Pro Stock Winner Pete Stefanski - Bill Moore Photo
Syracuse, NY — October 11, 2009 – By Dave Medler, DIRTcar Northeast Series Reporter
Pete Stefanski came into Super DIRT Week XXXVIII with just one question on his mind. The Wheatfield, N.Y. veteran knew he was fast on the Syracuse Mile every year, always starting near the front, but could he find the right combination to finally find victory lane?
That lingering question was finally answered Sunday afternoon as the three-time reigning Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr DIRTcar Pro Stock points king took the lead at the drop of the green and dominated the BNC Motorsports Championship from flag-to-flag, slowing only twice for minor caution periods during the 25-lap series event.
“It’s just a lot of hard work,” stated Stefanski, 39, as he posed alongside his sleek SAN-TER Sewing Chevy Impala No.2 EMS Chassis after taking the checkers for the first time in his full-fender career. “We’ve had some bad starts here, got behind the eight-ball and fell behind four or five spots. The key here is to be out front. I knew if I got into one (first) I had a shot to hold those guys up because the track was a little slippery and a little bumpy out there today.”
Two of the best in the DIRTcar Northeast Pro Stock ranks, Stefanski and season-long contender to the throne Joey Ladouceur led the 33-car starting field down to Dave Farney’s initial green flag. Stefanski’s strategy blossomed early as he grabbed the early advantage ahead of the rest of the pack that raced two and three wide in the early stages.
With five laps in the books, Stefanski had built up almost a full straightaway lead, however, a blanket could be thrown over his closest challengers as Ladouceur, Nick Stone and past Syracuse champion Don Carlson fought hard for second with race rookie Chuck Dumblewski running a distant fifth.
The first yellow flag flew on lap six when second-place running Ladouceur shredded a rear tire, with the resulting slowdown erasing a comfortable four-second lead that DIRTcar NE’s perennial champion Stefanski had built up.
During the same yellow officials determined that Stone had jumped the initial start and sent him back to 11th position before the next green flag. On the ensuing restart Stefanski motored away again but the advantage quickly evaporated as Connecticut charger Carlson drew in on the leader’s back bumper.
At the lap 10 mark Stefanski and Carlson ran nose-to-tail in a tight battle for the lead with Dumblewski just a few car-lengths back and riding just ahead of Jay Corbin and Don Barnes in the front-five.
On lap 11 Carlson tried to work the top of the speedway in turns three and four to find a way around Stefanski. Instead, the Ridgefield, Conn. racer made contact with the wall and was forced pitside for the remainder to end any chance of wearing a second Syracuse crown.
At the halfway point —lap 13— Stefanski led by a half straightaway as Dumblewski tried to cut it down with little success. Corbin, Barnes and series follower Rob Yetman ran in a tight pack jockeying for top-five spots.
Cornwall, Ontario’s Corey Wheeler made contact with another car going into turn one on lap 15 sending him around to bring out the second and final yellow. Wheeler was able to keep it off the wall and continue despite losing a number of valuable positions.
When the green came back out Stefanski got another great restart and quickly built up a two second-second lead over Dumblewski. Stefanski remained on cruise control at the front of the pack with 10 laps to go while Dumblewski ran alone in second. Corbin, Yetman and Steve Hankle were engaged in the biggest battle on the track with top-five positions up for grabs as the laps dwindled.
Yetman suddenly slowed down the back straightaway on lap 17 and headed to the cinder track ending any shot at a top-five finish. With just five miles to go, Stefanski remained at the head of the pack yet Dumblewski kept chipping away to narrow the gap down to just 1.5 seconds as they continued to navigate around the oh so Moody Mile.
Over the final laps Stefanski seemed to kick it up a notch as he wasn’t going to be denied that long-awaited Syracuse victory, the first after scoring four straight runner-up finishes as well as posting fast time during Super DIRT Week on three occasions. Following under the checkers was Dumblewski, who had never even seen the Syracuse Mile until this week, while Corbin, Hankle and P.J Peters rounded out the final top-five.
“Mad Skins Bodies put such an aerodynamic body on this I couldn’t have done it without them and EMS Chassis,” remarked Stefanski, following his 10th feature win of the season for DIRTcar Northeast’s all-time Pro Stock leader. “And thanks to P.J and Alan Peters, without them I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“This is easily our biggest win. We’ve sat on the pole three times and been close enough so to finally win this is just totally awesome. Our car was better as the race went on so we needed green flag laps to stretch the lead further. That’s how things worked out, pretty much how we wanted it to from the beginning,” added Stefanski, who steered the same car that he’s been running for two years, only sporting a new body that helped propel him to that elusive Syracuse win.
