Kris Graver Wins ATQMRA Season Opener at Mahoning Valley

Under clear skies and brisk April temperatures, the Hoosier Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuel kicked off their 2018 campaign at the Mahoning Valley Speedway Saturday evening. With excitement in the air, it was Joey Bailey debuting his brand new #51B Yuhas Chassis for Alan Mollot, who set the pace.

Not only did Bailey set quick time in the afternoon practice session, he blistered the field by running lap times close to four-tenths of a second faster than the field in his heat race, earning him a near two and a half second victory over the field in the opening race of the night.

The second heat race of the evening went off without a hitch as #75 Mark Yoder began his 2018 season with a bang capturing the checkered flag. Both heat races ran without incident, meaning both 8-lap races were completed well under two minutes in time.

The top eight feature starting positions were set for redraw per the ATQMRA Rulebook. #51 Matt Janisch, also driving for Alan Mollot, who drew the first pill granting him the pole positon for the 25-lap feature. Heat race winners Mark Yoder and Joey Bailey drew the fourth and seventh feature starting positons respectively. 

It was Janisch who paced the field in the early going of the feature race. However, Kris Graver, who drives the #48 owned by Matt Janisch, stayed within car lengths of his car owner for the first half of the race. Graver, who is a Mahoning Valley Speedway regular, saved his equipment and made a second half charge for the win to the delight of the crowd.

Graver made a power move to the outside of Janisch, bringing the crowd to their feet as he made his pass for the lead on the outside in the first turn just beyond the halfway point of the race. Although both Janisch and heat race winner Joey Bailey made late charges in the closing stages, it was Graver who played his cards right and saved his tires the best to capture the victory at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

Like the heat races prior, the 25-lap feature ran caution free and was completed in an astonishing three minutes and fifty six seconds. Matt Janisch would ultimately finish second to his owned car, with Joey Bailey finishing third. #1B Ryan Tidman brought his Lafler Chassis home in forth and #36 Buddy Sload rounded out the top five in a solid effort for Spitfire Racing.

The Hoosier Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA powered by VP Racing Fuel takes a week off before heading north to the Waterford Speedbowl, CT for an action-packed day on Saturday, May 5th 2018.

RACE RESULTS

Heat 1 -8 Laps

1.     #51B Joey Bailey

2.     #36 Buddy Sload

3.     #48 Kris Graver

4.     #1B Ryan Tidman

5.     #16 Ronnie Mullen

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Heat 2 -8 Laps

1.     #75 Mark Yoder

2.     #51 Matt Janisch

3.     #20 Jon Keller

4.     #17 Joey Jarowicz

5.     #73x Cole Mullen

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Feature -25 Laps

1. #48 Kris Graver

2. #51 Matt Janisch 

3. #51B Joey Bailey

4. #1B Ryan Tidman

5. #36 Buddy Sload

6. #17 Joey Jarowicz

7. #75 Mark Yoder

8. #20 Jon Keller

9. #73x Cole Mullen

10. #16 Ronnie Mullen

Tidman Takes Turkey Derby

Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA Powered by VP

November 25, 2017 Wall Stadium, NJ Flying Ryan Tidman Parked the Lenny and Donna Boyd 1B Lafler in Victory Lane at the season ending Turkey Derby in an epic battle with second finishing Matt Janisch to close out his Championship season with six feature wins.  26 cars took the green flag for the feature including 11 invaders with Joey Payne topping drivers making their first 2017 start. Janisch sniped fast time on the last lap of knock out time trials for the second year in a row.  With the outdoor season officially at a close the next official ATQRMA activity will be the Motorsports Show, in January as teams gear up for the coming indoor racing series.

For the Turkey Derby the ATQRMA runs a king of the hill style Qualifying format of group qualifying.  The groups are determined by practice times with the fastest cars in the last group.  Joey Bailey was in the third group and put himself at the top of the speed chart.  His time stayed at the top of the scoring pylon until late in the final round when he fell to fourth.  Janisch hovered near the top of the chart with Tidman sitting on top until the final lap when Janisch found a little extra speed to cross the finish line under the checkered flag to put his number to the top of the scoring pylon and assure himself a spot in the redraw.  Tidman was second in time with invading Joey Payne third.  Joey Bailey in the second Boyd Racing entry was fourth quick with Buddy Sload fifth in the Colin Martin Spitfire 36.  Jeff Kot in his Behrent's Performance Badger was sixth followed by Kris Graver in the Alan Mollot 51 Badger with Tim Proctor rounding out the redraw cars, in his 98 Drinan. 

