SYRACUSE, N.Y. — More than 100 entries have been filed for this weekend’s Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled VP Racing Fuels finale this weekend, and local standout Erick Rudolph highlights the list.
The BELFOR Property Restoration Series race sponsored by Indy Kart Raceway takes place Friday and Saturday at the New York State Fairgrounds Exposition Center, and will feature TQ midget, champ kart, and slingshot teams. More than 50 of the entries are TQ midgets. The race will be streamed live on SPEED SPORT affiliate DirtTrackDigest.TV
The much-anticipated race weekend is the first in Syracuse since the 2019 inaugural event. Races planned for 2020 and 2021 were both canceled due to the pandemic.
Rudolph, who missed the Allentown, Pa. series opener and then, ran fourth in the Atlantic City Gambler’s Classic, had not planned on being in the Syracuse field this weekend. His intention had been to race in Georgetown, Del., in a dirt modified event, but that race was postponed Wednesday in anticipation of wet weather.
Thus Rudolph enacted his backup plan.
The four-time series king (2012, 2015, 2016, 2019) has won nine TQ features in his career with the series, more than any other driver. Those include a win at Syracuse in 2019, an effort that resulted in his fourth series title.
Rudolph’s other wins came in Atlantic City four times, Trenton, N.J. twice, and Allentown twice.
He was leading in the Atlantic City race this year until a tangle with Andy Jankowiak forced him to the rear of the field. Rudolph salvaged a top-five finish.
Rudolph will have the benefit of driving a car built and owned by Mark Lafler. The bright yellow Lafler entry carries the No. 22. Cars built by Lafler have won 2022 Indoor Series events at Allentown and Atlantic City by Flores and Tim Buckwalter respectively.
Rudolph is hoping the Syracuse start will rejuvenate what has been a difficult dirt track stock car season for him so far, including a car-destroying crash into the wall at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park in February.
Rudolph is among several TQ Syracuse Indoor race weekend competitors who have come in late.
Matt Swanson was recently named the driver of Ken ‘Puddin’ Sebring’s TQ midget joining Doug Stearly in a two-car team assault. Also filing an entry in the days leading up to the race is Bob Reis, the promoter of Freedom Motorsports Park in Delavan, N.Y. Reis’ varied racing experience includes asphalt modified racing in New York State.
Reis debuted a radically designed TQ midget in the 2019 Syracuse inaugural event. The car showed promise, but Reis failed to make the feature with it. He will try again this weekend.
Joey Payne — one of the most accomplished supermodified, midget, and TQ midget drivers in the northeast — entered the Syracuse race two weeks ago. Payne will drive Bobby Webber’s No. 19, last driven by Justin Bonsignore in the 2019 event.
Also at stake are the Indoor Auto Racing Series championships. Tim Buckwalter’s TQ midget victory at Atlantic City along with a fourth at the opener in Allentown brings him to Syracuse with momentum and a slim 15-point lead over Matt Janisch. Jankowiak is fourth in the points after a disappointing AC finish, yet still in the title hunt.
The fastest 12 from Friday afternoon qualifying will also make a run for the pole at night in a special knock-out time trial session.
New York State is well represented in the field of champ kart entrants. A large contingent of racers are residents of New York including AC winner Dan Marsden.
However, two Pennsylvania drivers are currently one-two in points, led by Allentown winner Jonathan Keister and Jason Simmons Racing driver Tyler Brown.
The always exciting Slingshots have also been dominated by Pennsylvania drivers Brett Bieber, Jared Silfee, and Scott Neary, who have finished in the same order in both 2022 series races.
On Saturday, racing begins at 7 PM with qualifying races for the three divisions followed by their feature events. The program concludes with the 40-lap TQ Midget season finale.