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Trenton, N.J. – Six East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals have been held inside Trenton’s CURE Insurance Arena, and there has yet to be a repeat Saturday night A-Main winner.
Don’t look for a repeat visitor to victory lane Saturday, February 21, either. The odds simply are not in favor of it happening, with four former winners entered among a field of 95 drivers traveling to the event from 12 different states.
If anyone can repeat, 2023 winner Tim Buckwalter would appear to be the likely choice. The Douglasville, PA driver is the only competitor pre-entered for this year’s event who has qualified for all six features held. When he won in 2023, he rebounded from an early-race incident to charge from the rear and pull off a convincing win.
A fourth-place finisher in the inaugural event in 2017, Buckwalter has not placed better than 15th — the year after he won — in his other four starts, including a disappointing 17th-place finish last year.
Rob Vivona, a Staten Island, N.Y. driver who competed under the alias “Whitey Kidd,” won the first event despite battling cancer. Despite failing health, Kidd qualified but finished 22nd and 17th in his next two starts. The longtime 600 Sprint competitor passed away from the disease in 2023. The winner’s trophy each year since has been named in his memory.
Winning this event is extremely difficult — and qualifying isn’t easy either. When New Jersey 600 Sprint regular Jon Keller won the 2020 event, he pulled off an amazing feat. After flipping in Friday’s preliminary night action, Keller’s Saturday began at the back of an E-Main. Surprising everyone, including himself, Keller transferred through four letters of the alphabet without winning a transfer race to earn the 24th starting spot in the A-Main. With strong support from fans who followed his advancement, Keller thrilled them further by marching forward to win the event. Despite his heroic efforts, Keller has failed to qualify for the event since. He accepted a past champion’s provisional in 2023 but was an early-race dropout, finishing 25th.
Dirt Modified star Anthony Perrego of Middletown, N.Y., won the 2024 event in his first-ever 600 start. After taking the lead last year, Perrego appeared poised to repeat before Pat Bealer drove past him for the top spot. Perrego was later involved in an incident and finished 21st.
Leighton, PA’s Pat Bealer, nicknamed “The Icon” in 600 Sprint circles, impressively drove to victory last year. The 50-year-old veteran declared the win the biggest of his career. Last year’s event was truly a Bealer family affair. Despite competing in every East Coast Dirt Nationals, Bealer did not have a ride lined up for the 2025 race, as his son Zach was slated to drive his car instead. But when Zach’s race-driving wife, Morgan Rochelle-Bealer, learned she was pregnant prior to the event, Pat agreed to drive in her place in Gary Collucci’s No. 24.
On Friday, Zach won the preliminary night feature in his dad’s car. On Saturday, Pat won in the pickup ride, while Zach came home 10th in his father’s machine.
This year, Pat returns to the Collucci No. 24, where he’ll be teammates with his daughter-in-law Michelle, who will drive his No. 4. Zach is also entered in the No. 18, owned by Jared Lilly and sponsored by his former car owners Gary and Donna Spots, for whom he finished fourth in the 2023 race.
On Friday, February 20, the first step of qualifying for Saturday’s race begins. Competition will be fierce, with nine qualifying races followed by a 25-lap feature. Doors open at 6 p.m., with racing starting at 7 p.m. The top 10 performers from Friday’s program will lock into Saturday’s A-Main.
Saturday’s doors open at 4 p.m., with a special autograph session at 5 p.m. featuring top competitors. The “alphabet soup” program includes two E-Mains, two D-Mains, and two C-Mains, with the top five from each advancing to the next letter. Two B-Mains will transfer the top seven from each, filling out the 24-car starting field for the $5,000-to-win finale. Saturday’s event also includes a Dash featuring the top 10 drivers from Friday night.
Pat Bealer may have the best odds of becoming the event’s first repeat winner, but son Zach has a strong chance of becoming the seventh different Saturday night winner. The odds, however, remain steep — 90 drivers are chasing one trophy. The Bealer family alone has three shots at capturing the prize, improving their odds to 1 in 30.
Great seats are available through Ticketmaster, including special VIP Tickets, which include front row seats, a pre-race track walk and a meet and green with a top driver. Online Ticketmaster fees can be avoided by purchasing tickets at the arena box office in advance or on the day of the event.
Action begins Thursday night in Trenton with Slingshots and Junior Sprints competing in a one-day program. Grandstand tickets for Thursday’s event are available at the box office only on the day of the event, including all fees, for $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under.
For more information about the East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals, visit indoorautoracing.com or check out the series’ Facebook page.
