Mark Tychoniewicz – The dream was worth the wait.
By Dan Hall

All of us have had a dream at one time in our lives. Some hold on to the dream longer than others. Many people just let it go. For Mark Tychoniewicz the dream arrived on August 18th, 2006. He had waited a very long time. Thirty-five years to be exact. Mark never gave up on the dream. Mark said, “I can’t believe it finally happened. The dream of winning a Modified race has come true and it only took thirty-five years. It was worth the wait.” Mark’s win took place in the second Modified heat race on 8/18/06. Mark started on the pole of the race. He remembers, “I was on the pole and Eddie Hawkins was to my outside. We took it down into turn one side by side. I cleared him coming out of two. A lap or two later, Chuck Hossfeld spun which brought out the caution. On the restart, I had Tim McMullen to my outside. I cleared him and took the lead.” There were only two laps left in the race and Mark was still at the point. Mark continued, "I kept telling myself don't do anything dumb. Don’t overdrive the corners and keep the car to the inside. The final lap was very exciting. It seem like I held my breath forever. This was worth the wait.” The fans gave Mark a big welcome into victory lane. Once the photos had been taken, the #01 headed to the pits. Upon his arrival, many of the Modified teams came over and congratulated Mark. Mark said, “Jan, Wilbur, Buck and all the guys were giving me the thumbs up and shaking my hand. I can’t tell you what a thrill this is. To race against these guys is a big honor. I will never forget this race. The only thing missing was my mom. I know she would have been very happy about this race.” Unfortunately, Mark’s mom passed away several years ago.

Thirty-five years is a long time to be involved with racing. Mark has participated in various forms of the sport since age five. He got his start with his dad who was a racer. Mark explained, “My dad (Nick) ran at Monroe County fairgrounds and occasionally at Waterloo. I helped him in the shop and at the track. I started racing microds when I was eight years old. We raced at the Williamson microd track.” Mark started racing Super Stocks briefly in 1990. He raced go karts 1994-1998 and won a championship in 1996. He returned to stock car racing in 1999. He explains, “I started working on the John DeMinck Modified team in 1999. Then in 2003, John bought a second (backup) car. I got to drive it at some of the races. The car was the #01. The #0 was magnetic in case John needed it.” Mark drove the #01 at an ROC race in 2003. The race was at Wyoming County Speedway and he finished a respectable seventh. Mark has competed in every “Modified Mania” at WCIS. He has also raced his modified occasionally at Lancaster. When John DeMinck retired, Mark became the primary driver.

Mark is thankful to his crew for their hard work. The #01 crew consists of Jeff DeMinck, Mark Lazaroff, Gary Forbel, Patch Brown, Dan DeCracker, and Brad Buechell. The sponsors on the 2Kwik Modified are Tim’s Auto Body in Marion, Advantage Auto Stores in Williamson, and 2 Kwik Chassis of Brockport.

The #01 Modified racer wants to thank his dad, Nick, for all the years of racing memories, Jeff, Heather and John DeMinick for providing him with a winning car. He also wants to acknowledge Rick Kluth(Co Owner of the car) for all the help on the car, Buck Catalano for letting the #01 use his hauler. Everybody at Kluth Motorsports, Timmy Weis for his excellent paint work on the car, and his daughters Clarissa, Katrina, and Kimmy for their support.



Yes, dreams do come true. Anyone that was at Spencer Speedway last Friday saw one in victory lane. No doubt, his mom was looking down from heaven and smiling. Mark’s win was thirty-five years in the making. If you ask him if it was worth the wait…..He will tell you it was worth every second.