Diego Orkedi

Orkedi at Blu-Ray Motor Speedway in 2021

### Achievements

2015, 2018, 2020 ASCA Ajax Cup Series Champion2010, 2019, 2020 Windows 300 Winner

2021 Ajax 200 Winner

2016, 2018 Northern 200 Winner

2016 Ajax All-Star Race Winner

2015, 2019 Intel Shootout Winner

Youngest winner in Ajax Cup history (19 years)

### Awards

2010 ASCA Ajax Cup Rookie of the Year 2018 ESPY Awards Best Driver

2020 ESPY Awards Best Driver

## ASCA Ajax Cup Series Career

### First Race

2010 Dust Bunny 300 (Basement Superspeedway)

### Last Race

2021 Ajax Season Finale (Belltown Speedpark)

### First Win

2010 Windows 300 (Computer Motor Speedway)

### Last Win

2021 Panasonic 200 (Blu-Ray Motor Speedway)

### Poles

9

**Diego Esteban Orkedi** (born February 20th, 1991), is an American professional stock car racing driver. A three-time champion in the ASCA Ajax Cup Series, he currently competes full-time in the series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Orkedi Bros Racing.

Orkedi is the younger brother of 2016 ASCA Ajax Cup Series Champion Nick Orkedi. He currently holds several records in ASCA competition, including being the youngest race winner in Ajax Cup history at 19 years old in 2010 in the inaugural Windows 300. Furthermore, he holds the record of the youngest driver to reach 20 Ajax Cup wins in their career at 30 years of age in the 2021 Panasonic 200. Currently, he is the most successful driver in the ASCA's Modern Era with 18 victories and three championships in the Ajax Cup Series since 2015.

When Orkedi won the 2021 Ajax 200, he became just the second driver in ASCA history to complete the Ajax Cup crown jewel sweep of the Windows 300, Ajax 200, and Northern 200. He also became the second driver to capture the special Ajax No Bull million dollar bonus awarded for winning a crown jewel event.

## **Early Life and Career**

Orkedi was born in Belltown, Michigan. His first experience behind the wheel was at the age of seven when his father Louis Orkedi bought him and his brother Nick matching go karts. The two began to race each other around the neighborhood every day after school, even having the cops called on them a couple times for blocking the road during their daily races.

Orkedi began his driving career at the age of 15 in 2006, winning 15 races at Belltown Speedpark in late model events from 2006 to 2009 before progressing up to the ASCA after being signed as a development prospect for his father's team, Orkedi Bros Racing.

## **ASCA Career**

**Orkedi Bros Racing**

**2009**

In late 2009, Orkedi made his Lowe's Series debut for Orkedi Bros Racing in the No. 12 Penske Incorporated Dodge, running two races at the end of the season with a best finish of 5th.

It was announced in December 2009 that Orkedi would compete full time in the Prejippie Cup Series, driving a brand new No. 77 for Orkedi Bros Racing in 2010.

**2010 - Rookie Season**

Orkedi won his first career Cup race in the inaugural Windows 300 at Computer Motor Speedway, becoming the youngest winner in Cup history at just 19 years of age. For his achievement of reaching victory lane in what would become the most prestigious race in the ASCA, he would also take home ASCA Prejippie Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors as well.

Late in the 2010 season, Orkedi decided to terminate his development contract with Orkedi Bros Racing to sign with Tico Bowden Motorsports, driving the No. 11 full time for the team in 2011.

**Tico Bowden Motorsports**

**2011**

Orkedi would largely struggle with new team Tico Bowden Motorsports in 2011, going winless and only scoring 4 top 10's throughout the 24 race season.

In October 2011, it was announced that Michael White would be buying out Tico Bowden Motorsports for the 2012 season, and Orkedi would be replaced by veteran Dan Rodgers in the No. 11 as a result of this move.

**Return to Orkedi Bros Racing**

**2012**

In 2012, Orkedi would be reunited with his father's team, once again driving the No. 77 as Boris Tables was surprisingly released from the team despite capturing the Windows 300 a year prior. The season would start off rocky for Orkedi, but he would eventually right the ship and score his 2nd career victory in the Goin' Green 250 at Video Game Raceway towards the end of the season.

