Andy Jankowiak delivers his first ARCA Menards Collection victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday within the Alabama Manufactured Housing 200.
TALLADEGA, Ala. — A daring transfer from Andy Jankowiak across the exterior of Cleetus McFarland and Gus Dean at Talladega Superspeedway propelled him to his first profession ARCA Menards Collection victory on Saturday afternoon.
Andy Jankowiak: Victory at Talladega
Amidst the chaos of the state of affairs, Jankowiak stayed within the throttle, not realizing the extra time try was only one lap.
When actuality set in, the feelings rapidly overwhelmed Jankowiak, who had labored tirelessly through the 2020s to search out sustainability on the ARCA Menards Collection platform. Jankowiak initially did this by his personal program earlier than turning into the first driver for KLAS Motorsports after they bought the operation.
Each sacrifice Jankowiak put into conserving his dream alive paid off with probably the most cathartic second of his profession so far, one he initially didn’t consider was even actual.
“I assumed there was another lap,” Jankowiak mentioned. “The radio was tremendous staticky. I’m nonetheless ready to get up right here. All the pieces that received me to ARCA and all the pieces that’s come after with [co-owners] Kevin Lapierre, Andy Seuss, and Mike Dayton, there’s by no means been extra of a staff effort standing in Victory Lane at Talladega.
“What an journey.”
Motorsports has all the time been a significant a part of Jankowiak’s identification. His father, Tony Jankowiak, was a famend Modified competitor within the northeast whose accomplishments included a World Collection of Asphalt championship at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in 1990.
The youthful Jankowiak started following in his father’s footsteps through the late 2000s by competing in Modified occasions throughout the northeast. Jankowiak rapidly developed a repute as a hard-nosed, constant competitor, all whereas he labored as a pizza supply driver away from the observe.
Looking for to increase his footprint in motorsports, Jankowiak made his ARCA Menards Collection debut at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in 2021, when he scored a robust eighth-place end. The subsequent 5 years noticed Jankowiak accumulate 5 top-five showings, together with a career-best outing of fourth twice.
The second of these performances got here at Talladega final 12 months, which is when Jankowiak led his first laps on the ARCA Menards Collection platform. Figuring out what he and KLAS Motorsports had been able to at Talladega, Jankowiak entered Saturday assured about his probabilities to lastly earn that breakthrough victory.
Endurance was wanted from Jankowiak to manifest that purpose. Although he began tenth Jankowiak misplaced the lead pack through the first half of the Alabama Manufactured Housing 200, however he knew there could be one other alternative to get again in rivalry with a contest warning on lap 38.
As soon as the yellows began falling, Jankowiak labored the draft to his benefit and located himself within the prime 5 within ten laps remaining. Jankowiak stored his hopes for a win alive after narrowly lacking the largest crash of the day, however he nonetheless wanted to cross a number of robust vehicles with lowered drafting assist at his disposal.
Drafting with McFarland proved to be the race-winning transfer for Jankowiak. The 2 discovered their approach to the surface lane earlier than McFarland’s block on Dean created a transparent pathway for Jankowiak to take house the checkered flag.
McFarland needed to win Talladega in honor of his late pal and NASCAR Cup Collection legend Greg Biffle, however he discovered loads of gratitude with a second-place end and main his first ARCA Menards Collection laps. Reflecting on the end, McFarland admitted holding the highest line as an alternative of being overly defensive may need gotten to Victory Lane.
“I feel I wanted to again up a smidge to get that assist that was behind me,” McFarland mentioned. “I left [Jankowiak] I’m fairly certain, and tried to go down. We began beating one another up, after which Andy handed us and received the W, so congratulations to him.
“What an insane day of racing. That was the best race I’ve ever been part of in my life proper there.”
Cleetus McFarland Proud of Progress
McFarland was additionally pleased with the progress made within the ARCA Menards Collection since his debut at Daytona final 12 months, which ended with him behind the wall in thirtieth after a crash. By being one of many strongest vehicles on Saturday afternoon, McFarland feels he’s proving himself as a succesful stock-car driver.
With McFarland nonetheless possessing loads of NASCAR ambitions, he appears to be like to take all the pieces he discovered from Saturday and apply it to future drafting races and different occasions.
“I received a number of confidence immediately,” McFarland mentioned. “Once we’re rubbing like that at 180 [mph], you possibly can truly transfer the automotive round loads. I discovered loads about drafting immediately greater than something. Once I was tight, it was as a result of there was somebody on my bumper. If somebody’s on me, I’ve received to count on to be tremendous tight, and that scared the crap out of me.
“We pushed by with the facility of Mr. Sam on my hood [and] virtually gained it.”
The backgrounds of McFarland and Jankowiak are comparable but additionally vastly totally different from each other. Each possess a robust ardour for motorsports, however McFarland’s journey within the ARCA Menards Collection solely began a few years in the past, whereas Jankowiak has been combating to achieve the highest of the pedestal for almost his complete life.
As Jankowiak took Saturday’s milestone in, he considered everybody who has helped him all through his motorsports odyssey, from everybody at KLAS Motorsports to Tony, who handed away in a Modified crash on April 22, 1990, simply greater than 36 years in the past. If Tony had been round immediately, Jankowiak is aware of he could be pleased with all the pieces he has completed.
The second nonetheless felt surreal for Jankowiak lengthy after the checkered flag, which is why he plans to cherish it for so long as he feasibly can.
“I’m the luckiest man on this planet,” Jankowiak mentioned. “Individuals don’t notice what number of little issues it took to get to this step. It’s such a staff effort. I needed to win this extra for [KLAS Motorsports] than I did for myself.
“I’ve performed this earlier than. I simply all the time get up.”
Dean ended up third behind Jankowiak and McFarland, together with his Nitro Motorsports teammate Isabella Robusto following him in fourth after main in the beginning of the one-lap shootout. Rounding out the highest 5 was Gio Ruggieo.
Taylor Reimer, Sean Corr, Ryan Vargas, Daniel Dye, and Will Kimmel comprised the remainder of the highest ten.
Up Subsequent
Subsequent up for the ARCA Menards Collection is the primary road-course venue on the 2026 schedule: Watkins Glen Worldwide. The inexperienced flag for the Normal Tire 100 on the Glen will wave at 1:30 p.m. ET on Might 8, with FS2 and the FOX Sports activities App offering stay protection of the on-track motion.
