RUDOLPH, ZEINER, ANTICIPATE REMATCH OF PHOTO FINISH JANUARY 5-6 IN ALLENTOWN’S PPL CENTER

INDOOR AUTO RACING SERIES THREE QUARTER MIDGET ACES RUDOLPH, ZEINER, ANTICIPATE REMATCH OF PHOTO FINISH JANUARY 5-6 IN ALLENTOWN’S PPL CENTER

Story By: Ernie Saxton/LSMP

Photos By: Pete MacDonald/RacersGuide.com
ALLENTOWN, PA – Lehigh Valley, Pa. October 21, 2017 . . . Pennsylvania native Zane Zeiner will be the sentimental favorite in this year’s Ironton Telephone Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series race on Friday and Saturday, January 5-6, 2018 inside the PPL Center in downtown Allentown, Pa.
The asphalt Modified ace from Bath, Pa., nearly pulled off an exciting last lap pass to win the Indoor Auto Racing Series Presented By VP Racing Fuels 2017 finale inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. His charge to pass Ransomville, N.Y.’s Erick Rudolph, however, fell inches short. While the huge crowd roared in excitement at the photo finish, Zeiner was left wanting more.
“I gave it everything I had,” Zeiner said at the end of the event. “Just one more lap and I might have had him.”
Zeiner will have his first shot at redemption before a partisan Allentown crowd on Friday night January 5 and then again on Saturday the 6th when complete event programs are finished up with a feature event for the TQ Midgets.
Rudolph, an eight time winner and three time Indoor Racing Series champion, will be just one of 60 competitors Zeiner will need to deal with the first weekend of 2018. Rudolph, a 17 time feature event winner this year in dirt Modified competition, will be coming to Allentown looking to regain his series title with a new TQ Midget.
After winning the crown in 2015 and 2016, Rudolph finished second in the standings last year to Mooresville, N.C.-based driver Ryan Flores, who swept the Ironton Telephone events last year. After working as a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup crew member on The Wood Brothers No. 21 team this season, Flores is eager to get back behind the wheel at Allentown. He’ll be more eager than ever to collect the top prize and championship loot considering he has gotten married and that he and his wife are expecting their first child since he last raced in Atlantic City last January.
The schedule calls for racing to start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Three-Quarter (TQ) Midgets will run a full program of racing with feature events both nights. Champ Karts will be racing in a complete show on Friday night, with the Slingshots on Saturday night.
For choice tickets, contact the PPL Center Box Office by phone at 610-347-TIXX (8499), online at pplcenter.com. The 2016 event was a sell-out.
The Ironton Telephone Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series race is the first of three TQ Midget Indoor events.
Race number two is the NAPA Auto Parts Indoor Auto Racing two day racing weekend on Friday and Saturday, January 26-27, 2018 inside historic Boardwalk Hall on the ocean at Atlantic City, N.J. The two days of racing are highlighted by the running of the 16th annual TQ Midget Gambler’s Classic Saturday night.
For choice tickets for NAPA Auto Parts Indoor Auto Racing Weekend, contact Ticketmaster, the Boardwalk Hall Box Office, or the Area Auto Racing News office at 609-888-3618.
The finale of the crowded, energized 2017-2018 slate is the first Indoor Auto Racing event in New York State, on February 9-10, 2018 in the Times Union Center in downtown Albany, N.Y.
Race fans in New York State will experience the thrill of high-speed auto racing in the dead of winter for the First Annual Albany Indoor Race a brand new event for New York State. The two days of racing consist of a complete program of racing for TQ Midgets both nights.
For choice tickets, contact the Times Union Center Box Office, charge-by-phone at (800) 745-3000, or visit online at ticketmaster.com. Further information is available at indoorautoracing.com, sending an email to motorsports@aarn.com or by calling 609-888-3618.