After a six-year hiatus, Shane Pecore will return to the site of his greatest DIRTcar Sportsman Series accomplishment.
The Cornwall, ON driver has entered this year’s DIRTcar Sportsman Great Lakes 75 at Super DIRT Week 53 (Oct. 6-11), an event he hopes to win for a second time.
“I was able to win it in 2018,” Pecore said. “It’s such a cool race, and we won that race in such a cool fashion. It’s always a race where the who’s who of racing is there. That’s our Daytona 500, so we’re going to put our best foot forward for that and hope to have a good week.”
Along with returning to “Racing’s Biggest Party,” Pecore will chase the DIRTcar Sportsman Series championship, a mountain he conquered in 2016. He’s already taken his first step toward winning another title by securing his second consecutive North Region championship and fourth overall.
Pecore finished the North region schedule with back-to-back wins at Brockville Ontario Speedway and Cornwall Motor Speedway on Fourth of July weekend. But that task was anything but easy. With Cornwall’s Feature being rescheduled, it made the finale a day race, something that Pecore and the rest of the Sportsman field weren’t used to.
“Usually, the track isn’t that racy in the daytime, but they had it prepared pretty good where it still had bite spots out there so we could race for the first 30-40 laps,” Pecore said. “Then, it kind of dusted off in the end. We had a really good car. Drove to the front and just paced ourselves and saved it on the last restart.
“It’s cool to win that North title for the second year in a row and fourth time overall. We didn’t have a DIRTcar weekly home since Covid, so now that we have Cornwall and Mohawk (International Raceway) back, it gives us a shot at the overall DIRTcar stuff.”
Those two wins at Cornwall and Brockville weren’t his only triumphs during Fourth of July weekend. Pecore also added a win at Mohawk International Raceway, giving him three trips to Victory Lane in three days. A weekend like that is something Pecore said brings confidence to the whole team.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a weekend like that,” Pecore said. “Especially with a couple of Series races. So, it definitely gives us some momentum for the end-of-the-year stuff.
“We’ve cut down to one local track for our bonus points, and we’ll just put more of an emphasis on the bigger shows because the car is going so good. We’re excited for the fall.”
While he’s competed on the DIRTcar Sportsman Series championship trail before, the Canadian will encounter some new tracks in 2025. That includes trips to Glen Ridge Motorsports Park on Sunday, Aug. 3, and Albany-Saratoga Speedway during Malta Massive Weekend on Friday, Sept. 20.
However, the former Series champion said even with the new facilities, he’s ready for another title run.
“Even at 16 years in this game, going to new tracks excites me,” Pecore said. “There’s definitely a challenge on the tour because there’s so many cars that show up to the Series races and you have to time well. But we like traveling and having fun.”
The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship Season kicks off on Sunday, Aug. 3, with a trip to Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. The 11-race campaign is highlighted by a stop at Oswego Speedway during Super DIRT Week 53 for the DIRTcar Sportsman Great Lakes 75 on Saturday, Oct. 11.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Northeast Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
If you can’t make it to Super DIRT Week 53, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