The redraw put a pair of ATQRMA big dogs on the front row with Ryan Tidman starting pole and Matt Janisch outside.  Several cautions flew before lap one was completed. Tim Proctor was the worst off. Before a lap was completed he caught a wheel and flipped on the back stretch.   Proctor walked away unhurt. Don Zrinski and Kris Graver also had their feature end before a lap was completed.  When the first lap was completed Tidman was in the lead followed by Janisch. Jeff Kot would work himself into 2nd place early but contact down the backstretch from Janisch knocked Kot out of contention. After restarting last in the field with a damaged race car, Kot would charge back to a 14th place finish. 

Tidman would lead every lap to earn his sixth win of the 2017 season.  It wasn't quite that easy.  From the onset Janisch was hot in his tail looking for an opportunity to slip past.  In the waning laps of the race that ran the final 18 laps caution free the pair closed in on a group of cars running at the tail end of the lead lap battling side by side for position creating a few nail bighting moments for the veteran racers at the front of the field. Tidman deftly and patiently negotiated the traffic keeping Janisch at bay to earn the right to wear the laurels in Victory Lane at Wall for the second time in 2017 to cap his championship season in style. 

Multi Race Winner Buddy Sload, would roll across the line in third with Super Modified Regular and past ATQRMA Champion Joey Payne fourth. Joey Bailey rounded out the top five. With Western New York's Bobby Holmes finishing sixth. 2016 Rookie of the year Mark Yoder was seventh with invading Brandon Azzalina from Stroudsburg Pa in the George and Marilyn Van Varick Lafler 43posted an 8th place finish. His other start on the season was in the Pocono event when he led until late in the race. Invading Tim Buckwalter in the Cicconi 75 finished 9th in a shake down run in preparation for the indoor season.  Tyler MacLeod rounded out the top ten in the Norm Macleod 32.  

Brandon Azzalina was the highest finishing driver with ACRO Rookie of the Year eligibility for the 2018 season. Tyler MacLeod, Kyle Taraska, Kevin VanValkenburg, Brianna Page, Nascar Modified Superstar Keith Rocco and Kris Graver round out the drivers with 2018  Rookie eligibility among Turkey Derby Competitors. Brett Michalski was the Hard Charger and Kevin Vanbalkenburg received the Last Car on Lead Lap Bonus,  from Brice's NAPA.

Heath Hehnley was on hand for the Turkey Derby to give the pavement a try once again in a Hyper Hugger Micro Sprint. The team struggled to find the speed they needed to run up front. Hehnley is a past Turkey Derby Champion winning the race on Wall's High banks driving the iconic Colin Martin 36. This was his first start on Wall's flat inner oval. 

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ATQMRA Turkey Derby Feature 20 laps  1.  1B Ryan Tidman  2.  48  Matt Jansich  3.  36 Buddy Sload  4.  83 Joey Payne  5.  22  Joey Bailey  6. 21  Bobby Holmes  7.  75 Mark Yoder  8.  43 Brandon Azzalina 9.   75  Tim Buckwalter  10.  32 Tyler MacLeod  11.  73b Brett Michalski  12.  39 Ronnie Mullen  13.  2 Kyle Taraska 14. 95  Jeff Kot  15.  20 Kevin VanValkenburg  16.  711  Mike Iles  17.  6  Bill Force  18.  F8 Mike Occhipinte  19.  45 Anthony Payne  20.  01 Brianna Page  21. 1 Keith Rocco  22.  73c Cole Mullen  23.  11k  Heath Hehnley 24  Don Zrinski  25.  98 Tim Proctor  26.  51  Kris Graver

Bailey to Debut New Chassis at Turkey Derby XLIV

Lenny Boyd, Ryan Tidman, Joey Bailey, Donna Boyd

This past weekend ATQMRA regular Joey Bailey returned to Wall Stadium for the first time since his horrifying wreck in turn 1 in September. However, fans noticed Bailey wasn’t flying his usual #02 colors.

Bailey will be debuting a new, spitfire chassis Thanksgiving weekend, now as driver #22. But how “new” is this chassis?

