ALLENTOWN, Pa. — When the Indoor Auto Racing Series fueled by VP takes to the green flag inside the PPL Center in downtown Allentown on Jan. 6 and 7, many off-season questions will be answered.
The Ironton Global sponsored two-day event is just one of two race weekends that make up the BELFOR Property Restoration series this year. It leaves little time for mistakes, mechanical failure, or bad luck.
Here’s the inside track on what to watch this weekend at the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series.
Can Scott Kreutter Score Back-to-Back Championships?
Scott Kreutter of Cowlesville, N.Y., and car owner Trey Hoddick won their first series championship last year — and they scored the championship without claiming a single race win. Kreutter has only one victory to his credit, and it came at Allentown in 2018.
Can they end the five-year winless drought this weekend and get a jump start on defending their championship?
They think so, but only time will tell.
Is Ryan Flores the Championship Favorite?
Many believe the favorite to win the TC Cup — the trophy presented to the series champion — this season is Ryan Flores. The Davidson, N.C., driver took the title in 2017 and he’s won multiple times in both Allentown and Atlantic City. Last year he took the checkered flag first at both venues. However, his victory in Atlantic City was erased because of a post-race infraction.
With his full-time job as a tire changer for Roger Penske’s NASCAR Cup Series team, Flores has not been able to run the March events in Syracuse. With the event at the New York State Fairgrounds Expo Center not on this year’s schedule, Flores now can chase a second title.
This week will be a big first step to see if that is possible.
Run, Run, Rudolph
Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y., is the all-time leading TQ Midget Indoor series winner with nine victories. In three feature starts last year, however, Rudolph failed to win a race in Mark Laffler’s No. 22.
It wasn’t a lack of speed or talent, but instead of luck. In position to win both, in Atlantic City and at the series finale in Syracuse, N.Y., Rudolph’s good luck that had followed him for so many years vanished. He got spun around and went to the rear both times.
A two-time winner at Allentown in the past, Rudolph’s hopes for a fifth title could begin to be assembled this weekend with a victory in Saturday’s Future Home sponsored program headlined by a 40-lap feature.
Tim Buckwalter Looks to Win it
Tim Buckwalter of Douglasville, Pa., would like nothing better than to win again in front of his hometown fans in Allentown this weekend. Buckwalter is returning as part of a three car Laffler-Pippard race team this year that includes Rudolph and the addition of talented Bobby Holmes of Lockport, N.Y.
Buckwalter was a Friday night, 20-lap race winner last year in Allentown. He backed that effort up with a strong fourth place finish in Saturday’s 40-lap main event. A disqualification handed Buckwalter the 2022 Gambler’s Classic during NAPA KNOW HOW Weekend last year inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and he entered Saturday’s series finale in Syracuse with the point lead.
Though he was in a position to clinch the title late in the race, he got shuffled back on a late restart and lost the title to Scott Kruetter by just three points. The versatile Buckwalter — who races dirt modifieds, sprint cars, micro sprints and SpeedSTRs during the outdoor season — is a proven winner.
After finding out last year that every point matters, his chance for the TC Cup will begin to take focus this weekend.
2020 Champ, Andy Jankowiak, Wants The Championship Back
Andy Jankowiak lives in Tonawanda, N.Y., not far from Buffalo.
Despite being saddled with two large snowstorms in December, his eye has remained focused on getting back to victory lane and being crowned champion in front of a huge Saturday night crowd inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
In dramatic fashion, Jankowiak won the NAPA KNOW HOW weekend Atlantic City finale in both 2019 and 2020. The excitement of ‘Andy J’ in victory lane was memorable. With his most recent series win coming in late January of 2020, Jankowiak took the series point lead going into the series finale schedule in Syracuse, N.Y.
Little did Jankowiak or the world know at the time that Covid-19 would soon strike. That resulted in the series finale being cancelled 24 hours before Friday night’s event, after the track had been set-up. Jankowiak drove to the New York State Fairgrounds the next day and was presented with the TC Cup inside the empty building.
While he could’ve won all three races last year, Jankowiak couldn’t close the deal.
He finished second in the Allentown opener a year ago to Flores. Despite his every effort, he couldn’t find a way by.
He then tangled while racing for the lead with Rudolph in Atlantic City. At the series finale he got upside down trying to pass Syracuse race leader Ryan Bartlett with three laps left, stripping him not only of a sixth series win, but of back-to-back championships. While the snow had been falling back home, Jankowiak has been reinventing the front suspension on his self-built TQ Midget.
If his good fortune returns, will there be a win and another championship in his future this year?
Matt Janisch and Briggs Danner Race for Hometown Glory
Two local drivers have their eyes set on victory lane and a first-ever Indoor Racing Series championship. Matt Janisch of Nazareth and Briggs Danner of Allentown are out to prove they can accomplish both. A good start in Allentown would go a long way toward that goal.
This year, Janisch will be in the No. 2 TQ midget owned by Mike and Denise Glaser. In the series finale last year in Syracuse, Janisch was involved in a hard crash that damaged his race car. Feeling a bit sore from the crash, he waved off offers to drive another TQ Midget and watched the series finale.
Back this weekend with high hopes, Janisch wants to win for a second time in the series and clinch the TC Cup that has been slipping from his grasp for so many years. He’s finished within the top-five in the standings six times, finishing second in both 2020 and 2014.
Danner, the 2022 USAC East Sprint Car series champion, returns in the No. 48 owned by Janisch.
The hometown pressure is on the 21-year-old, but he’s proven before that will not bother him. Last year he came close to winning his first ever Indoor Series feature in Syracuse, N.Y., but got tangled up with Rudolph racing for the lead. Sent to the rear of the field, he finished a disappointing 14th.