Sload Earns ATQMRA Hat Trick

By Blu Metz
 
Wall Stadium, Saturday August 22, 2015. Buddy Sload pulled off the Hat Trick by winning the 25 lap ATQMRA feature in the Colin Martin 16. As it has been in each of the last three races Sload had to take the lead from Geoffrey Sutton who finished second followed by Matt Roselli. Heat Races were won by Marc Rogers, Steve Whitt, and Sutton. Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip north to Oswego Speedway for the International Classic that is paying $175 to take a green with $350 to go to the winner.  
 
For the ATQMRA's second trip outing on Wall's inner oval the organization had 20 TQ midgets in the pits. 17 made the call to take a green with Buddy Sload once again driving to victory. The first outing on the flat track at Wall yielded a tight pack of cars racing nose to tail. The second outing was much different. Teams went home and did their homework and worked on their setups and came back and put on a show of slide jobs, cross over moves and side by side racing for the lead.
 
Geoffrey Sutton and Ryan Tidman took the initial green with Sutton taking advantage of the inside starting spot to take the lead. Tidman was tight on Sutton's bumper through the early laps when he tangled with Sutton bringing out a caution. Tidman went pit side but returned to the track to fight his way back to an eighth place finish. Sload was second for the restart and was dogging Sutton race long. Sload moved to the outside and raced side by side with Sutton for several laps before Sutton was able to gain the advantage. A close running Matt Roselli was also in hot pursuit and started battling with Sload for second position. The pair crossed one another over and returned the favor several times before Sload raced solidly into second. The battle for second allowed Sutton to gain a slight advantage as the laps clicked down.
 
By lap 19 the brake rotors on both Sutton's Metz Racing mount and Sload's Spitfire were glowing red but Sload had enough brake left to run Sutton down and make the pass for the lead. A late caution bunched the field for a shootout to the finish. Sutton and Roselli dug down deep and gave everything they had but Sload was able to open enough of a gap to keep them at bay. Sutton rolled across the line second followed by Roselli with Don Zrinski posted another top five in fourth with Marc Rogers fifth. Steve Whitt advanced from his 17th starting position to finish sixth picking up the most passing points on the day for the MNO Hard Charger season long standings.
 
Heat Races were won by Steve Whitt who started the race from the sixth position to slice his way to the front. The second heat saw Wall Stadium Veteran Stock car racer Marc Rogers take his first ATQMRA heat race win. The third heat saw Geoffrey Sutton take his fourth heat win of the season and third consecutive heat race win. This heat was by far the most exciting. Sutton's win wasn't easy. First Matt Roselli made a move to the inside entering the first turn only to overshoot the turn allowing Sutton to cross him over coming off the second turn. Then Sload moved into second and swapped cross over moves with Sutton coming away with the heat race win.
 
Sload entered the race with a four point lead in the standings over his closest rival Ryan Tidman.  This marks the third race in a row where Sload earned max points by winning the race.  He won the last race at Wall on the inner oval and followed that up with a win at Borger's Speedway and completed the hat trick by winning the second race on the Wall inner oval.   When the official tally is done Sload should be on top by 36 markers with four races left. Mike Glaser finished one spot ahead of Rookie of the year rival Patrick Force keeping the Rookie race extremely tight.
 
Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip to Oswego Speedway for the International Classic on Saturday September 5th. The winners share is currently $350 with $175 in green money being offered to each car taking a green flag for the event. The ATQMRA will don the wings for this event being run in conjunction with the Winged ISMA Super modifieds. Racing at Oswego puts the tq midgets in front of one of the largest crowds the TQs race in front of all season long and it's the only paved track on the east coast that has a strong open wheel fan base.
 
ATQMRA News and Notes: Brianna Page and Kerry Irwin pulled double duty Saturday night running both TQ midgets and their Champ Karts on the inner oval. Irwin finished eleventh in the TQ on the tail end of the lead lap and third in the Champ race while Page finished 12th in the TQ race and one spot behind Irwin in fourth in the Champ race as well. Steve Whitt made his first ATQMRA start in impressive fashion winning his heat and charging from the rear to a very competitive sixth place finish.
 
