Staff Report | Monday, August 15th, 2022
(Kristen Cocca Photography)
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ- After years of triumph and dedication, Mark Yoder and the #75 Ames Construction Team brought home their first career feature victory at Wall Stadium Speedway this past weekend!
The Hooiser Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels completed their 8th feature across 7 weekends of racing this past Saturday at Wall Stadium Speedway.
In a career night for many, Zack Burd (#5z Burlington Chevrolet/ Absolute Control Dog Training) set the tone of the evening by dominating the first feature. Burd backed up his career night with a top-5 run in the feature, making him the RYNO Rookie of the Race. The Burd Racing Team continues to improve and has made recent strides in their TQ Midget Program.
Buddy Sload earned the second feature win of the evening. It was not a status quo day for Sload by any means. After experiencing continued mechanical problems, the 36 Spitfire Chassis Team was not able to take the green in any racing events. Sload was able to graciously work out a deal with Paul Dodorico and Ryan Tidman to give the #99 Dodorico Racing entry a run. This was a debut race for this chassis under the Dodorico banner.
Mark Yoder drew the pole with Steve Craig (#55 Craig Bulk Carriers) on his outside. Bobby Watkins (#91) made his return to the ATQMRA this weekend. After a great run in his heat race, Watkins’ evening was slightly derailed when he self-spun out of turn two on the initial start of the race. The spin collected Kyle Taraska (#22 Personal Comfort). Both cars recovered with minimal damage and continued after a complete restart of the race.
Mark Yoder set a fast pace right out of the gate making huge improvements to their chassis throughout the afternoon. Yoder had to hold off the likes of Sload, and young guns Tyler Ferris (#33 Hamer Heating and Cooling) and Zack Burd (#5z Burlington Chevrolet/ ACDT), both of whom had career runs.
The tricky turn two caught previous week’s feature winner Brianna Page (#76 A&A Trucking/ Stavola/ Hamer Heating) who went around for a self-spin battling for position. Page had to fight hard to pass cars after being forced to start at the rear of “qualified” cars. Brianna still recovered exceptionally well for a sixth-place finish.
One more caution near the halfway point came out as Jeff Kot’s (#95 Behrents Performance Warehouse) tough luck of a season continued. While running well into the top-5 after starting shotgun on the field, Kot fought throttle cable issues throughout the afternoon which is believed to had derailed his efforts in the feature.
The double-file restart set up another fantastic race to the finish. Yoder brought the field down with Ferris to his outside. Ferris would ultimately make a move on Yoder diving to his inside. Ferris dove in too far overshooting the corner entry, allowing Yoder to crossover to the lead in turn 2.
The move was costly for Ferris’ opportunity to win as Buddy Sload slid into the second position. While Sload hunted down Yoder in the closing laps, he was no match for the #75 Ames Construction team as Mark Yoder went on to score his first career ATQMRA Feature Victory.
Buddy Sload earned second and Tyler Ferris earned a career high third place finish for the #33 Hamer Heating and Cooling Team; a career best finish.
Kyle Taraska’s eventful evening ended in fourth. After earning his first career best race victory, Zack Burd was this week’s RYNO Rookie of the Race finishing 5th. Burd was another driver to have a career night, battling up front and remained in contention to win for the duration of the feature.
Brianna Page, who was forced to start near the rear of the field as last race’s winner, had a respectable run and recovery to finish 6th. Steve Craig continues to find the proper speed and balance in his machine to earn a competitive seventh.
Chris Allen made his return to the ATQMRA in the #19 Malik Racing Entry to finish 8th. In Bobby Watkin’s return, he recovered from an early spin to finish 9th. Chris Pelcher, after making the long trip east from Pittsburgh, PA, rounded out the top-10.
Rich Barlow and Jeff Kot rounded out the 12-car field respectively with mechanical issues.
Mark Yoder of Ephrata, PA, whose career has expanded almost a decade in the ATQMRA finally earned his well-deserved first career feature victory. The single car team features Mark as the driver and lead mechanic, headed by Crew Chief and father, Bill.
Mark is the second “first time winner” in as many feature races in a highly competitive division of racing. This weekend, the fastest lap of 7 of the 12 cars were within .150 seconds of each other.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels returns to action this Saturday, August 20th, at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
RACE RESULTS:
FEATURE (25 laps):
1. #75 Mark Yoder
2. #99 Buddy Sload
3. #33 Tyler Ferris
4. #22 Kyle Taraska
5. #5z Zack Burd
6. #76 Brianna Page
7. #55 Steve Craig
8. #19M Chris Allen
9. #91 Bobby Watkins
10. #44P Chris Pelcher
11. #09 Rich Barlow
12. #95 Jeff Kot
FEATURE FAST FACTS:
Time of Race: 10:10.377
Leader(s): 1
Lap Leader(s): #75 Yoder (25)
Cautions: 3
RYNO Rookie of the Race: #5z Burd (5th)
Hoosier Hot Lap: #33 Ferris 13.173
VP Hard Charger: #22 Taraska (+5)