Janisch and Janisch take Sundance Glory

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Matt Janisch raced to his first win of the season at Sundance Vacation Speedway between the rain drops this Saturday May 23^rd  in the Metz Racing Cut-n-Vac 48.  Austin Fehr in the Razer Sharp Spitfire came home second followed by Don Adams in the Spitfire house car.  TQ heats were won by Alison Cumens and Janisch.  The 600 Micro winner was Matt’s Father Mark who recorded his second win of the season. 

The first heat race was won by Matt Janisch who started from the pole by the luck of the draw.  Frank Fischer advanced to finish second followed by Tim Behmer, Mike Tidaback, Robin Johnston and Rudy Boetticher.  Janisch ran the fastest lap of the day when he crossed the line for the checker he ran a 13.109 Sec. lap at  91.539 MPH besting Don Adams fast lap in practice by a mere 13 hundredths of a second. 

The second heat saw to of the 08 rookies lead the field to the green with Austin Fehr going from pole with Alison Cumens on the outside.  Fehr jumped out to the early lead only to be dogged by Cumens who moved into the lead on lap 2 and went on to win by a margin of 1.241 seconds over a Adams, brother Ian Cumens, Austin Fehr, Paul Lotier Jr., and Paul Kunkel. 

The feature saw a front row of Matt Janisch lead the field for the traditional ATQMRA four-abreast parade lap.  The duo brought the field to Kyle McGowan’s green flag with Fehr moving from his outside starting position to take the lead.  A lap 6 caution for a spinning Paul Kunkel tightened up the field and gave Janisch an opportunity to battle Fehr for the lead. 

On the ensuing restart Janisch crossed over to try the inside line but couldn’t carry enough momentum off of two to complete the pass.  The pair moved away from third place Tim Behmer to settle this one between themselves.  Janisch tried the inside line several times before making the definitive pass to take command on lap 12.  Janisch was unchallenged the rest of the way besting a determined Fehr who appears poised to win his first feature.  He was followed by the hard charger of the race Don Adams who moved from his 11^th starting position to finish third.  Alison Cumens was fourth only loosing the podium finish to the many time champ Adams in the closing laps.  Tim Behmer rounded out the top five to grab his share of the points lead. 

It was an impressive showing for the 2008 rookie class with 2 finishing in the top five and four in the top ten.  Paul Lotier Jr. was the first of the class of 08 to get a win at the 08 Turkey Derby.  Its just a matter of time before the rest of the sophomores start winning. 

Mark Janisch was the top 600 Micro Sprint finisher taking first for the second time this season extending his point lead. 

The next stop for the touring ATQMRA is at Bethel Motorsports Park in White Lake NY this coming Saturday May 30^th.

ATQMRA News and Notes:  Father and son Mark and Matt Janisch came home with wins in their respective divisions.  Matt Janisch and Tim Behmer are tied atop the ATQMRA driver’s Point Standings with their respective cars atop the standings.  Absent this week was team Risqué who made their debut with the NEMA Midgets.  Chris DeRitis advanced to tenth in the main but had a DNF due to a fuel delivery problem.

Matt Janisch who won the ATQMRA race at Sundance Vacation Speedway this Saturday night May 23rd in my car also competed in the Third Annual International Formula Hybrid competition on May 4-6.  Matt who currently leads the ATQMRA point’s standings is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at Drexel University and will graduate this spring.  Janisch worked with eight other senior engineering students to design, build and compete in the Formula Hybrid competition at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Placing third overall in the competition.  Janisch who is an accomplished open wheel racer winning on pavement and dirt, indoors and out, placed a close second to the highly developed Texas A and M team's car in the endurance competition.  Their efforts earned them the right to compete in the World Formula Hybrid Competition at the Fiat test facility in Italy in October.  

Additionally Janisch's design team won the 2009 Drexel University Mechanical Engineering Department award for the best design presentation for their work on the Formula Hybrid Car besting the entire Mechanical Engineering department's other 35 teams.  That earned them the right to participate in the College of Engineering competition, with the winning teams from all the other engineering departments. 

Heat Race 1   1 48 Matt Janisch 2 26 Frank Fischer 3 96 Tim Behmer 4 43 Mike Tidaback 5 13  Robin Johnston 6 04 Rudy Botticher 7 00 Dave Williams 8 14Mark Janisch

Heat Race 2   1 39 Alison Cummens 2 36 Donnie Adams 3 79 Ian Cummens 4 73 Austin Fehr 5 1B Paul Lotier Jr 6 46 Paul Kunkel 7 F8 Tim Proctor

TQ Midgets (25-laps) 1. MATT JANISCH 2. Austin Fehr 3. Donnie Adams 4. Alison Cummens(Travelsmiths) 5. Tim Behmer 6. Paul Lotier Jr 7. Frank Fischer 8. Ian Cummens (NAPA)9. Robin Johnston 10. Paul Kunkel 11. Rudy Botticher 12. Tim Proctor 13. Dave Williams 14. Mike Tidaback

600 Micro Sprint (25-laps) 1. Mark Janisch

TQ Midgets (25-laps) 1. MATT JANISCH 2. Austin Fehr 3. Donnie Adams 4. Alison Cummens 5. Tim Behmer 6. Paul Lotier Jr 7. Frank Fischer 8. Ian Cummens 9. Robin Johnston 10. Paul Kunkel 11. Rudy Botticher 12. Tim Proctor 13. Dave Williams 14. Mike Tidaback

600 Micro Sprint (25-laps) 1. Mark Janisch