Dirt racing might be their specialty, but Mike Iles, Billy
Pauch and Rick Laubach hope the string of success they put
together this past season continues into the upcoming Gambler’s
Classic inside Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall scheduled for
January 16-17, 2009.
Iles and Pauch are confirmed entrants for the seventh annual
Three QuarterMidget/600 cc Micro Sprint race in five weeks,
while Laubach will participate in the Slingshot division. The
Sr. Champ Karts, which has reached its 60-entry limit, will also
join in the three-division program.
Iles, Pauch and Laubach will bring dirt Modified
championships to an already prestigious list of entries that
includes NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ted Christopher,
NEMA champion Randy Cabral, Wall Twp. Speedway Turkey Derby XXXV
TQ Midget champion Paul Lotier Jr. and New York State
Fairgrounds Sportsman champion Erick Rudolph.
Iles, of Medford, N.J., captured his first career Modified
championship this past season at Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway,
where he captured a pair of feature races on May 24 and August
2.
Pauch, a winner of more than 645 career feature events, had a
standout season at New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway, as he captured the
track title, a year after winning the Modified title at
Bridgeport Speedway.
The Frenchtown, N.J., resident won 10 races this season,
which included an Advance Auto Parts DIRTcar Modified event at
Volusia County Speedway on February 13, a win at Georgetown
Speedway on November 22 and seven main events at New Egypt
Speedway. Pauch added to his season-win list with a SpeedSTR win
at NES.
Laubach, who is popular-known as the “Quaker Shaker”, carries
the prestigious Garden State Challenge title in the Atlantic
City event. Laubach won seven features between Bridgeport
Speedway (three) and New Egypt Speedway (four), along with wins
at Selinsgrove Speedway and Hagerstown Speedway this season.
Time trials will be held on January 15 for all divisions.
While the grandstand will not be open to the public, fans with
tickets for Friday and/or Saturday (Jan. 16-17) can obtain a
restricted Thursday-only pit pass, which will allow them access
to catch all of the pole-night activities.
Friday's nights event will include qualifying races for all
three divisions and a 25 lap feature event for the TQ Midgets.
Saturday night's program is highlighted by feature events for
all three divisions including the 40 lap Gambler's Classic main
event for the TQ Midgets.
Also, lap sponsorship is now being taken for the feature
events. Those wishing to purchase lap sponsorship can do so by
contacting the Area Auto Racing News offices at
609-888-3618.
Tickets for Friday and Saturday night programs are on sale
now by calling the Area Auto Racing News office at:
609-888-3618 (please have a MasterCard, Visa, or American
Express card ready).
Also, tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster by
calling: 1-800-736-1420 or online at:
www.ticketmaster.com.
Gambler’s Classic information is available online at:
www.aarn.com. The Gambler’s
Classic is run in conjunction with the huge Motorsports 2009
Race Car & Trade Show taking place at the Atlantic City
Convention Center on January 16-17. The show offers close to
300,000 square feet of just about everything imaginable in
motorsports along with many famous racers and personalities
signing autographs.
Source:
Ernie Saxton/Ernie Saxton Communications
Posted:
December 14, 2008
