Gamblers Classic Three Quarter Midget Win to Anthony Sesely; NAPA Boardwalk Hall Indoor Saturday Support Features Won by Rudolph, Sieber and Hieber
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Anthony Sesely of Matawan, N.J. drove perhaps the most perfect race of his career and won the biggest race prize in Indoor Three Quarter midget racing Saturday when he led the 40-lap Gamblers Classic feature wire to wire. Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y. won his third 600 Micro feature in his last four starts, Cody Sieber of Mifflintown, Pa., won the Champ Kart main event and Gary Hieber took the checkered flag in the Slingshot feature. Sesely’s route to the popular win was fashioned by holding off a variety of challengers including past Gamblers Classic winners Ted Christopher and Lou Cicconi, Jr. Sesely then had to hold off a determined Jimmy Blewett to secure the win.
“Every restart, every lap was nerve wracking,” said Sesely. “But the car was good and I was able to hold my line even in lapped traffic when I had to.” The race behind him took a dramatic turn on lap 38 when Christopher, making a bold bid for second place against Blewett, wound up becoming airborne off Blewett’s car and flipped wildly across the track. He was uninjured and Blewett’s car survived the collision without mechanical problems. Rowan Pennink came from way off the pace to finish third with Lou Cicconi, Jr., Friday night’s TQ feature winner, fourth at the end and Mike Lichty taking fifth.
With the win, Sesely earned the Fatheadz Eyewear TQ Indoor Racing Series points championship. The series included events previously promoted by Len Sammons Motorsports Productions at Baltimore, Md., and Providence, R.I. in addition to the pair of NAPA Auto Parts Boardwalk Hall Racing Weekend races.
Rudolph, of Ransomville, N.Y., powered his way into the lead of the 20-lap 600 Micro feature on lap six after early leader Jimmy Carpenter got loose momentarily on a restart. As Rudolph took the point, Friday night feature winner Kyle Lick moved to second with him. A succession of mid-race restarts gave Lick opportunities but he fell short in every instance. With just a handful of laps left, Lick’s car suffered a flat right front tire, and he was black flagged. Lick’s departure reinstalled Carpenter into second but he was quickly passed on lap 17 by Matt Janisch. Rudolph navigated his way through lapped traffic adroitly to win with Janisch holding for second and Carpenter for third. Rob Vivona and James Morris rounded out the top five. Matt Seavey won the 600 Micro B Main.
In the Champ Kart 25-lap feature, Sieber moved by Brandon Rusczek and Danny Bouc with less than ten laps left then held off the pair all the way to the checkered flag. With the win, Sieber earned the Fatheadz Indoor Series points championship; Sieber had earlier won on December 31 in Providence, R.I. Rusczek, who led the race at one point, was second at race’s end while Bouc ran third after challenging for the lead at the halfway point. Cody Slattery was fourth and John Hillmann authored a dramatic drive to march from a 26th place start to a fifth place finish.
Gary Hieber of Penndel, Pa., ended a quest for victory of several years when he led every one of the 25 laps in the Slingshot feature, sponsored by Herr’s Snack Foods. Hieber withstood a multitude of early race double restarts and another batch of second half single file race resumptions, holding firm in every instance. Hieber’s brother Kyle, who competed in the 600 Micro feature, won the 2010 Slingshot feature; the Hiebers became the first brothers to win in Boardwalk Hall in the eleven history of Len Sammons Motorsports Productions events. Brett Bieber was a solid second with Anthony Perrego moving up from a mid-pack starting spot to grab third money. Jesse Hartman was fourth and Eddie Strada claimed fifth at race’s end. Bobby Trapper won the Slingshot B-Main event.
NAPA AUTO PARTS TQ Gamblers Classic (40 Laps): 1. Anthony Sesely; 2. Jimmy Blewett; 3. Rowan Pennink; 4. Lou Cicconi Jr.; 5. Mike Lichty; 6. Joe Lord; 7. Jon Gambuti; 8. Ryan Tidman; 9. Matt Janisch; 10. Erick Rudolph; 11. Billy Pauch; 12. Kyle Reinhardt; 13. Marc Rogers; 14. Ted Christopher; 15. Mike Iles; 16. Ryan Greth; 17. Glen Reen; 18. Tim Buckwalter; 19. Ryan Smith; 20. Matt Roselli; 21. Shawn Nye; 22. Shaun Carrig; 23. Chad Jones; 24. Mike Tidaback; 26. Joey Payne.
First TQ Scramble (12 Laps): 1. Rudolph; 2. Sesely; 3. Pennink; 4. Lichty; 5. S Nye; 6. Gambuti; 7. Jones; 8. Iles; 9. Rogers; 10. Tidaback; 11. Tim Proctor; 12. Jonathan Reid; 13. Erik Musto; 14. Kyle Lear; 15. Tim Buckwalter; 16. Daniel Bois.