**2014**

After the highly publicized driver's strike that cost the ASCA the entire 2013 season was lifted in 2014, Orkedi would put together a solid campaign. While he would once again go winless, he would make the Chase for the Prejippie Cup for the first time in his career, finishing 7th in points.

**2015 - First Championship**

The 2015 season brought about a lot of changes in the ASCA, with both of the sport's top divisions rebranding to the Ajax Cup and Craftsman Series', a new car being introduced to the Cup Series, as well as many new facilities replacing some of the outdated tracks currently on the ASCA schedule. It was also the first full season that every race would be broadcasted live on Instagram by *ADRA TV* after the owners of the network were pleased by what they had seen in their trial run during the last 8 races of the 2014 campaign.

Orkedi Bros Racing was not immune to these changes, as they completely overhauled everything except their driver lineup heading into the new season. Nick Orkedi would switch from the No. 9 to the No. 2 with new sponsorship from Miller Lite, Ronnie Woods would switch from the No. 12 to the No. 43 with new sponsorship from Gwaltney, and Diego Orkedi would switch from the No. 77 to the No. 22 with new sponsorship from Shell/Pennzoil. The team also announced they'd be switching manufacturers to Ford after Dodge announced they'd be pulling out of the sport completely.

These changes saw Orkedi's career elevate to new heights nobody would see coming, and it would begin with a bang as Orkedi would take home the inaugural Intel Shootout for the previous year's pole winners with ease. He would start 8th in the season opening Windows 300, and would finish 6th after leading one lap. The following week, Orkedi would take home the inaugural Arris 200 at The Stoneyard for his 3rd career victory. Orkedi would struggle the next two weeks finishing 12th in the Menards 200, and 17th in the AutoZone 200 after water seeped into his engine during the rain delay; but he would not finish outside the top 10 the rest of the season.

Orkedi would be involved in a scary accident in the Subway Grand Prix at the Streets of Computerville after being turned by Jimmy Hood coming to the final lap, leading to Orkedi sliding into the pool just behind the start/finish line and nearly drowning after it took safety workers three minutes to reach his vehicle. He would still finish 7th however, while Randle Woods would win the race.

The following week, Orkedi would finish 2nd in the Ajax 200 at Ajax Superspeedway and back that up with a 6th place effort in the Advocare 200 at Advocare Speedpark. He would finish 9th in the Panasonic 200 at Blu-Ray Motor Speedway, putting him 13 points behind points leader Randle Woods heading into the inaugural Amp Energy 200 at the Michigan Road Course.

However, on lap 45/100 Randle Woods would lose his transmission, taking his car behind the wall and finishing 21st. This would open the door for both Diego and Nick Orkedi to take what was thought to be the number one Chase seed heading into the Chase for the Ajax Cup. Nick Orkedi would take the lead away from Sean Wooden on the white flag lap which gave him the number one seed, but heading down the backstretch he would be forced into the grass by Wooden, nearly spinning out but saving it. This would allow Dan Rodgers to sneak past Nick into 2nd, bumping Orkedi back to 3rd and with his 6th place run Diego would lock up the number one Chase seed.

On September 19th, 2015, it was announced that the ASCA season would be suspended indefinitely due to another driver's strike. In December 2015, the rest of the season would be canceled, which effectively gave Diego Orkedi his first Cup Series championship by just two points over his brother Nick Orkedi and three points over Randle Woods.

Orkedi would finish the year with 1 win, 2 top 5's and 7 top 10's along with his first Cup Series title.

**2016 - Start of Diego's Weekly Drama**

Orkedi started off his 2016 campaign leading coming to the white flag of the Ajax 200, but he would be passed by his rookie teammate Grant Von Duvedel coming down the backstretch and ultimately finish 2nd. He would follow that up with a dominant performance in the Arris 200 at The Stoneyard, leading 170 of 200 laps and taking over the points lead with his 4th career victory. Orkedi would struggle over the course of the next couple weeks however, with an 11th place result in the Menards 200 and his first DNF of the season in the AutoZone 200 after being caught up in an incident with Ryan Dixon. He would bounce back with a 4th place effort in the Subway Grand Prix leading into the All-Star Break.

