A fuse has been lit for “Kid Rocket” this year, and he’s soared to new heights ever since. The latest altitude climb came during Super DIRT Week 54 presented by StubHub on Friday night.
After starting 17th, Alex Yankowski, of Covington Township, PA – the current Super DIRTcar Series championship points leader – methodically climbed lap after lap in the 150-lap, $20,000-to-win, DIRTcar 358 Modified Salute to the Troops 150 presented by Air National Guard to reach Victory Lane.
“It’s awesome. It’s unbelievable,” Yankowski said about winning during Super DIRT Week. “To be in the conversation, and to be competitive… it’s so, so, hard, and tough. Everything has got to be perfect.”
With a tacky track presented to the 42-car field of Small Block Modifieds, SRI Performance / Stock Car Steel Polesitter Mat Williamson and Fratto Curbing Outside Polesitter led them into Turn 1 when the green flag was presented.
Williamson, who’d won the last three ‘150’ events, darted ahead and set a pace that continued to make his No. 6 machine look like the favorite again. However, Smith wasn’t buying it. After an early caution on Lap 3, Smith kept Williamson within sight and took advantage of Williamson’s struggle in traffic to pass him for the lead on Lap 17.
As the race progressed, Williamson faded, and Billy Dunn stepped in as the new contender, moving into second on Lap 27. With the help of a caution on Lap 35, Dunn lined up to the outside of Smith’s car and used it to his advantage on the restart. With Smith set on the bottom, Dunn threw his No. 49 Modified into Turn 1 and launched around the outside of Smith to take the lead off Turn 2.
Dunn distanced himself from the field once he found clean air, but a few seconds behind them, a cluster of cars dueled to be in the top four. Leading that charge were the current top Alexes in Modified racing – Alex Yankowski and Alex Payne. After being stuck in 14th for the first 20 laps, Yankowski began picking up one or two positions every 10 laps. Payne was on a similar trajectory from his ninth starting position. He worked his way into second just in time for the competition pit stop on Lap 80.
Brent Smith Photo
Most every team changed tires and added fuel during the stop, except for three drivers. Mike Mahaney, Andrew Buff, and Marc Johnson stayed out. That gave Mahaney the lead and pushed the initial leaders back a row on the restart.
Mahaney flipped the script of the race and took command of the ‘150’ once it resumed. Buff faded quickly, and Johnson held on to second for a while, but the Alexes were even stronger after the pit stop.
Yankowski restarted sixth and continued his trend of picking up another position about every 10 laps. That put him in second with 28 laps to go and plenty of time to track down Mahaney. However, to Mahaney’s disadvantage, lap traffic hindered his speed and allowed Yankowski to close even quicker.
Once Yankowski caught the yellow No. 35, Mahaney had two obstacles to navigate. He was forced to move around to try to get around traffic and to block Yankowski’s runs. His efforts prevailed for a couple of laps, but on Lap 125, when Mahaney slid up to the outside wall off Turn 4, Yankowski used his run around the top lane to cross underneath him and slide ahead entering Turn 1.
“With the track being so tacky in the beginning, I thought tire wear wouldn’t be bad, but fuel mileage was a little bit lower because we’re on the gas so much,” said Mahaney, who ended up finishing fifth. “I did have to conserve a little bit, but I did think we’d make it based on all of the other laps we made this week.
“In a long race like that, [your tires] get kind of dull and don’t have the side stick and the forward drive that you did at the beginning. But that’s OK, it’s something I expected to happen. I tried my best to hang on to it. I’m proud of it.”
Behind them, Payne was on his own march, getting to third on Lap 133, and then passed Mahaney for second the next lap. He clipped away at Yankowski’s two-second lead lap after lap, bringing it down to almost half a second with seven laps to go while Yankowski fought traffic. But when Yankowski saw a clear track again, “Kid Rocket” hit the afterburners.
“Our stuff is really good, just kind of lost it there after the pit cycle,” Payne said. “When I got to clean air, I felt like I was kind of catching [Yankowski]. Then we got to lap traffic and just got jingled up. Just proud of the guys. A really solid race car here.”
They weren’t the biggest show on track with 10 laps to go, though. Eyes shifted to the red and yellow No. 9s of Matt Sheppard, who was picking up and laying down cars every lap. With 25 laps to go, he was on a march that might have seen him be the winner of the race if it were 20 laps longer. But in the 150-lap scheduled distance, he made his way to third after initially starting the Feature in 23rd.
