Riverhead NY June 4, 2017; Matt Janisch of Nazareth, Pa made his first trip to Riverhead Speedway on New York's Long Island a memorable trip by parking his Yuhas 48 in Victory Lane. Matt Roselli was second with Joey Bailey rounding out the podium. Janisch won his heat with Flying Ryan Tidman winning the other heat race. $580 in bonus money was handed out following the feature. Next up for the ATQRMA is a trip to Bethel on June 17th for the organization's third New York State Race in a row.
The front row of Joey Bailey and Matt Roselli took the green flag with Bailey leading the first lap before Roselli overtook him to lead the second lap. Janisch made his way from his fifth starting position into contention for the lead by lap six. A caution for a spinning Steve Boland put a pair of Matts, Roselli and Janisch on the front row. This gave Janisch the opportunity to sweep into the lead on the outside through the first and second turn to take the lead. Janisch cruised to his first victory of the season in the Pete Petraitis Memorial Tribute to the Bad Guys at Riverhead Speedway.
Roselli held serve in second with Joey Bailey settling into third. Flying Ryan Tidman finished fourth but he was nearly nipped at the line coming to the Checkered flag by a hard charging Geoffrey Sutton who advanced from his 11th starting position. Jeff Kot in his Behrent's performance 95 Badger recovered from a broken spindle in practice to cross the line sixth with 2016 Rookie of the Year Mark Yoder seventh.
Dan Lane substituting for club President Buddy Sload who was tying the knot with Alison Cumens finished eighth. Tim Procter rolled across the line in 9th. The highest finishing ACRO Rookie of the Year candidate Ronnie the Rocket Mullen pulled down another top ten.
Heat 1 was won by Flying Ryan Tidman who led every lap in route to the win. Roselli was second followed by Tim Procter Joey Bailey, Dan lane and Mark Yoder being the last car to make the redraw.
The second heat was won by Matt Janisch but it wasn't quite that easy. Jeff Kot took off from the pole and checked out on the field. Geoffrey Sutton worked his was into second and waged a battle with Jansich for the runner up spot. Janisch overtook Sutton on lap six when Kot went spinning into the infield handing the lead to Janisch. Kot deftly kept the car rolling and recovered to finish third without bringing out the caution. Mullen finished fourth with Fellow Rookie Dave Gorbatuk fifth and Riverhead Legends car Competitor Steve Boland making the redraw.
Bob Marlow was on hand to help commemorate the contributions of Pete Petraitis and the Bad Guys to the ATQMRA and open wheel racing on Long Island. $580 in Booster Money was collected to pay race winner Janisch an extra $203 with third finishing Joey Bailey collecting a $174 bonus. 14th finishing Joey Payne III pocketed $116 and 16th finishing Chris Hirt was awarded $89. A special thank you to Micky Metz for tirelessly selling the commemorative decals collecting the Booster money from fans and race teams alike.
Janisch's feature win let him take the Bad Guy's of Long Island to Victory Lane one more time. Jon Petraitis, Son of the Pete Petraitis who was the founder of the Bad Guys joined Jansich along with Bob White Sr., Don and Ron Knapfel in Riverhead's Victory Lane. Jon owned the cars that were piloted to numerous Championships with the ATQMRA by Joey Coy and Noki Fornoro. He was also an integral crew member on Noki's last ARDC Championship in 1995. Don Knapfel was the chassis man for countless wins by the team's cars. Don's brother Ron was always an able hand at the track and the shop. Bobby White won a number of races driving for the Petraitis team and ran well in Atlantic City in the 70s notching a 3rd place A main finish.
Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip to Bethel Speedway for the third consecutive New York Race for the organization. The TQs will share the card with the Vintage TQ Midgets and the regular divisions at Bethel on Saturday June 17th.
The ATQMRA's debut at Pocono on August 18-19th is fast approaching. Teams are filing their entries. Boosters for the Pocono event are going to be collected heading into the race event to help boost the payout to teams taking part in the historic first Midget race on the grounds of Pocono International Raceway since the late 80s on the tracks long gone ¾ mile oval.
eature Race 25 Laps 1. 48 Matt Jansich 98 Matt Roselli 02 Joey Bailey 1B Ryan Tidman461 Geoffrey Sutton95 Jeff Kot 75 Mark Yoder 36 Dan Lane 98t Tim Procter39 Ron Mullen F8 Eric Corum 32 Dave Gorbatuk 73x Cole Mullen 67 Joey Payne III19 Steve Boland 97 Chris Hirt DNS 01 Dave Williams
Heat Race 11. 1B Ryan Tidman 2. 98 Matt Roselli 3. 98t Tim Procter 4. 02 Joey Bailey 5. 36 Dan Lane6. 75 Mark Yoder 7. 67Joey Payne III 8. F8Eric Corum
Heat Race 21. 48 Matt Jansich2. 461 Geoffrey Sutton 3. 95Jeff Kot4. 39 Ron Mullen 5. 32 Dave Gorbatuk6. 19 Steve Boland 7. 73x Cole Mullen 8. 97 Chris Hirt 9. DNS01 Dave Williams