Media Contact: Steven Ovens - woodhullracewaypr@gmail.com or (315) 729-3825
For Immediate Release – September 1st, 2016 – SWL Awards photos -
(WOODHULL) – You will always remember your first win...and your first championship.
That's what they always told me when I was growing up on the dirt tracks. I grew up and was fortunate enough to have the chance to be in the exact same position 13-year-old Ajay Potrzebowski Jr. will find himself in on Saturday night. Just take the green flag and you will forever be known as a track champion at Woodhull Raceway.
A fierce battle all season long between Potrzebowski Jr. and young and upcoming Cole Youse has entertained the Woodhull faithful in 2016. No matter who came out on top, the track title was going to be not only earned but well-deserved.
Both of these drivers have won races, while learning and improving a great deal since that very first race in frigid weather in mid-April. That's not to take anything away from the rest of the competitors because each one of the Warrior competitors can look back on their season and see how much further ahead they are now from back in April.
But for the two top points drivers, 2016 proved that the future of dirt track racing at Woodhull Raceway is incredibly bright.
Ajay Potrzebowski Jr. graduated from the go-kart ranks where winning was not just a goal for himself- it was his expectation. He carried that mentality right to Steuben County in April, when he went out and won his first race in a full-size stock car by winning Opening Night in the Warrior division.
In total, Potrzebowski Jr. would garner six Woodhull wins (5 points wins, 1 non-point win) to go along with his first Bandit victory at neighboring Outlaw Speedway earlier in the Summer. Though Youse would snag four victories of his own, two of those four came in non-point events.
When it came to the points-paying events in 2016, Potrzebowski Jr. was electric. The driver out of Horseheads, NY has ripped off five straight point race wins, with a chance to make it six come Saturday night.
All of those statistics give Potrzebowski Jr. a nineteen-point advantage over Youse entering Saturday's race, meaning he will only need to take the green flag to clinch the 2016 title. The soft-spoken driver out of the historic Potrzebowski family of racers has made a name for himself with his on-track success, followed with his trademark roof dance and bow with the checkered flag. Sound like anyone you see racing on television on Sundays? That guy turned out pretty decent!
While Potrzebowski is a green flag away from adding Warrior track champion to his racing resume, the Warriors and Mini Stocks are far from his top goal. The driver of the black, blue and pink No. 72 hopes to soon be competing in a Crate Sportsman. He will continue to improve and add tools to his reserve in the Warriors until that time comes.
Let all of us at Woodhull Raceway be the first to congratulate each of our Warrior drivers on a great season racing, learning and having fun! These young drivers are the future of our sport, and we are thrilled to have had their support throughout the 2016 season.