY driver secured his first Series title in 15 years and fifth overall, cementing him as the most successful driver in the Series’ 30-year history.
“It means a lot,” Stefanski said. “To have that type of success in such a hard class, it means a lot to me.”
The 2024 DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship battle came down to the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50 at Super DIRT Week. Stefanski entered with a 16-point lead over Beau Ballard. But despite Ballard winning three of the final four Series features, Stefanski’s consistency was enough to win by eight points.
It’s a battle that Stefanski said he knew would be close based on the number of races on the schedule.
“It’s tough when you have a short series because you can’t get away from anyone in points,” Stefanski said. “When we had the 18 races in a Series, when someone has a bad race, and you have a good one, you could get away in the points a little bit. But having such a short Series it’s tough to do that, so it’s a little bit tougher.”
Stefanski’s points lead entering Super DIRT Week forced him to take a different approach to the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50. While he still aimed for Victory Lane, he said it wasn’t his primary focus.
“We were better at Oswego than we showed,” Stefanski said. “But we just kind of watched what Beau did and knew we couldn’t get too far away. It was hard for me to not go for the win, but you have to think big picture sometimes.
“Could we have won it? I don’t know. But were we better than what I showed? Absolutely. Sometimes you have to think of what you’re there for compared to the big end result.”
Despite a fifth championship on his resume, Super DIRT Week won’t be the final race for Stefanski in 2024. He’ll return to The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World Short Track Championship Oct. 31-Nov. 2 – a track he’s won at in each of the last two seasons.
Pete Stefanski celebrates World Short Track Championship Victory in 2023/Chris Dolack
It’s an event he said he finds challenging, with more than 500 cars expected throughout 10 divisions.
“It’s a little deceiving of what the track’s going to do,” Stefanski said. “There’s a lot of race cars there that weekend. So, when you race one point to the next, it’s quite different. It’s hard to know what you’re going to race on for the cars they have down there for that weekend. But we’ve been very fortunate to have success down there.”
He said he’s also excited about the World Short Track Championship’s growth for the Pro Stocks. Stefanski outdueled 30 other drivers to win on the event’s championship Saturday, as part of a unique three-day format.
“It was great to see all of the guys come last year and to have an incredible car count,” Stefanski said. “I’m hoping for it again this year. You got to take the good with the bad and I think we’re heading in the right direction. And with the format they have for all of us, I think it’s definitely a bonus.”
Stefanski returns to action as the reigning DIRTcar Pro Stock Series champion at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, NC, Oct. 31-Nov. 2. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
