Last Friday, Ashlyn Janiszewski not only won her first race in a full-sized car. She won her second, too. In a different division, no less.
Ashlyn had competed in karts in her younger years. Her husband, Mike Janiszewski, convinced her to enter a powder puff event using trucks 3 years ago. Her father, J.R. Steele, upped the ante and told her if she finished in the top five, he’d buy Ashlyn a truck to race full time.
“I’m thankful the stars aligned,” Ashlyn, of Laurel, Delaware, said. “Mike threw in my name for the powder puff. I’m simply one who likes to try something. Race night, there were so many trucks in the race and no one seemed to know what they were doing.”
Using her experience in karting and a childhood spent watching her father race, Ashlyn finished fifth.
“I thought it was a joke,” Ashlyn said. “When he surprised me with a race truck, a 2000 Ford Ranger, I didn’t know a thing about racing a full-sized vehicle. Heck, I didn’t even know how to shift. It took lots of practice and lots of stalling out.”
Racing in her sophomore season, she gradually improved. Then last Friday at Georgetown Speedway, during a night sponsored by her sponsor, Blue Hen Disposal, Ashlyn won in the trucks. She followed that up with a victory in the charger class in only her second race in the division, racing for DCG Racing Team.
“I was a substitute driver for DCG this season,” Ashlyn said. “Their driver took the rest of the season off. My goal was just to finish, just drive a clean race. I ran down the leader and passed him on the white-flag lap.”
Ashlyn Janiszewski called the night “unforgettable,” but her time in the race cars might be numbered. She has four children — ages 7, 9, 11 and 13 — who might want to follow in her footsteps.
“I’m not sure what the future will bring,” Ashlyn said. “I know Friday’s accomplishments made everything whole. A dream of mine from childhood was to drive on Georgetown Speedway. I accomplished that little girl’s dream, and then won twice in one night.”
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.
