Staff Report | Tuesday, August 24th, 2021
Photography Credit: Sean Case, Tommy Lane, Eric Storch, E.J O’Rourke
HOWELL, NJ- While the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels hasn’t officially entered the “fall” season yet, we are inching closer and closer to autumn as the tour prepares for its final stretch to the championship.
In a unique circumstance, 2020 ended and 2021 began simultaneously this past March with the running of the Covid-delayed Turkey Derby XLVII.
While it may feel like yesterday with Kyle Taraska and the #22 Chick-fil-A, Personal Comfort Team rolled into victory lane at Turkey Derby, a lot of action on-track has happened since.
Let's take a dive and look back on 2021 to-date as we preview the final six points events of the season.
Defending Champ Bailey Remains on Top
With 2020 going down as a wash due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Joey Bailey officially entered the season as the defending ATQMRA Driver’s Champion from his 2019 title.
While Bailey only has one victory to his name this season to-date (Bethel, July 10th), his consistency has been unmatched by any of his competitors. Bailey’s worst finish of the season in fourth, and has three second place finishes to his name.
Joey Bailey enters Wall Stadium this weekend as one of the favorites as he looks to extend his 40 point lead over 5X Champion ‘Flyin’ Ryan Tidman.
Feast or Famine for Sload
The fastest car all year has also experienced some of the worst luck. If Joey Bailey is one of the favorites to win at Wall Stadium this weekend, then Buddy Sload is THE favorite.
Sload’s #36 Spitfire Chassis has four victories this season, with three of them coming at Wall Stadium. His other victory was earned at Waterford in June.
Not including the shortened, equally distributed points events at Mahoning in May and Wall Stadium this past weekend, Sload’s four victories have been complemented with three DNF’s.
When Sload finishes, he wins. If the #36 team can shake their bad luck, be on the lookout for Sload to make a late-charge at the championship title as he seeks his second.
Competitive RYNO Classifieds Rookie Battle
Seven rookies have attempted at-least one start in 2021. Those driver’s include midget star Jake Trainor, East Coast TQ Midget Series Champion Tyler Wagner, Chris Pelcher, Robert Willis and Ken Moody Jr.
However, the focus on the points battle has been on the #76 A&A Truck Parts, Stavola Companies team of Brianna Page and the #33 Hamer Heating and Cooling team of Tyler Ferris.
Both drivers are winners in their own right from their respective backgrounds in quarter midgets and WKA karting. With Page leading, and Ferris in second, the drivers find themselves in a tight 48 point battle to earn the 2021 RYNO.co Rookie of the Year honors.
Page has one top five finish to her name at Waterford this year, while Ferris earned his first top five at Wall Stadium on July 31st. These are the two clear favorites to battle it out as they continue to improve in one of the strongest ATQMRA Rookie Classes in years. It will be exciting to see which driver ends up on top this November.
Taraska Continues to Improve
Besides Bailey and Sload, the other full-time competitor, feature points winner of the season is Kyle Taraska, winning at Wall Stadium this past May.
The 2018 ATQMRA Rookie of the Year continues to improve year after year as he looks to make a name for himself in the TQ Midget ranks. Taraska has remained a consistent top-5 contender all year and currently sits fourth in points, in his first official full-time season.
Be on the lookout for the #22 team for the remainder of the year as they look to continue to build on their success.
Magic in Bethel- Payne Memorial
When Paul Dodorico took himself out of his #55 Spitfire Chassis at Bethel in June to throw in “The Jersey Jet” Joey Payne, some applauded the gesture while others scratched their head.
Statistically, Bethel is Dodorico’s best track on the ATQMRA tour. However, Dodorico wanted to give Joey Payne the proper send off to his late-father, Joey Payne Sr.
In what could not have been scripted any better in a movie, Payne pulled off the miraculous victory in what he called “the biggest win of his career.”
Joey Payne will continue to run part-time in select events in Alan Mollot’s #51 Badger for the remainder of the 2021 season and is always a threat to take the checkers.
Close but No Cigar
#95 Behrents Perfomance Warehouse team of Jeff Kot currently sits third in points, one racing position out of 2nd. One can argue if not for a late-race incident at Wall Stadium this spring, and a poorly-timed caution at Wall a few weeks back, the #95 team would have two victories to his name. Kot has not finished worse than fourth since May.
Do not be surprised to see him knock off a win (or multiple) before season’s end.
A mid-season ride change for Ryan Tidman has placed him in Alan Mollot’s #51T Yuhas Chassis for the remainder of the 2021 season. Tidman, who is not a stranger to victory lane, continues to fall just short this season to-date.
Tidman has finished on the podium in 57% of his races this year. However, his podiums have been made up of a pair of seconds and a pair of thirds. Like Kot, expect Tidman to earn a victory or two before seasons end as he sits 2nd in the points standings.
ATQMRA Veteran Steve Craig sits sixth in points and continues to improve week-in and week-out as a consistent competitor and supporter of the organization.
Craig has finished in the top ten in all but one start this year. As we approach the final stretch of the season, expect Craig to click off a top five finish or two, and maybe even a victory.
Craig has really stepped up his performance lately, and it really showed this past weekend at Wall Stadium. Craig is proving to everyone he’s here to compete up in the front.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuels returns to racing this Saturday, August 28th at Wall Stadium Speedway for the Cliff Krause Memorial. The ATQMRA has five remaining championship points races including events not only at Wall Stadium, but at The New London-Waterford Speedbowl and Bethel Motor Speedway.
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