Feature (25 Laps)
1. 16 Buddy Sload
2. 46 Geoffrey Sutton              
3. 98 Matt Roselli  
4. 75 Don Zrinski  
5. 27 Mark Rogers
6. 11 Steve Whitt
7. 95 Jeff Kot
8. 1B Ryan Tidman
9. 75 Mark Yoder
10. 17v Shawn McCaughey  
11. 46v Kerry Irwin
12. 33 Brianna Page  
13. F8 Mike Glaser
14. 18 Patrick Force
15. Brett Conklin
16. Pat VanVarick
17. 51 Jon Gambutti
18. Bud Sload DNS
 

Sload Bests 19 Car Field at Borgers Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA

By Blu Metz

(Borger's Speedway, Saylorsburg, Pa.   August 8, 2015)    Buddy Sload bested a strong field of 19 cars on hand at Borger's. Sload had a fast car all day and won the heat race and the feature to sweep the day making it two in a row. For the second consecutive race Sload was able to capitalize on the misfortune of 2014 Rookie of the Year Geoffrey Sutton to earn the victory. Heat races were won by Sload and Sutton. The next event for the ATQMRA is back at Borgers this coming Saturday August 15th.

The feature race saw a front row of Pole Sitter Geoffrey Sutton and Ryan Tidman lead a full field of 18 cars to Brian Zawaski's green flag. Sutton was able to gain the advantage from his inside start to get the lead exiting turn two. Sutton opened up a lead over second running Tidman when a caution flew for a tangle coming out of the second turn that ended the day for Mike Glaser and Matt Jansich. 2014 Borger's Speedway Champion Larry Hoagland was collected in the melee but was able to continue. On the ensuing restart Sutton was again able to motor ahead and started putting ground on second.

Racing continued until the white flag flew with Sutton out front. Sload worked his way from his fourth starting position to second as the laps wound down. Pat VanVarick advanced from his ninth starting position to third when the caution flag flew for a spinning Joey Bailey with less than half a lap remaining. This set up a green white checker showdown between the heat race winners Sutton and Sload.

On the restart Sutton went wide entering the first turn opening the door for Sload to take the lead. Sutton attempted to cross Sload over going down the straight away but ended up looping the car entering turn three.

The final restart saw Sload gain the slightest of margins over the hard charging VanVarick that allowed him to secure the victory. VanVarick rolled across the line second with Ryan Tidman on the podium in third. Matt Roselli and Don Zrinski rounded out the top five.

Jeff Kot made his first start since the opener at Mahoning Valley a good one to work his way up to sixth from his 11th starting position. Marc Rogers advanced 9 positions to finish seventh in the race followed by Mark Yoder and Geoffrey Sutton who was able to recover a top ten after having to restart last for the green white checker finish. Hoagland was able to earn a top ten after an early race tangle forced him to start from the rear.

The win allowed Sload to leap frog 2003 ATQMRA Rookie of the year Ryan Tidman by four markers to make Sload the point leader heading into the Satruday August 15 race back at Borger's.

ATQMRA News and Notes: Saturday marked the return of Joey Bailey to competition after his nasty flip at Borger's on July 11th. Bailey had a nice finish ahead of him in the waning laps but ended up facing the wrong way with a brake issue. Don Zrinski posted a strong fifth place finish in a season that marks his 32nd season of competition with the ATQMRA. His first year of competition with the ATQMRA came in 1983 in a home built car with a 2 stroke Suzuki at Pinebrook Speedway.

Heat Races were won by Geoffrey Sutton and Buddy Sload

Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic Feature (30 Laps)
1. 16 Buddy Sload  
2. 17 Pat Varick
3. 1B Ryan Tidman
4. 98 Matt Roselli
5. 75Z Don Zrinski
6. 95 Jeff Kot
7. 27T Marc Rogers
8. 75 Mark Yoder
9. 46 Geoff Sutton1
0. 54 Larry Hoagland
11. ZT Jordan Tittle
12. 02 Joey Bailey
13. 18 Patrick Force
14. 06 Chad Parks
15. 48 Matt Janisch
16. 46V Mike Glaser
17. 17V Shawn McCaughe
18. F8 Darren Schuler
19. 53 Bud Sload

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Sload Win Ushers in a New Era for the ATQMRA

Buddy Sload ushered in a new era of racing for the ATQMRA in winning the first ATQMRA sanctioned race on Wall Stadium's fifth mile flat inner oval. The ATQMRA put on an exciting show on the flat track that lent itself to tight competitive racing throughout the field and kept the back of the pack in sight of the leaders after 25 green flag laps. Heat races were won by Matt Roselli and Buddy Sload in the Colin Martin Spitfire 16.  Don Zrinski ran the fastest lap in the heat races while Roselli ran the fastest lap in the feature. Next up for the ATQMRA is the first of four additional short track dates at Borger's Speedway on August 8th.

