GEORGETOWN, Del. — In 2021, Alex Yankowski drove the Gary Simpson-owned No. 12K machine.
On Saturday night, the Covington Township, Pa., native won the second annual 12K for the 12K Gary Simpson Memorial at Georgetown Speedway.
“Gary was an awesome guy,” proclaimed an emotional Yankowski. “It’s awesome to have Kerrigan (Simpson, Gary’s daughter) here and we’re thinking of the whole Simpson family.”
Yankowski started on the outside of the front row and led all 32 laps of the Millman’s NAPA Modified main event for the $12,000 top prize in honor of his former car owner.
Yankowski has been snake bitten for much of the season, coming up short of victory lane throughout the season, despite several close calls at his home tracks in New York at Fonda and Utica-Rome speedways.
‘Kid Rocket’ even boasts a runner-up finish with the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco at Delaware International Speedway.
“I had it in my head that I wasn’t going to win one this year,” Yankowski explained. “To get this one in Gary’s race just means everything and I’m so thankful for it.”
Yankowski fired from second alongside Jordan Watson as the field came to life for the 32-lap main event.
The driver of the Millman’s NAPA Auto Parts No. 84y quickly raced to the lead and paced the field until the race’s first yellow flag flew on lap 11 for a slowing Jimmy Horton.
Matt Stangle emerged as a threat for victory when the race went back to green, driving around Stewart Friesen and taking the final podium spot.
Stangle then began to apply pressure to Watson’s back bumper for the runner-up spot, but the challenge only lasted a pair of laps before Watson pulled away.
Further back, the race for the Millman’s NAPA Modified Championship was on, as Ryan Godown had raced from the 13th starting position and into the seventh position.
Meanwhile, his championship competitor, Danny Bouc, was struggling running in eighth after starting seventh.
Another yellow flag fell on lap 15, giving Watson another shot at Yankowski and Godown an opportunity to gain more spots through the field.
The rest of the race clicked off caution-free, and Yankowski never looked back, racing his way to his first career Georgetown Speedway Modified win.
Yankowski won the 2018 Melvin L. Joseph Memorial with the STSS Crate 602 Sportsman.
Ryan Godown came home in fifth position, securing the Millman’s NAPA Modified NASCAR Championship.
“We drew the worst pill in the bucket, so we had our work cut out for us,” Godown said with a laugh of the pre-race draw. “I could tell the bottom was the better groove so I just tried to keep plugging around and do the best we could.”
Watson settled for the runner-up finish in his No. 1J and Mike Gular rounded out the top-three in the Terry Fasnacht-owned No. 2A.
Stangle settled for fourth and Godown rounded out the top five.
Joe Toth led all 22 laps in the Blue Hen Dispose-All Crate 602 Sportsman feature, claiming the $1,212 winner’s share. With the win, Toth also secured his third consecutive track championship.
Trevor Collins was victorious with the First State Chevrolet Crate Late Models, earning $1,000.
Ashley Merrit won perhaps the race of the night with the Delmarva Chargers, emerging from a five-car battle to take her second win of the season.
Kerry King (Modified) and Nathan Austin (Sportsman) each took wins in the 12-lap Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Car feature.
Feature Finish (32 Laps)
1. 84Y-ALEX YANKOWSKI[2]; 2. 1J-Jordan Watson[1]; 3. 2A-Mike Gular[6]; 4. 6S-Matt Stangle[4]; 5. 26-Ryan Godown[13]; 6. 6B-Danny Bouc[7]; 7. 4-Anthony Perrego[5]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen[3]; 9. 33-Louden Reimert[10]; 10. 5*-Tyler Siri[9]; 11. 2H-Jack Lehner[15]; 12. 43-Jimmy Horton[16]; 13. 32G-Brandon Grosso[12]; 14. 0-Neal Williams[18]; 15. 30-HJ Bunting[14]; 16. 29-Ryan Krachun[8]; 17. 91-Carson Wright[17]; 18. 28-Thomas Solderich[20]; 19. 117-Kevin Hirthler[11]; 20. 8-Norman Short Jr[19]