This past weekend, limited late model driver Andrew Yoder went two for two. He won at Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday and then Port Royal Speedway on Sunday. Yoder did so with his family-owned 2018 Swartz chassis. He said the road to that 2018 winning Swartz chassis didn’t come easy.
Yoder started in econo late models in 2014, with a 1998 car. He later cut off the front clip of that car and swapped in a 2007 one. He then did the same with the rear, inserting a clip from a 2008 chassis. With that ’98-’07-’08 chassis, Yoder won around 30 features before he upgraded to the 2018 Swartz he runs now. He still has the ’98-’07-’08 car.
Between the two chassis, Yoder earned 67 wins and two track championships at Port Royal (2019 and 2020). Of the 10 tracks, he’s competed at, he’s visited victory lane at nine of them. (Hagerstown Speedway remains elusive.)
Yoder said the money earned from wins goes a long way. Selinsgrove paid $1,500 while Port Royal award $2,000 this past weekend.
“It’s hard to race without help,” said Yoder, who works as a mechanic. “Sponsors really help. Winning helps. It’s hard for most racers, unless you are a rich kid from a rich family. That $3500 we won this past weekend will go into a bunch of tires. We’ll be ready to go to chase the Selinsgrove Speedway championship — 15 to 20 races there alone this year.”
Yoder’s sponsors believe in him. Windview Truck & Trailer Repair, Ritz-Trans, and Stine Trucking has been with him for years. Creekside Auto Sales not only sponsors him, but its owner, Larry Bear, fields a super late model ride on occasion for Yoder. Yoder shared how he keeps his sponsors.
“I talk to [my sponsors] every week about racing,” Yoder, of Middleburg, Pennsylvania, said. “I don’t ask for money during the season. When I get T-shirts, I’ll hand them out to my sponsors. When my car is on Flo or on social media, I tag [my sponsors] to show them their money is going to good use.”
Andrew Yoder has made an impact with his small family-owned limited late model team, especially on his own family.
“I held my daughter, Rylie, in victory lane on Saturday and my son, River, on Sunday,” said Yoder. “They love being in victory lane — it’s a family thing. They want to see me win.”
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.
