{"id":49026,"date":"2024-10-21T16:47:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T20:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/?p=49026"},"modified":"2024-10-21T16:49:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T20:49:59","slug":"pete-stefanski-earns-fifth-dirtcar-pro-stock-series-title-looks-ahead-to-world-short-track-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/dirtcar-ne\/pro-stocks\/pete-stefanski-earns-fifth-dirtcar-pro-stock-series-title-looks-ahead-to-world-short-track-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Stefanski Earns Fifth DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Title, Looks Ahead to World Short Track Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Super DIRT Week 52 concluded at Oswego Speedway, Pete Stefanski added to his impressive DIRTcar Pro Stock Series resume.<\/p>\n
The North Tonawanda, NY driver secured his first Series title in 15 years and fifth overall, cementing him as the most successful driver in the Series\u2019 30-year history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cTo have that type of success in such a hard class, it means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2024 DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship battle came down to the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em> at Super DIRT Week. Stefanski entered with a 16-point lead over Beau Ballard. But despite Ballard winning three of the final four Series features, Stefanski\u2019s consistency was enough to win by eight points.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a battle that Stefanski said he knew would be close based on the number of races on the schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough when you have a short series because you can\u2019t get away from anyone in points,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cWhen we had the 18 races in a Series, when someone has a bad race, and you have a good one, you could get away in the points a little bit. But having such a short Series it\u2019s tough to do that, so it\u2019s a little bit tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n Stefanski\u2019s points lead entering Super DIRT Week forced him to take a different approach to the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50<\/em>. While he still aimed for Victory Lane, he said it wasn\u2019t his primary focus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were better at Oswego than we showed,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cBut we just kind of watched what Beau did and knew we couldn\u2019t get too far away. It was hard for me to not go for the win, but you have to think big picture sometimes.<\/p>\n \u201cCould we have won it? I don\u2019t know. But were we better than what I showed? Absolutely. Sometimes you have to think of what you\u2019re there for compared to the big end result.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite a fifth championship on his resume, Super DIRT Week won\u2019t be the final race for Stefanski in 2024. He\u2019ll return to The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World Short Track Championship<\/em><\/a> Oct. 31-Nov. 2 \u2013 a track he\u2019s won at in each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n