Bailey on the throttle.

“This is the same car my teammate Ryan Tidman won his championships in from 2011-2013,” said Bailey. “The opportunity to drive this chassis actually started the day of my now infamous accident… We have been struggling with the #02 all year and as a team we felt like this would be the best opportunity to capture a checkered flag before the season ends.”

Now racing with 13” wheels, Joey found more comfort in his new chassis right off the bat compared to his former 10” wheel chassis.

“I never raced 13” tires before, so adjusting to the bigger brakes took a round of practice to get used to. It was nice being in a car with that much stopping power, compared to the 10” tires there was a lot of gliding around. The brakes are so important on Wall’s inner oval, so I find this to be a huge advantage for us heading into Turkey Derby.”

The car will have a throwback feel to it as well, with a paint scheme designed after owner Lenny Boyd’s asphalt modified from the 1990’s. Bailey, of Monroe, NJ felt it would be a great honor to represent all of Boyd’s success over the course of his career at New Jersey’s biggest motorsport event of the year.

This weekend, Joey and the rest of the ATQMRA are expected to tune on their cars one last time ahead of final preparation for Turkey Derby XLIV.

Practice will take place this Saturday, November 18th, from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM est. at Wall Stadium Speedway. Grandstand admission is free to all spectators and pit passes are only $20.00.

For more information, including camping and ticket options for Turkey Derby XLIV, please visit www.wallspeedwayracing.com.

Sload Wins Waterford Tidman Tops Season Championship Gorbatuk ACRO Rookie of the Year

Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic ATQMRA Powered by VP

Waterford Ct.  October 21, 2017;  The ATQMRA Points Paying race of the 2017 season at the Waterford Speedbowl was won  by Buddy Sload in the Colin Martin 36 Spitfire.  Flying Ryan Tidman finished third capping the 2017 Championship for himself and car owner's Lenny and Donna Boyd.  Dave Gorbatuk earned enough points to best ACRO Rookie of the Race Cole Mullen for the 2017 ATQMRA ACRO Rookie of the Year Title in Hoosier Tire  Mid Atlantic Competition at the Waterford Speed bowl Powered by VP.   Next up for the ATQMRA is the fall General Membership Meeting on Sunday November 4th from 3 to 5pm followed by the season ending awards dinner.  The final on track racing action for the TQs will be the Annual Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium on Saturday November 25th.

The front Row of Little Wall Quarter Midget racers Cole Mullen and Joey Bailey brought the field to the Green Flag.  The initial lap wasn't completed before NEMA Midget Star Avery Stoehr went careening into the first turn wall on the initial Start in the beautifully prepared Phil DiMario 23 car.  He was uninjured in the incident.  A complete restart would see Joey Bailey launch into the lead with heat race winner Mark Yoder in second.  Seventh starting Buddy Sload would methodically work his way into second position by lap fifteen.  Bailey opened up a substantial lead by this time only to fade in the waning laps from a blistered right rear tire.   

Sload would overtake Bailey to lead the 21st lap and not look back.  The 25-lap race was run from green to checker with a fading Bailey hanging on to second at the finish.  Bailey was looking for a comeback victory after a nasty flip at Wall a few weeks ago.  Bailey's father Russ and the Boyd racing team successfully returned the Zuzzalo 02 to top form for the race on the organization's fastest track at the Waterford Speed Bowl nearly finding his way to Victory on a track where he has consistently led laps but hasn't been able to grab the brass ring.  

Flying Ryan Tidman who secured the Championship in the previous round at Wall for himself and Team Owner's Lenny and Donna Boyd finished third after winning the previous show at Waterford.  Tidman had a five-win season to capture another Championship with the Boyd Racing team.  

Mark Yoder who won his heat in convincing fashion missed out on a podium finish losing the third position to Tidman on the last lap.  Matt Janisch rolled across the line fifth after having a car that was consistently the class of the field in practice.  

ACRO Rookie of the Race Cole Mullen rolled across the line an impressive sixth moving him ahead of his father in the season long Rookie Standings.  Cole fell a few positions short of catching the ATQMRA ACRO Rookie of the Year Dave Gorbatuk who picked up enough points with his 12th place finish in the Metz Racing Driver Development BGF Chassis 2 to earn the 2017 title.  The 2017 ACRO Rookie of the Year Championship chase was one of the tightest in recent memory with Gorbatuk and the father and son team of Ronnie and Cole Mullen all having a realistic shot at the title entering the final round.    

