Staff Report | Monday, September 27th, 2021
Photography Credit: Eric Storch, Scott Racz, Tommy Lane, Sean Case
Tommy Lane, JJ’s brother, brings the crowd to their feet for the Missing Man Formation.
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ- Buddy Sload (#36) earned his sixth Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels feature of the season by defending his crown in the 2nd Annual JJ Lane Memorial at Wall Stadium Speedway.
Fifteen drivers would ultimately take the green in what is quickly becoming a marquee event for the ATQMRA. Drivers spent time with fans in the concourse area prior to the feature event, signing autographs to the delight of the fans.
RYNO.co Rookie Contender points leader Brianna Page (#76) was the star of the early evening leading wire to wire to earn her first career ATQMRA heat race victory. It was a great way to kick off an evening of racing for her team, who had hundreds of folks from her sponsor Stavola Companies in attendance.
Buddy Sload (#36) would win the second eight lap heat of the evening.
In honor of our dear friend and late-Wall Stadium photographer JJ Lane, the Lane family, including father Ace, mother Michelle brother Tommy were in attendance to give the command to fire engines for the 25-lap feature.
In a race designed to honor JJ, became much more meaningful due to unprecedented events in recent weeks. The ATQMRA honored not only JJ, but Wall Stadium Pastor and legend Bob Menschner, and long-time ATQMRA supporters Bob Emmons and Bud Sload with a 4-wide, missing man formation.
Steve Craig (#55) and Brianna Page led the field to green in what would become an exciting race for the lead. Page made an initial power move on the outside of Craig to take the lead, only to get passed by 5X Champion Ryan Tidman (#51T) by the completion of lap one.
Championship contenders Buddy Sload, Kyle Taraska (#22), Jeff Kot (#95) and championship leader Joey Bailey (#1B) sliced and diced amongst themselves fighting for every position and every point available.
A series of self-spins throughout the field caused multiple cautions in the early stages. The most notable caution was heat race winner Brianna Page, who entered turn one a little too hot and spun across the track while running second. In what was a heartbreaking turn of events, Brianna would still ultimately recover to earn a strong 7th place finish in her Stavola, A&A Truck Parts TQ Midget.
Page’s caution set up an intense battle between championship favorites, and a near collision between Tidman and Sload in the third turn on the restart. Tidman overshot the entry and pushed up into Sload, opening the door for Taraska to make a daring three wide move to the bottom for the lead.
One final restart just prior to the halfway point saw leader Sload break away from the pack first, with Taraska, Tidman, Kot and Bailey in tow.
Tidman ultimately faded, as Taraska began to chase down Sload, Kot began to chase down Taraska. Jeff Kot and the Behrents Performance Warehouse machine would back up practice by earning the Hoosier Hot Lap award of the race with a lap time of 13.051 seconds. Kot was the only driver to break into the 13.0’s all day.
Lapped traffic almost became a factor, but it would be Buddy Sload hanging on for another victory on Wall Stadium’s inner 1/5th mile oval.
Kyle Taraska and Jeff Kot put on a tremendous show for second. However, the Chick-fil-A, Personal Comfort Team held onto second, with Kot rounding out the podium.
A quiet night for his standards, Championship Leader Joey Bailey brought his car home in fourth for Donna and Lenny Boyd. Ryan Tidman rounded out the top five. Bailey will retain his championship lead as he seeks his second career championship.
Steve Craig’s Craig Bulk Carriers car ended the evening is sixth. Craig was ecstatic post-race with his overall performance and pace. It is great to see Steve Craig to continue to put strong runs together on a consistent basis.
As noted, Brianna Page recovered to finish seventh. In what was one of her strongest showings to-date in her ATQMRA career, Page’s successful evening ended with her finishing as the top RYNO.co Rookie Contender of the race. Page will remain the Rookie Points Leader with two races remaining
Robert Willis (#27) finished a career best 8th place finish. Willis, another rookie, continues to improve each race in his Supreme Manufacturing entry.
Cole Mullen (#73) made his first start of 2021 to earn a 9th place finish.
The feel good story involved the collaboration between Ronnie Mullen and Tyler Ferris (#39). Ferris, normally the driver of the #33 Hamer Heating and Cooling car, experienced a mechanical failure in practice. Mullen gave up his seat in what would have been his first start of the 2021 season, to Ferris, to keep him in the Rookie points battle. Ferris rounded out the top-10.
Chris Pelcher (#44), Bobby Watkins (#91), Rich Barlow (#09), Bill Force Jr. (#26) and Mike Glaser (#2) rounded out the field of fifteen.
Buddy Sload has officially locked up the VP Checkered Flag Award for the 2021 season by earning his sixth victory of the season. Sload’s Spitfire Racing entry has won all of the races they finished this season.
Sload, along with the rest of the ATQMRA, was very appreciative to have the Lane Family in attendance in the 2nd Annual event to honor their late-son. Sload is the back-to-back champion of the race.
Five drivers will remain mathematically eligible to earn a championship, when The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels returns to action on Saturday, October 16th, 2021 at The New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
The championship points season will wrap up on Saturday November 6th at Bethel Motor Speedway, prior to the prestigious running of the non-points, Turkey Derby XLVIII Thanksgiving weekend.
Race Results:
Heat 1:
1. #76 Brianna Page
2. #1B Joey Bailey
3. #22 Kyle Taraska
4. #2 Mike Glaser
5. #44P Chris Pelcher
6. #73 Cole Mullen
7. #09 Rich Barlow
Heat 2:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #51T Ryan Tidman
3. #95 Jeff Kot
4. #55C Steve Craig
5. #27 Robert Willis
6. #91 Bobby Watkins
7. #39 Tyler Ferris
8. #26 Bill Force Jr. DNS
Feature:
1. #36 Buddy Sload
2. #22 Kyle Taraska
3. #95 Jeff Kot
4. #1B Joey Bailey
5. #51T Ryan Tidman
6. #55C Steve Craig
7. #76 Brianna Page
8. #27 Robert Willis
9. #73 Cole Mullen
10. #39 Tyler Ferris
11. #44P Chris Pelcher
12. #91 Bobby Watkins
13. #09 Rich Barlow
14. #26 Bill Force Jr.
15. #2 Mike Glaser