Yankowski Wins Danny Serrano Memorial 100 at Bridgeport

It may have been 6 weeks late but the highly anticipated Danny Serrano Memorial 100 returned with unseasonably warm weather and perfect racing conditions. 

34 starters took the green with pole sitter Ryan Krachun taking the early lead until a broken a shock on lap 3 sent him to the pits for repairs.  Jo Jo Watson took command of the lead from his 6^th starting position only to have Danny Bouc take over the front spot as Watson’s tires faded and he fell through the field.  On lap 58 Ryan Godown took over the lead from his 25^th starting position.  Alex Yankowski charged from his 24^rd starting positon to take the lead on lap 78 were he would stay until the 84Y took the checkered flag.  After taking the checkered flag Yankowski was involved in an incident while trying to evade a spinning lapped car and made contact with another car sending the 84Y straight into the front stretch wall and into a wheel stand down the front stretch until the car grabbed the catch fence sending the car into a series of barrel rolls ending with a fire directly in front of the starters stand.  Yankowski’s first words as the safety crews got him out of the car were “Did we win” and despite all the damage the 16 year old youngster showed great poise and composure and was able to truly enjoy the moment of his first win despite what had just happened.  He may only be 16 years old but showed the composure of a veteran and he earned quite a few fans for a lifetime of racing in that moment for sure.

In victory lane Yankowski noted “We had a good car but obviously it’s not too good now.  I think this win will pay for a new fame and body and hopefully we will be alright.  Not too happy about this but it’s the way it happen.  We had a good car but the track was slimy and I just wanted to ride around and keep it in one piece when I saw Krachun hit the wall. Doesn’t get more exciting than that and not too happy about it but it was a way to do it.”

Danny Serrano Memorial Results – 11/07/20 @ Bridgeport Motorsports Park

1. Alex Yankowski, 2. Ryan Watt, 3. Ryan Godown, 4. Danny Bouc, 5. Jeff Strunk, 6. Frank Cozze, 7. Mike Mahaney, 8. Matt Stangle, 9. Rick Laubach, 10. Billy Pauch, 11. JR Heffner, 12. Dominick Buffalino, 13. Jimmy Horton, 14. Peter Britten, 15. Dillon Steuer, 16. Tommy Beamer, 17. Jimmy Blewett, 18. Jared Umbenhauer, 19. Davey Sammons, 20. Wade Hendrickson, 21. Jim Britt, 22. Neal Williams, 23. Eric Kormann, 24. Mike Franz, 25. Joe Toth, 26. Tommy Scheetz, 27. Richie Pratt Jr., 28. Briggs Danner, 29. Joseph Watson, 30. Brandon Grosso, 31. Duane Howard, 32. Ryan Krachun, 33. Roger Manning, 34. Justin Grim

Danny Serrano 100 Pit Notes

Alex Yankowski got the biggest payday of his career and his 3^rd win of the 2020 season.  He has added his first Bridgeport win to two wins at Big Diamond this year.  Yankowski methodically moved through the field from his 23^th starting position and took the lead and command of the race on lap 78.  From there he was able to break away from Ryan Watt and take the checkered flag for the win.  Unfortunately the post-race incident sending Yankowski into the wall and barrel rolling down the front stretch caused his car to be towed into victory lane.

Yankowski started in 23^th position and was able to move forward to 1^st place and win by a margin of victory of 1.5 over Ryan Watt which he has added to two wins this season at Big Diamond and a second place in Bridgeport points only 32 points behind one of his idols Billy Pauch Sr. and also a 4^th place finish in points at Big Diamond.

Ryan Watt has quietly seen his program change from Big Block dominated to equally as dominate for either his big block or small block.  The 2^nd place finish in the 100 lap Danny Serrano Memorial with his small block spec 358 indicates that Watt is an equal threat to win these days with either small block or big block entry as his small block program has come a long way in the last couple of years.

Ryan Godown had a great outing in his brand new DMK black #26 taking a podium 3^rd place finish from a 25^th starting position.  Godown actually lead the race for 16 laps but around lap 74 his softer tire selection started to wear and he got passed by Yankowski and Watt falling to a solid 3^rd place podium finish.

Danny Bouc lead for 17 laps from 41 to 58 but his selection of a softer compound also caused him to fade a bit but the 32 entry managed to stay in the top 5 with a 4^th place finish in the 100 lapper.  Bouc won a 100 lap race at New Egypt earlier this year and was going for his second 100 lap win of the season.

The race had only 5 cautions and had green flag runs of 45 and 28 laps with 6 different leaders.

Matt Stangle continued his strong runs this falls fall with another top ten 8^th place finish from the 22^nd starting spot.  Stangle said he was hanging on for the last 30 laps as his tires were beginning to fade around lap 70.

Joe Toth started 33^rd on the field and finished 25^rd in his first modified feature.  Toth has put the Belmont small block in his crate car for the Danny Serrano Memorial Race and qualified for the tough field as well as running 93 or 100 laps.

Duane Howard’s bad luck streak in 2020 continues as the 357 was in the top 5 for 56 laps and had to retire to the pits due to mechanical issues on lap 57 ending his day and chance for the 100 lap win.

Bridgeport regular Tommy Beamer drove his big block entry to a 16^th place finish from a 30^th starting position for the highest local big block finish.

All the original qualifiers returned except Anthony Perrego and Craig Von Dohren who was injured.