ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (Sat.) – Anthony Sesely of Matawan, N.J., became the first three time winner of the NAPA Know How Gambler’s Classic TQ Midget feature Saturday night by driving what amounted to a perfect race.
“The car got better as the race went on,” Sesely said. “We’re back with the setup we used to win the 2013 and 2014 race. I couldn’t be happier.”
Sesely, who was a non-factor in the 2015 race, started first in the 40-lap main event by winning the TQ Dash, a five lap race among the nine drivers in time trials and Friday night heat race points.
Sesely fought off a variety of challengers who moved to second. In order, Mike Lichty, Ryan Tidman, Jimmy Blewett, Erick Rudolph, Ryan Flores, and, ultimately Andy Jankowiak trailed Sesely’s chain driven 600 Micro but could never complete a pass.
Jankiowiak’s second place ended a troubled and challenging weekend for the upstate New Yorker. Justin Bonsignore authored a well-driven race to finish a solid third while Micro Sprint specialist Kyle Lick amazed TQ regulars with a fourth place run. Lichty was fifth.
Zane Zeiner, Jimmy Blewett, Nick Ladyga, Tim Buckwalter and a disconsolate Erick Rudolph rounded out the top ten.
Danny Bouc of Plumsteadville, Pa., outran Donnie Nall and Chris Daley to win the 24-car, 25-lap Champ Kart main event. Bouc advanced steadily through the pack, taking the lead from Nall on lap thirteen. Once in front, Bouc withstood a pair of restarts, one of which cleared lapped traffic from in front of him, to win the race, his first Indoor Champ Kart win.
The triumph was the first for Bouc in an Indoor Champ Kart race after many years of trying.
“I can’t believe it,” Bouc said with his long-time girlfriend Elizabeth Taylor at his side. “I’ve come close many times and I finally got one.”
Dan Spellmon of Butler, N.J., won the 24-car, 25 lap Slinger Warehouse Slingshot feature. Cody Kohler and Kyle Herve were second and third.
Spellmon passed Kohler at the halfway mark for the lead and once in front got some crucial elements of fortune with the way the race flowed.
“The car was getting freer and freer but I was able to hang on,” Spellmon said. “I got a couple of breaks the way the yellow flags fell and was good enough at the end to hold off everybody.”
Kohler finished second, the beneficiary of a late race penalty imposed on Simon Egan, who had taken second and was on the move. But officials penalized Egan two spots for a late race restart infraction. Kohler regained second to finish there with Herve taking third. Egan was fourth.
Six TQ Heat races Saturday night were to determine main event starters. Andy Jankowiak won the first one over Justin Bonsignore, with Joey Payne finishing ahead of Brad Lamberson to snare heat two.
Matt Roselli grabbed the third heat ahead of actual third place finisher Matt Janisch after Brandon Knupp’s car was disqualified for weighing in light. Heat four was taken by Bob Baker ahead of DJ Shaw.
The fifth TQ prelim was grabbed by Friday fast time trialer Ryan Flores ahead of Pat Bealer and heat six was claimed by Ryan Susice with Andrew Krause, who came from a ninth place start to a second place finish.
Three final TQ B-Mains settled the final three starting spots for the Gambler’s Classic. The trio of B-Main winners were Patrick Emerling, Nick Ladyga, and Pat Bealer.
On Saturday afternoon, two TQ Last Chance Races, a pair of Slingshot B-Mains, and a duo of Champ Kart affairs pared the field of drivers for the Saturday night features.
TQ Last Chance events were won by Jack Conover and Andrew Krause. The win for Conover was his second preliminary win of the weekend, having won the Friday TQ Non-Qualifier event.
Slingshot B-Mains were won by Michael Glass and Chris Kurtz with Damon Paul and Demetrious Drellos finishing runners-up to the two event victors.
Champ Kart B-Mains were won by Daniel Doyle, Jr. and A.J. DeSantis, chased by Jeremy Tuttle and Alex Colesanto respectively.
The Indoor Race Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels resumes over the weekend of February 26-28 at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J.
14th Annual Gamblers Classic TQ Midget Feature (40 Laps): 1. Anthony Sesely, 2. Andy Jankowiak, 3. Justin Bonsignore, 4. Kyle Lick, 5. Mike Lichty, 6. Zane Zeiner, 7. Jimmy Blewett, 8. Nick Ladyga, 9. Tim Buckwalter, 10. Erick Rudolph, 11. Rob Neely, 12. Matt Janisch, 13. DJ Shaw, 14. Matt Roselli, 15. Ryan Flores, 16. Brad Lamberson, 17. Pat Bealer, 18. Scott Kreutter, 19. Patrick Emerling, 20. Ryan Tidman, 21. Joey Payne, 22. Tony DiMattia, 23. Bob Baker, 24. Ryan Susice, 25. Andrew Krause, 26. Rob Vivona.
Champ Kart Feature (25 Laps): Danny Bouc, 2. Donnie Nall, 3. Chris Daley, 4. Joe Pacovich, 5. Zack Myers, 6. Jonathan Cash, 7. Anthony Colandro, 8. Mike Perry, 9. Jerry Mullis, 10. Richie Davidowitz, 11. Eric Zeh, 12. Daniel Doyle Jr., 13. Dalton Rovira, 14. AJ Jadacki, 15. Jake Shelley, 16. Ryan Kendall, 17. Jeremy Tuttle, 18. AJ DeSantis, 19. Ryan Swartz, 20. Alex Colesanto, 21. James Hayden, 22. Joey Bruning, 23. James Pape Jr., 24. Cale Ross.
Slingshot Feature (25 Laps): 1. Dan Spellmon, 2. Cody Kohler, 3. Kyle Herve, 4. Simon Egan, 5. Demetrios Drellos, 6. Nick Shaw, 7. Matthew Stangle, 8. Kevin VanValkenburg, 9. Joe Kata, 10. Ken Reeder, 11. Frank Yankowski, 12. Cody Kline, 13. John Aumick, 14. Kurt Bettler, 15. Chris Kurtz, 16. Joe Toth, 17. Jerry Schott Jr., 18. Dillon Steuer, 19. Damon Paul, 20. Brett Bieber, 21. Ed Stangle, 22. Seth Spayd, 23. Matt Langbein, 24. Michael Glass.
