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By DINO OBERTO
Super DIRTcar Series Photo
(Minersville, PA 6-3-25) The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds began their Pennsylvania swing on Tuesday evening at Big Diamond Speedway and on hand was a notable lineup of Series participants, track regulars and a mix of other top invaders who provided the enthusiastic crowd with an all-star caliber race.
And it would be a pair of former track regulars that took the spotlight as past Modified champion Ryan Godown from Ringoes, NJ held off former Big Diamond Sportsman titlist and Modified winner, Alex Yankowski of Covington Township, for his second career SuperDIRTcar Series win and 20th overall at the speedway.
“It’s surreal and it’s the SuperDIRTcar Series and everything’s got to go your way, but we ran good in time trials and then in our heat (race) and we pulled it off and I can’t thank all my guys enough,” said Godown, who won here for the first time since 2019.
Godown and Yankowski started the 75-lap feature 1-2 and throughout the distance they would run in that order. At times Godown could open a comfortable lead but when he came upon slower traffic it offered Yankowski the opportunity to pull in close, but never close enough to challenge for the lead. Running the way he did, Godown remained in control of his own destiny.
“The car really rotated nice, and I thought Alex (Yankowski) was going to be on my tail a little bit better, but the flagger was letting me know I had room, so I backed down at times. It was my race to lose,” said Godown.
As the race was in its final laps Godown looked to be on his way to victory, but with four circuits remaining he again encountered lapped traffic and this time it nearly cost him.
Coming up on Michael Traustcold, he had to backdown to avoid any contact which also permitted Yankowski to catch up quickly. While trying to pass Trautschold, Godown almost hit the inside turn one tire barrier, nearly causing him to spin while correcting his course. That gave Yankowski his best chance to get by as he stuck his nose underneath Godown, but as they approached turn two, the driver dubbed “The Ringoes Rocket” blasted off the corner, solidifying the win from there.
“We came up on those lapped cars at the end quick, but I thought we wouldn’t get to them and all of a sudden there he (Trautscold) was. We had to pick and choose and I saw an opening out of (turn) four and I went for it and it almost cost us by the time we got to turn one but thankfully we reeled it in,” said Godown, who collected $7500 and became the seventh different Super DIRTcar Series winner this season.
Yankowski entered Big Diamond with past successes on his side, but despite having a strong car, one was slightly better.
“Godown did a really good job tonight. That was a scary situation when we came up on that lapped car near the end and Ryan was able to squeak it through there and I’d say another quarter of a car length he would have been in trouble and I’m just happy both of us came out of that not bent up and we both finished really good,” said Yankowski, who earned $4000.
There were times following restarts that Yankowski tried to overtake but each time Godown was able to get the jump and hold his lead.
“I was trying to get a good launch. He (Godown) had the rubber on the bottom so he could kind of scoot off and I was just lucky to just stay second in that situation,” offered Yankowski.
His runnerup finish marked his fifth top five with the tour and in the process enabled him to maintain his current point lead.
“We’ve had a really good steady year across three different teams and I’m really proud of the whole group and what we’ve been able to do this year, it’s amazing and we’re looking to try and keep it rolling and hopefully get a couple wins along the way,” added Yankowski.
Alex Payne of Canandaigua, NY rode in third place all the while and was able to keep Godown and Yankowski in his sights. There was a few times he challenged Yankowski for second but could not get enough drive to get by and then late in the going was fighting off Mat Willimson of St. Catherines, ON who came very close a few times to getting underneath Payne.
Ten-time Series champion Matt Sheppard from Savannah, NY finished fifth, earning his second consecutive top five. Sheppard, who won this race two years ago, was looking to score his 100th Series win.
The Red White and Blue Autos Inc., Roadrunners raced in a 20-lap contest and coming out on top for his first win of the season was Kris Ney of Gordon.
From his pole position Jim Kost jumped into the early lead but by lap five sophomore racer Ryan Murphy took control and was holding his own nicely until lap nine when things suddenly went awry.
Following a restart Murphy was leading the field back to green and under tight conditions as they were rounding turn four, he got tripped up while battling with Matt Ney and went spinning from contention. The incident also collected Alex Schoffstall.
When all was reset, Ney was the new frontman and from there he remained on target en route to his 24th career victory. It also helped in padding his division points lead.
Jesse Krasnitsky showed good speed and held on for a solid runner-up finish and likewise with Joe Bassininsky who took third in his first start of the year.
Super DIRTcar feature finish (75 laps): 1. Ryan Godown, 2. Alex Yankowski, 3. Alex Payne, 4. Mat Williamson, 5. Matt Sheppard, 6. Eric Rudolph, 7. Billy Pauch Jr., 8. Ryan Krachun, 9. Mike Mahaney, 10. Jack Lehner, 11. Logan Watt, 12. Peter Brittian, 13. Louden Reimert, 14. Tim Sears Jr., 15. Anthony Perrego, 16. Duane Howard, 17. LJ Lombardo, 18. Jimmy Phelps, 19. Felix Roy, 20. Justin Stone, 21. Michael Trautschold, 22. Stewart Friesen, 23. Brandon Grosso, 24. Rick Laubach, 25. Tanner Van Doren, 26. Darren Smith, 27. Todd Roth, 28. Marcus Dinkins
DNQ: Sammy Martz Jr., Bob McGannon, Matt Stangle, Ken Eckert Jr., Rich Scagliotta, Ricky Wegner Jr.
Roadrunners feature finish (20 laps): 1. Kris Ney, 2. Jesse Krasnitsky, 3. Joe Bassininsky, 4. Joey Brennan, 5. Jim Kost, 6. Chuck Fayash, 7. Matt Ney, 8. Eric Buchinski, 9. Jonathan Trumbo, 10. Ryan Murphy, 11. Alex Schoffstall, 12. TJ Fitzpatrick, 13. Mike Reichert, 14. Jarod Bassininsky, 15. Elijah Reed, 16. Andrew Buchinski
