August 15, 2024 | By Mike Warren, Super DIRTcar Series PR

Alex Yankowski Scores Second Career Super DIRTcar Series Win at Fulton, Earns SummerFAST Title

FULTON, N.Y. — On the Super DIRTcar Series’ biggest stage of the Summer, Alex Yankowski saved his best performance for last.

The Covington Township, PA driver went from third to first on a Lap 61 restart Wednesday at Fulton Speedway and held off a last-lap charge from Adam Pierson to win the SummerFAST finale.

It’s the second career Series Feature win for Yankowski, who’s only made a few appearances at the track before the race.

“Stuff went our way there for sure,” Yankowski said. “This is the type of racing we’ve struggled at, so it definitely means a lot.

“It’s crazy to me. It’s not exactly what people thought was my forte, but we were able to get it done.”

Pierson, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award Winner and defending Fulton track champion Tim Sears Jr. brought the field to the green in the 75-lap Feature, with Pierson driving away in clean air.

But as the East Corinth, VT driver started reeling in the back of the field, Sears closed in on the No. 215. Pierson struggled to clear Dalton Slack, a lap car, allowing " Timmer " an opportunity.

With Pierson on the bottom, Sears used the No. 3RS as a pick in Turn 4, moving his Troyer Chassis outside Pierson and Slack to wrestle the lead away on Lap 21.

The Hastings, NY driver sliced through traffic, gaining a three-second advantage over Stewart Friesen before the caution came out on Lap 34 for Daniel Johnson, who spun between Turns 1 and 2. Friesen also went to the pits during that caution with a mechanical issue.

When the race resumed on Lap 38, Sears continued his pace out front, getting another three-second lead, this time over Chris Hile. However, his luck changed 18 laps later, as heartbreak struck on Lap 56.

As he entered Turn 3, something on the steering of Sears’ No. 83X car broke, ending his chances at Victory in front of his home crowd.

That handed the lead to Hile, who drove away on the restart. However, Pierson didn’t challenge the “Hile Driver” for the lead as they entered Turn 1. It was Yankowski who started seventh.

As the two drivers came around to complete Lap 58, Yankowski tried to thunder underneath Hile but couldn’t grab the spot.

But the Keystone State driver didn’t give up. Four laps later, Yankowski got the momentum he needed down the backstretch, pulling even with the No. 5H as they
entered turn three. That’s when he used his momentum to slide in front of Hile between Turns 3 and 4, taking the lead as they exited the corner on Lap 62.

Yankowski quickly pulled away but had another challenge to overcome before the race was over.

As Yankowski caught the tail of the field with five laps to go, Pierson, who passed Hile for second on Lap 66, closed in. And on the race’s final lap, Pierson had one more shot at the win.

With a burst of speed on the inside lane, Pierson pulled even with Yankowski as the two drivers raced into Turn 3. But as they exited Turn 4, Yankowski’s momentum was enough to keep him ahead of Pierson, beating him to the line by 0.091 seconds to win the $7,500 prize.

“We just kind of moved around all race,” Yankowski said. “We had a good piece under us and really just have confidence in this car and this motor program right now. We were just able to search around, and on that restart, “Timmer” got a bad break that was definitely a bummer for him.

“Everything lined up where I was in the right lane, and the right guy picked the outside, and it all just worked.”

Yankowski’s win and second-place finish at Land of Legends on Tuesday earned him the 2024 SummerFASTchampionship, beating two-time SummerFAST champion Matt Sheppard by 15 points.

Pierson crossed the line second, his third Series podium finish and first since June 2023. He said he was happy with the outcome despite narrowly missing out on a win.

“I’m happy with a top three,” Pierson said. “I feel like way slower in (the turns), and hard-off was the way to go. I kept dialing in the front brake to keep the nose straight and not kind of let the right rear come out.

“On restarts, my right rear wouldn’t fire too good, and it took like three of four laps to get heat back in it. Other than that, I’m happy. I haven’t raced a Big Block in a month and a half. I guess I still got it. I didn’t think I did, but I still do.”

Hile crossed the line third in his first Super DIRTcar Series start of 2024. He said he knew what changes he needed to make to reach Victory Lane

“Anytime we can run the Big Block stuff here at Fulton is super fun,” Hile said. “We’ve been doing this for 21 years now. We got a lot of laps at Fulton, so it’s nice to unload well. We made some good adjustments, and we just had to be better straight-line drive-wise, and I think. It probably didn’t help I was way up top heating the tire.”

Sheppard finished fourth, increasing his points lead to 32 points over Mat Williamson, who finished 12th.

Alex Payne rounded out the top five—his fourth consecutive Series top five finish.

UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to action at Ransomville Speedway on Tuesday, Aug. 20 for the Ron Martin Summer Nationals.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.


