Pro Stock Star Rocky Warner Wins NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Sportsman Championship

Rookie Desjardins Loses it on Last Lap, Letting Warner Take NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Championship 30

SYRACUSE, N. Y. – Oct. 7, 2012 – NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week 2011 Pro Stock champion Rocky Warner added to his tally another victory, but not in the Pro Stock class.

Warner, of Gloversville, N. Y., began running in the Sportsman Modified division last year, and again brought his Sportsman ride to Super DIRT Week and steered it to victory in Sunday’s Sportsman Modified Championship 30.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Warner said. “I told some of the guys to pinch me. It doesn’t seem real yet.”

Warner may have seen victory lane at the New York State Fairgrounds, but never with the competitive 60-car field that attempted to qualify for Sunday’s championship race.

“The Pro Stock class is a tough class, but we’re getting 30 Pro Stocks here, which is pretty much the whole field,” Warner said. “For Sportsman there are 60 or 61 cars that registered here, and it’s not just 60 cars, there are 30 or 40 of the best of them, so it’s one of those deals where it makes you feel a little better.”

At the green flag, Warner was 11^th while rookie and fast-timer Mathieu Desjardins took the lead. Desjardins, of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, led the race until the last lap, when Warner charged ahead from third to take the lead, leaving the Quebecois with the second spot at the finish.

“The last yellow was too much,” Desjardins, of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, said (in French through a translator). “I’m really disappointed to have led 29 laps and to have lost the race on the last lap.”

Sportsman Modified Series point leader Cody McPherson, finished second, building his lead over Martin Pelletier.

“It’s bittersweet,” McPherson said. “It’s a good finish but you want to win the race.”

Rounding out the top five in the NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Sportsman Modified Championship 30 are Chris Herbison in fourth and Jimmy Spellmon in fifth.

NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Sportsman Modified Championship 30

New York State Fairgrounds – Sunday, October 7, 2012

The Super DIRTcar Series and Super DIRT Week are brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Chevy Performance Parts, Gander Mountain, NAPA Auto Parts, and Safety-Kleen. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio and Roush Yates Performance Products. Contingency sponsors are ASI, Beyea Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Draco Springs, Intercomp, JE Pistons, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Ignition, Penske Shocks, Pro Fabrication, Racing Electronics, Superflow, Vicci Racing Apparel, Wilwood Engineering, WIX Filters, Wrisco Industries, and Xtreme Lubricants.