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Atlantic City, NJ – When the NAPA Auto Parts sponsored Atlantic City Indoor Race returns to Jim Whelen Boardwalk Hall January 26th and 27th, the headline TQ Midgets will be competing in two separate and unique events.
Tickets for the event are now on sale and available through Ticketmaster and at the Boardwalk Hall box office. Select seats are also available through the Indoor Series office by calling 609-888-3618.
On Saturday night, the TQ Midgets will compete in the 22nd running of the Gambler’s Classic. A traditional format of time trials, heat races and B-mains, will lead up to the 40 Lap A-Main.
On Friday night, the inaugural running of the BlackJack 21 for the TQ Midgets will be held. The night will be closed out with a 21 lap, 21 car race paying $2,100 to the winner. To qualify for that event, racers will compete in a unique format, which maximizes track time for all competitors and treats fans to multiple main events among the stars of the TQ Midget division.
During last year’s Indoor Auto Racing Series event in Atlantic City, Gambler’s Classic trophies were handed out both days, as part of a Double Down Weekend, to make-up the Covid-19 canceled 2021 running of the event. However, in previous years a Triple 20 lap qualifying format was run to maximize track time for all competitors as they worked toward the ultimate prize of winning Saturday’s $5,000 to win A-Main.
“The response from the fans and racers after last year’s event was clear, everyone wanted a TQ Midget main event on Friday night,” said Indoor Racing Series promoter Len Sammons.
“At the same point, there can only be one Gambler’s Classic trophy handed out each year, so we set out to start a new different tradition for Friday night.”
“Our goal for Friday night, was to combine the best elements of the triple 20 qualifiers and have one A-Main event into one program for the TQ Midgets,” continued Sammons.
“The BlackJack 21 format accomplishes all those goals in giving every competitor extra laps on the track and includes some very exciting elements climaxed with one winner at the end of Friday’s program.”
TQ Midget competitors will begin Friday’s program in a closed to the public open track qualifying session in the afternoon. During this time racers will be given the opportunity to make as many times runs as they wish. However, every time they go back out on the track it voids their previous best time.
The top 28 fastest competitors will lock into a pair of split field (Red & Black) 20 lap A-Qualifiers. The remaining competitors will head to a pair of 7 Come 11 heat races, with the top 7 finishers advancing to the back of the A-Qualifiers.
The top 10 finishers from the two 20 lap qualifiers will then advance to the finale, the 21 Lap, 21 car, BlackJack 21 main event. Each qualifier winner will earn $500.
The final BlackJack 21starter will come from a special race for the competitors who up until this point, have had the worst day. The “Craps” race will be made up of all competitors that failed to advance to the A-Qualifiers. This race will be 10 laps, with the winner given the 21st and final starting spot in Friday night’s main event.
As in the past, the Slingshots and Champ Karts will continue to be a part of all the Concrete Series events. Also, returning to Atlantic City for a second year will be the wingless “Dirt” 600cc Micro Sprints. These three divisions will again qualify on Friday and compete in a feature only on Saturday night.
The concrete series will kick off in Allentown, PA at the PPL Center with the Ironton Global Cloud Phone sponsored event on January 5 & 6, featuring the TQ Midgets, Champ Karts & Slingshots competing in main events both nights.
For more information, including sponsorship opportunities contact series organizer, Danny Sammons at 609-888-3618 or emailing him at indoorracing@aarn.com.
