PDR Team and friends celebrate in victory lane.
Staff Report | Monday, April 22nd, 2024
WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ - Jeff Kot drove through the field from last to first to earn the season opening ATQMRA feature victory at Wall Stadium Speedway.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels kicked off their 69th annual season this weekend. Simultaneously, Wall Stadium Speedway opened for their 74th annual season as well.
Kyle Taraska (#22) and Jeff Kot (#99) won the opening heat races of the year.
For the first three events of the season, pill pick redraw will establish the starting lineup for qualified heat race finishers. For the pill pick, heat winners Taraska and Kot redrew 6th and 8th respectively. Tyler Wagner (#51) redrew the pole.
Three wide racing between Kyle Taraska (22), Tyler Ferris (7) and Chris Coleman (27) - Eric Storch
Wagner led rookie contender Christopher Coleman (#27) of East Islip, NY, and Buddy Sload (#36), the defending ATQMRA champion in the early going.
Contact between Zack Burd (#5z) and Jeff Kot initiated the first caution of the evening. Both drivers continued.
Sload jumped to the lead over Wagner on the restart and looked to set pace on the field. Wagner settled into second, while intense three-wide racing between Tyler Ferris (#7), Josh Patterson (#02) and Chris Coleman continued for the final podium position.
Kot, first time driving the Spitfire #99, raced his way back into the picture, while Kyle Taraska also looked to enter the top-5. Patterson and Taraska tangled soon after, causing the second yellow of the evening. Taraska continued from this incident, and Patterson was penalized to the rear of the field for initiating the contact.
Another restart led to another lead change. Jeff Kot made an exciting three wide move for the lead entering turn one, and made it work! Sload went from first to third as Kot and Wagner split the Spitfire Chassis machine one lap after retaking the green flag. From this point forward, it looked to be Kot’s race to lose.
Jeff Kot (99), Steve Craig (55), Zack Burd (5z) race hard for position - Eric Storch Photo
After attempting to recover from the earlier race contact, Taraska’s luck turned for the worst just after the halfway mark. While Brianna Page (#76), Steve Craig (#55) battled for position, Page’s car got loose in the gravel in front of Taraska. As Page spun to the infield and Taraska jumped wheels with Page. This caused the #22 machine to flip end over end in a breathtaking tumble. Taraska was checked and released by speedway EMT’s and the race continued after a brief red flag period.
Steve Craig (55) and Brianna Page (76) battle for position near the halfway mark - Eric Storch Photo
The final restart of the evening was single file as are all restarts past halfway per the ATQMRA rulebook. Jeff Kot pulled away from the field, but it was Tyler Wagner who stole the show making a late race charge to the checkered. Wagner appeared to be the only contender to keep the Kot honest Saturday evening, as he closed down a five car length gap down to inches in the closing stages.
Although Tyler Wagner made a valiant effort to the checkered flag, Jeff Kot earned the first victory of the year for himself and Paul Dodorico Racing.
Tyler Wagner was second. Kot and Wagner tied for the fastest lap of the feature to the one one-thousandth of a second at 13.332 seconds.
After leading much of the early going, Buddy Sload settled into third, rounding out the podium finishers.
Buddy Sload led early and came home with a strong third place finish - Eric Storch Photo
Veteran Steve Craig had a strong showing with a fourth place finish, and Chris Coleman earned his first career ATQMRA top-5 finish with his fifth place finish.
Zack Burd returned to TQ Midget racing as a driver for the first time since 2022 with a respectable sixth place finish. Josh Patterson rounded out those who finished an eventful feature, in seventh.
Jeff Kot (99) and Josh Patterson (02) battle for position - Eric Storch Photo
Brianna Page’s efforts in the ATQMRA did not go as planned, as she finished 8th after the noted on-track incident. However, Brianna earned a highly respectable seventh place finish in her Wall Stadium Speedway Sportsman Division debut, later in the same evening.
Kyle Taraska was officially scored in ninth after the noted incident, and Mike Glaser (#2) was scored in tenth.
A wing malfunction hindered Tyler Ferris’ (#7) efforts, as he finished 11th. Furthermore, mechanical woes hindered Mark Yoder’s (#75) efforts, as he rounded out the field of twelve.
Jeff Kot and Paul Dodorico Racing earned their second career victory together this weekend, and now with two unique chassis. PDR thanks sponsors Dr. Martha Baker, Fidge Factor Web Designs and CheckerWon Manufacturing and all crew members for their support each weekend.
The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA fueled by VP Racing Fuels returns to Wall Stadium Speedway for the second race of the Hamer Heating and Cooling Hometrack Shootout, on Saturday, May 4th, 2024.
RACE RESULTS:
FEATURE (25 LAPS):
#99 Jeff Kot
#51 Tyler Wagner
#36 Buddy Sload
#55 Steve Craig
#27 Chris Coleman
Zack Burd
#02 Josh Patterson
#76 Brianna Page
#22 Kyle Taraska
#2 Mike Glaser
#7 Tyler Ferris
#75 Mark Yoder
HEAT 1 (8 LAPS):
#22 Kyle Taraska
#27 Chris Coleman
#36 Buddy Sload
#51 Tyler Wagner
Zack Burd
#2 Mike Glaser
HEAT 2 (8 LAPS):
#99 Jeff Kot
#7 Tyler Ferris
#02 Josh Patterson
#75 Mark Yoder
#76 Brianna Page
#55 Steve Craig
FEATURE FAST FACTS:
Time of Race: 18:27.27
Leader(s): 3
Lap Leader(s): #99 Jeff Kot (18), #36 Buddy Sload (6) Tyler Wagner (1)
Cautions: 3
Fastest Lap: #51 Tyler Wagner & #99 Jeff Kot 13.332
Rookie of the Race: #27 Chris Coleman (5th)