Joey Bailey Snags Oswego Bud Classic Win Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA

By: Blu Metz

PHOTO CREDITS: Alex Borland Race Media / Robert J Clark

(9/5/2015) Oswego, NY
Young Joey Bailey of Helmetta, NJ inherited the lead in the ATQMRA Bud Classic at Oswego Speedway on the white flag lap and held off a hard charging Jon Gambutti to cement the Victory. Bailey followed a heated battle between Matt Janisch and Ryan Tidman before both were sidelined after the white flag was shown. Heat races were won by Janisch and Tidman. Gambutti finished second with Geoffrey Sutton on the podium in third. $175 was paid to each car that competed at Oswego with Bailey pocketing $350 for the win. Next up for the ATQMRA is a trip to Wall Stadium for wingless racing on the facility's inner oval on Saturday September 19th with the season points finale at Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton on Saturday October 24th.

Following their dominant victories in the heat races the ATQMRA Bud Classic shaped up to be a showdown between Reigning ATQMRA Champion Matt Janisch in his own 48 TQ midget and the multiple Championship winning Flying Ryan Tidman in the Boyd Racing 1B. The pair of racing Engineers did not disappoint. Pole Sitter Mark Yoder and Joey Bailey led the field into the first turn with Bailey leading the initial circuit only to relinquish the lead to Matt Janisch who charged from his sixth starting position to take the lead on lap four. Bailey maintained second until lap seven when Tidman took over the runner up position.

Tidman worked to put himself into a position to overtake Janisch until a lap 12 caution flew for a tangle between Mike Glaser of Jackson, NJ and The Flying Chiropractor Greg Richardson from Nearby Rochester, NY. Both would have their Classic races cut short by the incident.

The ensuing restart let the tires cool down and gave Tidman the opportunity he needed. The Janisch car picked up a push after the caution allowing Tidman to make the decisive move and take the lead. From here it looked like Tidman would cruise to victory. Still running second Janisch would take the white flag and have his engine expire entering the first turn. He would roll to a stop at the top of the second turn.   Tidman would spin entering the third turn on the same lap with the caution flag falling. This handed the lead over to the youngster, Joey Bailey, for a green white checker shootout with Hotrod Jon Gambutti.

Bailey an Engineering Student in his freshman year at Fairleigh Dickinson University had his hands full with a hard charging Supermodified racer and past ATQMRA Champ Hotrod Jon Gambutti hot on his tail. Gambutti in the Alan Mollot badger 51 applied pressure and appeared to have the edge in speed but Bailey held on to earn his first ATQMRA Bud Classic Victory at Oswego Speedway. Gambutti settled for second with Geoffrey Sutton crossing the line third. Current Point leader Buddy Sload would finish fourth with Jeff Kot rolling across the line fifth. Tidman would recover to finish sixth with Janisch seventh.   Chad Parks had one of his best ATQMRA finishes rolling across the line eighth.

Heading into the final lap Bailey was running third and didn't expect to get the victory. Joey said, "We don't like to win them this way but we will take it." Bailey went on to thank his Father Russ for providing him a well prepared car and the Zuzallo family for giving him the opportunity to race their lightening fast 02.

In winning the heat race Janisch set a new track record by lapping the Oswego inner loop in 14.322 seconds.

The ATQMRA Next heads to Wall Stadium for some short track racing on the Wall Stadium inner oval on Saturday September 19th. The flat track has reduced the speeds of the cars but the level of competition has increased. The short track style of racing has garnered the club positive attention from the media and is helping increase car counts. The final Points paying race for the ATQMRA will be on October 24th at Mahoning Valley Speedway where the 2015 ATQRMA Champion will be crowned.

ATQMRA News and Notes:   Sixteen cars were on hand for the Classic at Oswego. Making his first TQ midget start was Sprint car racer Bill Case in the Metz Racing 46v. Local Racer Greg Richardson picked up the former Justin Mapes Casey's 03 and 04 NYPA Championship winning car.

Past ATQMRA Champion Joey Payne had a good weekend of racing. He didn't take part in the ATQMRA Classic since he was busy winning the Iron Mike Scrivani Memmorial NEMA Midget race at Monodnock. On Sunday Joey was the hard charger of the race in moving from his 24th starting position to finish third, missing second by a nose in the Oswego Supermodified Classic. 

2014 ATQRMA Rookie of the year Geoffrey Sutton backed into a podium finish of third at Oswego and made his Modified Stock car debut on Sunday at Chemung Speedrome a good one by racing from an 18th start to finish tenth in the Paul Hartwig Modified. Sutton incidentally made his debut at the former track of his namesake Geoffrey Bodine in the type of car that made Bodine famous, a Modified

Alison Cumens who won an ATQMRA Classic a few years back started the ISMA Supermodified feature from the pole position but had her chances of victory end with a blown engine. 

Rookie of the year contender Patrick Force gained four Markers on rookie point leading Mike Glaser tightening that battle heading into the penultimate race at Wall. 

While the ATQMRA isn't paying a front loaded purse they are paying a generous purse through the field. Teams taking a green at the Classic at Oswego received $175 for their efforts. 

Matt Roselli seemed snake bitten at Oswego for the Classic, He had a fast car all day but a series of maladies prevented him from earning a good finish. 

Mark Yoder made his first trip to Oswego with his Hyper Hugger and was thrilled with its performance on the big track running very competitive laps but was relegated to a DNF in the final tally. 

Mark Janisch, noted engine builder and Father of ATQMRA Superstar Matt made his Oswego Speedway debut in the Janisch's 2014 Championship winning car. He ran some fast laps but was a DNS for the feature.

Heat Races were won by Matt Jansich and Ryan Tidman

1 02 Joey Baliey

2 51 John Gambutti

3 46 Geoffrey Suton

4 16 Buddy Solad

5 95 Jeff Kot

6 1B Ryan Tidman

7 48 Matt Janisch

8 06 Chad Parks

9 98X Matt Roselli

10 75Y Mark Yoder

11 18 Patrick Force

12 F8 Michael Glaser

13 4 Greg Richardson

14 46V Bill Case

15 48x Mark Janisch

16 53 Bj MacDonald

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