One of the biggest questions from World Finals last year arose after the first Super DIRTcar Series race when a red #84y Big Block Modified pulled into Victory Lane and a teenager climbed out – “who is Alex Yankowski?”
This year, many eyes will be on that red Modified to see if Yankowski can make history again at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Nov. 2-5.
At 17-years-old, Yankowski became the youngest winner in Super DIRTcar Series history with the win, which was also his second Series start.
The Pennsylvanian, now 18, is back for the 2022 edition of the World of Outlaws World Finals with his family-owned team to make his name known worldwide again.
“We’re excited,” Yankowski said. “We like being on one of the biggest stages of the year, for no reason other than everybody is there. It’s exciting. We’re excited we have a little bit of a notebook to lean on. Cars and technology are changing so fast. You kind of have to blend it together. Working hard and hoping for the best.”
While he ventures south to compete with the best Big Block Modifieds drivers in the country, Yankowski still has school to worry about. He’s a couple months into his senior year at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore, PA.
For the past two years he’s been juggling life as a high school student and race car driver.
“It is very difficult,” Yankowski said. “I’ve learned the life lesson of time management, how to make it all work. One way or the other I have to make it all work, whether I want to or not at times. I definitely want to race. It’s tough. I go to Holy Cross in Dunmore. It is a pretty respected school. The education level is very good. That just throws another wrench into it for time management.”
Through those challenges, he’s still managed to have a successful career, so far. Along with his Super DIRTcar Series World Finals victory, Yankowski has won multiple high caliber races in regional divisions.
He joined the Super DIRTcar Series tour earlier this year but had to pull off halfway through. He’s currently looking for sponsorship for next year, hoping to maintain his goal of competing with the Big Block Modifieds full time.
Last year’s win opened several doors for him and introduced him to many new people in the industry. With no high-caliber win, yet, this year, he’s hoping another win or two, or three, will continue to propel him in the right direction.
“Anything could happen,” Yankowski said. “We could go win all three races. We could not qualify all three races. It’s really stiff competition right now with the way everything is. We need to just keep it in one piece. If we could win all three nights that would be awesome. We didn’t really hit a big money show this year. The couple years past we won a big money show every year. This year we didn’t. We’re going to get three more at bat and see what happens.”
With the purse increase for the World of Outlaws World Finals this year, Thursday and Friday’s race will pay $10,000 to win, while Saturday’s Feature will pay $15,000 to win.
Yankowski will look to write his name on those checks again to let the world know who “Alex Yankowski” is.
For tickets to the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Nov. 2-5, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either at DIRTVision.com or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
