‘Original’ Pokorski Motorsports team reflects on successful final season with promise for the future
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) November 19, 2021 – The 2021 racing season marked the final go-around for the “original” version of the Pokorski Motorsports team, which was headed up for 29 consecutive seasons by driver Paul Pokorski and his wife, Lynn, since its inception as an Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified team in 1993.
Pokorski, who claimed 46 A-main victories and racked up a total of four track and series championships in Winged Super Modified and MSA 360 Sprint Car Series competition for Pokorski Motorsports, also brought his 29-season run as a regular driver to a close during his second consecutive season sharing the seat of the No. 4 360 Sprint Car with his son, Alex.
In 29 official MSA events and 27 complete programs, the Pokorski Motorsports team collected a total of two top-five A-main finishes, seven top-10 A-main showings, one B main victory and three heat race triumphs, while placing 14th in the final MSA standings and 15thin the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car point standings.
Paul opened the 2021 MSA season in the seat of the Pokorski Motorsports car at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis. on Saturday, April 17. The 2014 MSA Masters Series champion was running in the top 10 in the A main when a fuel shut off valve issue forced him to retire from the race and relegated him to a 20th-place showing.
One week later, Paul came home 15th in an MSA A main contested in arctic 30-degree weather at Gravity Park Speedway in Chilton, Wis. on Saturday, April 24.Paul was running in the top-five of the 2021 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car opener at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 1 when a smoking motor linked to a magneto issue forced him out of the race with a 22nd-place finish.
The Pokorski Motorsports team then earned its first top-10 A-main showing of the 2021 season when Paul steered the No. 4 car to a 10th-place finish at Beaver Dam Raceway on Friday, May 7.
One night later, Alex made his 2021 debut, which ended with an eighth-place finish in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, May 8.
On Saturday, May 15, Alex and Paul competed on the same night for what proved to be the only time during the 2021 season with Alex in the seat of the Pokorski Motorsports car and Paul behind the wheel of Spyder Akright’s 53A Akright Auto machine at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Alex’s night ended with a seventh-place finish in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main contested on a lightning-fast track surface. Paul brought the Akright Auto car home 15th in the A main before disaster struck shortly after the checkered flag fell.
Seconds after taking the checkered flag, Paul had to take drastic measures to avoid a rapidly slowing car, which resulted in him making heavy impact with the turn one wall and flipping the 53A car. Paul was able to emerge from the severely damaged car under his own power. However, the Akright Auto car, which Paul had planned to drive several more times during the 2021 campaign, proved to be a total loss and remained on the sidelines for the rest of the year.
On Saturday, May 22, Alex wound up ninth in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main at The Plymouth Dirt Track. Alex was on hand for an MSA event at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. on Sunday, May 23. However, rain forced the A main to be cancelled.
Alex advanced to his first A main of the season on Saturday, May 29 at The Plymouth Dirt Track as he came home with a 19th-place main event finish.
One week later, Alex posted his career-best A-main showing after delivering a 16th-place showing in the main event at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, June 5 held in conjunction with the annual appearance of the national touring FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Car Series.
On Saturday, June 12, Alex wound up fifth in the second PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Paul was back behind the wheel of the Pokorski Motorsports car for the annual Hagar Nelson Memorial event at Outagamie Speedway Powered by EWSC Racing in Seymour, Wis. on Friday, June 18. Paul was running in the top 15 in the A main when a smoking engine due to a valve cover gasket failure forced him out of the race en route to a 23rd-place finish.
Alex got on track in a big way on Saturday, June 19 has he advanced 10 spots in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main to advance from his 21st starting spot to a career-best 11th-place finish at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Paul steered the No. 4 car to a 17th-place finish in a special PDTR 360 Sprint Car event on Friday, June 25 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Alex again turned in an impressive performance during a special event at The Plymouth Dirt Track held in conjunction with the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series weekend at nearby Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. on Thursday, July 1.After starting 22nd in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, Alex stormed up 11 spots to notch his second straight 11th-place main event showing.
On Saturday, July 10, Alex earned his first career heat race victory and a 20th-place finish in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Alex tallied a 16th-place A-main showing in PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main action at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 17. One week later, during the Dave Deicher Tribute Night event at The Plymouth Dirt Track, Alex turned in his first career top-10 A-main showing by notching a career-best ninth place finish in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car headliner on Saturday, July 24.
After starting on the pole of the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main on July 31, Alex lead the 17 laps of the 25-lap headliner before finishing a career-best fifth to record his first career top-five A-main showing. One night later, Alex returned to Angell Park Speedway where he turned in a strong eighth-place A-main finish on Sunday, Aug. 1.
