Gamblers Classic Notebook

by Pete MacDonald

According to the draw sheets 101 TQ Midgets, 75 Slingshots and 75 Champ Karts entered the weekend’s activities at Boardwalk Hall.

Erick Rudolph won the tie-breaker (wins) between him and Ryan Flores for the Overall Len Sammons Motorsports Productions Indoor Series.

Ryan Preece took one of the hardest hits I’ve ever seen indoors on Thursday night during practice when he hopped a wheel entering turn three and went head on into the concrete barrier. Preece would be ok but it would end his Atlantic City weekend early for the second time in three tries.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitor Justin Bonsignore entered his First Ever Gamblers Classic as a TQ Participant in Ted Christopher’s backup car, Justin competed with the Champ Karts in years past with moderate success qualified for the Friday portion but a broken Left-Rear Suspension ended his night early and what appeared to be driveline issues ended his bid to qualify on Saturday.

After battling the flu all day on Friday Howell, NJ native Jimmy Blewett, whom was the last driver to his car for Friday night’s feature made a lap one pit stop and came from the tail to finish sixth. Feeling better come Saturday night, ‘Showtime’ made his presence known coming home a strong third after battling a loose race car late in the going.
Dirt Modified campaigner Neal Williams picked up an extra $555.55 on Saturday night for being the hard-charger after starting twenty-fourth and finishing eighth. “I just need more laps in one of these cars and I think I can compete with Rudolph and those guys”, said Williams.

Saturday night’s Slingshot feature was probably the best Slingshot feature I’ve ever witnessed in person, it was won by Jason Hartman, son of Dirt Modified Legend Newt Hartman.

Ted Christopher’s sixth place on Saturday was his Silver-lining for the weekend. After two laps of practice on Thursday, Christopher was relegated to a back-up motor then after a heat race crash on Friday TC had to start dead last in the second B-Main where he would come through to get the last transfer spot, Teddy ended up ninth in Fridays A-Main.

It was a good weekend if you were a Western New York Driver, both Andy Jankowiak and Erick Rudolph both hail from the western end of the Empire State.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Tire Changer Ryan Flores again came home a strong second and tied Erick Rudolph for the Hoosier Tire Indoor Series Championship (Rudolph won the tie-breaker due to his wins) In what was only in his fifth ever TQ start. “I just needed one more restart and I think I could have gotten Erick”, said Flores who is a Manasquan, NJ native who now calls Davidson, NC home.

Kyle Reinhardt was another driver under the weather during the course of the weekend, Kyle had good run on Friday night finishing seventh but was involved in an incident on Saturday night. “I just got crashed” Reinhardt said. “He (Andrew Nye) turned right and I hopped his wheel and the next thing I knew I was seeing grandstands.

North Carolina’s Donnie Nall won Saturday Night’s Champ Kart Feature and was so elated that he needed a minute before talking to announcer Mike Mallett.

Lafler Chassis swept the Top-3 on Saturday Night and took 7 out of the Top-10, that’s impressive no matter how you look at it.

Buffalo, NY’s Patrick Emerling looked impressive leading the first twenty-six laps of Saturday Night’s feature before giving way to eventual winner Erick Rudolph.

After winning three straight races at Boardwalk Hall, defending indoor champion Anthony Sesely brought a brand new piece as his primary car this past weekend. When asked why, Sesely simply said “We’re going to make this one better”. Sesely looked good in Thursday Night’s practice but finished 17th and 11th over the course of the weekend.

Was good to see Lou Cicconi walking around Boardwalk Hall, Lou suffered a broken L1 vertebrae in a crash back in Trenton in December.

Heard grumblings of a possible third venue for next seasons Len Sammons Motorsports Production Indoor Series.

What did you think of the 13th Edition of the Gamblers Classic? Tell us over on the RacersGuide.com Discussion Forum! For questions, comments or concerns I can be emailed at info@racersguide.com or I’m on Twitter @PMacDonald51 Thanks!