After recent struggles at Brockville Ontario Speedway, Shane Pecore has turned his fortune around.
The Cornwall, ON driver passed Gavin Eisele on Lap 33 and survived two late-race restarts to win Saturday’s DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region Feature.
Eisele, the pole sitter, led the field to the green in the 40-lap Feature and quickly pulled away from Dylan Kirkland, who started second. In the first 30 laps, the LaFargeville, NY driver lapped to ninth place and seemed destined to win his first DIRTcar Sportsman Series race.
But that changed on Lap 31 when the caution came out for Dan Ferguson, who spun in Turns 1 and 2. It cost him his full-straightaway advantage on the field and lined him up next to Pecore, who had just taken second from Kirkland on Lap 27.
When the race resumed, Eisele pulled ahead in Turns 1 and 2. But when they reached Turns 3 and 4, Pecore’s momentum was too much as he thundered around the no. 18 for the lead.
However, as Pecore started to pull away, another caution came out on Lap 33 for Dylan Moore, giving Eisele another opportunity.
On the restart, Pecore chose the outside again, but Eisele tried a different approach to retake the lead this time. When the green came out, Eisele pulled a slide job on Pecore, but Pecore quickly crossed over, pulling even with Eisele down the backstretch.
As the two waged war, entering Turns 3 and 4, Pecore pulled a slide job of his own. But Eisele was ready for it, diving under Pecore in Turn 4 to lead Lap 34 by a bumper. Eisele slid in front of Pecore again in Turns 1 and 2, but when Pecore crossed over, his momentum carried him past Eisele.
Despite regaining the lead, Pecore had another challenge to conquer before he took the checkered flag. A caution for Kirkland with three laps to go gave Eisele one more chance.
At the drop of the green, Eisele threw one more slide job in Turns 1 and 2. But it wasn’t enough to get by Pecore, who passed Eisele back for the lead on the backstretch and held on to win the $1,350 (Canadian) prize.
“I definitely needed a caution to catch Gavin because he was quite far ahead,” Pecore said. “I knew once the caution came out and he chose the inside on the restart, I knew I’d have a really good shot because I had a good car.”
After that, it was just hard racing between me and him. We traded a couple of slide jobs and a little bit of rubbing and banging, but that’s part of racing, and I’m glad to be on top.”
The win is Pecore’s 11th DIRTcar Sportsman Series win, tying him with Rocky Warner and Tim Hindley for fifth on the Series all-time wins list. It’s also his second consecutive win at Brockville after winning the season opener.
“We have a really good car at Brockville,” Pecore said. “For the last couple of years, we’ve kind of struggled here, so to start off the season, this good is a good confidence booster.”
Eisele crossed the line second, his second consecutive DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region runner-up finish.
He said he knew his only chance was taking away Pecore’s momentum.
“Giving me the bottom was all I could hope for, so I could slide him and try to take his line away,” Eisele said. “But it didn’t seem to help because he could cross me over every single time.
“We’ve finished in the top five every race we’ve been to this year. Hopefully, we can keep that streak alive and maybe get a win or two in there.”
Four-time and defending Brockville track champion Bobby Herrington finished third. The Elginburg, ON driver said he had a fast car but wasn’t sure if he had enough for the top two.
“We got to third and had a couple of shots at them, but we didn’t have the speed,” Herrington said. “Once we got in an open track, they were pretty good.”
Brennan Moore finished fourth, and Shane Stearns rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region returns to Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville, NY on Wednesday, June 3, in a combined event with the Central Region.
DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region Feature (40 Laps): 1. 0-Shane Pecore, 2. 18E-Gavin Eisele, 3. 88Z-Bobby Herrington, 4. 35B-Brennan Moore, 5. 22S-Shane Stearns, 6. 52-Jessica Power, 7. 34-Eric Nier, 8. 11-Dan Ferguson, 9. 88K-Dylan Kirkland, 10. 707-Greg Brinklow, 11- 16X-Savannah Laflair, 12. 35D-Dylan Moore, 13. 17M-Macie Wallace, 14. 16-Matt Barbour, 15. 18-Jordan Wood, 16. 20-Nathan Lambert, 17. X41-Xavier Perrin, DNS-98-Dominick Merkley’
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Dylan Moore (Free Tire)
Post-Race Tech: Checked MSD Boxes, MSD Wiring, and DIRTcar Seals on top five finishers. All cars passed.