Kot would roll across the line seventh in his Behrent's Peformance Yuhas 88.  Geoffrey Sutton was 8th with Veteran Dave Williams 9th and Joey Payne III rounding out the top ten.  Ronnie Mullen would be scored 11th with Dave Gorbatuk 12th.  Steve Boland made his second start of the season with the ATQMRA in the Fred Delibero 01 after racing his father's 19 car at Riverhead earlier in the season.  Avery Stoehr who is a star in the NEMA Midget organization and races regularly at Waterford in the Midgets made his first start in a TQ midget at the Wateroford SpeedBowl.  His feature was over before it started when he crashed on the initial start of the race.  

Feature Race 25 laps 1.  36 Buddy Sload 2.  02 Joey Bailey  3.  1B RyanTidman  4.  75 Mark Yoder  5.  51 Matt Janisch 73c  Cole Mullen 7.  88 Jeff Kot  8.  461 Geoffrey Sutton  9.  11 Dave Williams  10.  67 Joey Payne III  11.  39 Ron Mullen  12.  2 Dave Gorbatuk  13.  01 Steve Boland  14.  23 Avery Stoehr

Heat 1  1.  36 Buddy Sload  2.  02 Joey Bailey  3.  88 Jeff Kot  4.  461 Geoffrey Sutton 5.  39 Ron Mullen  6.  67 Joey Payne

Heat 2  1.  75 Mark Yoder  2.  51  Matt Janisch 3.  1B Ryan Tidman   4.  73 Cole Mullen 5.  11 Dave Williams  6.  2 Dave Gorbatuk  7.  01 Steve Boland

ATQMRA Double Features at Wall Go To Janisch

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Wall Stadium, NJ

Matt Janisch of Nazareth Pa parked the Alan Mollot 51 Lindblad Badger in victory lane at Wall Stadium not once but twice, winning both the rained out feature from July as well as the second feature of the night.  Ryan Tidman and Jeff Kot rounded out the Podium in the first feature with Tidman and Brett Michalski on the podium in the second feature.  Cole Mullen had a career best fourth in the first race with Kyle Taraska posting a fifth-place finish in the second feature Making them the ACRO Rookies of the Race. Flying Ryan Tidman sits atop the standings with Dave Gorbatuk at the top of the 2017 Rookie Class.  Up next for the ATQMRA is a return trip to Mahoning Valley on Saturday September 16.  

The first feature saw a front row of Cole Mullen and Mark Yoder bring the field to the green flag with Matt Janisch making the move from his third position to take the lead.  Matt Roselli would work his way into the lead but his time in front would be short lived when he would do a slow spin exiting the fourth turn bringing out the caution.  

This would put Janisch on the point.  Janisch earning his first win in the Mollot 51 was no easy task when Joey Bailey would make a hard charge on the inside entering the third turn.  They made contact mid turn with Bailey getting the worst of it as Bailey made a slow roll onto his side.  Janisch was able to keep his mount moving when the red flag flew.  Janisch took off on the restart and held off a hard charging Ryan Tidman to park the historic 51 Lindblad Badger in Victory lane adding his name to a long list of many of the top drivers in the history of the ATQRMA that have won races in the historic 51 owned by Mollot, including Lenny Boyd, Johnny Coy Sr.  and Jr.  as well as Donnie Adams who won numerous Championships in this car that made its first start in 1981 with a Crossley engine.  

Jeff Kot would storm across the line third with Cole Mullen in fourth posting his career best TQ finish and taking ACRO Rookie of the Race honors. The fifth finisher was a resurgent Matt Roselli who charged from the back after spinning from the lead.  

The second feature had a front row of Kyle Taraska and Joey Payne III bring the field to the green.  Sixth starting Buddy Sload would lead lap 1.  The second lap saw a multi car tangle bring out the red flag when Ronnie the Rocket and Cole the Hammer Mullen came together.  Tim Proctor came away on the short end of the stick in the incident when his car turned over.  Joey Payne III had his day end as a result of the incident.  When racing resumed Sload would again launch into the lead opening a solid lead on second place Kot, who started 8th, when a brake bracket would fail taking him out from the lead, Kot also would drop out on the same lap with wheel center failure.  Janisch who started 13th would find himself in the lead.  

