The most significant opportunity of Alex Yankowski’s career awaits him at Super DIRT Week 53.
With Stewart Friesen sidelined due to injury, the Covington Township, PA competitor will drive the Halmar-Friesen racing No. 44 at Oswego Speedway as he aims for his first Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win on Saturday, Oct. 11.
It’s a collaboration Yankwoski said he thinks will be seamless as he and Friesen have worked together in the past.
“Stew’s been like a teammate to us,” Yankowski said. “So just to be able to fill in for a few races is pretty cool. Hopefully, we can get some good runs.
“I feel like we run our teams similar and parallel to one another. It’s a good fit, I think, and just combining our programs a little bit more is something that’s going to help us.”
Friesen, a six-time Billy Whittaker Cars 200 winner, echoed Yankowski’s sentiment, and said it was an easy decision to put “Kid Rocket” in his car for Super DIRT Week and Eastern States Weekend at Orange County Fair Speedway.
“We’ve worked really close in the past,” Friesen said. “Both teams working together, Tommy (Conroy, Friesen’s Crew Chief), and (Yankowski’s crew chief Kevin) Bates, it’s already a good relationship. All that should be good, and hopefully we’ll have a strong result.”
Yankowski will try to build off his only Oswego Big Block start last season, where he finished seventh in the Atlas Paving No. 66 car. Despite the inexperience compared to other drivers at the 5/8-mile track, Yankowski said he felt he wasn’t far off Friesen, who led all 200 laps last year.
“I’m just excited to be able to compare notebooks,” Yankowski said. “I feel like last year, Stew was the best car all week long. And there was a time period where in those Qualifiers we had pretty good pace with the number 66. But over a 200-lap run, he was just better than us.
“So, to get his experience. He’s going to help me as a driver, and I think we have a really good group of guys.”
Along with battling for his first Billy Whittaker Cars 200 victory, Yankowski is also chasing Mat Williamson in the Super DIRTcar Series standings, entering the event 71 points behind him in second.
However, that’s not changing his approach to the most prestigious event in Big Block Modified racing.
“Honestly, I feel like you go to all of these shows, and if you race to win the points will follow,” Yankowski said. “The HFR team hasn’t been racing a ton. Now that they have a little bit of time, Tommy Conroy can go to work. Having Tommy and Stew put a race car together in Sprakers, NY, is a pretty good deal. It’s going to be hard to beat that.
“I think we’ll come out of the box pretty solid and hopefully we’ll just build on it.”
Continuing to improve the No. 44 car is precisely what Friesen and his team, which includes tire specialist Jay Castimore, plan to do at Oswego. Despite leading every lap of last year’s event, Friesen said he isn’t satisfied with the car.
“We have a good notebook,” Friesen said. “We struggled at Oswego for a number of years and got it rolling last year. We really worked on some areas we needed to improve and improved them. We can still make the car better yet. Racing at night, the track conditions, and knowing what to expect going in are something we’re excited about. It’s just fine-tuning the screws in the process, and hopefully we’ll be good for 200 laps with Alex behind the wheel.”
While he won’t be competing at Super DIRT Week 53, Friesen will still be a presence throughout the week. The Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON driver will take part in Racing’s Biggest Block Party on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in downtown Oswego, where he’ll be honored for winning last year’s event with the raising of his champion’s flag.
Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 8, Yankowski will drive Friesen’s car in the annual parade through the city.
Friesen will also be at the track all week, helping the team as he continues to recover.
“There’s some challenges right now with the nerves and healing for the nerves,” Friesen said. “That’s a little bit of a hindrance. But everything’s going well. It’s just going to take time. Physical therapy is going good. I’m getting some movement and getting my strength back. We’re kind of right in the middle of it right now.”
While the focus will be on Yankowski and winning the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, the No. 44 won’t be the only car Halmar-Friesen racing will enter at Super DIRT Week. Friesen’s wife Jessica will attempt to make her second start in the DIRTcar 358 Modified Salute to the Troops 150 on Friday, Oct. 10, behind the wheel of her No. 1Z.
It’s a race, her husband said, she’s ready for, after competing in another long-distance event earlier this month.
“She ran the Fonda 200 last week,” Friesen said. “Had a good run going and had some motor trouble. She’s going to run there again this week and then the Small Block race at Oswego. We’re bringing a car that she’s comfortable in and running it once beforehand to work some bugs out. We don’t run a lot of spec Small Block races, so it’s good we’ll be able to get a run in this weekend to acclimate everything going into DIRT Week.”
As of now, there are no plans for Yankowski to drive the No. 44 after Super DIRT Week 53 and Eastern States weekend. However, that doesn’t mean that Friesen is ruling out another opportunity later in the season at the World of Outlaws World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte.
“Perhaps,” Friesen said. “We’re going to see how DIRT Week and Eastern States go. I just feel like these are two events where we needed to be there as a team. Even if I can’t drive, it’s great to have the support from Halmar to put a driver in and make sure we’re part of the biggest races of the year.”
The Yankowski-Friesen combination will take center stage at Oswego Speedway during Super DIRT Week 53, Oct. 6-11, culminating in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 on Saturday, Oct. 11.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Super DIRT Week action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
