Sean Case Photography
HOWELL, NJ- Joey Bailey is on a quest to earn his second Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels Championship, when the series invades Bethel Motor Speedway on November 6th.
Bailey, the last official crowned champion of the ATQMRA in 2019 due to the Covid-pandemic, is seeking his first championship with the Boyd Family.
“Racing for Lenny and Donna Boyd has been a dream come true. I have looked up to them for so long, and now to celebrate all this success together- nothing would make me happier than bringing a championship back to Easy Street,” said Bailey.
The Boyd Family, in their own right, have earned plenty of success in not only motorsports as a whole, but especially the ATQMRA. The Boyd Family have earned 4 championships as owners in the Premier TQ Midget Division, all coming with the man who is currently hunting Bailey, ‘Flyin’ Ryan Tidman.
Tidman, now racing Alan Mollot’s #51T Yuhas Chassis, is seeking his sixth championship as a driver. If he were to accomplish the feat, it would be done in the car that Bailey won his 2019 championship with.
Behind Tidman, is Doylestown, Pennsylvania’s Jeff Kot. The #95 Behrents Performance Warehouse Machine has been very consistent this year, and enters Bethel with a mathematical chance to earn his first career ATQMRA championship. However, he, along with Tidman, will not only need to beat Joey Bailey on performance, but also, fate.
The overall drivers championship scenarios are as follows:
Joey Bailey:
Controls his own destiny by finishing 15th or better. In the event Joey finishes 15th and Ryan Tidman wins, both drivers would be tied in points. Bailey owns the tie-breaker by having more points paying feature victories in 2021.
In the event less than 16 cars make an honest attempt of making the feature at Bethel Motor Speedway, Joey Bailey will clinch the championship by making their honest attempt.
Ryan Tidman:
Has to win the feature at arguably his best track on the circuit, but would need Joey Bailey to finish 16th or worse. In the event Tidman does not win, he must finish 16 positions ahead of Bailey, and finish no worse than 1 position of Jeff Kot. In this scenario, if Jeff Kot were to win the feature, and Tidman finished 3rd, Kot would own the tie-breaker with more points paying feature victories.
Jeff Kot:
Has to win the feature, with Joey Bailey finishing 18th or worse. Kot, at the minimum would have to finish at least 2 positions better than Ryan Tidman. In the event Kot does not win, he will have to finish 18 positions better than Joey Bailey, and at least 2 positions ahead of Ryan Tidman.
Based on a full field (24 cars), other championship notables include Kyle Taraska and Buddy Sload. Taraska, would need to win the feature, with Bailey finishing 24th. This does not include mishaps for Tidman and Kot. Buddy Sload is mathematically ineligible to be crowed the 2021 championship based on a 24 car field, by 4 points.
While many eyes will be on the overall championship, a thrilling season long battle will also be determined in the RYNO.co Rookie Contender Standings.
Brianna Page and Tyler Ferris have both been creeping up to stardom in the ATQMRA as they have both steadily improved as the season carried on.
Page has led the rookie championship for much of the way, but Ferris is keeping her honest heading into Bethel.
Page leads Ferris by 32 points, meaning she would have to finish 8th or better to clinch the RYNO.co Rookie Contender Championship. In the event Ferris finishes nine positions ahead of Page, resulting in a tie, Ferris would be crowned champion for owning the tie breaker.
Ferris’s best finish this season is 4th, while Page’s is 5th.
The remaining drivers in the 2021 Rookie Standings, will be eligible to compete for honors in the class of 2022 remaining under the threshold of 8 points paying starts in the ATQMRA.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels will compete in its final points paying race of the season at Bethel Motor Speedway, on Saturday, November 6th, 2021.