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Photo Pete McDonald AARN
Allentown, PA (Jan. 6, 2024) – Ryan Flores of Davidson, NC, emerged the winner of a thrilling TQ Midget feature Saturday night in the Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels second and final night of Ironton Global Allentown Indoor Races. This marked Flores’ seventh career Indoor Auto Racing win and his sixth inside the PPL Center in Allentown, PA.
Flores trailed Tommy Catalano and Andy Jankowiak for most of the race with the top three putting on some spectacular racing, often running three wide, and without running into one another. Flores set up his win with a decisive pass when it was all on the line.
“I knew I had to punch in there on the last restart, and that’s what I did,” Flores said. “The car stuck and I was able to hold on.”
Flores led only four laps this night, but they were the all-important last four.
Runner-up Catalano reflected in his best result yet, second in this Series race. He led 20 laps of the main event. “I’ve run in a lot of these races and finishing second tonight is nice but would really have liked to have been able to pull this off tonight,” Catalano said. “This was a good race, very competitive.”
“I ran out of brakes,” Jankowiak said of his third-place finish that came after leading 15 of the 40 laps. Jankowiak had engineered a new brake system for this weekend which yielded mixed results.
Friday night TQ feature winner Tanner VanDoren was eligible to win the $10,000 Ironton Auto Body Challenge Saturday after having won the TQ Midget feature the night before. He ended up fourth in the feature, missing the bonus by three spots. Trevor Catalano, the younger brother of the race runner-up, completed the top five.
Todd Crenshaw of Winchester, VA completed a weekend Indoor Auto Racing Series sweep Saturday by backing up his win the night before in the 20-lap Champ Kart feature. Preston DeMello, Doug Stearly, Dylan Dismoor and Brandon Tiezzi trailed Crenshaw across the line.
Paul Hartwig III and Matthew Mertz battled for supremacy in the 20-lap Slingshot main event but off the final turn, their race took an ugly turn. Leader Hartwig was spun from behind by Mertz who crossed the finish line first. Hartwig crossed the line backward with Scott Neary and Alex Reinsmith both passing Hartwig in the frantic race to the checkered. Mertz was disqualified by track officials making Neary the race winner over Reinsmith and a disappointed Hartwig. Mason Pittenger and Lucas Pittenger completed the shuffled top-five finish.
Bob Hilbert Sportswear sponsored TQ Fast Time Award Saturday which was earned by Trevor Catalano at 7.560 seconds over 39 others. Andy Jankowiak (7.563) was just three-thousandths of a second slower than Catalano’s blindingly fast lap. Ryan Flores (6.607), Tommy Catalano (7.611) and Tanner VanDoren (7.613) completed the top five.
E. Schneider & Sons sponsored the four ten-lap TQ Midget heats which were won by Tyler Lindsay, Matt Janisch, Ryan Flores, and Tommy Catalano. In the third heat, Tyler Thompson and Anthony Sesely tangled while racing for the lead with Thompson flipping wildly. He managed to restart but Sesely’s car, damaged in the wreck, was cradled off the speedway. Apparent second heat winner Matt Swanson was disqualified failing the maximum width post-race measurement.
Aqua Duck Water Transport sponsored the TQ B Mains. Nick Ladyga and Anthony Payne won those two races. Swanson and Sesely both failed to transfer into the TQ A Main. Sesely was added to the A Main field as a past race winner.
West End Equipment sponsored the Champ Kart heat races. Those races were claimed by Chase Keister, Quentin Graham Jr., and Todd Crenshaw. The B Main was won by Alex Smolders.
S&S Speedways sponsored the Slingshot heat races which were won by Ryan Raidline, Scott Neary and Paul Hartwig, III. Lucas Pittenger won the night’s final preliminary, the Slingshot B Main.
TQ Midgets, Champ Karts, and Slingshots continue their Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels season with the running of NAPA Racing Weekend at historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ on Friday and Saturday, January 26-27. Friday will feature the first running of the TQ Black Jack 21 followed on Saturday by the Crown Jewel of Indoor Auto Racing, the storied 40-lap TQ Gambler’s Classic. For more information visit www.indoorautoracing.com
TQ Midget Feature (40 Laps): 1. Ryan Flores, 2. Tommy Catalano, 3. Andy Jankowiak, 4. Tanner VanDoren, 5. Trevor Catalano, 6. Matt Janisch, 7. Briggs Danner, 8. Kyle Lick, 9. Anthony Sesely, 10. Anthony Payne, 11. Billy Pauch Jr., 12. Tim Buckwalter, 13. Ryan Bartlett, 14. Ryan Smith, 15. Joey Bailey, 16.Ryan Tidman, 17. Tyler Thompson, 18. Derek Robbie, 19. Tyler Catalano, 20. Tyler Lindsay, 21. Bobby Holmes, 22. Shawn Nye, 23. Nick Ladyga, 24. Scott Kreutter, 25. Matt Caprara. Non-Qualifiers: John Barnett, Greg Martin, Chris Hirt, Jimmy Zacharias, Joe Toth, Chase Cabre, Andrew Nye, Kyle Herve, Matt Roselli, Matt Swanson, Chad Jones, Tyler Ferris, Jake Trainor, Stephen Kemery.
Slingshot Feature (20 Laps): 1. Scott Neary, 2. Alex Reinsmith, 3. Paul Hartwig III, 4. Mason Pittenger, 5. Lucas Pittenger, 6. Louden Reimert, 7. Tyler Ulsh, 8. Dylan Hoch, 9. Ryan Raidline, 10. Chris Laureigh, 11. Simon Egan, 12. PJ Bozowski 13. Andrew Millard, 14. Matthew Mertz, 15. Brett Putnam, 16. Michael Lapicki 17. Jonathan Laureigh, 18. Grant Hilfiger 19. Cody Kline, 20. Cody Bleau.
Champ Kart Feature (20 Laps): 1. Todd Crenshaw, 2. Preston DeMello, 3. Doug Stearly, 4. Dylan Dismoor, 5. Brandon Tiezzi, 6. Alex Smolders, 7. JJ Pacovich, 8. Tanner Emmons, 9. Max Pfeifer, 10. Seth Whitney, 11. Tyler Brown, 12. Alyssa Vanderpool, 13. Taylor Doxtater, 14. Missy Bootes, 15. Logan Crisafulli 16. Chase Keister, 17. John Berger, 18. TJ Reed, 19. Quentin Graham Jr., 20. Thomas Radivoy.
