\u201cI\u2019m at a loss for words,\u201d Ballard said while trying to catch his breath.<\/p>\n
The stout field of DIRTcar Pro Stock drivers didn\u2019t make the win easy on the Super DIRT Week rookie. He found himself having to battle and grind and fight for every pass against drivers like his championship competitor Pete Stefanski, SRI Performance\/Stock Car Steel and Aluminum Pole Award winner Chris Stalker and reigning DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> champion Luke Horning.<\/p>\n The first four laps of the 50-lap Feature ran under caution due to the yellow coming out on the first lap. When the race resumed, Horning stole the lead from Stalker and pulled away with the look of a repeat winner.<\/p>\n However, Stalker entered the fight again after a Lap 11 restart. He pulled side by side with Horning and the two stayed that way for five laps, trading the lead by a nose each lap. And while they dueled, Ballard, up to third, crept closer and closer.<\/p>\n The duel came to a pause on Lap 17 with another caution slowing the field. When the race resumed, Horning launched ahead of the field, leaving Stalker to try and fend off Ballard. But before they could make much of the battle, another caution flew on Lap 23.<\/p>\n That brought the race to halfway under caution with Horning in the lead.<\/p>\n When the green flew, again, Horning continued to charge ahead at the front and Ballard slid into second. Stalker fell, losing third to Stefanski.<\/p>\n Beau Ballard climbs into his No. 15 car with Luke Horning approaching in the background (Joe Grabianowski Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n Horning had a command out front but another yellow on Lap 32 brought Ballard back to his bumper. And the first-timer took advantage of that on the restart. Throwing his No. 15 car high in the first corner, he pulled even with Horning and the two drivers put on another side-by-side spectacle.<\/p>\n Like the battle with Horning and Stalker, Ballard took Stalker\u2019s place this time as the car swapping the lead with Horning almost every lap. However, a restart on Lap 41, saw Horning slide out of the line of grip in the first corner, allowing Devon Camenga \u2013 who had been on the climb from seventh \u2013 to dive under him and take second.<\/p>\n The final caution of the night came out on Lap 42, setting up an eight-lap dash for the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> title, the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series title and the night\u2019s $3,000 check.<\/p>\n When the field saw the green flag for the final time, Ballard pulled ahead by a car length, while Horning and Camenga gave fans a race for second to the end. Using the low line, Horning found enough grip to drive back to second with seven laps to go. But Ballard was now in a league of his own.<\/p>\n In open air, with a clean track in front and behind, Ballard saw the checkered flags for the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n \u201cChris and Luke were really battling hard on the bottom, and I tried the top a couple of times up there, and I said, \u2018If they keep messing around, I\u2019m going for it,\u2019\u201d Ballard said. \u201cThe track came around to my liking and I just kept it straight and\u2026 Holy cow, I can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n \u201cLuke and I battled there for a few laps. I held these guys off for a couple of restarts. The car was just absolutely on point.\u201d<\/p>\n Horning and Camenga finished on the podium of the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> for the second straight year. For Camenga, it\u2019s another third-place finish. But for Horning its one spot short of where he finished a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we were a little bit more prepared for it to be a little bit slicker, I wasn\u2019t prepared for it to be that tacky in the beginning,\u201d Horning said. \u201cWe needed it to slicken up a little bit more than it did. The track is absolutely phenomenal\u2026 I just wasn\u2019t prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year was Camenga\u2019s first Super DIRT Week appearance, giving him two podium finishes in two starts of the Series\u2019 biggest race.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this caliber of drivers this year, I\u2019m really happy in third-place,\u201d Camenga said. \u201cI wish we start a little better, but that\u2019s been the story for me this year, starting mid-pack, or out of the top five and top 10 and I kind of have to work my way through.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hoping they were going to bang fenders and I could scoot underneath them or go around them. But this caliber of drivers, they\u2019re just too good. Hopefully it was great racing for the fans. It was great for me to watch, but I was hoping I was going to be one of those lead changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Entering the night with a 16-point lead, Stenfanski knew he had to keep Ballard in sight to score the title. And while Ballard got the advantage with the win, Stefanski still accomplished his goal of keeping his championship competitor within reach, finishing a fourth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to win the race, but sometimes you just get into ride mode, keeping your competitor within enough distance, so you don\u2019t put yourself into trouble and end up taking yourself out,\u201d Stefanski said about his run.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since we\u2019ve got to run for a title, because we never had a home track. To come out and do this at my age of 54 and show these guys that we\u2019re still competitive and still can run up front feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n Five-time DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> champion Rob Yetman rounded out the top five, in his first time back at Super DIRT Week since 2022.<\/p>\n Ballard\u2019s win came with another historic stat for the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> as he became the seventh straight different winner of the event since Yetman last won it in 2017 \u2013\u00a0C.D. Beauchamp (2018), Josh Coonradt (2019), Chad Jeseo (2021), Nick Stone (2022) and Horning (2023).<\/p>\n UP NEXT:<\/strong> While the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship battle is over, the Series will move to its next biggest stage of the 2024 season \u2013\u00a0the World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Oct. 31-Nov. 2. For tickets, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beau Ballard celebrates his first DIRTcar Pro Stock 50 victory (Brent Smith Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n VIDEO RECAP:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Beau](\"https:\/\/cdn.dirtcar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/11215229\/SDW_BallardHorningPhoto_byJoeGrabianowski-1024x629.jpg\")
![\"Pro](\"https:\/\/superdirtweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2024\/10\/ProStockWinner.jpg\")