The addition of the Borger's dates and the remainder of the Club's races on Wall's inner oval and the single show at Bethel Speedway gives the ATQMRA a tie back to its small track roots that was lost with the closing of venue's like Freeport LI Speedway, Islip LI, the paved track at New Egypt and Dorney Park as well as the fabled Pinebrook Speedway. The racing on the smaller ovals lends itself to tighter competition and allows the TQ's to be a true next step for younger racers moving on from quarter midget and Kart racing.

The feature race saw a front row of Metz Racing Teammates Geoffrey Sutton and "the Rocket" Ron Mullen take the green flag with Sutton winning the drag race into the first turn. A caution negated the initial start when Mike Glaser and BJ MacDonald tangled coming out of the second turn ending both of their nights early.

The restart was more of the same with Sutton taking command and appeared to be the one to beat in the initial flat track race at Wall. The top five cars were running in tight formation with Sload second followed by Roselli Ryan Tidman and Don Zrinski. Sutton appeared poised to earn the victory which Sload acknowledged in victory lane but the engine gave up the ghost on lap 16for Sutton handing the victory to Sload.

Sometimes you have to loose one in order to win one. That statement was never truer of the combination of Sload and Colin Martin in the number 16 Spitfire. In the previous week's feature event at Borger's Speedway Sload was clearly the class of the field leading from early in the race into the closing laps only to have a drive line failure take him out of a commanding lead handing the win to 2014 Champion Matt Janisch. This week the shoe was on the other foot and Sload was able to capitalize and earn the victory over a hard charging Matt Roselli with Ryan Tidman on the podium for third. Veteran TQ midget driver and 2012 Borger's Speedway TQ/600 Champion Don Zrinski who was the fastest car all day rolled across the line fourth in his first start of the season with the venerable ATQMRA.

Wall Stadium Modified Star Anthony Sessely brought his Atlantic City indoor car to race with the ATQMRA and notched a fifth place finish after an epic race long battle with his buddy Rob Vivona who finished sixth in the same dirt car he raced to a fourth place finish on the Bridgeport clay the night before. The two swapped slide jobs and cross over moves the entire race long reminiscent of their childhood days of racing quarter midgets on the Little Wall Quarter Midget track adjacent to the Wall pits.

Ronnie "The Rocket" Mullen rolled across the line in seventh in his third career TQ midget start at Wall running laps within two tenths of the leaders by the end of the race. Mullen earned a victory in Wall's factory stock make-up feature early in the evening and celebrated a second place run by his son Cole Mullen on the Little Wall Quarter Midget track at the QMA Grand National event against some of the best quarter midget racers in the country.

The racing on the Wall inner oval met with mixed opinions heading into the first ever race on the flat track but following the race it was clear that the flat track significantly leveled the playing field keeping all of the competitors in sight of the leaders after 25 green flag laps. The ATQMRA's new for 2015 Tire bank rule has been successful at keeping tire costs under control and lending parity to the division.

ATQMRA News and Notes: The night of racing at Wall was a reunion of sorts in the grandstand with the Zrinski clan on hand as well as John Malik and Glenn and Kathy Halbing at the races to check out the TQ midgets on the new to the ATQMRA inner oval. Glenn and Kathy who raced TQ midgets for several years with Glenn earning a victory on the banks of Wall spent the last several years earning racing off shore boats earning World Championships along the way. It appeared Rookie contender Patrick Force's luck may have turned the corner by completing all of the laps in the feature and his top rival Mike Glaser falling out before a lap was complete. Mark Rogers and crew were on hand with the Murphy 27 car sporting a new paint scheme and turned some quick laps on the day making their first appearance with the ATQMRA receiving their Brice's NAPA Clean Start Program bucket of product. BJ MacDonald had one of the fastest cars on the track racing the Bud and Buddy Sload 53 Spitfire and would surely have been a contender were it not for contact before a lap was complete in the feature.

ATQMRA Feature (25 Laps)           
16 Buddy Sload
98 Matt Roselli
1B Ryan Tidman
75 Don Zrinski
16 Anthony Sessely
46v Rob Vivona
39 Ron Mullen
18 Patrick Force
27 Marc Rogers
46 Geoffrey Sutton
F8 Mike Glaser
53 BJ MacDonald

Heat Races were won by Matt Roselli and Buddy Sload

Four additional dates have been added to the ATQMRA Schedule at Borger's Speedway with the first date being August 8th. The TQ's will be back the following week August 15th, September 12th, and October 3rd for regular sanctioned ATQMRA races. On October 10th Borger's Speedway will be hosting a $1000 to win $100 to take the green race for the TQ/600s with the payout guaranteed no matter the car count. The rain date for that race will be October 31. Since the Borger's races are being added after the schedule was released Teams will only be allowed to claim points for four out of the five races at Borger's providing one drop race.

