CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. — Alex Yankowski had only made three Super DIRTcar Series starts at Brewerton Speedway before this year’s SummerFAST.
But in the final laps of Monday’s feature, the Covington Township, Pa., driver looked like he’d been racing there for years.
“Kid Rocket” stormed from third to first on the inside lane with eight laps to go, holding off challenges from Alex Payne and Jimmy Phelps to earn his second career SummerFAST triumph.
Yankowski led the field to the green in the 60-lap feature. But that lead didn’t last long, as Jimmy Phelps rolled the outside lane in Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead on Lap 2.
Phelps continued on the outside lane for the next 10 laps, while Yankowski stayed within striking distance, running the lowest line possible. Yankowski inched forward, trying to sneak past Phelps on the bottom, but Phelps adjusted his line to keep the No. 84y at bay.
However, as Phelps held off Yankowski, Alex Payne closed on the top two with a thunderous run on the outside lane.
The Hopewell, N.Y., driver’s momentum carried him around the No. 98h in Turns 3 and 4, as he took the lead for the first time on Lap 11.
Payne held that lead until the race’s first caution, when Matt Caprara and Logan Watt tangled on Lap 18. That put Phelps next to the No. 70a on the restart, with Payne choosing the outside.
When the race resumed, Phelps got a good run on the bottom on Turn 2, nosing ahead of Payne as they completed the 22nd circuit. But like earlier in the race, Payne needed a lap to regain his momentum on the Brewerton banks, re-taking the lead on Lap 23.
The “Slide Job Express” remained out front for the next 27 laps before a yellow flag for Tim Sears Jr. brought out the race’s final caution with 11 laps to go.
After Payne chose the outside lane again on the restart, Phelps took what he learned from earlier in the race and made a last-ditch effort to try and earn his third win of the season. When the green came back out, Phelps beat Payne into Turn 1, sliding up in front of Payne to take his lane away as they raced down the backstretch.
That gave Phelps the lead as they crossed the start/finish line on Lap 50. Like earlier in the race, Payne started to build momentum on the top. But this time, Yankowski was also building momentum on the inside lane.
With Payne on the top, and Yankowski on the bottom, the two drivers split Phelps, who was running the middle as they entered Turn 3. Once they hit Turn 4, Yankowski couldn’t wait any longer, making contact with Phelps as they exited the corner to take second while Payne led Lap 52.
Both Payne and Yankowski drove away from Phelps as they raced down the backstretch, with Yankowski getting a monstrous run heading into Turn 3 to drive past Payne through the corner.
From there, Yankowski held off Payne through the final seven laps to earn the $6,000 prize and his win of the season.
“When I got put on the top, I thought that was good,” Yankowski said. “But then I didn’t get to second like I wanted to. That was some really hard racing there. The whole time I was looking for (Kevin) Bates, (his crew chief) to tell me to move up, and I was like man I got to get up there and race. But it was just patience, patience, patience.
“That was a pretty perfect night.”
With his win, Yankowski takes over the SummerFAST points lead, earning an 11-point lead over Jack Lehner, who finished sixth. He also extended his series points lead to 89 points over Williamson, who finished fifth.
Payne crossed the line second after leading the most laps for the second consecutive night.
“There was enough brown patch in the middle where I could fire,” Payne said. “I just never wanted to commit myself to the bottom. I was so steer-tight the whole time. I went to the bottom one time in the middle of the race with Jimmy (Phelps) behind me, to see what it was like, and the pace I was running just wasn’t right.
“We gave it all we had and it was a good run overall.”
Brewerton regular Ronnie Davis III rounded out the podium after starting 19th, and Phelps faded to fourth in the race’s closing laps.
The finish:
Feature (60 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[4]; 3. 32R-Ronnie Davis III[19]; 4. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[2]; 5. 88-Mat Williamson[6]; 6. 2-Jack Lehner[8]; 7. 5-Amy Buff[14]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[3]; 9. 21A-Peter Britten[9]; 10. 7Z-Zachary Payne[13]; 11. 99L-Larry Wight[12]; 12. 4-Anthony Perrego[17]; 13. 15X-Justin Stone[16]; 14. 9S-Matt Sheppard[21]; 15. 3M-Chris Mackey[18]; 16. 15-Todd Root[10]; 17. 35-Mike Mahaney[23]; 18. 6-Matt Stangle[5]; 19. 25-Erick Rudolph[20]; 20. 176-Billy Pauch Jr[15]; 21. 29-Ryan Krachun[22]; 22. 3-Ryan Behrent[11]; 23. (DNF) 83X-Tim Sears Jr[7]; 24. (DNF) 7M-Paul Mancini[26]; 25. (DNF) 4M-Logan Watt[24]; 26. (DNF) 11-Matt Caprara[25]
