The odds are definitely stacked in the favor of excitement for the race fan on January 30-31, 2015 inside Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall at the Len Sammons Motorsports Productions (LSRP) NAPA Know How Weekend.
With 198 entrants in three classes and four feature races on the agenda, ultimate racing success is stacked high against the driver.
But with so many cars racing for the brass ring, non-stop racing excitement, punctuated by hair-raising crashes, is for the spectator, a sure thing.
Recent LSRP Three Quarter (TQ) Midget action inside Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. proved it when Steve Craig of Levittown, Pa. flipped completely over the fence. He walked away from the spectacular spill and was even interviewed on his way back to the pit area.
Fans were also spellbound when Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J. was spun out by Anthony Sesely of Matawan, N.J. Blewett stopped on the track, then slammed into Sesely as he drove by. That earned Blewett a ‘Bronx cheer’ from the grandstand and a heave-ho from the race by LSRP officials.
Such unexpected thrills, when mixed with honest, intense wheel-to-wheel TQ Midget, Slingshot, and Champ Kart action adds up ‘twenty-one’ for the paying customer.
Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y., Ted Christopher of Plainville, Ct., and Andy Jankowiak of Buffalo N.Y., winners in December inside Trenton’s Sun National Bank Center, are likely contenders for ultimate victory in Atlantic City. They’ll be chasing Anthony Sesely, the winner of the last three Boardwalk Hall feature races.
Other top TQ Midget entrants include NEMA Champion Randy Cabral of Plymouth, Ma., Can-Am TQ Midget champion Mack DeMan of Mississauga, Ont., and Ryan Flores of Davidson, N.C., who was a competitive runner-up in Trenton in December.
Flores, a Joey Logano NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew member and formerly a New Jersey resident, was making his debut in TQ racing in a brand new Mark Lafler built car.
The climactic race is the NAPA Know How Atlantic City TQ Midget feature on Saturday night which is run, over a 40-lap distance and known as the Gambler’s Classic.
On Friday, TQs will race in a complete program while two support classes, the Lentini Auto Salvage Slingshots and Champ Karts, will complete their qualifying events in preparation for Saturday’s features.
Slingshot favorites include Matt Carman of Three Bridges, N.J., John Gilroy of Stroudsburg, Pa., Trenton Slingshot feature winner Gary Hieber of Langhorne, Pa. Joe Kata of Goshen, N.Y., brothers Jimmy and Dan Spellmon of Butler, N.J., and Ricky Yetter of Easton, Pa. A total of 48 entries are ready to hit the concrete.
Champ Karts, with sixty entries will be headed by recent Indoor Race winners Anthony Colandro and Trenton winners Chris Daley of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., and Justin Gumley of Howell, N.J.
The roar of racing engines was first heard inside cavernous Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1938 when an enterprising promoter thought bringing race cars, and fans, in from the cold in the dead of winter seemed like a good idea.
Sixty-five years later, in 2003, Len Sammons Motorsports Productions (LSMP) resurrected the concept and it has become the Mid-Winter Motorsports Happening in the racing world.
Tickets for the event are available at the Boardwalk Hall Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Advanced, lower level ticket holders are invited to Fanfest on Saturday night starting at 5pm, for an opportunity to walk the track and meet the drivers before the racing kicks off at 7pm.
