ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The men and machines of the Indoor Auto Racing Series returned to the concrete track inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall for the first time in two years Thursday.
Ryan Flores, Joey Bailey and Justin Bonsignore were the three fastest TQ Midget drivers after a three and a half hour practice session.
Flores’ 8.014 was a tenth of a second faster than Bailey, the 2021 ATQMRA TQ champion, who clocked an 8.122 seconds. Bonsignore, the 2021 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, ran an 8.141-second lap. Tim Buckwalter, Big Diamond Speedway’s reigning 358 Modified champion was fourth (8.154) and Anthony Sesely was fifth (8.188).
Andy Jankowiak, the two-time and defending Gambler’s Classic winner (8.197), Tyler Thompson (8.201), Mike Christopher Jr., (8.210), Kyle Lick (8.218) and Erick Rudolph (8.219) rounded out the top-10 fastest timers in the Thursday session.
Car owners Jason Simmons and Mark Lafler had two cars each inside the TQ top ten. Simmons owns the cars being driven by Bonsignore and Thompson while Lafler owns the cars driven by Buckwalter and Rudolph.
The quickest laps were set in the final session of the night from among 50 who recorded times.
Champ Karts also took to the track Thursday night in large numbers with Doug Stearly, winner of the last two Champ Kart Atlantic City Indoor races, setting fast time at 9.307 seconds. In Slingshot action, Scott Neary, winner of the 2020 Atlantic City Slingshot feature, was fastest with a 9.966-second lap. Forty-seven Karts and 32 Slingshots registered times,
There were several spins during the session, but no crashes or accidents of any consequence.