Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA Fueled by VP
Bethel, NY
Flying Ryan Tidman Parked the Lenny and Donna Boyd 1B in Victory lane giving Lenny a perfect birthday present. The day started out with an ATQMRA Picnic in the Parking lot that celebrated Lenny's Birthday. Heat races were won by Matt Roselli and Jeff Kot. The Vintage TQ races were won by Gary Mondschein and Rick Casario. Next up for the ATQMRA is a return to New York's Chemung Speedrome on Saturday July 29th for wingless action. The August 12th race at Waterford Speedbowl is followed the next week by the much-anticipated event at Pocono International Raceway in conjunction with the Verizon Indy Car Series the weekend of August 18th.
The front row of Acro Rookie of the Year Candidate Ronnie the Rocket Mullen and last years Rookie of the year Mark Yoder brought the field to the green flag. Third starting Matt Janisch in the Alan Mollot 51 quickly moved into the lead followed by Jeff Kot in his Behrents Performance Badger. Kot looked strong challenging for the lead until a lap 9 restart when the drive shaft let go on Kot's mount ending his night early. The restart saw Janisch power ahead of Tidman who won the Club's first appearance at Bethel only to loose the lead to Tidman on lap 16. Janisch would hold serve in second until lap 20 when an uncharacteristic fluid leak would put Janisch out of the race. The resultant melee from the fluid on track would send Hard Luck Dave Gorbatuk for a tumble down the back stretch.
Joey Bailey would inherit the second position for the restart with five to go with Tidman on the point. Tidman would retain the lead and go on to win the race by less than 4 tenths of a second over a determined Bailey. Matt Roselli Charged from his sixth starting position to round out the podiumGeoffrey Sutton would roll across the line fourth followed by Buddy Sload. Mark Yoder crossed the line ahead of the top Rookie of the race in Ron Mullen who had son Cole in tow. Returning to competition in a fresh mount was Bill Force Jr. in ninth.
Next up for the ATQMRA is a return to the Chemung Speedrome in the southern Tier of New York for wingless action on that high banked track. The TQs will be in action on Satruday night July 29th at Chemung where Buddy Sload was the winner the last time the ATQMRA visited Chemung Speedrome in wingless action. The next race will be at the Waterford Speedbowl onSaturday August 12th for competition with the high flying wings atop the lightening fast TQ midgets where Geoffrey Sutton was victorious in 2016.
The highly anticipated return of Midget Racing to Pocono International Raceway in conjunction with the Verizon Indy Car Series hosted by the Classic Racing Timeswill happen on the weekend of August 18th. Teams are strongly encouraged to get their entries into the Classic Racing Times. Entry forms can be found at by clicking the link at the top of the ATQMRA website.
The first heat race saw a front row of Mullen's bring the field to the green flag. Father and son Acro Rookie of the Year contenders Cole and Ron Mullen got the drop on the field. Jeff Kot would work his way into the lead and take the heat win over Joey Bailey with Buddy Sload third, Janisch fourth with Ronnie Mullen fifth and Cole Sixth followed by Bill Force and Dave Williams
The second heat saw Matt Roselli launch from his fourth starting position to lead every lap en route to the heat race win over Mark Yoder Tim Proctor Geoffrey Sutton, Ryan Tidman followed by Rookie candidates Dave Gorbatuk and Eric Corum.
ATQMRA News and Notes: The day started out with an ATQMRA Picnic in the Parking lot with teams all pitching in with food and drink that ended up wishing a happy Birthday to Lenny Boyd. It was a Boyd day all around as Gary Mondschein would win the four stroke feature in the restored rear engine 16 that was originally built by the Boyd family and Flying Ryan Tidman would win the modern TQ feature in the Boyd 1B. Rick Casario would take top honors in the Vintage 2 Stroke portion of the show.
Heat Race 1 1. 95 Jeff Kot2. 02 Joey Bailey3. 36 Buddy Sload4. 51Matt Janisch5. 39 Ron Mullen 6. 73 Cole Mullen 7. 6Bill Force8. 01 Dave Williams
Heat Race 2 1. 98 Matt Roselli 2. 75 Mark Yoder3. 98 T Tim Proctor4. 461 Geoffrey Sutton 5. 1B Ryan Tidman5. 32 Dave Gorbatuk6. F8 Eric Corum
Feature 1. 1B Ryan Tidman 2. 02 Joey Bailey3. 98 Matt Roselli 4. 461 Geoffrey Sutton 5. 36 Buddy Sload6. 75 Mark Yoder 7. 39Ron Mullen 8. 73Cole Mullen 9. 6Bill Force Jr. 10. 32 Dave Gorbatuk11. 51Matt Jansich12. F8Eric Corum13. 95Jeff Kot14. 01 Dave Williams15. 98T Tim Proctor