Tidman Tops Standings, Gorbatuk Top Rookie After 3 Rounds
Next up for the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic ATQMRA Bethel NY
Monday May 15, 2017: Flying Ryan Tidman used his feature win at Wall Stadium last week to catapult himself into the Points lead entering the fourth round of the season at Bethel Speedway where Tidman knows his way to victory Lane. Rookie Dave Gorbatuk has used consistency to put himself eighth in the standings ahead of the rest of the impressive 2017 Acro Rookie Class. The top five in the overall standings are separated by only 28 points. Next up is the club’s first of 3 races at Bethel on May 20th followed by the club’s return to Riverhead Long Island for the running of the Pete Petraitis Memorial Tribute to “The Bad Guys” race on June 3rd.
The battle at the top of the points standings sees Tidman at the top with one win followed closely by Buddy Sload who is a two time winner on the circuit in 2017. Sload is back only 4 markers but will be missing the upcoming race at Riverhead which will dig him a deep hole in the championship standings. Joey Bailey holds serve in the third position on the strength of a strong run in the opener at Mahoning where he finished third. Matt Roselli has an identical point total to Bailey on the strength of his consistent finishes. Geoffrey Sutton sits fifth 28 back of the leader.
Dave Gorbatuk sits at the top of the Acro Rookie of the Year Standings after 3 rounds. Kyle Taraska sits second in the Tally but is only running a limted schedule. Ronnie the Rocket Mullen is 44 markers in arrears after missing the opener at Mahoning Valley and is tied with his fellow Rookie contender his son Cole.
The ATQMRA Powered by VP Racing Fuel race at Bethel this coming Saturday the 20th will have the TQ’s run wingless for the first time in several years. The Vintage Three Quarter Midgets will also be on the card.
Coming up on Saturday June 3rd the ATQMRA makes its return to the famed Riverhead Speedway for the rebirth of the Pete Petraitis Memorial Tribute to ” The Bad Guys.” Riverhead was a regular stop on the ATQMRA circuit from the organization’s early days along with Freeport Municipal Stadium and Islip Speedway on Long Island. The Bad Guys of Long Island as they were affectionately known were a group of racers that were centered around Pete’s Auto Parts in Huntington, Long Island. Pete Petraitis was the heart and soul of TQ Midget racing on Long Island. He led an important contingent of racers on the Island along with his son Jon.
Pete’s first car owner’s Championship with the organization came in 1963 with his last coming in 1985. Pete’s Traditional number was 40 which both his TQ and his full Midget carried. Pete’s list of drivers reads like a who’s who of open wheel racing in the Northeast. Countless racers considered themselves “Bad Guys.” The Teams that raced out of that area won countless races and Championships across the years with Noki Fornoro being the most prolific racer to proudly call himself one of the Bad Guys. Noki Fornoro, Joey Coy, Jack Bertling, Tom White, Will Ford, George Kattau, Joe Lacey, Bing Metz, Sonny Sanders, Billy Courtwright, Bobby Cicconi, Billy Coy and countless others across the years.
Honored to be Bad guys were Don Knapfel, Ron Knapfel, Bob Titus Artie King Michael Gearhart, Charlie Winter and countless others.
Pete’s son Jon took over as unofficial head of the Bad Guys upon his father’s passing. He was crowned champion in 1982, 1983, and 1984 with Joey Coy in his 18 Reider car. Jon also won the club Championship in 1988 with Noki Fornoro behind the wheel of his famous 18.
The Scigowski’s Ray and Stanley fielded cars from Long Island with Ray earning the 1967 Car Owner’s Championship. Will Ford who fielded a beautiful red and yellow number 21 Crossley Powered upright earned a Championship in 1979 driving just about every car the Long Island contingent had to offer earning the Championship on the strength of his consistency by earning his championship without the benefit of a feature win. His first feature win would come at the Indoor opener at Atlantic City following the outdoor season.
It is with great pride that the ATQMRA is honoring its history at Riverhead on June 3rd. We are proud as an organization to honor ATQMRA Hall of Famer Pete Petraitis and the Bad Guys. ATQMRA Racer Steve Whitt wanted to get the ball rolling by adding $100 to the winner’s share of the purse. The ATQMRA is producing a Special Decal for the event and teams carrying the decal will be eligible for bonus money that will be awarded to contingency positions in the race commemorating the Bad Guy’s traditional car numbers 3, 18, 21 and Pete’s number 40 that will go to the winner. The ATQMRA will be selling Boosters for the Petratis memorial race at the upcoming race at Bethel and during the weeks leading up to the event at Riverhead. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to help make this a special event can Contact Blu Metz at 610-217-2593.
2017 POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
TQ DRIVER TOTAL
Ryan Tidman 268
Buddy Sload 264
Joey Bailey 248
Matt Roselli 248
Geoffrey Sutton 240
Mark Yoder 216
Jeff Kot 212
Dave Golbatuk 192 R
Rob Vivona 184
Kyle Taraska 152 R
Ronnie Mullen 148 R
Joey Payne III 148
Cole Mullen 148 R
Kerry Irwin 128
Matt Janisch 120
Austin Fehr 120
Kris Graver 96
John Keller 96 R
Mike Tidaback 88
Brett Michalski 0 R
ACRO Rookie of the Year Standings
Dave Golbatuk 192 R
Kyle Taraska 152 R
Ronnie Mullen 148 R
Cole Mullen 148 R
Brett Michalski 0 R
OWNER POINTS
1B 268
36 264
02 248
98 248
461 240
75 216
512 08
32 192
46v 184
88 156
01 152
39 148
67 148
73c 148
F8 128
73 120
20 96
48 96
95 56
73b 0
ATMQRA 2017 Schedule
April 15 MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY Winner Buddy Sload
April 29 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY * Winner Buddy Sload
May 6 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY * Winner Ryan Tidman
May 20 BETHEL MOTOR SPEEDWAY *
June 3 RIVERHEAD RACEWAY *# Pete Petraitis Memorial Tribute to “The Bad Guys”
June17 BETHEL MOTOR SPEEDWAY *
June24 MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY
July 1 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY *
July 15 BETHEL MOTOR SPEEDWAY *
July 29 CHEMUNG SPEEDROME *
August 12 NEW LONDON-WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL
Aug 18-19 POCONO RACEWAY *#
September 9 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY *
September 16 MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY
September 30 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY *
October 21 -22 NEW LONDON-WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL
November 25 WALL STADIUM SPEEDWAY *#
Non wing * Indoor Rules Package #
Sources: ATQMRA PR