User blog:Ajaxcupseries/2020 Windows 300 Review: Diego Orkedi Cements His ASCA Legacy

By: Charles Fallon - The Fallon Corner

For 146 laps, tonight looked like it was going to be Greg Healey’s night to cement his place in ASCA lore.

Healey had won everything he was entered in during the most prestigious week of racing in the ASCA. Coming off a dominant victory in the All-Star race, he swept the poles for the TreatMyPC.com 150 and Windows 300, came back to win the TreatMyPC.com 150 on fuel mileage, and looked like he had the field covered for the first 3/4’s of the Windows 300. In fact, if the race was 200 miles long, Healey would’ve won with ease.

But on lap 146, Diego Orkedi showed up.

Orkedi’s Windows 300 didn’t start off quite as pleasantly as Healey’s. In fact, it started off terribly.

Orkedi was a lap down by lap 70, and it seemed like tonight was just not going to be his night. That was, until Chris Barrymore blew a tire and brought out a caution on lap 74, which allowed the two time champion to get back on the lead lap.

The 22 team went onto pit road and made some major adjustments that gave Diego Orkedi new life. He was able to drive his way up from 10th to 6th on the first lap after the restart, and drove his way up to 2nd by lap 123. While it certainly didn’t seem like Orkedi had anything for Greg Healey, he at least looked to be the best of the rest.

That was until a timely caution came out on lap 139, bunching the field back up. And that’s when the defending 300 winner began to work his magic.

Last season Orkedi won probably the most controversial Windows 300 to date. On the restart with 6 laps to go, Orkedi gave Dan Rodgers a big shove in the middle of turns 1 and 2, getting Rodgers out of shape and sending him into Chris Barrymore. In an instant, the two dominant cars of the night were totaled, and Orkedi cruised to his 2nd Windows 300 victory.

Orkedi’s legacy after this race seemed tarnished. Wrecking the dominant cars of the night to win the biggest race of the season certainly wasn’t a good look for the two time champion.

This season however, there’s no doubt Orkedi had to earn this 300.