Staff Report | Monday, October 9th, 2023
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ- In what has been a bizarre season due to weather, championship week has finally come upon us. The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels prepares for the final points race of the season, scheduled to take place this Saturday, October 14th at Wall Stadium Speedway.
For the first time in decades, in an ode to the late Pine Brook Speedway, a “hometrack” champion will be crowned this weekend as well as an overall series champion. One driver leads both standings heading into this weekend’s race.
SLOAD’S QUEST FOR SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2015 ATQMRA Champion aims to rename his title to “Two-Time” after this weekend as Buddy Sload enters the final race as the championship points leader. The adage in racing is “consistency win’s championships.” The adage has remained true this season.
Sload enters the final race with a 2.5 average finish and one feature victory to his credit, which came at Wall Stadium Speedway this past July. Sload has finished no worse than fifth this season in any race, let alone at Wall Stadium Speedway where he has not finished outside of the podium to-date.
Presumably, by taking the green flag will earn Buddy Sload and Colin Martin’s Spitfire Racing Team Championship honors this year.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS
Buddy Sload enters Wall Stadium Speedway with a 64 point lead (16 positions) over defending series champion Kyle Taraska and Tyler Ferris who are tied for second.
In the event Kyle Taraska wins this weekend’s feature, Buddy Sload would have to finish 15th or better to secure his second title. If Taraska were to win, and Buddy finishes 16th, Taraska would own the tiebreaker having two wins (in this scenario) to Sload’s one.
Sload would have to finish 16th or better in the event Tyler Ferris earned his first career feature this weekend. In this scenario, Sload and Ferris would have an equal number of feature victories on the season. However, Sload would own the tiebreaker over Ferris having three, second place finishes on the season compared to Ferris’s one.
While the overall championship may be nearly out of reach for Ferris, becoming a Wall Stadium ATQMRA Champion is slightly more realistic. The editor would like to add an emphasis to the word “slightly.”
The Hamer Heating and Cooling Hometrack Shootout has been tallied all season for Wall Stadium ATQMRA points only. In this battle, Sload enters the final race 56 points (14 positions) over Tyler Ferris.
In the event Tyler Ferris wins the feature, Sload would own the tie-breaker again due to having more second place finishes than Ferris this season, meaning Sload would need to finish 14th or better to clinch the “hometrack” championship as well.
In the scenario of 14 cars or less taking the green flag for the feature, Sload will earn both championships at the drop of the green flag.
As a note, to not be confused with Wall Stadium local divisions, the ATQMRA does not score double points.
LOOKING BACK
As mentioned earlier in this release, the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels has experienced an unprecedented number of cancellations due to weather. To-date, SIX features have been completed and EIGHT features have been rained out.
And you guessed it, unfortunately there is rain in the forecast for the upcoming weekend. Thankfully, we have plenty of time for the forecast to change as we will remain optimistic for racing this weekend.
Amongst the rainouts, it has still been a very competitive season with four unique winners in six events. Jeff Kot has won two features (with two different teams), and Ryan Tidman co-leads the tour with two victories. Buddy Sload’s single victory rounds out the winners to-date at Wall Stadium Speedway this year. Kyle Taraska earned one victory this year in the tour’s only event (due to rainouts) outside of New Jersey, at Evergreen Raceway In Pennsylvania this August.
Theoretically, Mother Nature has clinched the VP Checkered Flag Award. However, the ATQMRA Board of Directors have the right to withhold the award from her out of spite. However, there is one clinched award that matters.
2023 RYNO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR- KYLE HERVE
On behalf of RYNO Classifieds (RYNO.co), the ATQMRA would like to congratulate Kyle Herve and the #24 Herve Motorsports Team. Herve entered this season as his first year fully committed to pavement racing. Herve has averaged a finish of respectable 8.6 and has a heat race victory to his credit this year. Herve will look to improve on his rookie season and become a championship contender in 2024.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels will crown both our series champion and Hamer Heating and Cooling Hometrack Shootout champion this Saturday, October 14th at Wall Stadium Speedway. Visit wallstadiumspeedway.com for venue and series information.