DRUMMONDVILLE, Quebec — Being in the right place at the right time paid off for Super DIRTcar Series points leader Alex Yankowski Monday night at Autodrome Drummond.
After inheriting the lead from William Racine on Lap 38, the Covington Township, Pa., competitor drove away from Michael Parent in the race’s second half to win the opening night of King of the North.
Racine led the field to the green in the 75-lap feature, alongside former Drummond Series winner Mike Mahaney. Using the inside lane to his advantage, the St. Paul D’Abbotsford, Quebec, driver held his momentum to lead the race’s opening lap, nosing ahead of the No. 35.
Behind the top two, Yankowski started moving forward on the track’s inside lane. “Kid Rocket” drove underneath Mahaney on Lap 4, before driving underneath Justin Stone for second on Lap 5.
Yankowski chased Racine for the next 11 laps, before his championship rival Mat Williamson slowed in Turn 3 on Lap 13 with mechanical trouble, ending his night.
That gave Yankowski a chance to pass Racine for the lead on the restart. But when the race resumed, Racine was better, powering ahead as they raced down the backstretch.
The race stayed green for the next 16 laps before Carey Terrance brought out the race’s second caution on Lap 32. This time, Yankowski tried a different move to get by Racine on the restart, sliding his No. 84Y in front of Racine’s nose. But Racine anticipated the slider, moving to the inside lane to drive by Yankowski down the backstretch.
However, one lap later, Racine’s fortunes changed. As he raced off Turn 2 with the lead on Lap 38, something broke on his No. 54R, ending his chance at the victory in his home province.
That gave the lead to Yankowski, who had Michael Parent lined up next to him when the green came back out.
Yankowski held off Parent on the race’s final two restarts and drove away to earn his second $10,000 victory of the season, and seventh career Super DIRTcar Series win at seven different tracks.
“Racine set a good pace, and I don’t know if we were going to get by him too easy,” Yankowski said. “We were going to have to throw everything at it. (Jay Castimore, his crew member), talked me out of what I wanted to do tire-wise, and I figured that I hadn’t been right on a tire call all year. So, hats off to him.
“I feel like May and June we were on fire and then we kind of fell off here a little bit. So, to get a 10 grand pick me up is pretty cool.”
With his win and Williamson’s 28th-place finish, Yankowski extended his points lead to 51 after nine races.
Parent crossed the line second, earning his best Super DIRTcar Series finish of the season. The Granby, Quebec, driver said he was happy with his finish after starting 13th.
“The guys worked hard,” Parent said. “We had a really good car there starting 13th. I wasn’t expecting to make my way forward that quick. It was a good fight there on the restart with Alex, but obviously he’s got a lot more experience. Those guys are professional, and we do this for a hobby. But we’re pretty proud of this No. 25P team.”
Alex Payne rounded out Monday’s podium.
“I made up for a car that wasn’t perfect,” Payne said. “I just didn’t compensate enough with the fuel load we had and the gear and everything, and we just pedaled for the first 30-40 laps. Once I got going, I was able to throw a couple of sliders.
“Solid top three. Consistency. And it was a really good race track for us. We hope to keep it rolling.”
Roy crossed the line fourth and Sheppard rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (75 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 2. 25P-Michael Parent[13]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[8]; 4. 91-Felix Roy[6]; 5. 9S-Matt Sheppard[11]; 6. 54-Steve Bernard[15]; 7. 35-Mike Mahaney[2]; 8. 4H-David Hebert[18]; 9. 2-Jack Lehner[10]; 10. 3RS-Tim Sears Jr[21]; 11. 29-Ryan Krachun[23]; 12. 25-Erick Rudolph[16]; 13. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[3]; 14. 1-Tyler Dippel[22]; 15. 21A-Peter Britten[17]; 16. 61-Donovan Lussier[14]; 17. 28-Michael Trautschold[25]; 18. 66X-Carey Terrance[9]; 19. 3P-Martin Pelletier[24]; 20. 35B-Francois Bellemare[28]; 21. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[27]; 22. (DNF) 6-Matt Stangle[20]; 23. (DNF) 54R-William Racine[1]; 24. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone[5]; 25. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[26]; 26. (DNF) 44G-Sebastien Gougeon[12]; 27. (DNF) 11-Matt Caprara[19]; 28. (DNF) 88-Mat Williamson[4]
