Pete Stefanski Scores First Career Albany-Saratoga DIRTcar Pro Stock Win Friday Night
Story By: TOM BOGGIE / ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY – MALTA, NY – Pete Stefanski, who hauls to Albany-Saratoga Speedway from Western New York on the majority of Friday nights, chalked up his first career victory in the 25-lap Pro Stock feature.
Stefanski started on the outside pole and led every lap, but just when it looked like he was going to run away with the race, Kyle Hoard became a factor.
Hoard, who had started 15th, jumped into the outside groove midway through the feature and found a lot of bite. Following a restart in lap 12, he drove around the outside of Rich Crane in the second turn on lap 15 to move into third and three laps later, made the same move on Kim Duell to take over second. Hoard ran down Stefanski on the final lap, but Stefanski got a big run out of the fourth turn on the final lap to win by a .138-second margin.
“I don’t know if maybe I got too conservative for a while,” said Stefanski after the win. “When I heard him, I knew I had to pick it up. I’m glad to come out with a win.”
Duell finished third, followed by Brandon Emigh, who started 17th, and Chris Stalker.
Gary English charged from his eighth starting position to win the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. For a long time, it looked like rookie Bodie Marks, who made the move up to open-wheel cars this season after a very successful career in slingshots, was going to walk away with his first career win. Marks won his heat race and started on the pole, and once the feature started, no one was even close to him.
But restarts kept bunching the field and things changed dramatically on a restart on lap 14. James Galarneau, who had moved into second on a restart on the previous lap, pulled a crossover move on Marks in the second turn and had the lead going down the backstretch. In the short chute between turns three and four, the two leaders banged together, with Galarneau sailing off the outside of the fourth turn. Track officials put Marks at the rear of the field for making contact with the leader.
That mishap put Mike Block into the lead, but English lined up second and snatched the lead on the restart. The rest of the top five consisted of Craig Coons, Jordan Hill and Nick Arnold.
Mark Burch won the 20-lap street stock feature, which paid $500 to win through sponsorship from The Gas Doctor. Chris Murray started on the pole and led the first four laps, but was smoking from the drop of the green flag and pulled into the infield on lap five with a fire under his hood.
That gave the lead to Burch, who had already rocketed up from his 14th starting position, and Burch held off Jeff Meltz Sr. to get the win. Matt Mosher finished third, while Dan Madigan, who started 18th, got up for fourth.
Rain cast the only damper on the night, as the modified, sportsman and four-cylinder features were all rained out when a quick moving storm blew into the Malta area.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: PETE STEFANSKI, Kyle Hoard, Kim Duell, Brandon Emigh, Chris Stalker, Rich Crane, Jimmy Duncan, Shane Henderson, Jason Casey, Jordan Modiano, Caden Dumblewski, Chucky Dumblewski, Jay Casey, Jaxson Ryan, Pete Vila, Joe Wilson, David Stickles, Chris Wemple, Phil DiFiglio, Dean Charbonneau, Beau Ballard, Slater Baker, Mike Baker.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: GARY ENGLISH, Mike Block Sr., Craig Coons, Jordan Hill, Nick Arnold, Mike Baker, Steve Burch, Kirsten Swartz, Dave Zelker, Dan Seguin, Kevin Groff, Dan Odell, Cordell Younger, Bodie Marks, Damon Anderson, George Palmer, Bryan Gebo, Colten Emigh, Noah Carlo, Devon Palmer, James Galarneau, Jimmy Duncan, Alex Smith, Ed Thompson, Braxton Martin, Sarah Arnold, Sloan Cherko, Lucas Duncan, Jeff Lehner.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: MARK BURCH, Jeff Meltz, Matt Mosher, Dan Madigan, PJ Cram Jr., Josh Hemming, Fred Shippee, Damian Ward, Andrew Fitzgerald, Josh Filarecki, Jason Barrett, Dan Buell, Dana Van Veghten, Mike Duggan, Dave Cook, Tim McFarland, Derek Van Veghten, Ray Pierre Jr., Chris Murray, Zach Delaney.
