The MSD DIRTcar Pro Stocks have turned into one of the most unpredictable divisions at the World Short Track Championship each year, with seven different winners in the last seven years.
The latest addition to that list is Hillsdale, NY’s Chris Stalker, who hoisted the trophy for the first time in only his second trip south to The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
“Honestly, I just want to cry,” Stalker said. “It’s been a rough season, a good season, a long season. Never in a million years did I think of coming down here and winning a race here. That’s obviously our goal when we get here, but track conditions weren’t the best, extra day, I just can’t even begin to explain it.”
The early lead went to Jonathan Levesque from the pole, but a quick restart on Lap 2 put Stalker right beside him coming back to green. The two stayed door-to-door for more than a lap until Levesque spun on the inside in Turn 1, but the Quebec driver kept going after the 360 to stay in contention.
Levesque managed to clear Stalker on the restart, but the No. 177 didn’t let him out of his sights on the ensuing green-flag run. By Lap 8, Stalker was back on Levesque’s bumper, and he threw it to the bottom of Turn 1 and made it stick to take over the lead. One more caution in the waning moments of the Feature gave Levesque one last shot at Stalker, but he was unable to capitalize and could only watch Stalker take the checkers.
“I knew there were a lot of fast cars behind me,” Stalker said of the final green-white-checkered restart. “[Levesque] was real fast, Jocelyn [Roy] was real fast. I knew somebody was coming, somebody was there. I said, ‘Come on, two laps, we’ve got to be past the time now.’ Not that I want to win a race on expired time, but we were still able to wrap it up. Overheating, something’s broke underneath, not quite sure what, but the car still drove good.”
Levesque crossed the line second for his career-best World Short Track finish, while Jocelyn Roy came home third for his third podium in the event.
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 177-Chris Stalker[3]; 2. 32-Jonathan Levesque[1]; 3. 48-Jocelyn Roy[6]; 4. 28S-Pete Stefanski[8]; 5. 777-Tommy Lizotte[5]; 6. 2H-Luke Horning[7]; 7. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[13]; 8. 93-Kenny Martin[11]; 9. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[16]; 10. 8L-Marc Lalonde[4]; 11. 17-Marc Peladeau[17]; 12. 4M-Jordan Modiano[10]; 13. 9L-Eric Jean Louis[23]; 14. 8C-Sean Corr[2]; 15. 9-Shane Henderson[19]; 16. 6C-Brian Carter[15]; 17. 9B-Slater Baker[26]; 18. 63-Ryan Crellin[20]; 19. 6-Stephane Lebrun[24]; 20. 25Y-Ken Griffin[21]; 21. 9GD-Patrice Dumouchel[22]; 22. 58-Roxanne Roy Corr[25]; 23. 2Z-Hugh Page[12]; 24. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[14]; 25. 09-Shawn Perez Sr[9]; 26. 28-Philip DeFiglio[18]