Orkedi found himself at the center of controversy in the inaugural Ajax All-Star Race after being involved in multiple incidents throughout the night. On the Stage 2 restart, Orkedi lined up 4th behind teammates Tim Willis and Tico Bowden who both stayed out on old tires. He proceeded to turn his former team owner Bowden into Willis, which took both drivers out of the race. Orkedi would go onto win that stage and start on the front row for the final stage, where he would once again find himself in another incident after making contact with Brynn Rennerd and sending him spinning into the inside wall, collecting his brother Nick Orkedi and Caleb Henderson Jr. as well. Orkedi would go onto win the race and the $1 million dollars, but on the cool down he was hit by Randle Woods, who thought Orkedi had wrecked his teammate Rennerd purposely. He would respond on Twitter with his now iconic quote: "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win races."

The drama would not end there for Orkedi, as in the following week's Windows 300 he would dump Sean Wooden on lap 21/200 directly into the path of Tim Willis, taking both drivers out of the race. He would finish 6th on the night, but would once again be involved in a confrontation on the cool down lap as Tico Bowden would block Orkedi on his way back to the entrance to pit road, flipping him off in the process.

In the next week's Advocare 200, the controversy would finally reach its boiling point. On lap 21/200, Orkedi was running 3rd, attempting to make a pass on lap car Tim Willis. However, he would never complete that pass. Willis would full throttle Orkedi head on into the turn one wall, taking both cars out of the race for the night. While Orkedi would receive no penalty for his actions which would draw the ire of fans and pundits alike, Willis would be suspended for the next two weeks, being replaced by Diego's father Louis Orkedi in the No. 41 during that span.

Orkedi would stay out of trouble the rest of the season, even scoring his 5th career victory in the inaugural Northern 200 at The Stoneyard after his pit crew got him out ahead of Randle Woods with 28 laps to go.

Orkedi would score 2 wins, 5 top 5's, and 7 top 10's, and would finish 4th in the final standings.

**2017**

Orkedi's season began on a sour note as despite leading on the white flag in the Intel Shootout, he'd be turned by Dan Rodgers while trying to make a block down the backstretch, finishing 10th. He would rebound in the Ajax 200, scoring a 4th place finish to start the season on a high note. The following week, Orkedi would lose for the first time at The Stoneyard, finishing 8th after a bad strategy call. He would finish 2nd to Jimmy Hood in the following week's Advocare 200, but would follow that up with a 9th place effort in the rain shortened AutoZone 200.

Orkedi's first controversy of the season would come in the Subway Grand Prix, as coming to the white flag both himself and Randle Woods were rapidly catching Sean Wooden, who was saving fuel. Heading into turn one, Orkedi would make contact with Woods and nearly turn him, which ultimately cost both drivers a shot at the victory. After the race, Woods would block Orkedi's path back to the garage and gave him the finger while the two driver's crews had to be separated on pit road. The drama between those two would continue into the next week's Ajax All-Star Race, when Orkedi would punt Woods up the track on the final restart, leaving Woods to finish 9th while Orkedi would finish 3rd. On the cool down lap, Brynn Rennerd would turn Orkedi, and Randle Woods would say the infamous quote: "Diego Orkedi will show up to the Windows 300 with a black eye, mark my words." Orkedi's eye would be unharmed heading into the Windows 300, and he would finish 2nd in the race, moving him up to 3rd in points.

The following week, Orkedi would ironically hold off Randle Woods, leading 141 laps to score his first win of the season in the Menards 200. This also gave him his first points lead of the season by 15 points over Jimmy Hood, and it was also his first win not at The Stoneyard since 2012. An 8th place finish in the Panasonic 200 would be followed up by Orkedi's 2nd win of the season in the Amp Energy 200, leading 82 of 100 laps and extending his points lead to 17 over Randle Woods. Things would fall apart for Orkedi in the hurricane delayed Northern 200, as he would blow an engine and finish 22nd and drop to 2nd in points, 6 behind Randle Woods. In the penultimate race of the season, the Fastenal 200, Orkedi would lead 29 laps and finish 4th but once again find himself in controversy after being accused of intentionally dumping Todd Kidd coming to the checkered flag to make up extra points. "There's no doubt in my mind he did that on purpose. That's why I took his ass out after the race and he's lucky I'm racing for a championship or I'd take him out next week too." is what Randle Woods had to say about the incident. Orkedi entered the Ajax Season Finale 3rd in points, two points behind Jimmy Hood and Randle Woods who entered the race tied for the points lead. Despite starting 5th and working his way up to 2nd at one point, Orkedi would ultimately finish 3rd and finish 7 points short of Jimmy Hood for the Ajax Cup title.

