Staff Report | Monday August 12th, 2019
BETHEL, NY- Five-time ATQMRA Championship Ryan Tidman earned his first feature victory of the 2019 campaign this weekend at Bethel Motor Speedway.
After a month long hiatus due to unfortunate luck with Mother Nature, the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels hosted their sixth event of 2019 at Bethel Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Ryan Tidman and Buddy Sload won their respective heats to kick off the evening of racing action. Both drivers were looking for a big night to close the points gap on leader Joey Bailey.
After starting third due to handicapping, ‘Flyin’ Ryan Tidman lived up to his nickname wasting no time clearing pole sitter Mark Yoder down the backstretch on the opening lap of the feature. While Tidman looked to put on a clinic, he had to hold off Alan Mollot Racing teammates Joey Bailey and Geoffrey Sutton, who kept Tidman honest throughout the entire length of the race.
A late-race caution set up a green-white-checkered scenario putting Tidman and Bailey head to head for the victory. Alas, Bailey was no match for Tidman as Ryan was able to hold Joey and the rest of the competition in a dominating wire-to-wire victory; his first of 2019.
The victory also marked the first for the newly built Boyd Chassis. This was only the sixth ever race for the chassis, as it debuted in the beginning of this season. Tidman’s victory not only leaves another mark on his storied ATQMRA career, but a mark on Donna and Lenny Boyd’s career within the organization as well.
Joey Bailey and Geoffrey Sutton would round out the podium. Anthony Payne, making his long awaited 2019 debut with car owner Michael Murray ended the feature in a highly-respectable fourth place finish. Kyle Taraska, in a one-off effort with Russ Bailey’s #02 machine rounded out the top-5. Taraska is expected to return to his usual Spitfire Racing #16 machine in two weeks at Wall Stadium.
Mark Yoder would finish 6th, while Avery Stoehr who made his second start of 2019, finished 7th. Buddy Sload would finish in 8th. Sload, who experienced mechanical issues throughout most of the day, salvaged their best finish possible to stay in the championship fight.
In a surprised late-entry, 2007 ATQMRA Champion Bobby Watkins entered his #91 machine this weekend at Bethel. This was Watkins first start in nearly 9 years. Post-race, Watkins was adamant about returning for a few more races prior to season’s end.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels heads to the famous Pocono Raceway this weekend on Saturday, August 17th, 2019 for a marquee event hosted by Classic Racing Times.
Race Results:
Heat 1:
#1B Ryan Tidman
#51B Joey Bailey
#12 Anthony Payne
#75 Mark Yoder
#23 Avery Stoehr
Heat 2:
#36 Buddy Sload
#51 Geoffrey Sutton
#02 Kyle Taraska
#91 Bobby Watkins
Feature:
#1B Ryan Tidman
#51B Joey Bailey
#51 Geoffrey Sutton
#12 Anthony Payne
#02 Kyle Taraska
#75 Mark Yoder
#23 Avery Stoehr
#36 Buddy Sload
#91 Bobby Watkins