Story By: ERNIE SAXTON / LEN SAMMONS PRODUCTIONS – SYRACUSE, NY – Ryan Bartlett of Watertown, NY survived a late collision with challenger Andy Jankowiak then held off Anthony Sesely, who had been leading the feature until having a fuel line problem that forced him to make repairs, and Scott Kreutter earning the win in the 40 lap TQ Midget feature.
With his third place finish Kreutter earned the 2022 Indoor Auto Racing Series TQ Midget championship.
“I came here this weekend thinking I would have been happy with a tenth place finish,” Bartlett quipped. “I have been running these races for a long time and have probably not qualified for the feature as often as made it. The car was good, the track was challenging.”
Bartlett and Jankowiak tangled with three laps left, with Jankowiak flipping, only to land back on his wheels and continue racing on the restart.
Kreutter, whose Indy Kart Raceway sponsored the night of racing, secured his first Series title. Kreutter noted that the trophy, the Ted Christopher Memorial Cup, was particularly meaningful to him since the car he drove was the same one Christopher drove to victory in his final Series race prior to his untimely passing.
Tommy Catalano and Joey Bailey completed the top five in the TQ 40-lap feature.
Four TQ Midget Qualifiers, each ten laps in length, and transferring the top two finishers to the A-Main, led off the night. Tyler Lindsay won the first over Tyler Wagner, Joey Bailey the second ahead of Matt Swanson, Bobby Holmes the third over Mike Christopher, Jr., and Bobby Holmes besting Jeremy Haudricourt in the fourth. The first three races ran non-stop; the fourth was slowed only twice by caution flags.
A 5-lap TQ Dash, among the nine drivers who had qualified for the first three rows in the lineup in Friday racing, was won by Tommy Catalano over Anthony Sesely and Shawn Nye.
Matt Janisch, who crashed Friday night in the third TQ Midget Triple Twenty Qualifier, did not compete in the Saturday night program. Janisch is the car owner of the No. 48 TQ that was driven by Briggs Danner over the race weekend. He was, however, at the track spectating.
Indoor Auto Racing Series officials have announced 2023 tentative dates for the events in Allentown, PA (Jan. 6-7), Atlantic City (Jan. 27-28), and Syracuse (March, TBD).
TQ Midget Feature (40 Laps): 1. Ryan Bartlett, 2. Anthony Sesely, 3. Scott Kreutter, 4. Tommy Catalano 5. Joey Bailey, 6. Andrew Nye, 7. Shawn Nye, 8. Joey Payne, 9. Tim Buckwalter, 10. Matt Roselli, 11. Jonathan Reid, 12.Matt Swanson, 13. Jeremy Haudricourt, 14. Briggs Danner, 15. Erick Rudolph, 16. Tyler Lindsay, 17. Trevor Catalano, 18. Andy Jankowiak, 19. Zack Bealer, 20. Ryan Tidman 21. Timmy Solomito, 22. Bobby Holmes, 23. Charlie Schultz, 24. Tyler Wagner.
