With another DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship added to his resume, Pete Stefanski proved again in 2025 why he’s at the top of the class’ mountain.
The Wheatfield, NY driver used a second-place finish at Super DIRT Week 53 to earn his record sixth Series title.
But even though he knows the right path to that mountaintop, he said it’s vital to be at your best on every occasion.
“You got so many guys that are so fast, that you have to run up front every single night you’re on the racetrack,” Stefanski said. “You just can’t afford bad finishes.”
While Stefanski’s consistency led him to the 2025 championship, a bad finish almost cost him the title earlier this month. He was involved in a wreck at Fulton Speedway, where he destroyed his No. 2 car and finished 17th. With his primary car wrecked, he needed to find a ride for Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway, while trailing Tyler Bushey by two points in the battle for the championship.
“It was a matter of putting ourselves in a bad spot,” Stefanski said. “We run decent at Oswego. It was just making sure that we were getting a good enough car to be there and be competitive.”
The car he found came from competitor Chris Stalker but wasn’t unfamiliar to him. Stefanski had driven the car earlier this season when he filled in for Stalker at Lebanon Valley Speedway.
“I had offers from two other guys that had two cars, too,” Stefanski said. “But the best bet for me was Chris’ car, because they already had it there. They run good all the time. I did drive it previously, and we ran very well in it. I thought it was just my best decision at the point that we were at.”
His decision proved to be the right one, as Stefanski found himself in the top 10 early in the DIRTcar Pro StockI Love NY 50. However, his race almost ended in disaster.
On Lap 6 of the Feature, Luke Horning and Kyle Hoard made contact in front of Stefanski, sending Hoard’s No. 76 around in Turn 3. With seconds to try and avoid Hoard, Stefanski made it around the outside of him with no damage.
“It was luck,” Stefanski said. “I thought we were going to hit him. And I’ll be honest. I have no idea how we missed him. It was one of those things where he was blocking the whole track. We went left, went right, and went left. I don’t know how we missed it. But thankfully, we did.”
Missing that incident allowed Stefanski to earn a second-place finish and clinch his sixth DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship, more than any other driver.
But even with adding another title, the 2025 season isn’t over for the Pro Stock veteran. Stefanski will head south to race in the 10th annual World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Oct. 30-Nov. 1. And like Super DIRT Week, he’ll be driving a different car. This time, he’ll enter the event in Phil DeFiglio’s No. 28 Pro Stock.
Stefanski won a Feature at the event in 2022 and 2023 and said he loves it because there’s no pressure for him.
“It’s more relaxing,” Stefanski said. “It’s like a mini vacation. You get to go racing, which obviously I love to do. Trying to get another one would be awesome. We got a great car going down, too. We’ll just see what happens.
“I’m optimistic. I’m happy. I’m excited. We’re just really looking forward to going down there.”
Stefanski and the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series finish off their 2025 season with a stop at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World Short Track Championship, Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
