SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Following an inspection of the engine in Andy Jankowiak’s car by an independent inspector, SMART Modified Tour officials have declared Jankowiak as the winner of Sunday’s Pace-O-Matic 99 at South Boston Speedway.
SMART Modified Tour officials announced the decision in a press release on Tuesday.
SMART Modified Tour officials stated in the press release that after a post-race technical inspection Sunday night tour officials questioned the compression of the engine in Jankowiak’s car.
“In accordance with SMART post-race procedures, officials confiscated the engine in order to verify the engine’s compliance with rules regarding approved engines that can be utilized with the SMART Modified Tour,” the press release stated.
“On Monday, October 16, the engine was taken to an independent inspector who performed a complete checkdown process on the engine. After the full inspection was concluded it was determined by the independent inspector that the engine on the 73 Modified passed all of the SMART engine rule requirements.”
SMART Modified Tour officials also noted in the release that Jankowiak’s car “passed the pre-race technical process required for race competition.” While the engine passed inspection, Jankowiak’s team is being penalized for a separate rules infraction.
The press release states “during the post-race technical process a variance item on the body height of the car was brought to the attention of SMART officials. Due to it being a violation of Section 10.5.1.3 V2 penalty, a $750 fine for failure to meet the body height specifications will be assessed to the team of Andy Jankowiak.”
Jankowiak surged past 15-year-old Carson Loftin on the final restart with four laps to go and edged Loftin by .693-second to win the Pace-O-Matic 99, the feature race of Sunday afternoon’s Boone Tractor 199 presented by Massey Ferguson racing program.
Jankowiak’s first visit to South Boston Speedway will be one he will remember for quite awhile.
“It’s pretty wild,” Jankowiak said of winning at South Boston Speedway following Sunday’s race. “I got to win at Hickory, and now I got to win at South Boston. Those are cool trophies for me to be looking at 60 years on the shelf. I’m pretty excited about that.”
Joey Coulter finished third, with Tom Buzze and Tim Brown rounding out the top-five finishers.