Orkedi would rack up 2 wins, 8 top 5's, and 11 top 10's, and would finish 2nd in the final standings.

**2018 - Second Championship**

The season would once again begin with controversy for Orkedi, as his brother Nick was involved in a serious accident with 10 laps to go in the Ajax 200 that resulted in a broken leg for him. During the red flag period, Orkedi rammed his car into the side of Michael White who turned his older brother in the prior incident, and Orkedi would finish 8th after being left out to dry on the final restart. "What he (Michael White) did was right there was Bush league, and he knows it. You're not gonna try to kill my brother without consequences." is what Orkedi had to say about the accident, and he backed up those words the following week when he turned White in the Arris 200 on lap 59/200, creating an even bigger firestorm after the race. Orkedi would go onto win that race as well after a last lap pass on Todd Kidd for the victory.

In his post race press conference, Michael White suggested that he may pull his Ajax Cup and Craftsman teams from the ASCA, and that Diego's father Louis Orkedi "pays off the officials" to ensure Diego does not face any punishment from his actions. The rivalry between these two would continue into the following week's Advocare 200 pre race media availability, where Orkedi suggested that the only way White could retaliate is because he'd be putting him "a lap down because he's too slow to be running top five where I'll be." White balked at Orkedi's comments, saying it was "typical Diego" and that he'd be getting Orkedi a "Christmas present on Sunday." A pre race poll asking fans whether or not White would retaliate against Orkedi showed 78% of fans thought that he would, and that ultimately ended up happening with just 10 laps to go.

After just having taken the caution flag for a crash involving Boris Tables and Cameron Atwood, while leading Orkedi turned Michael White into the inside wall, which resulted in White slamming on the brakes and waiting for Orkedi to drive by him so he could return the favor and drive Diego into the outside wall, heavily damaging Orkedi's right side suspension. The move would get White parked for the night, but it would also cost Orkedi the race as after leading 177 laps, he would ultimately only finish 3rd with the damage. After the race, Orkedi would actually go after Todd Kidd for making additional contact with him while trying to pass him for 2nd on the white flag lap, but nothing more would come in a form of a rivalry between those two for the time being.

He would follow that up with his first uneventful race of the season, a 4th place effort in the AutoZone 200 before finding himself in even more drama in the inaugural Little General 200 at West Virginia. Orkedi struggled for most of the afternoon despite starting 5th, and with 19 laps to go he and Chris Barrymore made contact, sending Orkedi into the outside wall for his first and only DNF of the season as well as a 19th place finish. Randle Woods would go onto win that race and take over the points lead while Orkedi temporarily dropped to 3rd in the standings.

Orkedi and Woods would once again find themselves in more controversy together, this time in a Craftsman event. In the Pilot Flying J 100 at the Streets of Computerville, Orkedi started on pole position and led the opening 24 laps. However, coming to the white flag lap Randle Woods had closed the gap and was within striking distance to attempt a move on the last lap. Heading into turn one, Woods punted Orkedi off the course and into the grass and drove onto win the race while Orkedi finished 6th. On the cool down lap, Orkedi nearly turned Woods into the pace car, and suggested in his post race interview that Woods "runs these Craftsman races for an ego boost because his d\*\*\* is so small he needs that." Woods suggested in his interview that he was on re-paying the favor of how Orkedi has raced him throughout the years. Despite many thinking these two would have another run-in during the Subway Grand Prix, they did not as Orkedi would finish 6th while Woods finished 3rd despite leading the most laps. Orkedi would follow that up with a 2nd place finish in the Ajax All-Star Race and a 3rd place effort in the Windows 300 that put him two points behind Randle Woods after Woods blew a motor and finished 18th.

