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Allentown, PA – Usually racers take the offseason to rebuild and regroup, getting ready for the long season ahead.
Not Tim Buckwalter. When he arrives at Allentown’s PPL Center for the Ironton Global Cloud Phone on January 5th and 6th he’ll have already started a busy off-season of racing. The Douglassville, PA was back in the seat of a race car just days after Christmas at the Tulsa Shootout for dirt Micro Sprints racing in three classes in Tulsa, OK.
Returning home after a long week of racing, he’ll be at the PPL Center on Friday night to drive the Bill Pippard owned No. 74 TQ Midget in hopes of winning features scheduled on Friday and Saturday. Thanks to a special Ironton Auto Body Challenge in place, should Buckwalter pull off the sweep he will leave with $10,000 in earnings.
In 10 starts in 11 races at the PPL Center, Buckwalter has a best finish of fourth which came in the 2022 event. He also has three top five finishes and five top 10’s in those 10 starts yet he’s not pulled off a win, something he has accomplished twice on the Indoor Auto Racing Series fueled by VP inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
As soon as the final checkered flag falls at the PPL Center, both Buckwalter and fellow TQ Midget competitor Briggs Danner of Allentown will catch a flight back to Tulsa, OK where they will practice on Sunday for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
Buckwalter will get a few weeks off before heading to Atlantic City for the two more features during NAPA Auto Parts weekend on Friday and Saturday, January 26th and 27th.
Buckwalter’s attention will then turn to the East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, NJ where he is the defending winner of the event.
The eighth running of the Allentown event will feature three divisions of racing: TQ Midgets, Slingshots and Champ Karts with qualifying races and main events both nights.
Friday’s events, sponsored by BELFOR Property Restoration begins on Friday night at 7:30 PM with doors opening one hour earlier. Saturday’s racing, sponsored by Future Homes, fires up at 7 PM.
Saturday’s annual Fan Fest, limited to fans who purchased 100 level seats, will offer a close up look of the race cars and a chance to meet the drivers before the racing begins. To gain access Fan Fest ticket holders must enter through the Air Products gate which opens at 5 PM at the corner of 7th and Linden. All other gates will open on Saturday at 6 PM.
Tickets are on sale, online at PPLCenter.com or at the Box Office daily including the days of the event. Ticket prices the day of event increase $5.
For race fans who cannot make the trip to get the best experience at the event, quality DTD-TV pay-per-view will be available for both nights on the web at dirttrackdigest.tv.
