Qualifying time trials kicked off the nights festivities with Kosiski laying down a lap of 17.863 seconds which was good for fifth quick overall. Starting third row inside in the heat race Andrew jumped into the fourth position on lap three and was in the tire tracks of second place Jason O’Brien and third place Ben Schaller. The three would race in close corridors for the remains hand full of laps until AK made a last lap, last corner pass on Schaller to secure a third place finish. That pass would give Andrew enough qualifying points to line him up on the pole for the 25 lap main event.

At the drop of the green the All Makes Collision Center, Certified Transmission, Kosiski Auto Parts, Super Clean, Select Auto Omaha, Omni Inventive Care, We'll Smoke U BBQ No. 53 would fall into second place as outside poll sitter Bill Leighton Jr. got the advantage. Kosiski held the second position early on until lap nine when Tad Pospisil began to challenge him for it. Andrew and Tad raced side by side for many laps swapping the runner up spot as the two split lap traffic that had come into play. Kosiski gained the full advantage back on lap 16 right before the caution flag flew on lap 17 for race leader Leighton. This put AK at the top of the leaderboard for a eight lap shootout. Kosiski kept the lead through turns one and two after the restart, but the tricky part of the track was turns three and four and Pospisil would get underneath him coming off to take the lead at the line. Andrew continued to have trouble getting the car to rotate in three and four allowing Schaller to get by for the runner up position on lap 20. A late race restart with a few laps remaining wouldn’t play a factor in the finish and Andrew Kosiski brought home his best series finish of the year in 3rd place.

Saturday night Andrew Kosiski and Team 53 visited the Off Road Speedway where they finished up the back side of a Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing (SLMR) Series doubleheader weekend. Kosiski would see the same result as the first night at I-80 Speedway and come home with another 3rd place finish in the main event.

Qualifying time trials seen Andrew have another strong run clocking in with a time of 15.323 seconds around the 1/4 mile speedway. That was good for eighth quickest and lined Kosiski up third row inside in the heat race. The All Makes Collision Center, Certified Transmission, Kosiski Auto Parts, Super Clean, Select Auto Omaha, Omni Inventive Care, We'll Smoke U BBQ No. 53 then advanced two positions in the eight lap heat race to line it up second row outside in the 35 A feature.

With the track prep crew doing a farming session right before the main event the field took the green flag with a fresh racing surface. On lap one Andrew tried to stay even with inside row two starter Zach Zeitner entering turns three and four but got too high allowing fifth place runner Tad Pospisil to get by. Getting back in line Kosiski caught back up to Zeitner, who had fallen to fourth, and was racing in his tire tracks by lap ten. Lap 14 almost proved to be disastrous for the top five as second place runner Charlie McKenna spun entering turn one. Both Zach and Andrew took evasive maneuvers to not cause a pile up narrowly missing the No. 22, and with the caution flag coming out that allowed AK to reset to the fourth position. When the race resumed the bottom groove of the track finally came into play and after a handful of laps Kosiski finally made the pass for third on lap 21. Andrew then went to work cutting the over two second deficit to second place Bill Leighton Jr. to under one second in just eight laps. Lap traffic was tough on the leaders and that proved to be the same for Kosiski as almost all the ground he made up was lost just two laps later until the yellow waved with just four laps remaining. This set up one last double file restart where Andrew sailed it off into the first turn on the outside of Leighton, but unfortunately at this point in the race the bottom had become the dominant groove so he had to tuck back in line down the back straightaway. The remaining laps were calm and Kosiski took the checkered flag in third position behind Pospisil and Leighton and ahead of Kyle Berck and Jim Johnson.

For more results from these events, please visit www.SLMRSeries.com.

Early heat race action was a tough one, starting from the 7th position AK had to finish in the top three to make the main event invert. With just 8 laps Andrew could only manage to get to the 4th position at the checkered; this result lined him up fourth row inside of the feature.

