Alex Yankowski Continues Roll, Wins King of Spring
COLUMN BY: Phil Allaway / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, N.Y. – Alex Yankowski has won the last two Super DIRTcar Series races, but Thursday night saw him run down Matt Sheppard with eight laps to go and take the lead. From there, he pulled away to win the Short Track Super Series King of Spring at Lebanon Valley Speedway.
“I think [Sheppard’s] tires went away,” Yankowski said after the race. “We were on a different strategy from him and were able to keep plugging and not fall off so hard. I feel like we were in a bit easier of a spot [in second], so we were able to take advantage [of his wear].”
Yankowski won by 2.131 seconds over Marc Johnson. Sheppard was third, then Anthony Perrego and Alex Payne.
By virtue of the redraw, Perrego started from the pole and led early over Sheppard. Felix Roy gave chase.
The caution flew on lap 7 when Joe Pravia stalled on the backstretch. That closed everyone back up as Pravia was able to get a push-start and rejoin at the rear of the field.
On the restart, Sheppard was able to get a run on Perrego and take the lead in turn 3. Shortly afterwards, a chain reaction incident broke out in turn 3 involving Pravia, Brett Haas and Harold Robitaille when Haas got a flat right rear tire. Pravia was done for the night here, but Haas and Robitaille were able to continue.
Yankowski started ninth and quickly moved his way up the order. By lap 9, he was up to third and pressuring Perrego.
A caution for Tyler Dippel slowing on lap 14 also negatively affected Andy Bachetti as the Sheffield, Mass. Driver ran in the back of the youngest driver to win a Lebanon Valley Modified race exiting turn 2. Dippel was done for the night while Bachetti finished ninth.
The remaining 26 laps ran under green. Here, Sheppard was able to pull a couple of seconds out over Perrego. Yankowski was able to take second away on lap 17 and slowly ran down Sheppard.
In the end, the American Racer tires wore out for Sheppard, allowing Yankowski to run him down in lapped traffic. It did not take long for Yankowski to take the lead and run off for victory.
In addition to the winner’s check for $7000, Yankowski won an additional $500 for the Hard Charger award, having gained eight spots to get there. He technically tied with Jackson Gill for the award, but he won the tiebreaker via his finishing position.
Sportsman teams ran the Refuse2Lose 24 in memory of Bobby Chalmers, a longtime competitor at Lebanon Valley, racing supply vendor and owner of RaceProWeekly. 29 teams, including a number of invaders came in to challenge, but it was the track regulars that prevailed.
Garrett Chillot started from pole via the redraw, but the event had trouble getting into a groove. A yellow flew before the first lap was complete due to an incident involving Michael Ballestero and Clayton Dumond. Shortly afterwards, Blaine Klinger was spun out by Owen Lewis. Lewis was sent to the rear for the contact.
The night was one to forget for Michael Sabia, who was caught up in multiple incidents. A crash on lap 11 ended his night.
Tim Hartman Jr. drew the sixth starting spot and didn’t take long to move forward. By lap 5, he was already in third. Three laps later, he was second.
Chillot did his best to hold back the four-time Lebanon Valley Sportsman champ, but Hartman was able to take the lead entering turn 1 on lap 10. Close behind Hartman was A.J. Albreada. The second-year racer started eighth and followed Hartman up the order. Two laps after Hartman took the lead, Albreada was able to take second away.
A crash in turn 4 involving Lewis, Dumond, Camron Hotaling, Tavien Blowers and Karl Barnes brought out the final yellow with eight laps to go. That set up a duel at the front.
Hartman and Albreada proceeded to run away from the pack and settle things themselves. However, Albreada just didn’t seem to have anything for the champion. Hartman would hold on to take his 40th career Sportsman win at Lebanon Valley. With lap money, the victory was worth nearly $3300 for Hartman.
Hartman won by .991 seconds over Albreada. Brian Calabrese was third, then Joey Scarborough and Dave Constantino.
Short Track Super Series King of Spring Results (40 laps): 1) Alex Yankowski, 2) Marc Johnson, 3) Matt Sheppard, 4) Anthony Perrego, 5) Alex Payne, 6) Kolby Schroder, 7) Jackson Gill, 8) Felix Roy, 9) Andy Bachetti, 10) Matt Pupello, 11) Chris Curtis, 12) Chris Raabe, 13) Will Shields, 14) Kyle Armstrong, 15) Keith Flach, 16) Daniel Morgiewicz Jr., 17) Donny Travaglin, 18) Ronnie Johnson, 19) Alex Bell, 20) Rob Bublak, 21) Matt Stangle, 22) Harold Robitaille, 23) Brett Haas, 24) Tyler Dippel, 25) Mike Engwer, 26) Joe Pravia
Short Track Super Series Sportsman North Division Refuse2Lose 24 (24 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) A.J. Albreada, 3) Brian Calabrese, 4) Joey Scarborough, 5) Dave Constantino, 6) Bobby Hackel, IV, 7) Garrett Chillot, 8) David Hackett, 9) Joe Toth, 10) Tyler Peet, 11) Blaine Klinger, 12) Joshua Jock, 13) Connor Prokop, 14) Ed Dachenhausen, 15) Michael Ballestero, 16) Seth Martin, 17) Mike Kalkbrenner, 18) Clayton Dumond, 19) Karl Barnes, 20) Jim Mallia, 21) Bobby Rhinehardt, 22) Joe Judge, 23) Tavien Blowers, 24) Owen Lewis, 25) Camron Hotaling, 26) John Dumond, 27) Michael Sabia, 28) Tommy Corellis, 29) Dylan Scribner
