GEORGETOWN, Del. — Over the past few seasons, Stewart Friesen had gotten the best of Alex Yankowski on multiple occasions during Super DIRTcar Series events.
But on Wednesday night at Georgetown Speedway, Yankowski returned the favor.
The Covington Township, Pa., driver held off a late charge from Friesen and led every lap to win the Delaware Diamond 50.
It’s a victory that meant more to Yankowski than just a checkered flag. He won on a night his sponsor, Millman’s Napa Auto Parts, also sponsored the race.
“This is just so special,” Yankowski said. “This is probably the biggest night of the year for Tim and Debbie Millman. And to beat Stew. I looked up to that guy more than I can explain growing up. It’s super cool.”
Yankowski led the field to the green in the $7,500-to-win feature, gaining an advantage over Mike Mahaney on the race’s opening lap.
Behind Yankowski, Friesen had already moved into third from his fourth starting position and quickly tried to find a way past Mahaney. It didn’t take long for the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario driver to make his move on “Smooth Shoe,” driving by Mahaney to grab second on Lap 8. Friesen tried to close in on Yankowski, but just as the leader hit the tail of the field, the race’s first caution came out for Tanner VanDoren on Lap 10.
On the restart, Yankowski drove away from the No. 44, maintaining enough separation between the two drivers where he wasn’t challenged. As that happened, Peter Britten, who was running third, closed in on Friesen and tried to wrestle second away. As Britten chased Friesen into Turn 3 on Lap 20, he dove to the bottom and slid in front of Friesen’s nose as they exited Turn 4, briefly grabbing the position.
But that was short-lived, as Friesen crossed him over on the inside lane and held on to a narrow lead.
Just as it seemed like Friesen was about to lose the position, a yellow flag for 10-time Series champion Matt Sheppard slowed the field for the second time. That green flag run was Britten’s only shot to take second away, and allowed for Friesen to set his sights on Yankowski again.
Yankowski aced the Lap 23 restart and another on Lap 41, as he kept Friesen at bay. However, Friesen found another opportunity in the race’s final laps.
As the two drivers took the white flag, Friesen closed rapidly on the back bumper of the No. 84y, closing the gap to within a car length as they raced down the backstretch.
That’s as close as Friesen would get, though, as “Kid Rocket” held on to score his fifth Super DIRTcar Series triumph, and first of 2026.
Friesen finished second, earning his second consecutive podium finish, and third of the season.
“[Yankowski] did a great job,” Friesen said. “He just ran hard. I was like. Ok. I’ll try to bide my time and save my tire a little bit. But then I had to pick it up to keep up with him because the laps were winding down.”
Peter Britten crossed the line third, scoring his best finish of 2026 so far. It was redemption for the Aussie, who had a flat tire while running third at Georgetown last November.
“From the moment the green flag flew, it reminded me of last year, actually,” Britten said. “It felt really racy. I raced with Stewie there for a little bit. I felt like that Lap-40 caution, after that, I wasn’t really being the aggressor anymore. I was just hanging on, and Williamson was poking his nose under. Either way, a great run for us.”
Defending champion Mat Williamson finished fourth, leaving Georgetown with a three-point lead over Friesen in the standings. Billy Pauch Jr. rounded out the top five.
In his Super DIRTcar Series debut, NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell finished sixth after starting 12th.
“It was awesome at the beginning of the race,” Bell said. “My car was so good, I was able to just mow on through there. I kept getting the outside on the restarts, which I think helped a lot.
“Those last 15 laps or so, I kind of stalled out, and I was bummed to lose the top five, but that’s alright. It was a ton of fun.”
The finish:
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[3]; 3. 21A-Peter Britten[7]; 4. 88-Mat Williamson[5]; 5. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[16]; 6. 62-Christopher Bell[12]; 7. 25-Erick Rudolph[13]; 8. 2-Jack Lehner[15]; 9. 6B-Danny Bouc[19]; 10. 1D-Tyler Dippel[9]; 11. 15X-Justin Stone[4]; 12. 6-Matt Stangle[6]; 13. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[8]; 14. 91-Felix Roy[22]; 15. 35-Mike Mahaney[2]; 16. 70A-Alex Payne[11]; 17. 28-Michael Trautschold[14]; 18. 11-Matt Caprara[10]; 19. 30-HJ Bunting[21]; 20. 4-Anthony Perrego[26]; 21. 26-Ryan Godown[23]; 22. 7M-Paul Mancini[28]; 23. (DNF) 05-Sean Metz[29]; 24. (DNF) 83X-Tim Sears Jr[25]; 25. (DNF) 20-Rick Laubach[30]; 26. (DNF) 16-Louden Reimert[18]; 27. (DNF) 29-Ryan Krachun[24]; 28. (DNF) 9S-Matt Sheppard[17]; 29. (DNF) 27-Tanner Van Doren[20]; 30. (DNF) 17-Marcus Dinkins[27]