The next two weeks would see Orkedi go on a level of dominance that had not been seen before in the modern era. He would win the pole for the Menards 200 and lead the opening 177 laps before being passed by Jimmy Hood with 5 laps to go despite the two making contact. This led to Hood being the latest driver to speak out against Orkedi, saying "now I see firsthand why nobody respects the 22." Despite this Orkedi would regain the points lead, and he would back that up by leading 134 laps in the Panasonic 200 to easily score his 2nd victory of the season and extend his points lead to 15 over Randle Woods. A 6th place finish in the Amp Energy 200 would be followed up by Orkedi's 3rd win of the season in the Northern 200, passing Chris Barrymore for the lead with 15 laps to go for his 10th career victory and extending his points lead to 21 over Randle Woods. He would finish 4th in the inaugural Apple 225, and despite turning Ryan Braun in front of the field in the Fastenal 200 on lap 29/100, Orkedi would go onto lead a race high 49 laps and finish 6th, becoming the first driver in the modern era to clinch the title a race early after his title competitors Randle Woods and Todd Kidd would finish 10th and 9th respectively. He would finish 8th in the Ajax Season Finale at Belltown.

Orkedi would wrap up the year with 3 wins, 8 top 5's and 13 top 10's, taking home his 2nd Ajax Cup Series Championship.

**2019**

Orkedi would begin his 2019 campaign with a bang, holding off the pack to score the victory in the Intel Shootout, the 2nd of his career. Despite leading 9 laps in the Ajax 200, he would finish 10th after a reluctance from everyone else to work with him due to his antics in recent years. Orkedi would finish 3rd in the Arris 200, and would score his first victory of the season in the Advocare 200 putting a late race bump and run on Ryan Dixon to secure the victory. Dixon was not very pleased with this move and gave Orkedi a shove on the cool down lap, but Orkedi saw no issues with his move, saying in his post race interview: "If you can't handle a bump and run, then you need to get the f\*\*\* out the Cup Series." Orkedi would struggle mightily in the following week's AutoZone 200, getting lapped coming to the white flag and finishing 11th, and the following week his DNF less streak would come to an end ironically at West Virginia as he'd blow an engine and finish 21st. This dropped Orkedi down to 5th in points, 26 back of points leader Randle Woods.

The drama would ramp back up for Orkedi in the following week's Pilot Flying J 100, as Orkedi had passed MDR driver Michael Scott for 2nd on lap 13/25 before Scott proceeded to turn Orkedi head on into a nearby shed, taking both drivers out of the race. Scott entered into the race specifically to get revenge on Orkedi for an incident from the previous year's inaugural ADRA All-Star Race. Orkedi would bounce back by winning the pole for the next day's Subway Grand Prix, leading the opening 13 laps and finishing 3rd despite a mid race incident with Hunter Bradley. After the race, it was revealed on *ASCA Radioactive* that both Orkedi brothers were extremely skeptical of race winner Dan Rodgers cheating, as he had won 3 of the opening 6 races at that point of the season.

**Rodgers Incident - 2019 Windows 300**

On July 1st, 2019, Orkedi was involved in an incident during the Ajax Cup Series 9th Annual Windows 300 at Computer Motor Speedway. On a restart with 6 laps to go, Orkedi lined up 3rd on the restart behind Dan Rodgers and Chris Barrymore, who had combined to lead all but 28 laps up to that point. While heading through turns 1 and 2, Orkedi rode on Rodgers' back bumper through the corner, which eventually sent him up the track into Chris Barrymore and Greg Healey, ending all three drivers' chances at a Windows 300 victory. Orkedi would not be black flagged and allowed to continue in the race, holding onto the lead during the final GWC restart to capture his 2nd Windows 300 victory and 2nd win of the season.

Both fans and drivers were up in arms over the incident, almost unanimously clamoring for Orkedi to be suspended. Dan Rodgers stated in an expletive laden post race interview: "If his daddy was paying off the officials that f\*\*\*\*\* wouldn't have made it past 2014 in this series." Chris Barrymore said they should "absolutely" suspend Orkedi due to the life threatening injuries Dexter Andrews suffered in the previous week's Ajax Open. Race director Caleb Henderson said in his post race presser that intentional wrecking "will not be tolerated", so when it was revealed on ASCA Radioactive that Orkedi said: "I'll wreck someone to win this race for you guys, I don't give a f\*\*\*." it was highly expected that he would receive a suspension of some sort.

