Like any successful racecar driver, Andy Jankowiak is keen on making history when he hits the track. The driver of the #73 Good Gaming Company/Galactic Acres Toyota is also a student of motorsports history.
Which makes Jankowiak especially excited to head to Phoenix Raceway (AZ) this week for the General Tire 150 ARCA Menards Series race with his KLAS Motorsports team. After all, the one-mile Southwestern racetrack has quite a storied past.
Duals between legends like A.J. Foyt, the Andrettis and the Unsers; the first ever NASCAR Truck Series race in history and decades of the Copper World Classic including numerous victories by barnstorming racer Ken Schrader are just a few of the magic moments that have taken place at Phoenix.
“There’s a lot of history there,” said Jankowiak. “I’ve always been fond of the place. Ken Schrader has talked about it being a favorite track. For a guy like that to think that, it must be a pretty cool place.”
Another historic moment at Phoenix came in 1988 when the ultimate racing underdog, independent owner-driver Alan Kulwicki, scored his first ever NASCAR Cup Series victory at the track. To celebrate, Kulwicki turned his car around and took a victory lap in the opposite direction so that he could face the fans in the grandstands. This was dubbed “The Polish Victory Lap”.
“It’s cool to go to the track where the Polish Victory lap was invented,” said Jankowiak. “I do those when I get to win a race. It is a really cool thing in this sport.”
In the ARCA season opener last month at Daytona, Jankowiak went viral due to a comment that he also invented in the moment. Before the final restart, Fox Sports television commentator Phil Parsons asked Jankowiak what his strategy for the final laps was. The response ended up gathering millions of Tik Tok views and was featured on national news websites such as Fox News.
“I’m just going to put my foot on the floor,” said Jankowiak to a live Fox Sports 1 television audience. “I’m not lifting until I see God or a checkered flag.”
Jankowiak rides to Phoenix with a bit of new found fame due to that statement, which he shrugs off as just an honest comment in the heat of the battle.
“I think it was popular because I was just in my moment there,” said Jankowiak. “It was a big moment for all of us in the KLAS Motorsports organization and I was very honest. I was focusing on what I needed to be focusing on.”
Within hours of the checkered flag at Daytona, the KLAS Motorsports team was at work designing a line of apparel featuring Jankowiak’s quote. Count Jankowiak as one of the customers who rushed to place an order.
“We bought a few,” said Jankowiak “KLAS Motorsports sent them out quite promptly and they look good. The team did a lot of quick work and that was impressive. That alone makes a statement about how we are coming along as an organization from top to bottom. That is all part of it.”
The KLAS Motorsports team is good at more than just marketing though. On the Tuesday after Daytona, the team picked up a bare chassis from being painted. No time was wasted in rebuilding it to become a fully prepared top-notch racecar. That is what Jankowiak will need as the Phoenix race boasts a strong entry list.
“Debby (the name of the car’s chassis) is always good to us,” said Jankowiak. “I think it will be a little bit of a learning curve at a new track. We are going to be racing against some of the ARCA West teams and I’m sure they will be familiar with the track. We are looking forward to the challenge though. There will be 44 cars entered and it’s always exciting to have a big field. So, there will be an emphasis on qualifying and then staying up front.”
New to the #73 team at Phoenix will be an exciting marketing partner. The Good Gaming Company has aligned with KLAS Motorsports to promote their mobile app Galactic Acres.
“I’m excited to represent the Good Gaming Company,” said Jankowiak. “It’s exciting that they have chosen to advertise with us, so we are going to use all of our platforms to let people know about the game and the company. It’s free to download Galactic Acres and it’s free to play. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve had a few of our crew guys download it and play it already. They are really enjoying it.”
The KLAS Motorsports family of marketing partners also includes Whelen Engineering, golf cart seller “Mike Sells Golf Carts” of Daytona Beach (The best deal on your next golf cart), Automotive Consultants of Ithaca, NY (Selling new cars at wholesale prices since 1959), Yukon Creek Sportsman Club (a free-of-charge hunting camp in upstate NY for the disabled), Florida Safety Systems (Andy J and KLAS Motorsports supporters), Dak’s Market, Acacia Energy, PlanterBoxDirect.com (Durable metal planter boxes shipped to your door), Musician Ryan Bronson and Rusty Diamond Cores LLC.
The KLAS Motorsports team and Jankowiak will compete at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, March 8th for the General Tire 150. The event will be televised live on FS1 with a post time of 8pm ET.
KLAS Motorsports PR
