{"id":10311,"date":"2021-11-06T01:32:30","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T05:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/superdirtcarseries.com\/?p=10311"},"modified":"2022-06-07T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T17:40:00","slug":"one-for-grandpa-alex-yankowski-shocks-the-dirt-racing-world-at-ngk-ntk-world-of-outlaws-world-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/superdirtcarseries.com\/recap\/one-for-grandpa-alex-yankowski-shocks-the-dirt-racing-world-at-ngk-ntk-world-of-outlaws-world-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"ONE FOR GRANDPA: Alex Yankowski Shocks the Dirt Racing World at NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
CONCORD, NC –\u00a0 One thing was going through seventeen-year-old Alex Yankowski\u2019s mind as he crossed the finish line at The Dirt Track at Charlotte to win his first-career Super DIRTcar Series Feature in his second-career star during the NGK NTK World Finals: \u201cMy grandfather. That\u2019s it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sadly, Yankowski\u2019s grandfather passed away Friday morning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a tough day,\u201d Yankowski, from Covington Township, PA, said. \u201cI about lost myself there. I got asked if I wanted to race and I knew he wanted me to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not only did the young pilot of the #84Y win the $10,000 Feature by overtaking \u201cLightning\u201d Larry Wight in the late stages but he also bested the greatest Big Block Modified drivers in the world all day Friday from Time Trials through Lap 40 of the Feature.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI put my head down,\u201d Yankowski noted. \u201cWe set Quick Time. We won the Heat Race. I drew sixth and I was a little worried we weren\u2019t going to be good enough to drive through traffic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Thirty cars swarmed beneath chief starter Dave Farney to take the green flag starting the 40-lap Feature. Legendary dirt Modified driver Brett Hearn drew the $500 SRI Performance pole position and started alongside Larry Wight.<\/span><\/p>\n Wight got the holeshot into Turn 1 and took the lead from Hearn right off the bat. Four laps in, 12th-place starter Mike Mahaney suffered a mechanical failure and rolled into the path of a hustling Kevin Root, breaking both cars in the unfortunate collision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the restart,\u00a0 Saratoga Springs, NY Jack Lehner, in the #2L, grabbed second place from Hearn and started a charge for Wight. After halfway, Yankowski, who started sixth, got around Brett Hearn and Jack Lehner to take over second.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As the green flag laps clicked off in a flurry of three and four-wide racing, Yankowski drew closer to Wight. With 10 laps to go Peter Britten cut down a right rear tire bringing out the caution and bunching up the field. The stage was now set for the upset of the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy first couple laps off of that restart we weren\u2019t really any good,\u201d Yankowski said. \u201cI thought maybe Wight was a little better. Once we got settled down we got tucked in and made ground. But then Mat Williamson threw a slider and I thought, \u2018Uh oh, it\u2019s going to be a race here,\u2019 but I was able to run my line and roll around the top.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Yankowski drove a perfect over-under with the NAPA Super DIRT Week XLIX champion to retain second place before going after Wight. The #84Y drew up on Wight\u2019s bumper and dove under him going into Turn 3 to complete the winning drive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the conclusion of 40 thrilling laps, Alex Yankowski cemented the 17-year-old\u2019s place in NGK NTK World Finals history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Phoenix, NY\u2019s Larry Wight held on for second after dominating a majority of the race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think I just over-siped the right rear,\u201d Wight said. \u201cIt just didn\u2019t fire off the restart like it did before. Alex [Yankowski] had unbelievable drive down the straightaways. If that\u2019s what we have to compete with, we have a lot of work to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wight took the lead on lap one and didn\u2019t look back until a few circuits remained when Yankowski made his move. The Gypsum Racing team is looking at their setup and tire decisions going into round two tomorrow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe gotta do a little bit better tire management,\u201d Wight noted. \u201cWe gotta take what we can learn from tonight and apply it tomorrow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wight had gone deep into lapped traffic before the late caution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was running it too hard,\u201d Wight said. \u201cI was letting off halfway down the straightaway and not even trying to spin the tires. Maybe we had it cut up a little too much. Too deep. We\u2019ll go back and look at the tire and see what we have to make changes to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Third place runner Mat Williamson, from St. Catharines, ON, deflected attention away from his podium run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really cool to see Alex get his first win,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cI know he had a passing in the family so none of this matters compared to his win. It\u2019s just awesome to see. Hats off to those guys. Me and Larry [Wight] had a great race but Alex [Yankowski] had the car to beat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The concentration and ability it took to overcome such an emotional day for Yankowski were nearly as impressive as the win itself for the young racer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a cloudy day in my head,\u201d Yankowski said. \u201cI had a hard time keeping myself together. But we went out and made a couple of adjustments after Hot Laps. I just put together a good couple of laps in Time Trials. I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen. Everything just fell into place. I just can\u2019t really believe it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Yankowski\u2019s parents left the track for home to be with his grandmother but his crew helped him keep his head above the water all day and night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have a great group of guys,\u201d Yankowski noted. \u201cI have really good people around me. I just kept my head down and kept digging. You can\u2019t overthink it. It\u2019s just some rubber bolted on an aluminum wheel. Kevin Bates is like my brother. We worked our butts off. We wanted to just come down and get a couple of good runs and to win one is just unbelievable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Presumptive 2021 Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard had a race to forget, finishing 15th overall. Sheppard and his team will look to celebrate a championship <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> try to get a win tomorrow night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n NEXT UP: The final day of the NGK NTK World Finals<\/a> starts at a new time of 1 p.m. (EST) tomorrow at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Catch all the action in person or live on DIRTVision<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CONCORD, NC –\u00a0 One thing was going through seventeen-year-old Alex Yankowski\u2019s mind as he crossed the finish line at The Dirt Track at Charlotte to win his first-career Super DIRTcar Series Feature in his second-career star during the NGK NTK World Finals: \u201cMy grandfather. That\u2019s it.\u201d\u00a0 Sadly, Yankowski\u2019s grandfather passed away Friday morning.\u00a0 \u201cIt was … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[667,669,100,121,129,131,645,179],"class_list":["post-10311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recap","tag-667","tag-alex-yankowski","tag-featured","tag-larry-wight","tag-mat-williamson","tag-matt-sheppard","tag-ngk-ntk-world-of-outlaws-world-finals","tag-the-dirt-track-at-charlotte"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n
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