East Coast Dirt Nationals Racers Receive Additional “Hard Charger” Incentive

Story By: ERNIE SAXTON / SAMMONS PRODUCTIONS – TRENTON, NJ – Racers who will be competing in the first East Coast Dirt Nationals coming up at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. on Friday and Saturday, December 1-2, 2017 won’t have to win the race to earn big bucks.

Bob Hilbert Company, supplier of official event apparel to Len Sammons Motorsports Productions and the Indoor Auto Racing Series since its inception, has thrown its support behind a ‘Hard Charger’ award.

“There are so many good drivers who put on a great show for the fans who don’t ultimately win. Rewarding one of them with a Hard Charger award makes a lot of sense, and thanks to Bob Hilbert, we can,” Len Sammons said.

Bob Hilbert Company, based in Boyertown, Pa., ranks among the industry leaders in designing and printing of event and driver apparel. The firm is backing the $500 award. The prize will be presented to the driver who advances the most positions in the A-Main.

Nearly 100 Dirt Micro Sprint drivers from eight different states from many different racing disciplines have entered the first ever East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals.

Some of the entrants are veterans of prior Indoor Auto Racing Series TQ events, chief among them Anthony Sesely of Matawan, N.J. Sesely is a three time Gambler’s Classic winner on the concrete Boardwalk Hall oval in Atlantic City, N.J.

Other Indoor TQ drivers are crossing over from the concrete with Sesely include Micro Sprint veteran Pat Bealer, past TQ Midget outdoor circuit champion Matt Janisch, 2016 Wall Stadium TQ Turkey Derby winner Matt Roselli and Dirt Modified and past Indoor Auto Racing Series A-Main winner Mike Iles.

Ryan Smith, who ranked second in the 2017 All Star Circuit Of Champions 410 Sprint Car circuit, has filed an entry to compete in the first East Coast Dirt Micro Nationals.

Named the ‘Kunkletown Kid’ for his lifelong residency in the small Pennsylvania hamlet, Smith enjoyed a breakout season with the All Stars, winning three races and outpointing almost 300 other drivers from across the country except Ohio’s Chad Kemenah, the circuit champion.

Indoor Auto Racing Series competition will be nothing new to Smith. In fact, he has one of the most consistent performance records of any driver in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, authoring top five finishes in A-Main events, all the while driving a Micro 600cc Sprint against the heavily favored asphalt TQ Midgets.

Prominent outdoor dirt track specialists who have entered the East Coast Dirt Micro Nationals include six time and reigning Lincoln Speedway 410 Sprint Car driving champion Brian Montieth, native Californian Danny Stratton, who has spent most of 2017 racing in the Midwest on the POWRi Midget circuit, Kutztown SpeedSTR reigning champion Tim Buckwalter along with his cousin, former ARDC Midget driving champion Steve, noted Sprint Car driving brothers Michael and Brian Carber, and past ARDC Midget car driving champions Alex Bright, Trevor Kobylarz.

New York state 360 Sprint car drivers Scott Kreutter and Joe Trenca have also expressed their intention to compete in the East Coast Micro Dirt Nationals.

The field also includes the best drivers and teams from Micro Sprint racing.

In fact, one Micro Sprint car owner is so sure one of the division regulars will win the event, he’s willing to put his money on it. Should any non-regular of 600cc Micro Sprint racing win Saturday’s feature event the car owner will add a $500 bonus to the win total.

Though a new attraction, the CURE Insurance Arena (formerly Sun National Bank Center), has hosted TQ Midget racing for the past four years on the arena’s concrete floor.

The two-day event will start on Friday at 7 p.m. with 10 heat races. Drivers will pick for qualifying positions. Those with a bad draw will be rewarded with passing points. The top 60 performers will then be divided into four A-qualifier feature races.

On Saturday, points from Friday’s events will line-up all drivers into “alphabet mains” which will begin at 5 p.m… While high point drivers will lock into Saturday’s A-Main, expected to start after 8 p.m., the other racers will have the opportunity to advance from twin F, E, D, C and B-mains to make the 40 lap “A” feature.

This series opens for the TQ Midgets at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA., for the Ironton Telephone sponsored events on Friday and Saturday, January 5 and 6. Each night offers a complete show for the headline TQ Midgets.

For choice Allentown tickets, contact the PPL Center Box Office by phone at 610-347-TIXX (8499), or online at pplcenter.com. The 2016 event was a sell-out.

The Ironton Telephone Allentown event schedule calls for racing to start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday with the Champ Karts as part of the program and 7 p.m. on Saturday with the Slingshots joining the TQ Midgets.