Pokorski Motorsports negotiates rollercoaster transition season
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) Nov. 10, 2020 – The 2020 racing season was one unlike any other in the 28-year history of the Pokorski Motorsports team for a variety of reasons.
The season was supposed to be the curtain closer for team. However, the late start and shortened schedule brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Pokorski Motorsports co-driver Paul Pokorski to announce prior to the start of the 2020 racing season that the team would continue on in 2021.
With Paul and his 21-year-old son Alex set to split driving duties, the Pokorski Motorsports team opened the 2020 with a non-sanctioned 360 Sprint Car event at Gravity Park Speedway in Chilton, Wis. on Saturday, May 23. However, a broken push rod in the engine compartment sidelined the team after qualifying.
When the delayed 2020 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car campaign finally got underway on Saturday, June 6 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis., Paul Pokorski outdueled Tyler Brabant and Travis Arenz to park the familiar blue No. 4 car in victory lane for the 46th time in his career and 11th time behind the wheel of a 360 Sprint Car.
“Winning the feature on opening night at Plymouth was certainly a highlight of 2020,” Paul said. “It meant a lot to me and I think to everyone on the team to get a win. It was also the perfect highlight before handing it over Alex. Getting out of the car for the first few weeks was really nerve-racking. Even though Alex was doing a great job for person with his experience, it’s still hard to watch. It got easier as the season went on, but as a parent and someone who is concerned about paying the bills, I don’t think the uneasiness of watching somebody else drive the car will ever go away.
The following week at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, June 13, Paul Pokorski relinquished the driver’s seat to Alex and the father-son driving tandem shared time behind the wheel for the remainder of the season.
Alex capped his first night behind the wheel of a 360 Sprint with a sixth-place showing in the first 12-lap PDTR B main.
Alex’s second night in the driver’s seat saw him qualify 29th out of 41 cars in an MSA event at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis. on Saturday, June 27. Pokorski went on to finish seventh in the first 12-lap B main on an ultra-dry racing surface.
Alex’s next race saw the team competing in an MSA event at Gravity Park Speedway in Chilton on July 4 where he qualified 27th out of 33 cars and ended up ninth in an accident-plagued B main contested on another very dry and tricky track surface.
On Friday, July 17, Paul returned to the driver’s seat for the MSA Hagar Nelson Memorial Race at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour, Wis. However, Paul’s night got off to a rough start as contact with another car in the first turn on the opening lap of his heat race forced the team to retire to the pit area. After the Pokorski Motorsports crew made the necessary changes, Paul started 14th and placed 10th in the 15-lap B main to miss transferring to the A main by four spots.
During the following night at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 18th, Alex returned to the seat and returned a seventh-place finish in the second 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Alex turned his first laps in a 360 Sprint Car A-main in a non-points PDTR 360 Sprint Car at The Plymouth Dirt Track event in conjunction the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Car Series event on Thursday, July 30.
By virtue of his eighth-place finish in his heat race, Pokorski lined up 20th in the 24-car 360 Sprint Car A-main field and moved up to finish 16th.
Two nights later, Alex finished 10th in the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B Main at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Aug. 1.
On Saturday, Aug. 8, Alex earned his first 360 Sprint Car race victory after starting second in the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
In his second PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main appearance, Alex lined up 17th in the A main. A string of early-race incidents saw Pokorski move up to 13th in the initial stages of the race. On lap 10, Pokorski looped his machine in turn four, which forced him to restart the race at the rear of the 18-car field.
Pokorski was holding his own on the ultra-fast racing surface before disaster struck on lap 20 when he was unable to avoid a hard collision with Tyler Davis, who had spun on the front stretch after jumping the thick turn-four cushion.
The hard impact resulted in heavy damage to the team’s primary 2016 Maxim. More importantly though, Alex emerged from the scary incident uninjured.
The Pokorski Motorsports crew converted over to the team’s backup 2011 J&J chassis with Paul Pokorski behind the wheel on Saturday, Aug. 15 at The Plymouth Dirt Track. After qualifying through the B main, Paul posted an 17th-place finish in the team’s fourth A-main appearance of the season.
Paul was again in the seat for the PDTR Russ Scheffler Tribute Night event on Thursday, Aug. 27. However, rain washed out the A main after Pokorski had earned the 19th starting spot in the event.
On Saturday, Aug. 29, Paul turned in the team’s second top-10 A-main finish of the season with a solid 10th-place finish in an MSA event at Beaver Dam Raceway.
Paul backed that up with an eighth-place A-main showing at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wis. on Friday, Sept. 4. One night later at The Plymouth Dirt Track, Paul turned in a 12th-place A-main finish.
Paul was behind the wheel for an MSA event at the Dodge County Fairgrounds on Friday, Sept. 24 before broken piston caused him in his heat race caused the team to retire from the remainder of the program.
“When I got back in the car at the end of the year, I thought we made some pretty good strides on improving are setups and we had another strong run at Dodge going until we either burned or broke a piston,” Paul said. “I was really disappointed we didn’t get to run the feature on that night.”
