With a grueling season complete for the top DIRTcar Northeast stars, a celebration was all that was left on the 2025 schedule.
The top drivers across the five DIRTcar Northeast divisions gathered on Saturday in Syracuse to be honored for their accomplishments throughout the season.
All four DIRTcar Northeast Series champions were recognized, along with the Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Champions and the Number One Speed Rookies of the Year.
More than $300,000 in point-fund money was distributed between the five divisions.
DIRTcar Northeast Series Champions
The four DIRTcar Northeast Series champions were honored during Saturday’s banquet, receiving their trophies and point fund money to cap off their successful 2025 seasons.
All three champions were honored in front of their peers, including Mat Williamson, who won both the Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar 358 Modified championships.
RELATED: Super DIRTcar Series Drivers Honored at 2025 Year-End Banquet
Mat Williamson (DIRTcar 358 Modified Champion): By winning both Series titles in 2025, Williamson earned a piece of history that hadn’t been accomplished since 1999. The St. Catharines, ON driver is the first to win both titles in 26 years, joining Danny Johnson.
Williamson earned five victories throughout the season, taking the checkered flag at Airborne Park Speedway, Fulton Speedway, Weedsport Speedway, Brockville Ontario Speedway, and the Salute to the Troops 150 at Oswego Speedway during Super DIRT Week 53.
Along with the five wins, he earned eight top fives and nine top 10s to beat Felix Roy in the standings by 80 points.
Shane Pecore (DIRTcar Sportsman): After a six-year hiatus, Shane Pecore returned to the DIRTcar Sportsman Series in search of his second championship. He won the North Region title to start the season and finished in the top 10 of all nine championship season races.
The Cornwall, ON driver also overcame adversity en route to the title, finishing ninth with a hurt engine at Albany-Saratoga, and passing 30 cars in the Great Lakes 75 at Super DIRT Week 53 to earn a fourth-place finish.
Shane Pecore holds his jacket from Hoosier Racing Tire for winning the 2025 Sportsman Series championship/Joe Grabianowski
A third-place finish at Brockville was enough for Pecore to hang on to win the championship by 18 points over Emmett Waldron.
Pete Stefanski (DIRTcar Pro Stock): For the second-straight season, Pete Stefanski earned the 2025 DIRTcar Pro Stock Series title, giving him a record-six championships.
The Wheatfield, NY driver earned his lone win of the season at Autodrome Drummond in July, and like Pecore, he overcame adversity to win this year’s championship.
Pete Stefanski and Brian Carter/Joe Grabianowski
Leading the standings in the season’s penultimate event at Fulton Speedway, he was involved in a multi-car incident that sidelined his No. 2 car for the remainder of the season. It also put him two points behind Tyler Bushey heading into Super DIRT Week.
Driving fellow Pro Stock competitor Chris Stalker’s car at Oswego, Stefanski finished second, beating Bushey by 10 points to win his sixth title on the division’s biggest stage.
Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Champions
Mat Williamson (DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds): While Williamson has earned several accolades throughout his career, he’s never won a Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship in the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds until this season.
“Money Mat’s” second straight Land of Legends Raceway title led him to the overall championship, earning six Feature wins, 16 top fives, and 17 top 10s in 17 starts. That allowed him to win this year’s weekly title by 66 points over former champion Marc Johnson.
Like the Series championships, Williamson also made history, becoming the first driver to win the Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly championships in both the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds and DIRTcar 358 Modifieds.
Lance Willix (DIRTcar 358 Modifieds): Veteran DIRTcar 358 Modified driver Lance Willix raced three nights a week throughout the season, calling Can-Am Speedway, Fulton Speedway, and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park his home tracks in 2025. That allowed him to make more starts than any other 358 competitor, leading the Theresa, NY driver to his third consecutive Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly championship.
Willix finished the year with eight wins, 26 top fives, and 28 top 10s in 39 starts to win the weekly championship. He joins Williamson and David Hebert as the only drivers to win the Hoosier title three consecutive times.
Cody McPherson (DIRTcar Sportsman): Cody McPherson has more wins than any other driver in DIRTcar Sportsman history and was on top of his game again in 2025.
