SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Taking advantage of two caution flags in the final five laps, Andy Jankowiak surged past 15-year-old Carson Loftin on the final restart and edged Loftin by .693-second to win the Pace-O-Matic 99 for the SMART Modified Tour.
It was the feature race of Sunday’s Boone Tractor 199 presented by Massey Ferguson racing program.
However, Jankowiak’s victory in his first career visit to South Boston Speedway was declared unofficial Sunday night. During a post-race technical inspection SMART Modified Tour officials found items on the car driven by Jankowiak that needed further inspection. Officials confiscated the parts in question and should announce an official ruling on Tuesday.
Jankowiak — a Tonawanda, N.Y., native and part-time ARCA Menards Series competitor — pointed out the pair of late-race caution flags were key to his apparent win.
“We had a fresher tire, but if we had run the race out at the end, I wouldn’t have gotten him,” Jankowiak noted. “The first time I was on the outside and he beat me on the start. On the second one, I just nailed it and I think he (Loftin) spun the tires a little bit. A lot of credit goes to that kid.
“Someone told he was like 13-years-old or something, so that was pretty impressive. He’s got a long career ahead of him. I’m glad I snuck one away from him.”
Loftin led 85 laps of the 99-lap race, the most laps he has led in a SMART Modified Tour race in his young career. At one point in the race, he had about a half-a-lap lead on the field.
“We had a really good race car all night,” Loftin remarked. “I burned a little bit of the car up on the long run because I know how these races go and I wanted to be as far out front as I could. The two late-race cautions hurt us. I just spun the tires (on the last restart) and made a rookie mistake.”
In the unofficial results, Joey Coulter finished third, taking the position away from Tom Buzze in the closing laps.
Tim Brown finished fifth. NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte, series points leader Burt Myers, Jason Myers, Bobby Measmer and Jake Crum rounded out the top 10 finishers.
There were three lead changes among three drivers with Loftin leading all but 14 laps of the race. Buzze led 10 laps and Jankowiak, who won the pole in qualifying, led the final four circuits.
The race was punctuated by six caution periods, three of them occurring in the final 10 laps of the race.
The SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic uses a one-race playoff system to determine its season champion. The top three drivers in the series point standings after Sunday’s race at South Boston Speedway will be the only drivers eligible to win the series championship when the series hosts its final race of the season on October 28.
Series points leader Junior Miller, Brandon Ward and Loftin are the three drivers that will battle it out for the series championship. Ward finished 18th in Sunday’s race after an engine failure occurred 11 laps from the end of the race.
Cayden Lapcevich Wins Carolina Crate Modified Race
Canadian Cayden Lapcevich inherited the lead with 11 laps to go and won the 50-lap race for the Carolina Crate Modified Series Sunday afternoon at South Boston Speedway.
Lapcevich sped across the finish line 2.9 seconds ahead of runner-up Cody Norman in taking the win, with Gabriel Saavedra, Jeremy Gerstner and Slate Myers rounding out the top-five finishers.
Lapcevich inherited the lead when race leader Amber Lynn and pole winner Josh Lowder were involved in a mishap on lap 39. Lynn was transported to a medical facility in the region. South Boston Speedway officials released the following statement Sunday night regarding the driver.
“Following an incident in the Carolina Crate Modified Series race today at South Boston Speedway, driver Amber Lynn was transported to a medical facility in the region for further evaluation out of an abundance of caution. Amber is alert and under care of medical professionals.”
There were two lead changes among three drivers. Norman led the opening lap before Lynn took the lead on the second circuit and led for 38 laps. Lapcevich led the final 11 laps of the race.
Hicks, Griffin Earn Wins In Southern Ground Pounders Race
Chris Hicks, driving a 1975 model Ford Pinto Modified, won Sunday’s 25-lap race for the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club and took home the first-place trophy for the Modified Division.
Bobby Griffin, driving a 1965 model Chevrolet Chevelle, finished second in the race and took home the first-place trophy for winning the Sportsman Division.