Janisch Backs into a Win at Borger's Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA

Matt Janisch of Nazareth, Pa kept his streak of outdoor wins going on Saturday night at Borger's Speedway earning his third consecutive victory in his Yuhas Chassis 48. Heat races were won by Buddy Sload and Joey Bailey. Bailey is home resting comfortably after taking a nasty flip at the beginning of the feature. Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip to Wall stadium for the first sanctioned race on the flat inner oval on Saturday July 18th with a host of new and old faces coming to try the flat track. 

Janisch came out on top in the thirty lap affair but the race wasn't decided until the closing laps. You would normally expect to read Janisch had the dominant car and ran away with the race but that wasn't the case at Borger's this time. 

The front row of Rob Vivona and Mike Glaser brought the field down to the Joe Agnello green flag with Vivona charging into the lead on the outside with Buddy Sload following into second on the outside. Contact between Sload and Vivona caused a multi car pile up on the exit of the first turn.   A complete restart put Sload and Geoffrey Sutton on the front row. Sload was able to get the jump on the outside and was crossed over coming out of the fourth turn by Sutton. As the field crossed the start/finish line side by side through the field incidental contact between Ryan Tidman and point leader Joey Bailey sent Bailey flipping the remainder of the straight away. Bailey was later transported to the hospital for observation and is now home resting comfortably. 

The ensuing restart was again a front row of Sload and Sutton with Sload taking the lead in the Colin Martin 16 Spitfire. Sutton was able to close in but wasn't able to make a move for the lead before loosing a coolant line on lap six an apparent result of an earlier incident. From that point on Sload was in total control of the race holding off the advances of second place Pat VanVarick and Janisch. 2014 Borger's Speedway Champion Larry Hoagland in the Fred Bittner 54 worked his was from deep in the field to fourth. 

Second place wasn't the place to be in this race. First Sutton was relegated to a DNF from second then VanVarick had a fuel delivery issue sideline him in the closing laps. This put Janisch into second with three laps remaining. Sload who looked to be on cruise control out front had a rear gear failure that ended his bid to sweep the night handing the lead and the win to Janisch. 

This marks the end of the Ryan Tidman winning streak that saw him win both Oswego and Bethel with Point leader Bailey finishing second to him. Janisch continued his outdoor undefeated streak in the Yuhas 48. The car hasn't been beat outdoors and was extremely fast indoors. Janisch won the club opener at MahoningValley and the unsanctioned event at Chapel HillNew York and completed the Hat trick at Borger's on Saturday. In Victory Lane Janisch said, "Sometimes all you have to do is finish."

A host of new faces raced with the ATQMRA at the first sanctioned race at Borger's Speedway that is under new management for the 2015 season. Larry Hoagland who was the 2014 Borger's Speedway TQ/600 Champion made his first ATQMRA start of his long racing career in the Fred Bittner Hyper Hugger an impressive one. After starting deep in the pack Hoagland used his savvy to pick his way to the front and earn a second place finish in his first outing. Hoagland who is a Pleasant Valley Graduate and hails from nearby Bangor, Pa calls Borger's Speedway his home track. 

Rookie Dylan Martin was impressive behind the wheel of the Pat VanVarick 17 Hyper TQ midget in earning a podium finish in his first ATQMRA start and only his second start in a TQ midget. 

Chad Jones made his first start of the season in his 28 Jones Belt Drive creation that was very quick indoors. Jones is a multi feature winning driver in the Mahoning Valley Dirt Modified Division and dabbles in the world of TQ midgets. His feature was ended early as a result of contact with the outside wall. 

ATQMRA Rookie Report: The battle at the top of the Rookie point stangings remains a close one with Mike Glaser earning a fourth place finish at Borger's Speedway. This allowed him to open up a few markers on his closest rival Patrick Force who was relegated to a DNF. Only 44 markers separate the two top rookies with a lot of racing to be done before it is decided. 

Mark Yoder who is a winning driver at Borger's on the pavement in his 600 Micro Sprint in seasons past made his debut with his brand new Hyper Hugger TQ midget running fast laps in his initial shake down run of the car. He expects to run a number of races with the ATQMRA the remainder of the season. 

Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip to a track that is a stalwart on the 60 year old organization's schedule but it will be raced in a completely new way. The ATQMRA will be racing the inner flat oval at Wall Stadium on Saturday July 18th. A host of new names will be coming into the fold for the event that should prove interesting. Pit gates will open at 1:00 pm with an early happy hour practice for the TQ's to adjust to the inner oval from 2:00 to 3:00. 

Featrue (30 Laps)  
1. 48Matt Janisch 
2. 54 Larry Hoagland 
3. 17v Dylan Martin
4. F8 Mike Glaser
5. 16 Buddy Sload
6. 17 Pat Van Varick          
7. 18 Patrick Force          
8. 38 Nick Ladyga         
9. 28 Chad Jones
10. 46v Rob Vivona
11. 75 Mark Yoder
12. 02 Joey Bailey
13. 1B Ryan Tidman

Tidman Tops Hoosier Tire ATQMRA at Bethel

ATQMRA Media Contact Blu Metz 610-217-2593

Bethel, NY 6/20/2015 Flyin' Ryan Tidman Tops the competition at Bethel Speedway for back to back wins notching wins on the longest and the shortest tracks on the schedule in consecutive weeks. The TQs were able to get the races in battling threatening rain all day. Mark Pritchard and Bill Force Sr. won the Vintage TQ portion of the races. The ATQMRA had the Metz Racing 46 on display at the Teterboro NJ Wings and Wheels Show. Next up for the ATQMRA is the first ever race on the Wall Stadium Inner oval on July 18th.

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Under the threat of rain all day the Thunder and Lightening Division TQ midgets didn't disappoint. A front row of Geoffrey Sutton and Buddy Sload brought the field to the green flag with Sload working his way into the lead from the outside pole starting position. Sload was followed into the lead by Tidman who went to work annexing the top position from Sload. Tidman was able to get grip on the bottom pulling along side Sload making a 2 wide battle for the lead.   The pair raced side by side until lap 6 when Tidman was able to close the deal and take the lead. The story doesn't end here.

Sixth starting Joey Bailey worked his way into second on lap 10 and set his sights on Tidman who was clearly the class of the field this day. Always the gamer Bailey was able to use a late race caution to give him a chance to get to the front. Bailey's attempt to get the lead left the door open for Sutton to take second position on lap 22. The pair of recent ATQMRA Rookies of the year swapped slide jobs and cross over moves down to the last lap with Bailey crossing the line second and Sutton third.

Nick Ladyga made his ATQMRA debut in his beautifully prepared Laffler number 38 and earned an impressive fourth place finish after turning in some of the fastest laps of the day in practice. He missed the tune for the feature and battled to get the car in top form. It was a crap shoot on making the final adjustment for the feature after the track was dried and the TQs ran feature only to ensure the traveling group was able to get their show in. Special thanks go out to the Bethel Management team for getting the show in.

The Vintage TQs were on hand with Mark Pritchard earning Victory in the 2 Stroke and Bill Force Sr. winning the 4 cycle division.

Next up for the ATQMRA is its first foray onto the inner oval at Wall Stadium for some flat track wingless racing. Tidman's resurgent hot streak should help him carry momentum into the next race on the tight confines of Wall's flat inner oval on July 18th.

Blu Metz and Micky Soto-Metz had the Metz racing 46 on display at the Teteroboro NJ Wings and Wheels Expo and provided big wheels for children young and old to race on behalf of the Hoosier Tire ATQMRA.

ATQMRA News and Notes: The Force Family celebrated Fathers day weekend at the races with the elder Force having the best day in his vintage car. Force Jr. and Patrick Force were relegated to a DNS's on the day. Patrick broke a rear in practice and Force Jr. was sidelined by electrical issues. It appears that Mike Glaser was able to take advantage of Force's mechanical whoa's and make up the points deficit from missing the first race of the year turning the rookie battle into a horse race. Ryan Tidman helped his chances of earning the MNO season long Passing bonus by advancing from his fifth starting position to earn the victory. Hot Rod Jon Gambutti was sidelined after the engine in the Alan Mollot 51 Badger expired in practice.

Feature 25 laps.  1. 1B Ryan Tidman 2. 02 Joey Bailey            3. 46 Geoffrey Sutton   4. 38 Nick Ladyga      5. Matt Roselli6. f8 Mike Glaser  7. 16 Buddy Sload     8. 53 BJ MacDonald   9. 51 Jon Gambutti      10. Patrick Force        11. Bill Force Jr.