The St. Catharines, ON driver finished at the top of the weekly standings for the second straight season, earning 13 wins, 18 top fives, and 18 top 10s in 19 starts. That was enough to beat Tim Hartman Jr. for the title by four points.
Along with his Hoosier Racing Tire weekly championship, McPherson added a track championship at Merrittville Speedway, and three DIRTcar Sportsman Series wins in 2025.
Marc Lalonde (DIRTcar Pro Stocks): Marc Lalonde made it known that 2025 would be his final full-time season in the DIRTcar Pro Stocks, and he ended it on a high note.
Marc Lalonde holds the helmet given to him by his fellow Pro Stock competitors/Joe Grabianowski
Lalonde, from Plantagenet, ON, won his third straight track title at Cornwall Motor Speedway. Between there and Mohawk International Raceway, earned six wins, 15 top fives, and 18 top 10s to beat Chris Stalker by eight points in the Hoosier Racing Tire weekly standings.
The weekly championship trophy wasn’t the only item Lalonde took home from Saturday’s banquet. During the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series portion of the event, Lalonde’s peers gave him a helmet as a trophy to honor his career as a Pro Stock competitor. When he saw the helmet for the first time, all Lalonde could say on stage was, “Wow.”
Zach Audet (DIRTcar 4-Cylinders): Zach Audet had a memorable season in 2025, first earning the 2025 track championship at Bear Ridge. Then, the Johnson, VT driver backed it up with his first Hoosier Racing Tire Championship in the 4-Cylinders. Audet is now the fifth different weekly champion since the award was first given out in 2021, on the strength of seven wins, 16 top fives, and 16 top 10s in 16 starts.
Number One Speed Rookies of the Year
Nick Root (Big Block Modifieds): Since Nick Root first got into a Sportsman, the Geneva, NY driver has been a threat to win. That didn’t change once he moved up to Big Block Modifieds in 2025.
He earned two Feature wins at Brewerton Speedway this season, tied with track champion Tim Sears Jr. and veteran Jimmy Phelps. Along with finishing sixth in track points at “D-Shaped Dirt Demon,” he also finished seventh in points at Land of Legends. Root ended the season with four top fives and 16 top 10s in 36 starts.
Gabriel Cyr (DIRTcar 358 Modifieds): After winning two Sportsman track championships at Cornwall, Gabriel Cyr moved up to the 358 Modifieds in 2025, racing weekly at Cornwall and Brockville.
Cyr, from Cornwall, ON, gained experience throughout the season that paid off with two Feature wins at Brockville, where he finished fifth in the track’s standings. He also qualified for two Super DIRTcar Series Features, making the field at Brockville in July and October.
Tristan Ladouceur (DIRTcar Sportsman): In his first season racing Sportsman, Tristan Ladouceur almost made history. He nearly became a third-generation DIRTcar Series champion after finishing third in the final standings.
The Alexandria, ON driver also won the track championship at Cornwall in 2025, taking two victories. Ladouceur joins his dad, Joey, as a DIRTcar Sportsman Rookie of the Year, and becomes the third generation in the Ladouceur family to claim Rookie of the Year honors.
Tommy Lizotte (DIRTcar Pro Stocks): After success racing Street Stocks, Tommy Lizotte wanted to test his abilities against the best full-fender drivers in the Northeast in the DIRTcar Pro Stocks. The La Pocatiere, QC driver had a solid year on the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series, finishing seventh in points, which was highlighted by a third-place finish at Land of Legends Raceway in September.
Lizotte also grabbed his first career Pro Stock Feature win at Cornwall in the season’s final event and earned a top five at the World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Crate Engine Drawing: In an effort to give back to weekly competitors in the Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions, a Crate Engine drawing was held during the banquet.
This year’s winner was Lebanon Valley Speedway Pro Stock competitor Zach Sorrentino, who picked up his engine on Sunday morning and brought it back to Lee, MA.
Track of the Year: For the first time, VP Racing Fuels gave out the track of the year award, given to a track that went above and beyond as part of VP’s track program. This year’s recipient was Mohawk International Raceway, an award accepted by the track’s Race Director, Austin Swamp.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Northeast Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