On Saturday, Aug. 14, Alex came home 19th in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track. Alex’s first appearance of the 2021 season at Beaver Dam Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 28proved to be a rough one as a flip on the opening lap of his heat race forced the team to scratch for the remainder of the program.
Paul was back in the driver’s seat for the annual Sheboygan County Fair race at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Sept. 4, during which he recorded a 12th-place A-main showing.
A mysterious rear-end gear issue hampered Paul throughout the night in PDTR 360 Sprint Car action at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Sept. 11 as his night ended with an 11th-place finish in the B main.
Alex was back behind the wheel at Gravity Park Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 18 where he posted a sixth-place A-main finish on a rubbered-up track surface.
Paul capped the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season with a 14th-place finish in A-main action on Saturday, Sept. 25 in the final regular points race of the 2021 PDTR and MSA seasons.
Paul closed out his 29-season tenure with the “original” Pokorski Motorsports team by notching a season-best eighth-place showing in a non-points MSA A-main at Beaver Dam Raceway on Friday, Oct. 1.
Alex wrapped up the 2021 season with a career-best fourth-place A-main finish in the final race for the “original” Pokorski Motorsports team at Beaver Dam Raceway on Saturday, Oct. 2.
In 18 events, Alex tallied two top-five A-main finishes, five top-10 A-main showings and three heat race victories during the 2021 campaign.
“I would say my highlight for the season was the last night finishing fourth at Beaver Dam,” Alex said. “The track at Beaver Dam was a lot of fun to race on and the car felt great.
“If I could have one night back, it would be when I led the first 17 laps of the feature at Plymouth,” he said. “I wish I would’ve been more aggressive with lapped traffic. I think our finishes improved during the course of the season due to me learning to be more consistent with my driving, as well as our set ups getting better. I have to thank my parents for getting me into the car so frequently this season and trusting in my abilities. Our crew and the sponsors were all great. We can’t do it without them and they make race nights more fun. Racing is a big family event for us and I’ve really enjoyed all the support from them and my girlfriend. I think our fan base also grew a bit this year and I enjoyed forming some new relationships with them.”
Paul capped his 29-year driving career with Pokorski Motorsports by earning two top-10 A-main showings and one B-main victory in 11 events.
With the 2022 season just around the corner, Alex and Paul and the rest of the Pokorski Motorsports crew has been hard at work preparing for a new venture with Spyder Akright’s Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car racing team for the 2022 season.
“We are selling part of our equipment to a young man who has never raced anything before, so I plan to try to help him and his father, offering as much help as they want from me to help them along,” Paul said. “Alex has been given a one-year deal to drive for Spyder Akright and Akright Auto for about 75 percent of the MSA races, mostly at Plymouth.
“We [Pokorski Motorsports] will be housing that car, freshening it over the winter and doing the week-to-week maintenance during the season,” he said. “We are incredibly grateful to Spyder for giving Alex the opportunity to keep racing, since he is doing so well and continuing to improve. Those two things should keep me busy, and there may be an opportunity for me to drive a couple of nights next year as well. We will see how much time and energy I have left. Our team will still be around. It will just look pretty different. It was a good last year for ‘the original Pokorski Motorsports.’ I’m excited to see where Alex can take it in 2022 and maybe beyond.”
Alex is also thankful for the opportunity to continue his Sprint Car racing career under the Akright Auto banner in 2022.
“Pokorski Motorsports has been an awesome program that we have shared with family and friends,” Alex said. “I’ve really enjoyed being a part of it. Hopefully, this is just a break and I can start it back up in a few years once I’m out of college.
“Next year I am happy to be partnering up with Spyder [Steve] Akright and the Akright Auto team,” he said. “Our plan is to have two cars. Spyder will run one car and I will run the other. We won’t run every show, but we will try to race as many nights as we can. I would like to thank him for the opportunity and I’m excited to see what we can do next season.”
Sponsors and supporters for the 2021 Pokorski Motorsports team are Petersen Septic Systems, Quest Engineering Inc., Goeden Auto Body, Goodwin Racing Engines, Hopf Farms, Kettle Moraine Landscaping, Novak’s Service Center, Tisler Salvage Inc., Allied Bearing Corporation, RC Custom Design and Pedal Down Promotions.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping its clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.
2021 Pokorski Motorsports
Final Statistics
Total Events – 29
MSA events – 29
A Main Victories – 0
B Main Victories – 1
Top Five A Main Finishes – 2
Top 10 A Main Finishes – 7
Heat Race Victories – 3
Final MSA Points Finish – 14th
Final PDTR 360 Sprint Car Points Finish – 15th
