LongIslandJam.com -- NEWS

1/20/06

CICCONI, DARRAH AND IVY ARE WINNERS IN OPENING NIGHT ACTION AT ATLANTIC CITY BOARDWALK HALL INDOOR RACES

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ January 21, 2006 . . . Lou Cicconi Jr. of Aston, Pa., Cody Darrah of York, Pa., and John Ivy of Bellevue, Ohio, emerged victorious in Friday night's Three Quarter Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint 'Roaring 20s' races as the Atlantic City Indoor Race Weekend kicked off at Boardwalk Hall.

Cicconi, a veteran competitor who follows the ISMA Supermodified tour, authored the drive of the show in the first preliminary. After steering Ken Hentrich's brightly-colored TQ Midget to the fastest lap in the 92-car time-trial session, he charged from the seventh spot to win the 20-lapper.

The most memorable move of Cicconi's march forward came when he vaulted from fourth place to first in just over one lap. He completed his assault by running the outside line by short-track legend Billy Pauch of Frenchtown, N.J., to assume command for good just after the race's halfway mark.

Pauch settled for second place behind the wheel of TQ ace Don Adams's car. NASCAR Modified standout Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn., finished third, and Tim Adams of Hamilton, N.J., and Joey Payne of Fairlawn, N.J., completed the top-five finishers who transferred directly to Saturday night's 40-lap 'Gambler's Classic' A-Main.

Considering his track record in the unique event over the past four years, Cicconi's triumph in the first 20-lapper was no surprise. But the evening's other stars shocked the gathering.

Darrah, a 16-year-old Micro-Sprint racer making his first career start in an indoor event run on a concrete surface, led from flag-to-flag in the second main. He held off the advances of Manheim, Pa.'s Heath Hehnly to score the most high-profile checkered flag of his young career.

Bobby Watkins Jr. of Levittown, Pa., finished third, followed by Curtis Friesen of St. Catharines, Ont., and ARDC Midget standout Steve Buckwalter of Royersford, Pa.

Darrah's uncle, dirt Late Model star Rick Eckert of York, Pa., missed a transfer spot to Saturday's A-Main by one position, finishing sixth in one of Darrah's team cars.

Ivy, an accomplished 410 Sprint Car driver at tracks in central Ohio, paced the field from wire-to-wire to bag the third qualifier. He joined Darrah as a 'Roaring 20s' winner driving a 600cc Micro-Sprint.

ISMA Supermodified regular Mike Lichty of Innerkip, Ont., challenged Ivy several times but settled for second place. Mike Dicely of Lewisberry, Pa., finished third, followed by B.J. McDonald of Dublin, Pa., and Jack Spence of Bear, Del.

The winners of the 'Roaring 20s' pocketed $300 apiece.

Kris Savoie of Fultonville, N.Y., and Bill Weaver of Bangor, Pa., split the twin 15-lap Slingshot by Tobias division heat races.

Andrew Hutchinson of Alexandria Bay, N.Y., captured the evening's 20-lap Champ Kart feature.
Atlantic City Indoor Race action continues on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall with a jam-packed schedule.

Racing begins at 12:30 p.m. with a matinee program featuring the 'Small Car Nationals.' Included are events for the Champ Karts, Young Lion Slingshots, Sportsman Micro-Stocks and Outlaw Micro-Stocks.

Following a FanFest on the racetrack at 6 p.m., the evening portion of the card commences at 7 p.m. The TQ Midgets/600cc Micros will compete in C-, B- and A-Mains, but also part of the show is a 20-lap Slingshot feature and a Celebrity Slingshot Challenge event featuring asphalt Modified starts Tony Hirschman, Matt Hirschman and Jimmy Blewett racing against dirt Modified supernovas Frank Cozze, Doug Hoffman and Alan Johnson.

First 20-Lap TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint 'Roaring 20' Qualifier: 1. Lou Cicconi Jr., 2. Billy Pauch, 3. Ted Christopher, 4. Tim Adams, 5. Joey Payne, 6. Scotty Smith, 7. Robbie Nixon, 8. Randy Oswald, 9. Rudy Boetticher, 10. Brian Marriott, 11. Mike Tidaback, 12. Doug Wessel, 13. David Williams, 14. Doug Esh, 15. Stephen Stull, 16. Mike Osite, 17. Jeff Heotzler, 18. Dan Biggs, 19. Dr. William Lowe, 20. Harry Weed.