A hard charging Matt Roselli who went tothe rear earlier in the race after tangling with Ryan Tidman, who was also sent to the rear for his involvement in the incident, charged back to third position in the waning laps.  Roselli made an aggressive move entering the third turn on the last lap driving deep into the corner in an attempt to overtake Bailey.  It didn't work out for either driver as Roselli made contact with Bailey sending both spinning to the exit of the turn with Roselli rolling onto his lid then back onto his wheels.  The red flag flew for the incident on the final lap and the race was declared complete and Janisch once again parked the red badger in victory lane making it three wins in a row dating back to Janisch's win in the Tricky Challenge at Pocono International Raceway and his fourth win on the season.  

Flying Ryan Tidmanwould rebound to finish second with Brett Michalski making the Podium.  Geoffrey Sutton would finish fourth in his BGF Chassis mount with Kyle Taraska in the Fred Delibero 01 BGF earned ACRO Rookie of the Race honors with his first top five finish.  Fellow Rookie Dave Gorbatuk was sixth with another Rookie Jon Keller finding his groove in 7th.  

Next up for the ATQMRA I a trip to Mahoning Valley Speedway on Saturday September 16th.  With only 3 more points paying races on the schedule Flying Ryan Tidman appears poised to earn another Championship with more than a race's advantage over second running Geoffrey Sutton in the standings his points lead will be difficult to overcome.  The margin back to third from Sutton is considerable but the battle for the third spot in the standings has a 3 way dead heat between Jeff Kot in his Behrents Performance Badger, Joey Bailey in his Bruce's Pro car 02 and Mark Yoder in his Hyper Hugger TQMidget.   

Dave Gorbatuk leads the Acro Rookie Standings by 32 over Cole Mullen and Cole's Father Ronnie the Rocket Mullen.  

Feature #1 (25 Laps)   1.  51 Matt Janisch 2. 1B Ryan Tidman 3.  95 Jeff Kot   4. 73c Cole Mullen5. 98 Matt Roselli6. 75 Mark Yoder 7.  73b Brett Michalski 8.  98 Tim Proctor   9. 461 Geoffrey Sutton 10.  32 Dave Gorbatuk11.  Kyle Taraska 12. F8 Kerry Irwin13.  02 Joey Bailey 14. 39 Ronnie Mullen15. 36 Buddy Sload 16. 9 Brett Conklin 17. 20 John Keller 18. 6 Bill Force

Feature #2 (25 Laps)   1.  51 Matt Janisch 2. 1B Ryan Tidman 3. 73b Brett Michalski4.461 Geoffrey Sutton 5.   Kyle Taraska 6. 32 Dave Gorbatuk7. 20 John Keller 8. 02 Joey Bailey 9. 98 Matt Roselli 10.  75 Mark Yoder 11. 36 Buddy Sload 12. 73 Ausin Fehr 13.  95 Jeff Kot   14.  9 Brett Conklin 15. 39 Ronnie Mullen16. 73c Cole Mullen17. 67 Joey Payne III 18. 98 Tim Proctor   

2017 POINT STANDINGS
 

DRIVER POINTS

Ryan Tidman 1140
Geoffrey Sutton 1008
Jeff Kot 940
Joey Bailey 940
Mark Yoder 940
Matt Janisch 912
Buddy Sload 884
Matt Roselli 820
Dave Golbatuk [R] 816
Cole Mullen [R] 784
Ronnie Mullen [R] 760
Joey Payne III 612
Tim Proctor 428
Eric Corum [R] 380
John Keller [R] 356
Austin Fehr 320
Kerry Irwin 312
Kyle Taraska [R] 296
Dave Williams 196
Kris Graver 196
Rob Vivona 184
Brett Michalski [R] 168
Chad Parks 152
Bill Force Jr. 100
Lou Cicconi 100
Jesse Mauer 100
Chris deRitis 100
Brandon Azzalina 100
Dan Lane 100
Steve Boland [R] 100
Chris Hirt 100
Brett Conklin 88
Mike Tidaback 88
Nick Ladyga 84
Rob Neely 72
Shilo Boyce 48
JT Davis [R] 48
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OWNER POINTS
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