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Photo: Tom Morris Racing Photography
Atlantic City, NJ (Friday, Jan. 31) – Andy Jankowiak wrestled the lead away from Tanner VanDoren early on before fending off a charging Tommy Catalano in the late stages to win Friday night’s BlackJack 21, as part of the NAPA Auto Parts Atlantic City Indoor Races at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
The victory was the Tonawanda, NY native’s ninth with the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series, putting him in a tie at the top of the series’ all-time wins list with Ryan Flores and Erick Rudolph.
“We were kind of the benefit of other people’s bad luck there,” Jankowiak said post-race. “I think Tanner (VanDoren) was a little tight there, and I have to give a lot of credit to Tommy Catalano. He probably could’ve roughed me up. We have some work to do for Saturday if we want to sweep the weekend because I felt like we were almost spinning in every corner.”
Jankowiak started the 21-lap feature in fourth, but was quickly propelled into the runner-up spot after Ryan Flores and Anthony Sesely got together ahead of him. Sesely’s car flipped and slid down the frontstretch before slamming violently into the turn 1 wall. Sesely was alert and transported for further observation.
When the race restarted, Jankowiak began beating down VanDoren’s rear bumper for the top spot. Jankowiak saw his opportunity to pounce on lap three, when he crossed his No. 57 under VanDoren off turn four to take command.
From there, Jankowiak’s performance was sensational as he left the field in the dust and looked to be on his way to victory. However, the yellow flew with two laps to go, giving Catalano, who was hungry for his first Indoor race, a chance to take a stab at Jankowiak.
Catalano tried to muster a run at the lead, but Jankowiak kept his cool under pressure and took off into the NJ night on the last lap for the $2,100 top prize. Catalano had to settle for second while Briggs Danner, Tanner VanDoren and Matt Swanson completed the top five.
Saturday’s Gambler’s Classic will serve as the finale for the 2025 Indoor Auto Racing Series ‘Concrete Series’ championship. Andy Jankowiak, with 304 points, brings a 29-point lead into the race over Ryan Flores’ 275 markers.
To qualify for the BlackJack 21, TQ drivers did battle in a pair of 21 car, 21 lap qualifiers with the top ten transferring into the main event. Ryan Flores got the better of Andy Jankowiak following a fierce side-by-side battle to win the first one. Tanner VanDoren outraced teammate Anthony Sesely to win the second event.
At the start of the racing program, a pair of Dr. William Lowe sponsored 11-lap, ‘7 Come 11’ Qualifiers, transferred the top seven into the 21-car qualifiers. Kyle Herve survived a slugfest to claim the first one, and Scott Kreutter blasted away to the checkered in the second.
The Dr. William Lowe sponsored the TQ Fast Time Award Friday was earned four-time Gambler’s Classic winner Andy Jankowiak during a blistering session in which each driver went out once, but had the opportunity to go a second time if they were willing to sacrifice their lap from the first go around. The Tonawanda, NY driver’s sizzling lap of 7.980 seconds was good enough to narrowly top Anthony Sesely’s 7.983 second lap. Briggs Danner (7.902), Tanner VanDoren (7.943) and Matt Janisch (7.988) completed the top five.
Jared Silfee, of Saylorsburg, PA, paced the 40-car Slingshot field in time trials with a lap of 9.244 seconds. Don Boonstra sponsored the three division qualifiers, which were claimed by Louden Reimert, Cody Kline and Alex Lizotte.
Mike Perry, of Dighton, Mass, bested the field of 39 Champ Karts in time trials by rocketing around the speedway in 8.586 seconds. Champ Kart qualifiers were won by Brandon Tiezzi, Logan Crisafulli and Steve Adams.
Kyle Lick, of Lehighton, PA, breezed his way to the top of the leaderboard in Dirt 600 Micro time trials by turning a lap of 8.200 seconds. Lick and Scott Kreutter won both qualifiers.
Grandstands will open at 5 p.m., and fans with reserved seats will be allowed to access the on-track Fan Fest that runs until 6:15. Racing begins at 7 p.m.
Great seats are still available for purchase via Ticketmaster or at the Boardwalk Hall box office on the day of the event.
For additional details on the Indoor Auto Racing Championship and the NAPA Auto Parts Atlantic City Indoor Races, visit www.indoorautoracing.com
Blackjack 21 TQ Midget A-Main (21 Laps) — 1. Andy Jankowiak 2. Tommy Catalano 3. Briggs Danner 4. Tanner VanDoren 5. Matt Swanson 6. Shawn Nye 7. Tyler Catalano 8. Ryan Flores 9. Matt Janisch 10. Trevor Catalano 11. Cory DiMatteo 12. Nick Ladyga 13. Scott Kreutter 14. Joey Bailey 15. Kyle Lick 16. Billy Pauch Jr 17. Jeremy Haudricourt 18. Ryan Smith 19. Cole Mullen 20. John Barnett 21. Tim Buckwalter 22. Anthony Sesely
TQ Midget Red Qualifer (20 Laps) — 1. Ryan Flores 2. Andy Jankowiak 3. Kyle Lick 4. Tommy Catalano 5. Briggs Danner 6. Jeremy Haudricourt 7. Shawn Nye 8. Nick Ladyga 9. Trevor Catalano 10. Matt Janisch 11. Tyler Ferris 12. Jonathan Reid 13. Bruce Leote 14. Cole Littlewood 15. Ron Mullen 16. Kyle Herve 17. Michael Glaser 18. Anthony Payne 19. Ken Hirt 20. Joe Toth 21. Billy Pauch Jr
TQ Midget Black Qualifier (20 Laps) — 1. Tanner VanDoren 2. Anthony Sesely 3. Joey Bailey 4. Matt Swanson 5. Tyler Catalano 6. Cory DiMatteo 7. Scott Kreutter 8. Tim Buckwalter 9. Cole Mullen 10. John Barnett 11. Tyler Thompson 12. Tyler Wagner 13. Derek Robbie 14. Chris Hirt 15. Ryan Smith 16. Cory Grenzy 17. Andrew Nye 18. Alex Payne 19. Steve Kemery 20. Matt Roselli 21. Mike Christopher Jr
