Staff Report | Monday, June 7th, 2021
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ- Buddy Sload and the #36 Spitfire Racing Team earned their second victory of the 2021 season, leading wire to wire in Wall Stadium’s ATQMRA Garden State Classic.
Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels team competed at Wall Stadium Speedway this weekend for the third time in the last four weeks. In front of a packed house and scorching sun, things certainly felt back to normal post-pandemic at the historic racing facility.
Buddy Sload and Joey Bailey put on a great battle for the fans in the first heat with Sload coming out on top. Defending Wall Stadium Turkey Derby Champion Kyle Taraska, in the Chick-fil-A, Personal Comfort TQ Midget won the second heat of the evening. With this being the first race of the season with a handicap setting the starting grid, veteran Steve Craig started on the pole for the 25 lap feature.
Sload wasted no time with Craig on the start, with Sload clearing the #55C team off of turn two. Geoffrey Sutton in the #51 Yuhas Chassis followed in tow, rolling the outside lane to second.
Eventually, Boyd Racing Teammates Kyle Taraska and Joey Bailey settled into third and fourth.
The first and only caution of the evening came out on lap 5 when Paul Dodorico Dr. Martha Baker D.M.D, CheckerWon Manufacturing #55 team experienced a mechanical failure brining him to a stop in the middle of the backstretch. Dodorico was forced to retire from the event.
On the restart, Sload jumped out to a big lead as Sutton, Bailey and Taraska sliced and diced for second. After starting near the rear of the field, Jeff Kot and the Behrents Performance Warehouse TQ Midget made huge gains and charged up to the top 5 early on. Kot recovered early in the feature, from a flat right front tire in his heat race earning him an unfavorable starting position.
Bailey and Sutton battled side-by-side for a lap or so, with Sutton eventually winning the battle. However, it was Bailey who won the war. Sutton experienced motor issues under green, causing Sutton to pull off into the pits under green. Unfortunately the #51S team’s evening ended prematurely after what was a solid run.
In another battle of attrition, ‘Flyin’ Ryan Tidman flew through the field after starting shotgun due to a rear-end gearing issue he experienced in his heat race. The 5X ATQMRA Champ stormed up to fifth in a hard battle with Jeff Kot to round out the top five.
While the racing remained hot and heavy throughout the field, Buddy Sload cruised to victory, his second of the 2021 season. Sload follows up with back-to-back Wall Stadium Feature victories after ending the first race of this three-race home stand on his side due to following victim to an on-track incident.
Defending ATQMRA Champion Joey Bailey put another solid second place together, as the top two finishers experienced deja vu from the race prior. Kyle Taraska earned a competitive third, earning the Boyd Racing Team two of the three podium positions
The two hard chargers of the race, Jeff Kot and Ryan Tidman, rounded out the top five finishers. Both drivers were the biggest movers of the race, each gaining six positions from their original starting positions.
Mark Yoder #76 Ames Construction team earned a quiet but solid sixth place finish. Tyler Ferris finished seventh as the top RYNO Classifieds Rookie Contender. Ferris will extend his Rookie points lead with tonight’s finish.
#76 Brianna Page A&A Truck Parts, Stavola Companies team finished in eighth. Page overcame brake issues from earlier in the afternoon.
Pole Sitter Steve Craig finished in ninth. Geoffrey Sutton and Paul Dodorico rounded out the field in 10th and 11th respectively. Rookie Robert Willis attempted to race in this weekend’s event, however, a transmission failure ended his day of racing early after the second round of practice.
The ATQMRA would like to give an honorable mention to former champion Mike Tidaback. Mike was seen in the pit area throughout the evening interacting with many members and teams of the organization. Mike was in great spirits and showed signs of good health and it was great to have him at the track.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels will take a week off before heading to Waterford, Connecticut for race 5 of the 2021 season on Saturday, June 19th.
Race Results:
Heat 1:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #1B Joey Bailey
3. #75 Mark Yoder
4. #33 Tyler Ferris
5. #95 Jeff Kot
Heat 2:
1. #22 Kyle Taraska
2. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
3. #55C Steve Craig
4. #55 Paul Dodorico
5. #76 Brianna Page
6. #51 Ryan Tidman
Feature:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #1B Joey Bailey
3. #22 Kyle Taraska
4. #95 Jeff Kot
5. #51 Ryan Tidman
6. #75 Mark Yoder
7. #33 Tyler Ferris
8. #76 Brianna Page
9. #55C Steve Craig
10. #51S Geoffrey Sutton
11. #55 Paul Dodorico