“Just couldn’t really get going,” Sheppard said about the start of the Feature. “We made a couple of small adjustments, nothing crazy. I don’t know, the track just got weird. It changed. I found some good lines, and picked off a few cars, started making my way up through. We cracked the top 10 with 18 to go and drove up to third. I think we had the fastest car by the end by far, but that’s just too far to come in that short of time.”
Yankowski credited a small shock adjustment during the Lap 80 pit stop as a factor in helping him score the win.
“It wasn’t anything crazy like night and day; it was just a little bit, and in Small Block racing, a little bit goes a long way,” he said.
In Yankowski’s two previous starts in the Salute to the Troops 150, he hadn’t finished better than 33rd. The fuse has been lit, and there’s no telling how high the 22-year-old will climb.
“You never know if you’re going to be able to win a race like this in your career… I’ve been racing my whole life to win races like this,” Yankowski said in Victory Lane.
RESULTS: Salute to the Troops 150 (150 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[17]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[9]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[23]; 4. 6-Mat Williamson[1]; 5. 35-Mike Mahaney[15]; 6. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[3]; 7. 3J-Marc Johnson[21]; 8. 49-Billy Dunn[5]; 9. 99L-Larry Wight[4]; 10. 8B-Peter Britten[6]; 11. 25-Erick Rudolph[31]; 12. 91R-Felix Roy[12]; 13. 32C-Justin Haers[18]; 14. 7MM-Michael Maresca[20]; 15. 25P-Michael Parent[32]; 16. 3RS-Tim Fuller[11]; 17. 31-Lance Willix[25]; 18. 4-Anthony Perrego[13]; 19. 37S-Gary Lindberg[10]; 20. 27-Tanner Van Doren[28]; 21. 14T-Payton Talbot[34]; 22. 35C-Chris Curtis[26]; 23. 11-Matt Caprara[8]; 24. 01-Chris Raabe[24]; 25. 12T-Tyler Peet[36]; 26. 34-Rusty Smith[37]; 27. 12-Darren Smith[2]; 28. 30-Nicholas Root[35]; 29. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[27]; 30. 115-Ryan Godown[22]; 31. 24Y-Jax Yohn[30]; 32. 28F-Alan Fink[33]; 33. 5-Jack Butler[40]; 34. 18R-Brad Rouse[39]; 35. 11S-Steve Lewis Jr[42]; 36. (DNF) 92-Andrew Buff[7]; 37. (DNF) 21C-Brian Calabrese[14]; 38. (DNF) 28-Jordan McCreadie[29]; 39. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[41]; 40. (DNF) 60-Jackson Gill[16]; 41. (DNF) B24-Brendan Gibbons[38]; 42. (DNF) 32R-Ronnie Davis III[19]
UP NEXT: Super DIRT Week 54 presented by StubHub continues on Saturday, Oct. 10, with the DIRTcar Sportsman Great Lakes 75, and the 200-lap, $54,000-to-win, Super DIRTcar Series Billy Whittaker Cars 200. How can you get tickets? Visit SuperDIRTWeek.com or StubHub.com.
If you can’t make it to the track, how can you watch every lap from Oswego Speedway? Live on DIRTVision.
SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS:
SRI Performance / Stock Car Steel and Aluminum Pole Award: Mat Williamson
Fratto Curbing Outside Pole Award: Darren Smith
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse 3rd through 6th Starters: Jimmy Phelps, Larry Wight, Billy Dunn, and Peter Britten
Kirkey / Behrent’s Last Chance Showdown Award #1: Jordan McCreadie
Kirkey / Behrent’s Last Chance Showdown Award #2: Jax Yohn
Kirkey / Behrent’s Last Chance Showdown Award #3: Erick Rudolph
Winters Performance Last Chance Showdown Transfer Bonus #1: Michael Parent
Winters Performance Last Chance Showdown Transfer Bonus #2: Alan Fink
Winters Performance Last Chance Showdown Transfer Bonus #3: Payton Talbot
Bart Contracting Hard Luck Award: Andrew Buff
Velocita USA Last Car / Finisher Award: Steve Lewis Jr.
Dig Race Products Halfway Feature Leader Award: Billy Dunn
Integra Racing Shocks Last Car on Lead Lap Award: Darren Smith
Fastline Performance Lap 20 Leader Award: Darren Smith
Penske Racing Shocks Hard Charger Award: Matt Sheppard (+20)
Swagger Factory Move of the Race Award: Mike Mahaney
Swift Springs First Non-Qualifier Award: Zach Welch
Matt Sheppard (left), Alex Yankowski (center), Alex Payne (right) | Brent Smith Photo