SummerFAST Finale (75 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 2. 215-Adam Pierson[1]; 3. 5H-Chris Hile[4]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[8]; 5. 70A-Alex Payne[10]; 6. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[15]; 8. 21A-Peter Britten[13]; 9. 27J-Danny Johnson[3]; 10. 35-Mike Mahaney[9]; 11. 99L-Larry Wight[19]; 12. 88-Mat Williamson[12]; 13. 2-Jack Lehner[27]; 14. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[25]; 15. 15-Todd Root[14]; 16. 25-Erick Rudolph[11]; 17. 91D-Billy Decker[20]; 18. 3M-Chris Mackey[18]; 19. 32R-Ronnie Davis III[16]; 20. 11T-Jeff Taylor[17]; 21. 4-Anthony Perrego[23]; 22. 7Z-Zachary Payne[24]; 23. 12-Darren Smith[26]; 24. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[21]; 25. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[2]; 26. 44-Stewart Friesen[6]; 27. 3RS-Dalton Slack[22]


Contingency Awards:

JAM Performance Fastest Hot Lap Award: Stewart Friesen ($100)
Billy Whittaker Cars Quick Time Award: Chris Hile ($100)
VP Racing Fuels Award: Peter Britten ($50)
ARP Bolts Award: Matt Sheppard ($50)
ASI Racewear Award: Larry Wight ($50)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Award: Alex Yankowski ($50)
Cometic Gasket Award: Jimmy Phelps $50
Comp Cams Award: Larry Wight ($50)
DIG Racing Products: Darren Smith ($50)
Fox Factory Award: Alex Yankowski ($50)
MSD Award:  Matt Sheppard ($50)
Swift Springs Award: Erick Rudolph ($50)
Weld Racing Wheels Award: Alex Yankowski ($50)
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Justin Haers (Free Tire)
SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award: Mike Mahaney ($100)

Post Race Tech: Right Rear bump stop, and double torque arms were checked and rear-end offset was measured.


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GRANT EISELE CLAIMS DIRTCAR SPORTSMAN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP FAST FEATURE AT FULTON SPEEDWAY

By Joe Grabianowski

FULTON,N.Y. -- The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship showcases the best drivers across the region to compete head-to-head. As a result, the Fulton Speedway SummerFAST crowd was treated to a side-by-side battle to the finish between all-time Series Feature winner Cody McPherson, from St. Catharines, ON, and Gavin Eisele, from LaFargeville, NY who won the previous Series race at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.

Gavin Eisele, still walking on air after his first career DIRTcar Sportsman Series win on Sunday, put it all together again to make it back-to-back visits to Victory Lane. This time it was on the SummerFAST stage at Fulton Speedway after an intense duel with Cody McPherson.

Eisele grabbed the lead early but found himself locked in battle with Cody McPherson after a restart. McPherson made the pass for the lead and it appeared he had the car to beat.

“I started overdriving a little bit and just had to calm myself down and hit my marks a little better,” said Eisele. “But I noticed I was a little better coming out of four. I had to make sure I was there though at the checkered flag.”

It wasn’t meant to be for McPherson as Eisle found just enough traction out of Turn 4 to beat McPherson to the finish line after an incredible side-by-side duel.

“When you are racing against Cody [McPherson] that tight it’s always difficult,” said Eisele. “That was an awesome race. This thing has been a rocket lately.”

That rocket has pocketed Eisele back-to-back DIRTcar Sportsman Series wins.

Canadian driver Cody McPherson was smiling widely getting out of the car despite coming up short against one of the North Country’s best young talents.

“I needed a little bit more gear to run the bottom,” noted McPherson. “This was only my second time here. Now I know. I could run the top and roll the middle. It was good but I knew I needed to be on the bottom of three and four. I just couldn’t clear him. I had to pinch him as much as I could but he was just hitting his marks.”

“He raced him clean and he raced me clean. Hats off to Gavin [Eisele] and the whole team. It was a fun race and I hope the fans enjoyed it.”

The race for the final step on the podium was no less exciting. Zach Sobotka, from Parish, NY, started sixteenth before picking off 13 cars in 30 laps at Fulton.

“We got off to a pretty bad start in Time Trials and our Heat Race. So that made us start pretty far back there in the Feature,” said Sobotka.

Fortunately, Fulton was in prime condition with racing lanes available from top to bottom.

“The track was racy and you could go where you wanted,” he noted. “My car would work for a few laps on top and I’d have to cool the right rear on the bottom. I assume the tire cooled down and I could go back up there and run guys down.”

“Sixteenth to third? I can’t complain about that.”

The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship heads to Ransomville Speedway in Ransomville, NY for the Mike Bonesky Memorial on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.


Sportsman Championship (30 Laps): 1. 18E-Gavin Eisele[3]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson[5]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[16]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 5. 4-Emmett Waldron[18]; 6. 5-Kyle Devendorf[6]; 7. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck[8]; 8. R1-Riley Rogala[12]; 9. 410-Mike Fowler[15]; 10. 01-Zachary Buff[17]; 11. 52-Jessica Power[4]; 12. 30-Nicholas Root[10]; 13. 15-Adam Leslie[11]; 14. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[14]; 15. 44C-Greg Carner[27]; 16. 10G-Austin Germinio[24]; 17. 21-Ryan Barrett[29]; 18. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[2]; 19. 284-Jamie Kamrowski[19]; 20. 18H-Brian Harber[26]; 21. 16X-Savannah Laflair[22]; 22. 55H-Austin Harmer[25]; 23. 43-Tavien Blowers[21]; 24. 71-Tim Falter[28]; 25. 23-David Dickey[23]; 26. 21J-Justin Liechti[20]; 27. 6-Cody Manitta[7]; 28. 92-Frank Sibley[30]; 29. (DNF) 0-Tony Finch II[13]; 30. (DNF) 7S-Torrey Stoughtenger[1]

Post-Race Tech: Checked coils, distributor module, and seals.

Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Jessica Power (Free Tire)