Quarter Midget Strong, The “Stars Of Tomorrow” Shine At Dirt Track Heroes Show

Story By: STEVE PADOS / DIRT TRACK HEROES – PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – The Quaker Steak & Lube Eleventh Annual Dirt Track Heroes Show continued through the third day of it’s annual week long journey for the racing community and another successful day unfolded with the Tuesday evening presentation.

The budding young stars of the quarter midget racing clubs in the local area came out in numbers to talk about their young racing careers and to where their journey will possibly take them as they take on the rigors of auto racing. The Tuesday night event was sponsored by Adams Brothers Used Auto Parts located in Allentown, PA, Clean Run Auto in Pen Argyl, PA and Dean Auto Sports in East Stroudsburg, PA. The eleventh annual edition of the show will continue through March 10th with each day of the event showcasing the many different race tracks and racing series operating in the local areas.

With the eclectic Quaker Steak & Lube Restaurants the lead sponsor of the event, the excitement and the pulse for the week long show quickens with each day as the diverse schedule of the week long show offers a bit of everything to all racing fans. The 55 stores making up Quaker Steak & Lube annually sell more than 80 million wings per year and “The Lube” is recognized as “The best wings in the USA.” The Phillipsburg location has also been dubbed “The Official Restaurant of the Dirt Track Heroes” show. To contact the restaurant, call: 908-454-2900 or check out their website at: www.thelube.com Before or after the show head to Quaker Steak & Lube and get recharged and refueled in a great sports setting.

The 11th annual edition of the show will continue through March 10th with amazing sponsorship support through headline sponsor Quaker Steak and Lube restaurant chain and associate sponsors IRCO Community Federal Credit Union, Premio Foods, Jeff’s Automotive, Smith Fabrications/Stage One Modifieds, Alex’s Tire/Breidingers Speed Shop, Adams Brothers Used Auto Parts, Hamlin Speedway/S&S Speedways, Upstate Auto, JPA Masonry, Phillipsburg Easton Honda, APS Powdercoating, ARM Automotive, Smitty’s Collision Center, Gardner’s Auto Service, R&T International Muffler and Brake, Penn Jersey Food Marts, Speed Tec, Murante Auto Repair, Clean Run Auto Repair, Martocci Automotive, Dean Autosports, Carl’s Auto Repair, Ralph’s Radiator and Huston’s Automotive.

Nightly driver interviews and race cars of all types provide the race fan a full appetite of racing fun before the regular racing seasons begins. The Phillipsburg Mall, located on Route 22 East in Phillipsburg, NJ, has proven to be a popular setting for this special event and offers a multitude of race cars, racing memorabilia, collectibles and photos on display throughout the course of the show. The show continues to be FREE of charge to the mall traffic and the 2018 edition of the show is the trend setter and show stopper of the many shows that are scheduled during the year.

With the oncoming huge snowfall expected and the Mall taking an early closing, the show staff was able to make contact with the Quarter Midget clubs and they arrived in full force to kick-off the show earlier than scheduled. Emcee Steve Pados opened the show and introduced IRCO Vice President Greg Collins to the crowd. Collins once thanked the local racing community for their support and talked of the various offerings from the IRCO group and added the Tuesday night portion of the show is one of his favorite nights as he truly enjoys the answers and conversations the announcers are able to extract from the young stars, as some were giving their first ever interviews and through the quickly paced show were able to get the racing families on their way back home.

Ed and Steve Pados, Bobby Stull and Justin Beltrame interviewed a great group of 22 young driving stars from the area and without question once again proved the future of auto racing is in great hands with the drivers and the generous support of their families. The Quarter Midgets are a great way to begin the careers of the budding young drivers and many graduates of Quarter Midget racing have gone on to great racing careers in the sport and many of the drivers interviewed felt they would race the Quarter Midgets until their age requirements expire and then make the transition into one of the many offerings available in racing and the answers given would make all of us believe all of the speedways in the area will benefit from the early education these young stars acquire for their racing endeavors.

Drivers on hand included former USAC National Champion Anthony Chrobak, Mark Evans, Gage Klingel, Jacob Bierman, Peyton Knecht, Waverly Smith, Zoe Buchera, Jake Moyer, Easton Miller, Ryder Miller, Logan Stangle, Keiler Kemmerer, Kaylin Kemmerer, Riley Wanamaker, Joey Denisi, Garrott Piggott, Chayse Wanamaker and Makenzie Rogowitz.. Long time racing legend Jack Zeiner was introduced to the crowd.

A big schedule change for the week with the Mall being closed due to the state restrictions from the government. The Wednesday evening show will be moved to Thursday night highlighting Hamlin Speedway, Snydersville Speedway, Accord Speedway, Mahoning Valley Speedway, and Orange County Fair Speedway. The Legends of Racing Show remains intact for 4 PM on Friday afternoon honoring Bobby Rossell and the originally scheduled Thursday evening show will be moved to Friday night with the Open Wheel portion. The Thursday evening show is sponsored by Hamlin Speedway and S&S Speedways Indoor Karts located in Snydersville, Pennsylvania, Smith Fabrications, the home of the Stage One Modifieds and JPA Masonry located in Mount Pocono, PA.

Friday, March 10th, brings two shows to the Mall going back to back with the “Legends of Racing” at 4 PM when Modified legend Bobby Rossell is honored for his great career in racing. Some of Bobby’s competitors will be on hand to talk about fun moments they had when racing with Bobby. Friday evening will find current day open wheel stars being interviewed along with the Modified drivers .

The great fan base of racing can come out to this grand Mall event and be transported back to a time when they could hop into their family jitney and travel less than a half hour to witness the excitement of a night at the races. All historical racing groups including Tri State, Flemington, Harmony through Greg Collins, Reading, Remembering Nazareth, Bob Snyder Photos and Snyder Video, Mike Ritter Photos and Mocatek Memories through Justin Beltrame have their memorabilia on display and their many scrapbooks open for the fans to take another long look at the glory years of racing and possibly find a picture or two they want to purchase as a keepsake from past glory or racing exploits. More information is available regarding the show by calling: 443-513-4456.

On display at the Mall is 141 entries including big and small block Modifieds, Sportsman, Micro-Sprints, Midgets, 360 and 410 Sprints, Wingless Sprints, Late Models, go-karts, quarter midgets and a broad variety of vintage and restored race cars and drag racing cars. Hamlin, Snydersville, Mahoning, New Egypt, Grandview, Big Diamond, Bridgeport, Hamlin, Accord, Mahoning and Snydersville will again be among the many speedways involved with the 2018 show.

The Quaker Steak and Lube Dirt Track Heroes Car Show has a must have event T-shirt done exclusively for the show. The great keepsake 60 page event souvenir program book has many great articles regarding our racing heroes and how the Dirt Track Heroes became a reality. The Phillipsburg Mall is open Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM and from Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 9 PM. The event offers race teams a great opportunity to promote their sponsors and announce their racing plans for the upcoming 2018 racing season.