This is what’s left of the sport mod Andy Jankowiak crashed last Thursday. Fortunately, he and his 27-year-old car will race again.
The incident occurred during the feature at Lancaster Motorplex in New York. Jankowiak said as he made his move for second place, his car turned sideways after contact from another sport mod. He then impacted the wall at a 45-degree angle in a hit that he called the hardest of his career.
“This car has been through some tough hits before,” Jankowiak, of Tonawanda, New York, said. “It is a safe car and it has kept me safe. That is why it is my favorite car.”
As Jankowiak prepared for the ARCA Menards Series race at Pocono Raceway, his crew assessed the damage on his 1996 Troyer sport mod that he had won with twice this year at Lancaster. He had hoped to race the car on Saturday — and he might be in luck.
“I was pleasantly surprised — the damage wasn’t as bad as I thought would be for such a hard hit,” said Jankowiak. “The center of the car is fine, measurement-wise.”
Jankowiak’s car went to Speed77 in Darien, New York, where it will have its front clip replaced.
“I had all good stuff in that car safety-wise,” Jankowiak said. “I was a little sore after the crash, but the soreness wasn’t as bad as it is after I go cliff diving with my step kids.”
Jankowiak sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat, with RaceQuip belts. He wore a Bell carbon-fiber helmet paired with a HANS device.
With parts on the way, Andy Jankowiak may be able to race his favorite car this weekend.
“I will be racing at Pocono on Friday, and would like to get back to racing the sportsman modified on Saturday,” said Jankowiak. “It comes down to time and parts, as it always does in racing.”
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.
