Staff Report | Monday, June 28th, 2021
BETHEL, NY- In an effort of speed and fate, Joey Payne in Paul Dodorico’s #55 Dr. Martha Baker D.M.D, CheckerWon Manufacturing Spitfire Chassis earned a thrilling victory in the $670 to win Joe Payne Sr. Memorial this weekend at Bethel Motor Speedway.
This past off-season, The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels lost one of their own, with the passing of Joe Payne Sr. Members of the ATQMRA collaborated to honor Payne this weekend at Bethel Motor Speedway. Bethel was the last speedway Payne Sr. ever attended, to watch his grandsons compete in November of 2019.
Many eyes were on Payne Sr.‘s son, Joey Payne, who earned a one-off deal with series regular Paul Dodorico. Payne started the evening off strong by earning the first heat race victory of the evening. Joey Bailey would go on to win the second heat. With the #55 car’s handicap, Payne earned the pole position for the 25 lap feature.
After an emotional missing man formation with John Payne pacing the field in his TQ Midget, the action started off hot and heavy at the drop of the green flag.
Payne held off outside pole sitter and RYNO Classifieds Rookie Contender Tyler Ferris. Ferris and the #33 Hamer Heating and Cooling TQ Midget made their debut at Bethel this weekend.
An early caution for fellow RYNO Rookie Contender, Brianna Page and the #76 A&A Truck Parts, Stavola Companies TQ Midget had an early solo spin to bunch the field up after completing one lap.
On the following restart, Ryan Tidman in the 51T entry for Alan Mollot made an aggressive three-wide move to the inside of Payne and Ferris on the exit of turn two. Joey Bailey in the #1B Boyd Chassis tried to follow Tidman through. However, Bailey misjudged the timing of his move, as Tidman went for the lead underneath Payne. This caused the two cars to collide and spin into the infield. After pitting for repairs, both drivers would continue in the race.
On the restart, Kyle Taraska’s #22 Chick-fil-A, Personal Comfort TQ Midget made an daring move to the inside of leader Joey Payne, forcing a three-wide move into turn one. The move paid the greatest dividends for Ferris, who stormed to the lead around the outside of the second turn. However, the glory of the lead was short lived as the Buddy Sload overtook Ferris in the third turn. Sload the took a commanding lead as he looked to extend his feature win streak to four in a row.
Taraska and Ferris would battle hard for second with Taraska eventually earning the spot. Payne and the #95 Behrents Performance Machine of Jeff Kot battled it out in the latter half of the top-5. In the meantime, Bailey and Tidman began to charge through the field making up for lost ground.
In what appeared to be another runaway victory for Sload’s #36 Spitfire Chassis Team, an ultimate flat right front tire sent Sload hard into the outside guardrail in the first turn. Thankfully, Sload walked away from the incident healthy. In a major turn of events, it was Kyle Taraska who inherited the lead once the red flag was lifted, setting up a three-lap shoutout to the finish with Joey Payne restarting second.
On the restart, Taraska commanded the lead briefly until he slipped up on the exit of the second turn. This opened the door for the determined Payne to regain the lead in what he described this week as “the most important race of his life.”
Taraska and Payne raced wheel to wheel down Bethel’s backstretch, as Payne cleared Taraska into turn 3. Payne slipped as Taraska attempted the cross-over but couldn’t get the traction to make the move work. In an absolute thriller of a finish, Payne came back around holding off Boyd Racing teammates Taraska and Bailey to earn the coveted victory in the $670 to win Joe Payne Memorial Race.
In a heartbreaker, Kyle Taraska earned a second place finish. Joey Bailey rounded out the podium.
Jeff Kot would finish in fourth and Ryan Tidman finishing fifth.
Tyler Ferris was the RYNO Classifieds Rookie of the Race, edging out fellow Rookie Contender Tyler Wagner. Wagner had a busy day competing triple duty across three divisions. Both drivers finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Kudos to Steve Craig, after having an engine expire on him at Waterford one week ago, made the quick turn around to make the trip to Bethel to earn an eighth place finish. What a valiant effort by the racing veteran.
Bobby Watkins brought his #91 Badger out for his first show of 2021. Many folks in the pit area were pleased to have Bobby back behind the wheel this weekend as he earned a ninth place finish.
While Joey Payne might have stolen the spotlight, the evening of racing would have been no where near as special without the attendance of Joey Payne III. Payne III made his first start of the 2021 season in his grandfather’s memorial race, driving the famous #67. While Payne may of had a quiet night behind the wheel, he went on to earn a 10th place finish. Payne III kept his nose clean and brought the car home in one piece, doing his grandfather and family proud. While not in the running order this weekend, it was great to have Joey III’s brother and ATQMRA regular Anthony Payne in attendance to support the event. Even car owner Michael Murray was seen in the pit area as well.
Brianna Page unfortunately experienced overheating issues during the red flag period, ending her evening prematurely in 11th. Buddy Sload rounded out the 12 car field with his noted right front issue.
This weekend was all for the Payne Family. With a storied history of open-wheel racing, particularly ATQMRA TQ Midgets dating back to the 1960’s, it was an honor to have so many family members on-site to celebrate the life of Joe Payne Sr. Saturday will certainly go down as a historic evening for not only the family, but the ATQMRA as a whole.
To commemorate the event, a special plaque was presented to Joey Payne in a trophy presentation in victory lane, as well as a large $670 check featuring livery in his late-father’s honor.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels will celebrate Independence Day weekend with no racing, prior to returning to Bethel Motor Speedway on Saturday July 10th, 2021.
Joe Payne Sr. Memorial Race Results
Heat 1:
#55 Joey Payne
#36 Buddy Sload
#95 Jeff Kot
#22 Kyle Taraska
#55C Steve Craig
#67 Joey Payne III
Heat 2:
#1B Joey Bailey
#33 Tyler Ferris*
#51T Ryan Tidman
#32 Tyler Wagner*
#76 Brianna Page*
#91 Bobby Watkins
Feature:
#55 Joey Payne
#22 Kyle Taraska
#1B Joey Bailey
#95 Jeff Kot
#51T Ryan Tidman
#33 Tyler Ferris*
#32 Tyler Wagner*
#55C Steve Craig
#91 Bobby Watkins
#67 Joey Payne III
#76 Brianna Page*
#36 Buddy Sload
*RYNO Classifieds Rookie Contender