When the green flag dropped the track was smooth and slick from top to bottom making finding traction the priority. Kosiski ran the bottom on lap one and then jumped to the top on lap two to try and pass the #20V of Rece Vaught. As Andrew entered turn three he made contact with the outside wall with the rear of the car followed by the front of the car. The damage was slight and AK continued on after losing one spot and some time to the leaders. Kosiski quickly got his groove back as he passed for 7th on lap 5, and took over 6th on lap 6. With the race staying green Andrew began trying different lines and by lap 14 he made up a one and a half second deficit to move his All Makes Collision Center, Certified Transmission, Kosiski Auto Parts, Super Clean No. 53 into 5th place. Just one lap later he would take over the 4th position after challenging cousin Brian Kosiski on the outside. The race went green the rest of the way as Andrew finished in the 4th position.

This weeks finish gives Kosiski sole possession of 2nd place in the standings with just one week remaining. Andrew trails Ben Schaller by just 12 points with Championship Sunday scheduled for September 6th.

Andrew Kosiski made his first career trip to the West Liberty Raceway Saturday night as the Haulin’ With Hoker Trucking LLC Super Late Model Racing (SLMR) Series rolled into town for their ninth race of the season.

Sometimes it’s a benefit to be first on the track in qualifying, and sometimes it is a burden, this time it was a burden for the No. 53. Timing in 28th fastest out of 32 cars, it was an uphill climb the rest of the night for Kosiski as that result would put him starting fourth row inside of the fourth heat race. Advancing only one spot in the heat race AK had to run the B feature in which he pulled off half through to save his equipment. Using his first series provisional of the year Andrew rolled off the grid in the 21st starting spot.

With lightening quick track conditions all night Kosiski was hammered down from the drop of the green. For the fourth consecutive race the feature event went caution free and by passing some cars and some cars dropping out Andrew was able to advance nine positions to finish 12th. (Mike Ruefer photo)

“We were a lot better then our result tonight” said Kosiski, “the track still had a little slime to blow off for qualifying and that hurt us being first out. The car was good all night... had the fourth fastest lap in the feature and should of finished a few spots better then I did.”

For more results from these events, please visit www.I-80Speedway.com and www.SLMRSeries.com.

Friday night dual heat races were on the race card to lock in the top 18 starting spots for the Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals. Race one Kosiski started 6th and finished 7th, while in round two he started 3rd and finished 8th. Those results placed Andrew 38th out of 46 cars in passing points.

Saturday’s B main event seen Kosiski’s #53 roll off the grid from the 10th starting spot. With 2 laps remains in the 15 lap race, AK made a crucial pass on Ben Schaller for the 8th position on track. Kosiski narrowly beat the #98 at the checkered flag by .024 seconds. That pass gave Kosiski the I-80 Speedway track provisional as the highest finishing weekly driver to not qualify for the main event. (Todd Boyd photo)

Starting 29th out of 31 cars in the 101 lap Silver Dollar Nationals, Andrew fell to the tail on lap one. On lap 3 the bottom side opened up and AK drove to the 28th spot battling with Tyler Bruening. Kosiski once again fell to the tail and was lapped by race leader Jimmy Owens just as the yellow came out on lap 15. After receiving the lucky dog award to get his lap back, the race went back to green and then on lap 27 Owens would once again place the No. 53 a lap down. Kosiski completed three more circuits before pulling pit side to end his weekend in 28th place.

“The last week has been a struggle with the open motor stuff” said Andrew “we got better every night and after the tire rule change for Saturday we could actually race with these guys a little at least.”

For more results from these events, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.

Friday and Saturday, the largest racing purse in the history of the state of Nebraska will be paid out as the 10th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals begin. Friday night will be dual heat race qualifying, while Saturday the last chance qualifiers and the 101 lap main event take place. Kosiski’s best finish in the main event was 16th in 2016 when he completed all 80 laps that year. Andrew will once again look to make the big show as the best of the best in the dirt late model world will be in attendance for the $53,000 winners purse.

Andrew was the first car on the speedway for time trials in group B, laying down a lap of 15.667 seconds which was 16th fastest out of 22 cars. The heat race and B feature was mostly the same story as AK had difficulty getting the car to turn in the middle of the corner. Finishing 10th and 11th respectively in the two races. Kosiski had his first did not qualify of the season.

“I really needed to get the laps Saturday night to be better for tonight” Andrew said, “the drive, feel, engine, and tires were so different. I’m really glad we were able to get these laps in tonight going into Silver Dollar though, we got a lot of work to do to get to the level we want to be.”

For more results from these events, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.