Staff Report | Monday, May 24th, 2021
Buddy Sload and the #36 Spitfire Racing Team swept the weekend by winning both their heat and feature for the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels at Wall Stadium Speedway.
After failing to complete a lap due to an on-track incident one week prior, Buddy Sload was a man on a mission this past Saturday at Wall Stadium. Prior to putting on a clinic in the feature, Sload held off RYNO.co Rookie Contender Tyler Ferris and the Hamer Heating and Cooling Team in Heat 1. Geoffrey Sutton and the #51S Yuhas Chassis owned by Alan Mollot earned a hard fought victory in heat 2.
Ten of the fifteen cars to make up Saturday night’s field redrew for position, earning Mike Glaser and the Aqua Solutions Team the pole position.
Havoc plagued the race early as mechanical failures were the theme of the early portion of evening. A clutch failure on Brianna Page’s #76 A&A Truck Parts TQ Midget brought out the caution just after the completion of 1 lap. On the immediate restart, defending Wall Stadium feature winner from one week ago Kyle Taraska and the Chick-fil-A, Personal Comfort team, experienced a mechanical failure ending his night prematurely. Neither driver had a fair shot as they rounded out the field of cars to take the green in the finishing order.
It didn’t take long for Sload to take advantage pole-sitter Glaser, earning him the lead early in the feature. Defending ATQMRA Champion Joey Bailey in the #1B Boyd Chassis stayed in tow with Sload, moving up to second quickly after starting in the third position.
As the race went on and continued to stay green, Sload was able to gap himself from the field while Bailey put in a valiant effort to keep him honest.
A three car battle emerged for the final podium position, between Mollot Racing Teammates Ryan Tidman, heat winner Sutton, and the Behrents Performance Warehouse Machine of Jeff Kot. After experiencing heartbreak one week prior, Kot was the biggest mover of the race starting from the 12th position before settling into a tight battle with Sutton and Tidman.
However, no driver was a match for Buddy Sload, who went on to earn his first feature victory of the 2021 Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels season.
Joey Bailey finished second, with Tidman ultimately winning the three car battle for third. Jeff Kot earned a strong fourth as Geoffrey Sutton rounded out the top five.
Tyler Ferris earned an impressive sixth place finish, and lead all RYNO.co Rookie Contenders. Ferris was also the last car to finish on the lead lap.
Pole sitter Mike Glaser backed up last week’s top-5 finish with a seventh. Veteran Steve Craig put another good day together. After finished third in his heat race, Craig earned an eighth place finish at Wall Stadium this weekend.
Mark Yoder had to miss last week’s feature due to a personal matter, but his Ames Construction TQ Midget earned a nice ninth place finish. It was great to have Yoder back in ATQMRA competition this weekend. Rookie Robbie Willis earned his first career top-10 by finishing in 10th.
Tyler Wagner, and Paul Dodorico respectively rounded out the cars who finished the event in 11th and 12th. Taraska and Page finished their features in the pit area in 13th and 14th after their noted mechanical failures. Rookie Ken Moody Jr. was officially scored in 15th after failing to take the green due to a mechanical failure.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels will be taking Memorial Day weekend off from competition. The tour returns to Wall Stadium Speedway on Saturday June 5th to take part as the opening feature for The Garden State Classic.
Race Results:
Heat 1:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #33 Tyler Ferris
3. #1B Joey Bailey
4. #76 Brianna Page
5. #2 Mike Glaser
6. #95 Jeff Kot
7. #27 Robbie Willis
8. #32 Tyler Wagner
Heat 2:
1. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
2. #51 Ryan Tidman
3. #55C Steve Craig
4. #22 Kyle Taraska
5. #75 Mark Yoder
6. #55 Paul Dodorico
7. #01 Ken Moody Jr.
Feature:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #1B Joey Bailey
3. #51 Ryan Tidman
4. #95 Jeff Kot
5. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
6. #33 Tyler Ferris
7. #2 Mike Glaser
8. #55C Steve Craig
9. #75 Mark Yoder
10. #27 Robbie Willis
11. #32 Tyler Wagner
12. #55 Paul Dodorico
13. #22 Kyle Taraska
14. #76 Brianna Page
15. #01 Ken Moody Jr.