Stefanski charges to second, clinches sixth DIRTcar Pro Stock Series season-long title
OSWEGO, NY — Devon Camenga leaned on a little experience from his past two podium runs during Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway and charged to victory Friday in the DIRTcar Pro Stock I Love NY 50.
From the pole position, Camenga quickly slid to the topside of a track that continued to turn more slick with every lap, and he survived five cautions before fending off Pete Stefanski down the stretch for his first Super DIRT Week victory after a couple of third-place runs the previous two years.
“In my experience here there’s a little crest in Turns 1 and 2 that kind of starts to lip up as you go up the hill and last year I had a lot of success, I put my right sides in it and it helped me drive off of Turn 2,” said Camenga, of Troy, NY. “I know we shined off everywhere and a lot of guys were saying I should start on the bottom, but I felt like I didn’t have the gear to start on the bottom and I figured once I got rolling and kept that outside, even if we were two-wide going into Turn 3, I felt like I really had a good enough car and enough side bite to stick it in there.”
A restart with 10 to go raised the intensity. Stefanski worked past Rich Crane for second on Lap 43 after Crane had spent the entire race trying to chase down Camenga. From there Stefanski edged closer and closer until the checkered flag finally waved with him just off Camenga’s tail. A week after a massive crash at Fulton Speedway forced Stefanski into backup car owned by fellow racer Chris Stalker, his runner-up finish on Friday was enough to clinch his sixth DIRTcar Pro Stock Series crown.
“It feels awesome, I think they’re harder to get nowadays,” said Stefanski, of Wheatfield, NY. “The competitiveness of the class, the advancement of the class. You know we’re all within a couple of tenths between the first and 20th car. To be able to do that, it’s really hard to finish up front every week compared to when I won back in 2006 or 2007. One bad finish can take you out of it. Today you’ve got to run up front or you’re not going to have a chance. The Stalker crew put me in a really good spot to have an incredible racecar and if it wasn’t for them I would not be here.”
For Camenga, his driving style played perfectly into the track’s smooth and slick surface. By Lap 30 he had pulled away by nearly a straightaway over Crane and the rest of the field before a caution bunched everyone for a Lap 34 restart. Camenga and Crane raced side-by-side into Turns 1 and 2 before Camenga edged away again to the lead as Jocelyn Roy moved to third ahead of Stefanski and Marc Lalonde.
“I’m not a guy who’s going to throw the car in super hard, kick it sideways and rooster tail it all the way around,” said Camenga, who earned $3,000 for the victory. “I’ve just never been that style of driver, so I like racing in the black slick. We race in it a lot in upstate New York where it just slicks off. I really like keeping the tires underneath me, so I pride myself in that and having that egg under the throttle pedal. I just hit my marks and tried to keep it straight. I started getting a little loose coming off of Turn 4, I don’t know if I was throttle happy or what. I didn’t hear anybody, I just felt like the race was so long and then the last nine laps went really quick.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t look out the side, I looked right down the track. I figured if they were going to beat me, they were either going to have to go around me or underneath me and if that’s the case then they would have deserved to win.”
Following the final caution for Luke Horning in Turn 4, Stefanski swept past Crane, who held on to finish third ahead of Kim Duell and Roy.
“I was doing all I could do to hang on there,” said Crane, of Canaan, CT.
Camenga won the SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award ($500) while Crane captured the Fratto Curbing Outside Pole Award ($250). Frank Twing won the Kirkey/Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Last Chance Showdown Award (Product Certificate) with Marc Lalonde taking the Winters Last Chance Showdown Transfer Bonus Award (Product Certificate). The Velocita USA Last Finisher Award went to Dakota Sharp ($500 Product Certificate). Camenga won the Dig Race Products Halfway Leader Award ($200), Brandon Emigh was the Integra Racing Shocks Last Car on the Lead Lap ($200 Product Certificate), Camenga was the Fastline Performance Lap 20 Leader ($200), Tommy Lizotte was the Penske Racing Shocks Hard Charger ($500), Stefanski’s title clinching run to second was the Swagger Factory Move of the Race (Product Certificate), and David Stickles receives the Swift Springs First Non-Qualifier Award (Product Certificate).
Click here for the full results from Super DIRT Week. The DIRTcar Pro Stock class next races Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in the 10th World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. For tickets and more go to DIRTcar.com.