One night later was a landmark occasion in the history of the Pokorski Motorsports team as Alex returned to the driver’s seat in the Doug Pietz-owned 4A car, while Paul was again behind the wheel of the familiar Pokorski Motorsports 4 in the 2020 PDTR-MSA season finale at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Both Alex and Paul made the A main with Paul finishing 15th and Alex coming home 20th.
“The last night of racing was a stressful one for sure,” Paul said. “It was the first time we’d ever taken two cars to the track and on top of that, one of them was borrowed, so I was really hoping that Alex will keep it in one piece and we could return it to Doug Pietz in the same condition we got it.
“Doug really went out of his way to help us out in the make it possible to have both of us in a car on that final night,” he said. “That will be one of the nights that I will never forget. I was distracted for a moment on the opening lap of the feature as I started behind Alex and when I looked up through the field, I could see him and was paying more attention to what was happening with him than what I was doing. Luckily, that quickly went away and things got back to normal. I had a pretty good run and Alex did his job and kept the car in one piece and got some laps in.”
Overall, the team competed in 18 total events in 2020 with one A-main victory, one B-main victory, one top-five A-main finish and three top-10 A-main finishes.
Paul competed in 10 events, racking up one A-main victory, one top-five A-main showing and three-top 10 A-main finishes.
“Overall, the season was fun,” Paul said. “It’s hard getting out of the car because I still have a passion for driving, but it’s also very satisfying to help your kids do something that they enjoy and excel at as well. I look forward to doing it again in 2021.
“The COVID-19 at situation did change our plans for 2021,” he said. “We’re going to give it another run in 2021, just like we did this year. We won’t make every show, but we will make most of them and it’ll be on a case-by-case basis as we decide who’s going to be in the car on what nights. It’s probably safe to say that Alex will fill the majority of them. We have the wheels in motion trying to find a new primary car to replace the one that got wrecked this year. We are also making some adjustments to our backup car to make sure Alex is comfortable when he gets into it, if need be. So, we’re well on our way to getting ready for 2021. It’ll be here before you know it.”
Alex ran in eight events while qualifying for three A mains and earning one B-main victory during his rookie season in a 360 Sprint Car in 2020.
“I didn’t have too many specific goals that I set for myself,” Alex said. “I just wanted to go out on the track and do my best. I was hoping to win either a heat race or B main, which I was able to do once this year. In the first night or two I was just feeling out how to drive the car and how to compete with the guys on the track. By the end of the year, I was making a few of the A mains. I think that was representative of the progress I was making and I was fairly happy with how the season turned out.
“The highlight was definitely winning the B main at Plymouth,” he said. “In my go-karting career, I was used to being fast and contending to win races every week, so it felt good to finally be able to do that in a Sprint car. The last night of the season would be a night I would re-do if I were able to do so. I think I could’ve been a lot better in the A main and would like to race against my dad again. For next year, I want to learn to run the cushion, be better on dry slick tracks and make A mains more consistently.”
The Pokorski Motorsports team ended up 24th in the final 2020 MSA point standings and 25th in the PDTR point standings.
Sponsors for the 2020 Pokorski Motorsports team were Hopf Farms, Petersen Septic Systems, Quest Engineering Inc., Goeden’s Auto Body, Goodwin Racing Engines, Lakeshore Family Funeral Homes, Kettle Moraine Landscaping, Novak’s Service Center, Pedal Down Promotions, Tisler Salvage Inc., Allied Bearing Corporation and The Cawley Company.
“Of course, we have to thank everyone who made the abbreviated season possible from Quest Engineering to Goeden’s Auto Body, Kettle Moraine Landscaping, Goodwin Competition Racing Engines, Hopf Farms, Tisler Salvage and Novak’s Service Center, as well as all of the other sponsors and pit crew members that helped out during the 2020 season,” Paul said.
Pokorski Motorsports Sponsor Showcase – Novak’s Service Center
Pokorski Motorsports would like to acknowledge the support of long-time sponsor Novak’s Service Center of Manitowoc, which is celebrating its 48th year in business in 2020.
Novak’s Service Center is a locally-owned, second-generation, family-owned, five-bay auto repair center, which has been serving customers in the Lakeshore area since 1972.
Novak’s Service Center offers comprehensive auto repair services, including 4 x 4 services, brakes, car and truck care, domestic cars and trucks, electrical services, electronic services, engine and transmission, engine maintenance, expired warranty care, general service, heating and cooling services, import cars and trucks, quick lube services, tires, towing, transmission and undercar services.
Located at 1320 Washington St. in Manitowoc, Novak’s Service Center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
To schedule an appointment, call 920-684-5737 or visit www.novaks1320.com.
For more information on Pokorski Motorsports, check out Pokorski Motorsports on Facebook or visit www.pedaldownpromo.com.
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For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.
2020 Pokorski Motorsports By The Numbers
Total Events – 18
MSA events – 17
IRA events – 0
A Main Victories – 1
B Main Victories – 1
Top Five A Main Finishes – 1
Top 10 A Main Finishes – 3
Heat Race Victories – 0
MSA points finish – 24th
PDTR points finish – 25th