Second 20-Lap TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint 'Roaring 20' Qualifier: 1. Cody Darrah, 2. Heath Hehnly, 3. Bobby Watkins Jr., 4. Curtis Friesen, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Rick Eckert, 7. Bill Unglert, 8. Jack Conover Jr., 9. Andrew Hannula, 10. Mel Raab, 11. Anthony Sesely, 12. Ronnie Milroy Jr., 13. Bob Maxwell Jr., 14. James Michael Friesen, 15. Matt Seavey, 16. Carl Thomas, 17. Luke Marzano, 18. Art Lawshe Jr., 19. Matt Janisch, 20. Scott Kreutter.

Third 20-Lap TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint 'Roaring 20' Qualifier: 1. John Ivy, 2. Mike Lichty, 3. Mike Dicely, 4. B.J. McDonald, 5. Jack Spence, 6. Curt Michael, 7. Ryan Bartlett, 8. Mike Iles, 9. Nathan Hauck, 10. Don Zrinski, 11. Jon Gambuti, 12. Kenny Schanz, 13. Danny Shirey, 14. Russ Bailey, 15. Ryan Tidman, 16. Jimmy Wyers, 17. Frank Polimeda, 18. Robin Johnston, 19. Doug Sherwood, 20. John Greenhalgh.

First Slingshot Qualifier (15 laps): 1. Kris Savoie, 2. Ryan Smith, 3. Joel Smith, 4. Jim Housworth, 5. Jeremy Markle, 6. Pat Bealer, 7. George Catanzano, 8. Scott Ferrier, 9. David DePaulo, 10. Gary Hieber, 11. Kyle Inglin, 12. Earlene Bosga, 13. Jesse Hartman, 14. Ed Windt, 15. Davey Sammons, 16. Jeff Heotzler, 17. David McCullough, 18. Steve Hicks, 19. Michael Glass, 20. Bobby Kuiken.

Second Slingshot Qualifier (15 laps): 1. Bill Weaver, 2. Curtis Truex Jr., 3. Marc Daniels, 4. Steve Intravaia, 5. Scott Goodrich, 6. Joe Inglin, 7. John Critelli, 8. John Wesp, 9. James Pollard, 10. Joe Molson, 11. Dave Werber, 12. Shawn Light, 13. Robbie Booth, 14. Ron Neil Jr., 15. Travis Nolan, 16. Don Neil, 17. Butch Getz, 18. Bobby Sandt Jr., 19. Eddie Gobbo (DNS) Bill Vaninwegen Sr.

Champ Kart Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. Andrew Hutchinson, 2. Justin Rau, 3. Andrew Swisher, 4. Andrew Bohn, 5. Stephen Moran, 6. Carl Thomas, 7. Nick Herriven, 8. Rudy Pinkham, 9. Jerry Solomito, 10. Chris Dalex, 11. Matt Ferris, 12. J.R. Bertuccio, 13. Shane Solomito, 14. Tammy Smith, 15. Paulie Harraka, 16. Joseph Jasinsky, 17. John Beatty, 18. Michael Maskulyak, 19. Jeff Paulson, 20. Tim Buckwalter, 21. Lauren Kasky, 22. Chris Wramage, 23. Paul McCollum, 24. Erika Palmai.

1/21/06

A DREAM COMES TRUE, LOU CICCONI JR WINS ATLANTIC CITY BOARDWALK HALL �GAMBLER�S CLASSIC� AUTO RACE

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ January 21, 2006 . . . The auto racing event Lou Cicconi Jr. has so dearly wanted to win is finally on his resume.

Cicconi realized a longtime dream on Saturday night, capturing the 40-lap Atlantic City Indoor Race 'Gambler's Classic' A-Main for Three Quarter Midgets and 600cc Micro-Sprints at Boardwalk Hall.

