Chris Stalker’s late challenge for the lead in Saturday’s DIRTcar Pro Stock Series event at Lebanon Valley Speedway proved to be vital to the race’s outcome.
After taking the checkered flag in second, the Hillsdale, NY driver inherited the Old Buzzard 30 win from Daniel Sanchez, who was disqualified due to a fuel infraction.
Thirty drivers took the green flag for the Old Buzzard 30, also known as the Jimmy Langenback Memorial. The hotly contested event resulted in multiple caution periods and an unexpected finish.
Pete Stefanski, from Wheatfield, NY, and Daniel Sanchez, out of Averill Park, NY, battled side-by-side in the early going with Stefanski grabbing the lead on lap three. The two drivers traded slide jobs until Stefanski bobbled on the cushion exiting Turn 4, causing him to fall into the clutches of third-place-running Zachary Sorrentino.
By lap eight, Sanchez built a strong lead while Shawn Perez Jr., from Rensselaer, NY, picked Stefanski off for second.
Disaster struck on lap twelve when several cars spun and collided on the front stretch, resulting in Rick Duzlak flipping wildly in a multi-car incident. Fortunately, all drivers were able to get out of their cars under their own power.
After the restart, Sanchez pulled away, but it was Stalker’s turn to make a move for the podium. With a handful of laps left, he went for the lead, but Sanchez drove an aggressive line to hold him off, resulting in door-to-door contact before entering Turn 1.
Sanchez crossed the line first. However, the fuel infraction in post-race tech gave the win to Stalker, marking his first career point-paying Series win.
“We had a good car,” Stalker said. “I got pushed down on the bottom and fell back to tenth. I was able to come back up through. You don’t want to win that way, but it is what it is. I thought I had a faster car, but he ran a good line.”
Stefanski inherited second after the disqualification.
“It was a good run. We thought the track was going to dry out after the Big Blocks, so we tightened it up, and I could not turn coming off the corner. We’re happy to finish third and hang on without tearing the car up.”
Shawn Perez Jr. finished third, while points leader Bastien Caron and Shaine Dowd-Smith rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series returns to action at Mohawk International Raceway in Akwesasne, NY on Saturday, Sept. 19.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
Old Buzzard 30 (30 Laps): 1. 177-Chris Stalker[6]; 2. 2S-Pete Stefanski[2]; 3. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[4]; 4. 73-Bastien Caron[7]; 5. 119-Shaine Dowd Smith[12]; 6. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[3]; 7. 413-Tom Dean[9]; 8. 48-Jocelyn Roy[19]; 9. 33-Bruno Cyr[21]; 10. 55-David Stickles[28]; 11. 63-Ryan Crellin[22]; 12. 2H-Luke Horning[18]; 13. 1-Frank Twing Jr[11]; 14. 32L-Jonathan Levesque[23]; 15. 777-Tommy Lizotte[29]; 16. 317-Frank Twing[26]; 17. 17-Nick Hilt[14]; 18. 110-Devon Camenga[5]; 19. 2Z-Hugh Page[30]; 20. 09-Shawn Perez Sr[20]; 21. 49-Ivan Joslin[25]; 22. 8N-Nick Stone[27]; 23. 12S-Dakota Sharp[13]; 24. 04-Jaxson Ryan[16]; 25. 29-rick duzlak[17]; 26. 324-Jason Casey[15]; 27. X15-Tyler Bushey[24]; 28. 2E-Brandon Emigh[10]; 29. 322-Jay Casey[8]; 30. (DQ) 463-Daniel Sanchez[1]
This article was republished with permission from DIRTcar Northeast. The original article can be found here: https://dirtcar.com/dirtcar-ne/pro-stocks/valley-triumph-chris-stalker-claims-pro-stock-series-win-after-winner-disqualification/
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