On July 3rd, 2019, the ASCA announced that Orkedi would only receive a three race probation for his actions in the Windows 300, which sent many drivers and fans berserk. Orkedi responded with a tweet of his own that only added fuel to the fire, saying: "To all you p\*\*\*\*\*\* out there that are blaming me for the 11 car crashing, LMFAO. Do I control his car? Do I control his decisions? No, end of discussion. #Salt".

Orkedi would find himself in more trouble the following week in the Colgate 200, when on lap 109/200 he would turn Sean Wooden off the track while still on probation, but he would receive no further penalties for his actions. He would finish 5th, but lose the points lead to Randle Woods who won the race while also leading every lap. Orkedi would back that up with a 7th place effort in the Panasonic 200 despite another off camera run in with Dan Rodgers, and would win the pole for the Amp Energy 200 but finish 3rd, dropping him 17 points behind Randle Woods for the points lead.

Once his probation officially ended leading up to the Northern 200, Orkedi would fins himself in trouble once again, this time with Randle Woods. On lap 111/200, while battling for 5th the two would make contact, sending Woods into the inside wall. While it seemed like Orkedi would be able to drive away unscathed and potentially steal the points lead back, that would be short lived as lap car Sean Wooden clobbered Orkedi from behind and drove him right into the side of Woods' car, bringing out the red flag. Woods offered some extremely scathing criticism of Orkedi in his post accident interview, stating: "Guess his daddy's money is starting to run out since we've been beating him so badly this season, so he's gotta resort to wrecking people to win another title." Orkedi stated that he simply "blew a tire" and that Woods was "whining" about the incident, but pre race communications revealed that Orkedi had been planning to wreck Woods all along.

On July 30th, 2019, it was announced Orkedi would only receive a one race probation for his Northern 200 actions, which would be served in the following week's Apple 225.

In the Apple 225, Orkedi would start 6th, but would fall a lap down and find himself involved in another incident with Jimmy Hood on the restart with 34 laps to go, further hampering his chances at a good finish. He would finish 12th, and be tied for 2nd in points with Dan Rodgers in a must win situation heading into the following week's Fastenal 200. Orkedi would do just that in that race, despite being turned by his teammate Grant Von Duvedel with 25 laps to go he'd rally back to lead a race high 29 laps and score his 3rd victory of the season, keeping him mathematically eligible for the title heading into Belltown although he was still 21 points back of Randle Woods. Orkedi would finish 6th in the Ajax Season Finale while Woods would finish 4th, giving Woods the 2019 Ajax Cup Championship by 23 points.

Orkedi would conclude the season with 3 wins, 7 top 5's, and 10 top 10's, finishing 2nd in the final standings.

**2020 - Third Championship**

Orkedi's season got off to a rocky start, as on the final lap of the Intel Shootout he was running 2nd behind older brother Nick Orkedi before getting turned by Dan Rodgers into the inside wall while trying to throw a block. The accident gave Orkedi a concussion, forcing him to sit out the Arris Duels and step out of the car in the Ajax 200 after 18/100 laps for Jack Fronwell, who would go onto finish 12th after being caught up in a late race accident. Orkedi would continue to struggle for the next few weeks with another 12th place effort in the Little General 200, a 4th place run in the Advocare 200, a 6th place result in the Arris 200, and back to back DNF's with an 11th place run in the AutoZone 200 and a 22nd place result in the Subway Grand Prix. The final result put Orkedi down to 12th in points, 37 markers behind points leader Greg Healey. Furthermore, he would follow that up with a lap 1 crash out of the All-Star Race after getting loose underneath Caleb Henderson Jr., also collecting his brother Nick Orkedi.

