Staff Report | Monday, July 27th, 2020
Jeff Kot started on the pole and never looked back, leading wire to wire earning victory in The Jack Bertling Memorial at Mahoning Valley Speedway this past weekend.
In a monumental day, the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels officially began their 2020 campaign after being delayed due to lockdowns pertaining to the COVID-19 Pandemic. For the first time this year, all three major TQ Midget Touring Divisions (ATQMRA, NYPA and Can-Am) ran events across the Northeastern United States and Canada.
Heat races kicked off the evening of racing. Defending ATQMRA Driver’s Champion Joey Bailey won the first heat race, in his official debut in Donna and Lenny Boyd’s #1B Home-Built Chassis. Geoffrey Sutton debuted in Bailey’s former ride, winning the second heat race. The newly rebranded #51S is still owned by defending ATQMRA Owner’s Champion, Alan Mollot.
When the field re-drew for position, all eyes were on the provisional pole sitter Jeff Kot. Unofficially, Kot turned the fastest lap in practice which averaged approximately a blistering 96 MPH around the 1/4 mile bullring.
The ATQMRA honored Bertling with a missing man formation on the parade lap with fans and drivers waving to pay respects to an amazing racing career.
When Bertling’s daughter, Tiffany Bertling Hoffman dropped the green flag, Kot shot off like a rocket into turn 1 setting early pace on the field. Heat race winner Geoffrey Sutton bursted out into second and the race was on from there.
Sutton would maintain decent pace with Kot through the early stages of the race, as heavy hitters Ryan Tidman, Buddy Sload and Joey Bailey lurked in the back. Sload and Bailey especially, who had to slice and dice their ways through the field after drawing the 6th and 8th place positions respectively.
Sload in Colin Martin’s #36 Spitfire Chassis would make a late charge, after passing Sutton for second with six laps remaining. While Kot’s lead shrunk, Sload’s charge was no match as Jeff Kot and his Behrent’s Performance Warehouse TQ Midget went on to victory at his home track at Mahoning Valley Speedway in 4 minutes flat.
Buddy Sload would finish second while Geoffrey Sutton finished third. Joey Bailey made a late-race pass on Five-Time ATQMRA Champion Ryan Tidman for fourth, while Tidman’s #51 Lindblad Badger rounded out the top-5.
Kyle Taraska finished 6th, in his newly sponsored Chick-fil-A #22 machine in his first full, official race at Mahoning Valley. Brianna Page managed a seventh place finish in her first start at Mahoning Valley since 2013.
After a promising start to the afternoon showing a lot of speed in his practice and heat race, Anthony Payne’s #12 Dent Zones TQ Midget experiences a mechanical issue six laps into the 25 lap feature event, ending his evening prematurely. Payne was officially scored in 8th.
Mechanical issues plagued much of the ATQMRA pit area yesterday. Mark Yoder experienced a fuel pump issue during the pace laps of the feature. Tim Proctor found an oil line issue after the second round of practice. Unfortunately, neither driver officially started the 25 lap feature.
The ATQMRA honored 3X Champion Jack Bertling Saturday night, he was a staple of the TQ Midget Racing Community. Bertling, who earned two of his ATQMRA Championships with preciously mentioned Alan Mollot, earned his stripes not only on the touring circuit but also at Pine Brook Speedway as well.
Tiffany Bertling Hoffman, was on hand for a special pre-race photo with the ATQMRA drivers, waved the green flag to start the 25 lap-feature, and was on-hand to present the race winning check and plaque to winner Jeff Kot.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels will be in action at Wall Stadium Speedway, on Saturday August 8th, 2020, for the second race of the season. For all the latest news and updates revolving around the Premier TQ Midget Racing Division, please visit atqmra.com or our various social media sites including Facebook and Instagram.
Race Results:
Heat 1:
1. #1B Joey Bailey
2. #95 Jeff Kot
3. #51 Ryan Tidman
4. #75 Mark Yoder
5. #76 Brianna Page
Heat 2:
1. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
2. #12 Anthony Payne
3. #36 Buddy Sload
4. #22 Kyle Taraska
5. #98 Tim Proctor DNS
Feature:
1. #95 Jeff Kot
2. #36 Buddy Sload
3. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
4. #1B Joey Bailey
5. #51 Ryan Tidman
6. #22 Kyle Taraska
7. #76 Brianna Page
8. #12 Anthony Payne DNF
9. #75 Mark Yoder DNS
10. #98 Tim Proctor DNS
