Nick Van Wickle (right) scored his first Short Track Super Series (STSS) crate 602 sportsman win on April 28. The triumph occurred at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar. Afterwards, reigning series champion, Joe Toth (left), of Newtown, Pennsylvania, was the first to congratulate him.
“When I heard on the radio that the number 14 [of Toth] was behind me, I knew I would be safe,” Van Wickle, 28, of Springfield Township, New Jersey, said. “I knew I wouldn’t get turned if Joe got under me. I could count on him to race clean, just like he counts on me to race clean.”
The two dueled to the finish, with Van Wickle winning the contest.
“We raced hard and clean,” said Van Wickle. “Joe congratulated me [in victory lane] and said we had a great run tonight.”
In 2014, Van Wickle started racing Legend Cars on pavement at Wall Stadium Speedway in New Jersey. He moved into a crate sportsman on dirt in 2019.
“It was a big adjustment — going from pavement Legends to a dirt sportsman,” Van Wickle said. “A Legends car on asphalt is small enough to avoid hitting cars that are losing control by maneuvering around them. In dirt racing, if you hit the brakes you’ll slide. Our rookie year was spent learning to avoid wrecks in front of us that prevented good runs — especially on a tight track like New Egypt [Speedway in New Jersey].”
He picked up his first crate sportsman win at the end of 2019, at New Egypt Speedway. Now, he has a Short Track Super Series victory to his credit. However, his time in the series didn’t always go as well.
“The first time I tried to qualify for a STSS event was at Georgetown Speedway [in Delaware], and 73 cars showed up that weekend,” Van Wickle said. “We almost qualified through the consi. When the STSS came to New Egypt, I flipped in a heat race.”
Nick Van Wickle will always remember his first STSS victory. By virtue of winning the first event of the season, he currently holds the points lead.
“What made the race special was that 24 cars started, and all had won features before,” said Van Wickle. “Now, I’m the leader in the points and our next race is May 24 at New Egypt Speedway. I will have to defend my position at my home track.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