After the All-Star Race crash however, Orkedi would not incur another DNF the rest of the season. He would start 9th in the Windows 300, but be lapped by lap 74 before a timely caution came out that gave Orkedi the free pass. Orkedi would subsequently go on a tear through the field after some adjustments on the pit stops, driving all the way up to 2nd before another caution came out for Doug Bowden blowing an engine. On the ensuing restart, Orkedi side drafted race leader Greg Healey through turns 1 and 2 and moved to being side by side with Healey before taking the lead into turn 3. Despite a slide job attempt by Healey with 20 laps to go, Orkedi would pull the crossover move and hold off Healey to score his record 3rd Windows 300 victory in the 10th running of the race. He would follow that up by leading 104 laps the next week in the Colgate 199, scoring his 2nd win of the season and 15th of his career to move up to 3rd in points. Orkedi would lead 66 laps in the following week's Panasonic 200, but would be handed a speeding penalty and still rallied back to finish 3rd. That would be backed up with a 5th place run in the Amp Energy 200 while points leader Greg Healey had a 22nd place DNF, allowing Orkedi to cut Healey's point lead from 25 points to 8. He would win the pole for the Northern 200 and lead the opening 138 laps, but an uncontrolled tire penalty would set him back with just 60 laps to go. That wouldn't stop Orkedi from driving up from 11th to 2nd, having a shot at the win on the final lap before getting loose underneath leader Ryan Dixon and finishing 2nd. Orkedi also infamously berated his pit crew for the uncontrolled tire penalty on both ASCA Radioactive and Twitter post race, saying that he had fired them and it was ultimately proven that he did just that. Despite all this, he took over the points lead from Greg Healey after he finished 10th, leading the standings by two points with just four races left. In the inaugural WesBanco 250, Orkedi would find himself in even more controversy after making a daring move on pole sitter Todd Kidd to take the lead on a lap 36 restart. Orkedi would lead the subsequent 89 laps, taking home his 3rd victory of the season by 19.5 seconds, the largest margin of victory in ASCA history. The win allowed Orkedi to extend his points lead to 15 points over new 2nd place point man Todd Kidd heading into the Apple 225, where Orkedi would finish 4th and bump his point margin up to 18 over Greg Healey. He would start 17th in the following week's Fastenal 200, but would use pit strategy to move up to 3rd by the halfway point. On lap 64/100, Orkedi would make a controversial move again on Todd Kidd, trying to pull the crossover move to take the lead but instead turning Kidd onto pit road. The maneuver would give Orkedi the lead, something he would not relinquish until Dan Rodgers passed him with just two laps to go. By then, Orkedi had already locked up the most laps led in the race at 36 and would still finish 4th, allowing him to once again clinch the 2020 Ajax Cup Championship a race early at Ajax Superspeedway. Orkedi's incredible run to recover from 12th in points to a championship is widely regarded as one of the best comebacks in ASCA history, scoring a modern era record 9 straight top 5 finishes, and winning 3 races plus leading 487 laps in a 7 race span. He would finish 10th in the Ajax Season Finale, his first non top 5 finish since April of that year.

Orkedi would conclude the year with 3 wins, 10 top 5's and 12 top 10's, taking home his 3rd Ajax Cup Championship.

**2021**

Once again, Orkedi would find himself involved in controversy pertaining to the Intel Shootout as with 5 laps to go he made contact with Doug Bowden, spinning Bowden out and flipping him onto his roof. The season would start off much better for Orkedi, as he would start 7th in the Ajax 200. Despite falling back during the middle portion of the race, he would rally back to the front late and found himself in 3rd with five laps to go. Orkedi would side draft Ryan Braun, giving him momentum to move to race leader Shane Park's left rear quarter panel. Park would come down to block but would not be clear, turning himself off of Orkedi's nose and eventually into the pace car, which sent him back onto the track and creating a massive accident. With the ASCA's new rule allowing races to end under caution with five laps or less remaining, the ASCA officials made the decision to call the race, giving Orkedi his long awaited first Ajax 200 victory as well as his first Ajax No Bull million dollar bonus. Orkedi became just the second driver to complete the modern era crown jewel sweep, joining Brynn Rennerd in that category as well as scoring his 2nd Ajax Superspeedway victory in the last four races at the track. Orkedi would find himself back in drama the following week, as on the opening lap of the Little General 200 he would be turned by Devin Smith but would rebound to finish 9th. He would finish 7th in the Advocare 200, but would bounce back with his first Stoneyard victory since 2018 in the Arris 200, moving within 9 points of Randle Woods of the points lead. However, the following week Orkedi would come down with food poisoning during the week and struggle in the Coors Light 175. On lap 64/175, Orkedi was about to get lapped by race leader Randle Woods, but heading into turn one he blocked Woods and brake checked him entering the corner, allowing his older brother Nick Orkedi to take the lead away. Woods would retaliate by running into Orkedi's left rear tire, which eventually cut it down on lap 82, handing Orkedi his first DNF in the last 11 races with a 22nd place result.

