Andy Jankowiak knew he’d have to jump in a plane after testing his ARCA car in Daytona, but he did not anticipate having to do another jump. This jump occurred during the Allentown Indoor Race main on Saturday, his TQ midget flew over the car driven by Paulie Hartwig.
Earlier in the day, Jankowiak clocked in 18th quickest among 59 drivers to turn a lap in ARCA testing at Daytona. He then jumped on a last-minute flight from Sanford, Florida, to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to make the first installment of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship.
In the feature, however, Jankowiak’s and Hartwig’s night did not go as planned.
“I was racing with a guy on my outside,” Hartwig, of Galloway, New Jersey, said. “I got loose on entry to turn three [and] I didn’t mean to spin Kyle Herve out, but I got into him. Andy hit me from behind and monster-trucked right up and over me.”
On a small indoor oval, the track tightens up quickly as Jankowiak found out.
“Three cars involved and nowhere for me to go,” Jankowiak, of Tonawanda, New York, said. “I got a lucky bounce. My car popped up into the air and the momentum took me up and over Hartwig. Once it started happening, my instincts took over. I realized I have to keep moving.”
Jankowiak’s car then went on its side, riding on two wheels.
“I got it back on all fours and never stopped racing,” Jankowiak said. “I just kept going and kept my spot on the restart.”
The wreck ended Hartwig’s night. His car incurred damage to its left-front corner, and its fuel injection system and wiring were ripped off. Hartwig sat in a full-containment seat from The Joie of Seating, paired with a Simpson five-point harness. He wore a Zamp helmet and Simpson Hybrid head-and-neck restraint.
“I wasn’t hurt — the safety equipment did its job,” Hartwig said. “I was just a little bit sore and had some small bruises on my legs and arms.”
Meanwhile, Andy Jankowiak finished the feature in fifth. From Allentown, Jankowiak and his crew stuck to the ground, driving back home to hit up a Buffalo Bills game, where his team beat the Jaguars to move on in the playoffs.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected the team the Bills beat (2026-01-18).
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.
