Saturday August 7              Mahoning Valley                    2PM

Johnston Wins Johnny Coy Sr. Memorial

Janisch Wins Second 20 Lapper

On Checkered Flag Fan Club Night at Mahoning Valley

The ATQMRA return to Mahoning Valley for the Johnny Coy Sr. Memorial Checkered Flag Fan club night was well worth the 5 year wait.  Two 20 lap features were run in a combined time of less than 7 minutes of caution free racing with Robin Johnston winning the coveted Johnny Coy Sr. Memorial race and Matt Janisch winning the Second feature of the night.  Paul Lotier Jr. became the fastest man in Mahoning Valley History turning in a lap of 8.954 seconds in winning his heat race.  The other heat was won by Ian Cumens.  Next up for the ATQMRA is their second trip to Bethel Motorsports Park on August 21^st. 

The First Feature saw a stacked front row of Mike Tidaback and Frank Fischer take the green with Tidaback jumped out front with a tight pack of Robin Johnston, Lotier, and Frank Fischer slicing and dicing for the top spot.  On the third lap Johnston moved to the inside of Tidaback to make the decisive move of the race shooting past into the lead making the lead pack four wide as they entered the fourth turn.  Fischer moved into second and stuck to Johnston’s back bumper trying to find his way past.

Ian Cumens emerged from the 3 car battle for position with Jeff Kot and Josh Dalrymple on top and raced his way to a third place finish.  Tidaback used lapped traffic to his advantage to move past Lotier late in the race to finish fourth.  Lotier crossed the line with another top five finish with the Rookie of the race Josh Dalrymple rolling across the line sixth. 

The 49 of Anthony Sessley  and 48 of Matt Janisch  were the ones to watch coming from deep in the pack to post 7^th and 8^th place finishes  earning Sessley the Travelsmith’s hard Charger Award in his first outdoor TQ Midget start. 

Johnny Coy Sr.  Memorial Race  winner Johnston, second finishing Fischer, and third finishing Ian Cumens were presented special awards in Victory lane by Robert Noll for the Johnny Coy Sr.  Memorial Race.

The Second feature saw a front row of Rookie Trevor Kobylarz and veteran Matt Janisch take the green with Kobylarz surging into the lead over Lotier and Janisch.  Kobylarz’ time in front was short lived when Lotier made a 3 wide move to the top side to take the lead with Janisch moving into second on the low side.  Lotier and Janisch had a repeat of the battle they waged in the Tobias Speedstr’s at Shangri La II with a similar result.  Janisch waited until the twelfth lap to make his move to the low side of Lotier negotiating lapped traffic to take the lead.  Janisch outdistanced Lotier at the finish bringing home the checkered flag for the Metz Racing Team and earning the Checkered Flag Fan Club jacket.

ATQMRA News and Notes:   Saturday August 7^th marked the first time the lightening fast TQ midgets raced the Mahoning Valley Quarter mile since the 2005 season.  The cars and stars of the ATQMRA were well received and put on an amazing show of side by side three and four wide racing for the fans.  Chad Jones who won multiple D/A Modified races at Mahoning Valley had a disappointing return to his “Home Track” when the engine in the Jim Peruto Keenan Motors 35 expired taking Jones from the lead of his heat race.  Fellow Mahoning Valley stock car racer Jeff Bartrom who won a 4 cylinder championship at the circular oval took his first ride in a the Csernak/Metz Racing F8 .  The most impressive of the Mahoning stock car racers racing a TQ was Anthony Sessley charging from deep in the pack in the first feature to post a 7^th place finish.    Matt Janisch crossed the line first in his heat race but the finish was taken away when the car came up light across the scales meaning Janisch had to start shotgun on the field for the first feature.  2009 ATQMRA 600 Micro Sprint Champion Mark Janisch was behind the wheel of the Black Betty 01 TQ for the night’s race. Next up for the ATQMRA is their second trip to Bethel Motorsports Park on August 21^st. 

Johnny Coy Sr. Memorial National Parts Peddler ATQMRA Feature ( 20 Laps)  1.  Robin Johnston  2.  Frank Fischer 3.  Ian Cumens  4.  Mike Tidaback ( Brice’s NAPA Case of Oil)   5.  Paul Lotier Jr.  6.  Josh Dalrymple ( Rookie of the Race)  7.  Anthony Sessley ( Travelsmith’s Hard Charger) 8.  Matt Janisch 9.  Don Adams 10.  Jeff Kot  11.  Austin Fehr 12.  Alison Cumens13.  Trevor Kobylarz 14.  Matt Roselli 15.  JP Cossman 16. mark Janisch  17. Jeff Bartrom 18 Howard Boss (DNS) Chad Jones

National Parts Peddler ATQMRA Feature (20 Laps)1.  Matt Janisch 2.  Paul Lotier Jr.  3.  Matt Roselli 4.  Ian Cumens (Travelsmith’s Hard Charger) 5.  Mike Tidaback 6.  Alison Cumens 7.  Josh Dalrymple (Rookie of the Race) 8.  Frank Fischer (Brice’s NAPA Case of Oil)  9.  Robin Johnston 10.  Anthony Sessley 11.  Jeff Kot  12.  Austin Fehr 13 Don Adams 14.  48X Trevor Kobylarz  15.  Mark Janisch 16.  JP Cossman 17.  Jeff Bartrom 18.  Howard Boss 19.  Chad Jones