Second TQ Scramble (12 Laps): 1. Pauch; 2. Reen; 3. Janisch; 4. Tidman; 5. Medeiros; 6. Greth; 7. Lord; 8. Matt Roselli; 9. Reinhardt; 10. Carrig; 11. Bruce Leote; 12. Zach Bealer; 13. Andrew Nye; 14. Paul Lotier Jr.; 15. Amanda Quinones; 16. Ryan Preece. TQ Non Qualifiers Feature (12 Laps): 1. Johnny Payne; 2. Tyler Devault; 3. Pete Pazer; 4. Ben Quinones; 5. DJ Forbes; 6. Alex Malycke; 7. Chad Parks; 8. Ken Hirt; 9. Patrick Emerling; 10. Ginny Quinones; 11. Don Zrinski; 12. Ryan Bartlett.
600 Micro Feature (20 Laps): 1. Erick Rudolph; 2. Matt Janisch; 3. Jimmy Carpenter; 4. Rob Vivona; 5. James Morris; 6. Stephen Kemery; 7. Lou Cicconi Jr.; 8. Steve Walters; 9. Brandon Azzalina; 10 Jason Ormsby; 11. Tim Iulg; 12. Pat Bealer; 13. Shelby Harper; 14. Jack Conover; 15. Luke Thomas; 16. Ed Wilburg; 17. Mark Yoder; 18. Kyle Lick; 19. Kyle Hieber, 20. Phil Durham; 21. Jerry Schott Jr.; 22. Matt Seavey; 23. Jonathan Cortright; 24. Tyler Walton.
600 Micro B Main (10 Laps): 1. Matt Seavey; 2. Jerry Schott Jr.; 3. Tim Iulg; 4. Shelby Harper; 5 Sierra Weaver; 6. Mike Fillbrunn; 7. Stephen West; 8. Steven Bracall; 9. Jerry Mack; 10. Jimmy Weiss; 11. Austin Bishop; 12. Justin Moensch; 13. Louie Horvath; 14. Greg Smith.
Champ Kart Feature (25 Laps): 1. Cody Sieber; 2. Brandon Rusczek; 3. Danny Bouc; 4. Cody Slattery; 5. John Hillman; 6. Mike Perry; 7. Justin Bonsignore; 8. Joey Milza; 9. Glen Meisenhelder; 10. Gavin Soraghan; 11. Ron Midford; 12. Joey Breunig; 13. Missy Ford; 14. Douglas Stearly; 15. Anthony Colandro; 16. Todd Crenshaw; 17. James Hayden; 18. Ryan Edwards; 19. James Folds; 20. Kevin Elliott 21. Shawn Solomito; 22. Brian Sullivan; 23. Tim Sullivan; 24. DJ Shaw; 25. Chris Daley; 26. Zach Smith.
Champ Kart First B Main (12 Laps): 1. Brian Sullivan; 2. Joey Bruenig; 3. Jeff Shellenberger; 4. Skylar Sheriff; 5. Tom Kelly; 6. Todd Root; 7. Stephen Beattie; 8. Will Shields; 9. Andrew Swisher; 10. Eric Zeh; 11. Michael Pares; 12. Brad Hinkelman; 13. Mark Stewart; 14. Peter Zellers; 15. Eric Snow; 16. Danny Gamache; 17. Dalton Rovira.
Champ Kart Second B Main (12 Laps): 1. Ryan Edwards. 2. John Hillman; 3. TJ Laro; 4. Kevin Baird; 5. Brien Hamer; 6. Brianna Page; 7. Dustin Prettyleaf; 8. Paul Hartwig; 9. Kyle Kania; 10. Mark Lawshe Jr.; 11. John Berger; 12. Jimmy Wolcott; 13. Les Phelps; 14. Coby Cressinger; 15. Damon Schuster; 16. Matt Fenn; 17. Kenny Green.
Slingshot Feature (25 Laps): 1. Gary Hieber; 2. Brett Bieber; 3. Anthony Perrego; 4. Jesse Hartman; 5. Eddie Strada; 6. Frank Yankowski; 7. Robert Hocker; 8. Jimmy Spellmon; 9. Mark Sensenig; 10 Shannon Smith; 11. Brandon Azzalina; 12. Bobby Trapper; 13. Ricky Yetter; 14. Kevin VanValkenburg; 15. John Bockhorn; 16. Danny Spellmon; 17. Simon Egan; 18. Kurt Bettler; 19. Steve Yankowski; 20. Cody Kline; 21. Troy Langendoerfer; 22. Rejean Plante; 23. Vern McLaughlin; 24. Ben Whitaker; 25. Mike Butler.
Slingshot B Main (10 Laps): 1. Bob Trapper; 2. Kevin VanValkenburg; 3. Shannon Smith; 4. Ricky Yetter; 5. Tom Arntz; 6. Andy Bachetti; 7. Ryan Raidline; 6. Robert Dmuchowski; 9. Mike Lapicki; 10. Rejean Plante; 11. Kalli Hartman; 12. Gaby Tetreault; 13. John Bockhorn; 14. Henry Anderson; 15. Miek Fogler; 16. Steve Heckman; 17. Ray Nemeth Jr., 18. Mike Glass.
Sources: Steve Barrick/Ernie Saxton Communications