Entering the Salt City showdown facing an 11-point deficit to four-time race winner Ladouceur, Stefanski left the fairgrounds ahead by 37 markers as his closest pursuer could only climb back up to 15th-place on the final scoresheet. The Pro Stock Series first-ever event at Brockville Ontario Speedway that arrives in just one more week is also the ’09 finale as the area’s top full-fender teams compete in a big 50-lap main event during the inaugural running of the DIRTcar Northeast Fall Nationals at BOS on Oct. 18.
Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Race #8 – New York State Fairgrounds, October 11, 2009 “BNC Motorsports Championship” Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 2 2 Pete Stefanski/Wheatfield,NY ($2,000)
2 3 7c Chuck Dumblewski/Amsterdam,NY®
3 4 8 Jay Corbin/Rensselaer,NY
4 9 44h Steve Hankle/Averill Park,NY®
5 10 73 P.J. Peters/Akwesasne,QUE
6 8 188 David Papineau/Akwesasne,NY
7 11 27n Nick Stone/Schenectady,NY
8 18 214 Eric Marin/Carmel,NY
9 15 24 Robbie Speed/Mellenville,NY®
10 29 93 Kenny Martin Jr./Scotia,NY
11 20 324 Jason Casey/Canaan,CT
12 13 88 Allen Peters/Westville,NY
13 19 48 Dion Oakes/Akwesasne,NY
14 25 44 Gilles Godard/Cornwall,ONT
15 1 92 Joey Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
16 27 0 Tom Vigh Jr./Sussex,NJ
17 30 35 Rick Dempsey/Nassau,NY
18 12 47 Dave Bissonnette/Apple Hill,ONT
19 32 6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE
20 17 8c Sean Corr/Goshen,NY
21 34 05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE
22 5 18b Don Barnes/Gasport,NY
23 33 33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE
24 24 315 Jonathon Routhier/Canaan,CT
25 26 47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT®
26 23 4a Roch Aubin/Alexandria,ONT
27 16 18 Louie Jackson/Akwesasne,NY
28 21 12s Matt Shadic/Craryville,NY
29 7 7 Rob Yetman/Castleton,NY
30 14 7jr Harvey Arquette Jr./Akwesasne,NY®
31 22 99 Mike Martin/Lockport,NY
32 6 26 Don Carlson/Ridgefield,CT
33 35 69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY
DNS 28 76 Kevin Arnold/Averill Park,NY
DNS 31 1 Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY®
EVENT SUMMARY
LAP LEADER: Stefanski (1-25).
CAUTIONS: 3 (lap 6, lap 15, lap 25).
ELAPSED TIME: 22 mins. 1 sec.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 4.564 secs.
PARTS PLUS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Chuck Dumblewski.
CORVETTES BY TURNER HARD CHARGER AWARD: Kenny Martin Jr.
BNC MOTORSPORTS/FIVE STAR BODY: Jonathon Routhier (24th).
GATER RACING NEWS BEST APPEARING CAR: #7 – Rob Yetman.
NYSSCA ‘TOP MEMBER’ AWARD: Chuck Dumblewski.
TERRELL’S POTATO CHIPS POLE WINNER: Joey Ladouceur (37.016 sec/97.255 mph).
TERRELL’S OUTSIDE POLE WINNER: Pete Stefanski (37.257 sec/96.626 mph).
DIG SAFELY NEW YORK LAST CHANCE QUALIFIERS: Gilles Godard, Corey Wheeler.
RACE ROOKIES®: 6.
CARS ENTERED: 51.
SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXVIII PRO STOCK TIME TRIALS
FAST AVE
1 37.016 97.255 92 Joey Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
$500 – Terrell’s Potato Chips Pole
2 37.257 96.626 2 Pete Stefanski/Wheatfield,NY
$500 – Terrell’s Potato Chips Pole
3 37.263 96.611 7c Chuck Dumblewski/Amsterdam,NY
4 37.421 96.203 8 Jay Corbin/Rensselaer,NY
5 37.473 96.069 18b Don Barnes/Gasport,NY
6 37.495 96.013 26 Don Carlson/Ridgefield,CT
7 37.505 95.987 7 Rob Yetman/Castleton,NY
8 37.633 95.661 188 David Papineau/Akwesasne,NY
9 37.655 95.605 44h Steve Hankle/Averill Park,NY
10 37.710 95.465 73 P.J. Peters/Akwesasne,QUE
11 37.764 95.329 27n Nick Stone/Schenectady,NY
12 37.784 95.278 47 Dave Bissonnette/Apple Hill,ONT
13 37.836 95.147 88 Allen Peters/Westville,NY
14 37.899 94.989 7jr Harvey Arquette Jr./Akwesasne,NY
15 37.981 94.784 24 Robbie Speed/Mellenville,NY
16 38.109 94.466 18 Louie Jackson/Akwesasne,NY
17 38.144 94.379 8c Sean Corr/Goshen,NY
18 38.161 94.337 214 Eric Marin/Carmel,NY
19 38.198 94.246 48 Dion Oakes/Akwesasne,NY
20 38.264 94.083 324 Jason Casey/Canaan,CT
21 38.281 94.041 12s Matt Shadic/Craryville,NY
22 38.308 93.975 99 Mike Martin/Lockport,NY
23 38.324 93.936 4a Roch Aubin/Alexandria,ONT
24 38.392 93.770 315 Jonathon Routhier/Canaan,CT
25 38.518 93.463 44 Gilles Godard/Cornwall,ONT
26 38.567 93.344 76 Kevin Arnold/Averill Park,NY
27 38.601 93.262 0 Tom Vigh Jr./Sussex,NJ
28 38.604 93.255 47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT
29 38.612 93.235 79 Rocky Warner/Gloversville,NY
30 38.715 92.987 116s Carl Smith Jr./Durham,NY
31 38.724 92.966 93 Kenny Martin Jr./Scotia,NY
32 38.745 92.915 33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE
33 38.877 92.600 69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY
34 39.024 92.251 35 Rick Dempsey/Nassau,NY
35 39.172 91.902 00 Kim Duell/Porters Corner,NY
36 39.188 91.865 98t Jack Terrell/Jamesville,NY
37 39.259 91.699 7d Eugene Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY
38 39.346 91.496 08 Richard Bertrand/Acton Vale,QUE
39 39.350 91.487 73j Troy Arnold/Middletown,NY
40 39.421 91.322 1 Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY
41 39.438 91.283 05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE
42 39.564 90.992 17 Nick Hilt Jr./Averill Park,NY
43 39.712 90.653 31x Robert Rowe/Walden,NY
44 39.905 90.214 20 Joe Allen/Dingsman Ferry,PA
45 39.907 90.210 322 Jay Casey/Canaan,CT
46 40.487 88.917 3 Randy Brownell/Ballston Spa,NY
47 40.767 88.307 6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE
48 41.461 86.829 ba98 Steve Johnston/Ingelside,ONT
49 -NT- —– 04 Tom Harkins/Hudson,NY
50 -NT- —– 4 Phil Wood/Nassau,NY
51 -NT- —– 322j John Casey/Canaan,CT
*Top-24 advance to BNC Motorsports Championship starting grid.
SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXVIII PRO STOCK NON-QUALIFIERS RACES
Dig Safely New York Shootout #1 (8 Laps)
FIN CAR# DRIVER
1 44 Gilles Godard/Cornwall,ONT
2 0 Tom Vigh Jr./Sussex,NJ
3 93 Kenny Martin Jr./Scotia,NY
4 79 Rocky Warner/Gloversville,NY
5 31x Rob Rowe/Walden,NY
6 00 Kim Duell/Porters Corner,NY
7 05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE
8 73j Troy Arnold/Middletown,NY
9 7d Eugene Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY
10 322 Jay Casey/Canaan,CT
11 6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE
12 69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY
*Top-3 advance to BNC Championship starting grid.
Dig Safely New York Shootout #2 (8 Laps)
FIN CAR# DRIVER
1 47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT
2 76 Kevin Arnold/Averill Park,NY
3 35 Rick Dempsey/Nassau,NY
4 33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE
5 1 Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY
6 98t Jack Terrell/Jamesville,NY
7 17 Nick Hilt Jr./Averill Park,NY
8 08 Richard Bertrand/Acton Vale,QUE
9 116s Carl Smith Jr./Durham,NY
10 20 Joe Allen/Dingsman Ferry,PA
11 3 Randy Brownell/Ballston Spa,NY
12 ba98 Steve Johnston/Ingelside,ONT
13 7jr Harvey Arquette Jr./Akwesasne,NY
*Top-3 advance to BNC Championship starting grid.
Guaranteed: Ricky Thompson, Stephane Lebrun.
Provisional: Bruno Cyr, Jocelyn Roy, Jody Swamp.
Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series Point Standings (October 11)
Rank No. Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 2 Pete Stefanski 1,081 721 360 0 3 7 7 8
2 92 Joey Ladouceur 1,044 684 360 -37 4 6 6 8
3 73 P.J. Peters 953 593 360 -128 0 4 6 8
4 26 Don Carlson 953 593 360 -128 1 4 5 8
5 7 Rob Yetman 874 514 360 -207 0 2 4 8
6 48 Dion Oakes 866 506 360 -215 0 1 5 8
7 6 Stephane Lebrun 838 478 360 -243 0 2 3 8
8 47 Dave Bissonnette 781 421 360 -300 0 2 3 7
9 4 Roch Aubin 771 411 360 -310 0 0 2 8
10 8 Sean Corr 743 383 360 -338 0 1 1 7
11 18 Louie Jackson 739 379 360 -342 0 0 2 7
12 188 David Papineau 699 339 360 -382 0 0 1 7
13 1 Ricky Thompson 699 339 360 -382 0 1 2 6
14 05 Jocelyn Roy 678 318 360 -403 0 1 3 5
15 33 Bruno Cyr 675 315 360 -406 0 0 1 6
16 69 Jody Swamp 561 201 360 -520 0 1 1 3
17 88 Allen Peters 558 378 180 -523 0 0 3 6
18 99 Mike Martin 553 193 360 -528 0 0 0 4
19 7Jr Harvey Arquette Jr. 537 177 360 -544 0 0 0 4
20 99 Ghislain Valade 535 175 360 -546 0 2 2 2
21 08 Richard Bertrand 511 151 360 -570 0 0 2 2
22 6x Travis Back 510 150 360 -571 0 1 2 2
23 78 William Chubb 504 144 360 -577 0 0 0 3
24 24 Robbie Speed 501 141 360 -580 0 0 2 2
25 8 Jay Corbin 490 130 360 -591 0 1 1 2
26 324 Jason Casey 488 128 360 -593 0 0 1 2
27 98T Jack Terrell 467 107 360 -614 0 0 0 2
28 6z Butch Zimmerman 462 102 360 -619 0 0 0 2
29 11 John Zimmerman 460 100 360 -621 0 0 0 2
30 ba98 Steve Johnston 458 98 360 -623 0 0 0 2
31 73 Michel Dejardins ® 454 94 360 -627 0 0 0 2
32 62 Andrew Northrup 440 80 360 -641 0 0 0 2
33 78 Paul LaRochelle 440 80 360 -641 0 1 1 1
34 49 Bill Woodward Jr. 428 68 360 -653 0 0 1 1
35 243 Victor Hopkins 422 62 360 -659 0 0 1 1
36 55 George Renaud 422 62 360 -659 0 0 1 1
37 322 Jay Casey 420 60 360 -661 0 0 0 1
38 97 Roland Hebert 420 60 360 -661 0 0 0 1
39 76 Kevin Arnold 418 58 360 -663 0 0 0 1
40 24 Jacques Robert 418 58 360 -663 0 0 0 1
41 48T Rod Tarbell ® 416 56 360 -665 0 0 0 1
42 04 John Yandoh Jr. 414 54 360 -667 0 0 0 1
43 115 Stepane Lemire 412 52 360 -669 0 0 0 1
44 2EZ Mike Arquiette 412 52 360 -669 0 0 0 1
45 12s Matt Shadic 410 50 360 -671 0 0 0 1
46 315 Jon Routhier 410 50 360 -671 0 0 0 1
47 35 Rick Dempsey 408 48 360 -673 0 0 0 1
48 94 Carl Poulin 406 46 360 -675 0 0 0 1
49 8 Mark Lalonde 403 43 360 -678 0 0 0 1
50 311 Brian Keough 401 41 360 -680 0 0 0 1
FINAL EVENT:
Just one more week remains as top full-fender teams continue in their quest of the coveted overall 2009 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship, with the points king crowned for the 15th straight year at Brockville Ontario Speedway during the first-ever DIRTcar Northeast Fall Nationals at the BOS on Sunday, October 18.
2009 Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Championship Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/LOCATION
Sat-Jul 4 Genesee Speedway Pete Stefanski
Fri-Jul 17 Mohawk Int’l Raceway Pete Stefanski
Sat-Aug 22 Autodrome Drummond Joey Ladouceur
Sun-Aug 23 Cornwall Motor Speedway Joey Ladouceur
Fri-Sep 11 Autodrome Edelweiss Joey Ladouceur ($1,500-to-win)
Sat-Sep 12 Lebanon Valley Speedway Don Carlson
Sat-Sep 26 Rolling Wheels Raceway Joey Ladouceur
Sun-Oct 11 New York State Fairgrds Pete Stefanski
Sun-Oct 18 Brockville Ont. Speedway Brockville,ONT
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds, home of DIRTcar All-Star Weekend in July. DIRTcar Northeast’s crown jewel event —Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse— runs October 7-11, 2009 featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions. Ticket and schedule information is available by contacting the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during the day or logging into www.superdirtweekonline.com anytime.
The Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Hoosier Racing Tire www.hoosiertire.com and VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com. Promotional partners include Rite Aid Corporation www.riteaid.com, Dig Safely New York www.digsafelynewyork.com and the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and the contingency sponsors are Bars Leaks www.barsproducts.com, Bert Transmission www.berttransmission.com, Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, Brodix Cylinder Heads www.brodix.com, Ferris Industries www.ferrisindustries.com, Integra Shocks www.integrashocksandsprings.com, Intercomp www.intercomp-racing.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Rislone Oil Stabilizer www.barsproducts.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.