On October 2nd, 2021, Orkedi was arrested in Belltown, Michigan ahead of that weekend's AutoZone 200 for a domestic violence dispute with his current partner. He was released the following day and eventually had the charges dropped after it was discovered the allegations were fabricated.

In the subsequent AutoZone 200, Orkedi would once again DNF after being involved in an incident with Todd Kidd and Devin Smith, ultimately finishing 15th and dropping to 6th in points. In the following week's Subway Grand Prix, Orkedi would find himself in more controversy after making contact with Jared Ayers on lap 9/50 but completing the pass for the lead. However, he would lead all 42 laps after that incident, scoring his 3rd win of the season and 6th victory in his last 16 races. Orkedi and Ayers would butt heads once again in the Ajax All-Star Race, as on lap 17 on Stage 1 Orkedi would brake check Ayers, causing Ayers to turn Orkedi back into traffic and creating a massive accident. The ASCA would park Ayers for the rest of the night, and the two would continue to trade barbs on Twitter leading up to the Windows 300. In that race, Orkedi would struggle massively, finishing 15th multiple laps down and dropping from 2nd to 5th in points. Things would not get better for him in the following week's Colgate 199, as a power steering failure in practice forced Orkedi to start 22nd. He would drive his way through the field and finish 6th, and back that up by leading 153 laps in the Panasonic 200 and scoring his 4th victory of the season, a career high for Orkedi. That victory was also the 20th of his career, becoming just the 5th driver in Ajax Cup history to do so and becoming the youngest to reach that milestone at just 30 years of age. Things would only go downhill the rest of the season for Orkedi though as he only scored one more top 5 during the final six races. An 8th place finish in the Amp Energy 200 was followed up by Orkedi's first pole of the season for the Northern 200, but that was thwarted by a first lap accident with Ryan Braun. A 7th place result in the WesBanco 250 despite yet another run in with Jared Ayers would be followed up by a 2nd place run in the Apple 225, but that would be thwarted by a disastrous 18th place effort in the Fastenal 200 after being shuffled out of the lead pack with 15 laps to go. The Ajax Season Finale would not end much better for Orkedi, as on lap 136/200 Orkedi made contact with Randle Woods, but in the process was run into from behind by Jared Ayers and pile driven into the wall for his 4th DNF of the season, finishing 17th. This led to Orkedi's first finish outside the top two in points since 2016, and his four DNF's was the most in a season for him since 2012.

Orkedi would wrap up the year with 4 wins, 5 top 5's, and 10 top 10's, and finished the season 5th in the final standings.

**2022**

On January 14th, 2022, it was reported that Orkedi would be engaging in a contract holdout and not reporting to the Orkedi Bros Racing shop until the situation was resolved.

## **Personal Life**

Orkedi has four sons with three different mothers. Their names are Camden, Luis, Anthony, and Diego Jr.

He is also the son of Orkedi Bros Racing team owner and former ASCA driver Louis Orkedi, and younger brother of Nick Orkedi.

## **Legal Issues**

On July 12th, 2021, Orkedi had a Michigan warrant out for his arrest for failing to pay three straight months of child support on time.

On July 30th, 2021, it was announced that he had worked out a plea deal to pay $15K of his current earnings to his three mothers per month so he would avoid prison.

On October 2nd, 2021, Orkedi was arrested in Belltown, Michigan ahead of that weekend's AutoZone 200 for a domestic violence dispute with his current partner. He was released the following day and eventually had the charges dropped after it was discovered the allegations were fabricated.

## **In Popular Culture**

Orkedi was featured as the cover athlete of *ASCA Racing 2021 Season*, and appears as a driver in all three iterations of the product by *313Games*.

He has also appeared in numerous Shell/Pennzoil advertisements from 2016 to the present day, and is currently a brand ambassador for Goyard, Richard Millie, and Eggo's Waffles.