For the last several seasons, Jipp Ortiz has been closely associated with the DIRT Pro Stock division. As a championship driver, car owner and builder, he and the DIRT Pro Stock class have been inseparable.

            All that has changed this year as Ortiz, has moved from the full-fendered DIRT Pro Stock wars to the open-wheel DIRT Sportsman ranks. Ortiz, of Ransomville is a three time Mr. DIRT Pro Stock champion and will now enjoy the challenge of trying to become a winner in his new class.

            Ortiz will race each week here at Ransomville in his #0 Original Pizza Logs machine as well as selected other tracks. He will also compete in the Lucas Oil DIRT Sportsman Series events as well as possible selected fall Mr. DIRT Sportsman Tour races. Many will recall Ortiz as the chief starter that stood atop the front stretch flag stand for many years here at Ransomville.

            “It was really a tough decision to make to step away from the Pro Stocks,” revealed Ortiz, 46. “My heart is in the Pro Stocks and they are still my first love but I wanted to take on a new challenge before but my feet always stayed in the Pro Stocks.

             “The DIRT Pro Stocks are a very hard car to drive and there is great drivers in them still. DIRT Motorsports may consider the DIRT Sportsman cars to be a move up for a driver from Pro Stocks but I consider the two classes equally on the same level so this in my opinion is not a move up but rather a lateral move to a new class.”

             Ortiz sold his Stinger Chassis operation last year that built DIRT Pro Stock cars and says that presently there are still 18 teams out there racing Stinger Chassis cars built by him.

             Success came often for Ortiz in the DIRT Pro Stocks. He first competed in the class in 1994 and 1995 but when business and family matters took him away from behind the wheel he did not return to the division until 1999. Since then he has won the overall Mr. DIRT Pro Stock championship three times including last season and twice won the DIRT Pro Stock Super DIRT Week event at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. He has over 40 wins at the Canandaigua Speedway 

            Ortiz has also won Ransomville’s most prestigious DIRT Pro Stock event, the King of The Hill 100, twice.

             “Moving to the DIRT Sportsman is really just about trying to conquer a new challenge,” said Ortiz. “These cars are different from the Pro Stocks and those open wheels in the front can get you in a lot of trouble if you are not careful. 

            “My plan is to first increase my knowledge of this car and class and to just finish every lap of every race that I enter this season. Hopefully that will bring some success and that success will help to give me the belief that I can win in a Sportsman car. Right now I don’t have that belief yet.”

             Ortiz also comes from a very good  racing background as he is the son of retired area racing legend Ed Ortiz. The elder Ortiz is part of the original Slo-Pokes group that built Ransomville Speedway 49 years ago.

             Ortiz is grateful to his crew that consist of Jim Stone, Andrew Hillman, Adam Morgan, Randy Carr, Ron Clark, Matt Prker, Tom Ruble, Rick Ortiz and sponsor Bob Cordova of Original Pizza Logs.

             He is limiting his racing time on Saturdays this season to spend more quality time with his growing family. He is keeping this years schedule in line with the racing curve he has undertaken.

             “I haven’t accumulated a lot of Sportsman parts yet so I have to be careful not to use up the limited stock I have yet,” explained Ortiz. “I started the year with a GM crate motor but this past week have put a new Pogo built engine in my 2004 Bicknell car.

            “When I first started in the DIRT Pro Stocks, nobody new who I was. I don’t mean this to sound egotistical but after I started to win some races, when I pulled into the pit area after that, guys would look at me and say that we now know who I am and they knew I was going to give them a run for their money. My goal is to one day have the DIRT Sportsman guys know who I am and give them some worry when I arrive at the track.”

             Watching him develop his skills this season in his new class will be a treat that Ransomville fans will be very interested in watching. Perhaps a victory at “The Big R” is not as far away as one might think.