CONCORD, N.C. – In a field filled with veterans, 17-year-old Alex Yankowski made a name for himself Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Yankowski ran the table during the Super DIRTcar Series portion of the NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals, setting fast time, winning his heat and driving to his first series victory in front of a packed house on the first night of action on the four-tenths-mile dirt oval.
As if that wasn’t emotional enough, the victory for Yankowski came hours after the passing of his Grandfather.
“I don’t know what to say,” a shocked Yankowski said after emerging from his race car following his $10,000 victory.
Brett Hearn and Larry Wight led the field to the green flag, with Wight getting the jump on Hearn in the opening corners. The race was slowed for the first time after four laps when Mike Mahaney and Kevin Root came to a stop in turn two.
After a brief delay for cleanup, Wight and Hearn brought the field back to the green flag. Hearn attempted to use a big run on the top to steal the lead from Wight, but Wight pushed him up the track and out of the groove.
That allowed Wight to escape while Jack Lehner moved into second. Wight quickly stretched his legs and pulled away from the battle for second while Yankowski began to work his way into the top-five.
At halfway Wight had a straightaway lead while Yankowski was up to third and working on Lehner for the second position, which he soon took. However, Wight was still well ahead of the young Pennsylvania driver.
Yankowski got the break he needed when Peter Britten slowed on the backstretch with a flat tire with 12 laps left, resulting in a caution flag. Wight’s massive lead was erased and Yankowski got to restart alongside him.
Wight got a good jump on Yankowski during the restart, with 2019 Super DIRTcar Series champion Mat Williamson attempting a slider on Yankowski for second, but the move didn’t pay off.
Yankowski refocused and began his pursuit of Wight and with nine laps left he made his move, diving under Wight going into turn three to steal the race lead away. Wight tried to pursue him, but Yankowski quickly built a gap and pulled away to a 2.519-second victory.
“It was just one of those days where it seemed like everything just went out way,” Yankowski said. “This is awesome.”
Wight settled for second after leading most of the race, with Williamson settling for third. Demetrios Drellos came from 11th to finish fourth, with Max McLaughlin finishing fifth.
The finish:
Alex Yankowski, Larry Wight, Mat Williamson, Demetrios Drellos, Max McLaughlin, Tim Fuller, Jack Lehner, Brett Hearn, Billy Pauch Jr., Billy Decker, Duane Howard, Jimmy Phelps, Erick Rudolph, Tim Sears Jr., Matt Sheppard, Adam Pierson, Mike Trautschold, Ronnie Davis III, Mike Gular, Justin Haers, Peter Britten, Jordan McCreadie, Chris Hile, Olden Dwyer, Rocky Warner, Dave Rauscher, Jeff Taylor, Marcus Dinkins, Kevin Root, Mike Mahaney.