The 41-year from Aston, Pa., grew up attending the traditional wintertime TQ Midget shows at the then Convention Hall, but the series ended in 1981 before he could enter as a competitor. He was thrilled when Len Sammons Productions revived the indoor spectacular in 2003 and has been chasing a victory ever since.

Cicconi has won A.C. Indoor Race fast-time awards and preliminary events over the past three years, but the checkered flag in Saturday's finale has proved elusive. He found the right recipe on Saturday.

"Indoor racing is all about luck," said Cicconi, whose $5,000 first-place payoff included a $3,000 bonus for posting a $100 'gambler�s fee' prior to the race. "Tonight we had it."

Cicconi grabbed the lead on lap 27 when his good friend and rival, Joey Payne of Fairlawn, N.J., had an unfortunate scrape with the lapped car driven by Bobby Watkins of Levittown, Pa. The contact with Watkins was hard enough to partially break Payne's steering wheel, leaving him with an injury to his right hand.

Payne, who had passed Mike Dicely of Lewisberry, Pa., for the top spot on lap 11, was never a factor again. He basically drove one-handed until a blown engine eliminated him as he was struggling to maintain a top-five spot on lap 38.

"I think Joey Payne and I were pretty equal," said Cicconi, who started fourth driving Ken and Larry Hentrich's TQ Midget. "We had a good race going, a real clean race.

"But that's the way we race each other. There's no way I�d rough up Joey Payne. There's a lot of respect there between us."

Cicconi mastered the two restarts over the final circuits to cross the finish line ahead of Dicely, who finished as the 'Gambler's Classic" runner-up for the second straight year.

Jack Spence of Bear, Del., finished third, followed by Mike Lichty of Innerkip, Ont., and B.J. MacDonald of Dublin, Pa.

Jon Gambuti of Point Pleasant, N.J., was transported to a local hospital about being shaken up in a multi-car accident on lap 10 of the A-Main. He was alert and speaking with safety workers while being removed from his car and was not believed to be seriously injured.

Ryan Smith of Kunkletown, Pa., overtook Middletown, N.Y.'s Scott Goodrich for the lead late in the distance en route to winning the 20-lap Slingshot by Tobias division feature. Goodrich settled for second place, followed by Joel Smith of Palmerton, Pa., Jim Housworth of Riegelsville, Pa., and Pat Bealer of Walnutport, Pa.

Slingshot national champion Steven Intravaia of Saylorsburg, Pa., upstaged a field of asphalt and dirt Modified stars to win the 15-lap Slingshot Celebrity Race.

Asphalt Mod standout Tony Hirschman, finished second, ahead of Doug Hoffman (dirt Modifieds), Jimmy Blewett (asphalt Mods), Frank Cozze (dirt Mods) and Alan Johnson (dirt Mods).
Winners during Saturday afternoon's 'Small Car Nationals' were Christopher Allen Jr. (Young Lion Slingshots), Richie Byrne (Sportsman Micro Stocks), Tom Ervin (Outlaw Micro Stocks) and Ontario�s Brett Stratford (Champ Karts).

A large crowd entered the Boardwalk Hall stands for the mid-winter event, which for the first time in four years was run on a weekend that boasted ideal weather conditions. Last year's Saturday-night show was marred by a snowstorm that led to a state of emergency in New Jersey.

Plans for the 2007 indoor events will be announced in the near future.

TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint �Gambler�s Classic� A-Main Finish (40 laps): 1. Lou Cicconi Jr., 2. Mike Dicely, 3. Jack Spence, 4. Mike Lichty, 5. B.J. MacDonald, 6. John Ivy, 7. Rick Eckert, 8. Heath Hehnly, 9. Mike Tidaback 10. Robbie Nixon, 11. Billy Pauch, 12. Mike Iles, 13. Cody Darrah, 14. Joey Payne, 15. Ted Christopher, 16. Bobby Watkins Jr., 17. Bill Unglert, 18. Frank Polimeda, 19. Curt Michael, 20. Stewart Friesen, 21. Danny Shirey, 22. Jon Gambuti, 23. Tim Adams, 24. Steve Buckwalter, 25. Curtis Friesen, 26. Matt Janisch.

THE END