Once all of the heat races were settled, the field lined up for the 50 lap Main event. To add a bit of extra flair, the 24 cars lined up in rows of three just like at Indianapolis.The Main event was stellar with only a few yellows and restarts to punctuate the night. Due to the size of the track and field it only took a few laps for the leaders to pull up on traffic making for exciting racing as cars dived around each other on the dirt bullring.Tim Buckwalter started 6th, moved to 4th, and then had to restart from the rear of the field after a tangle for 2nd with Briggs Danner. He then quickly worked his way through the field and was leading by Lap 20.Towards the end of the race Adrianna Dellaponti started to challenge Buckwalter for the lead, but a late yellow and restart allowed Billy Paunch Jr to retake 2nd and allow Buckwalter to cruise to the win.Tim is an experienced oval racer who competes in just about every left turning car you can imagine: he has raced and won in: winged Sprint cars, wingless Sprint cars, 600cc Micro Sprints, dirt Modifieds, Midgets, and TQ Midgets. He is a winner on both pavement and dirt. In addition to the East Coast Dirt Nationals, Buckwalter won the IAR’s opening round in Allentown, PA in January. This was Buckwalter’s first win in IAR’s annual dirt race.
The Indoor Auto Racing season starts January 5 and 6 in Allentown, continues January 26 and 27 in Atlantic City, and concludes again in Trenton on February 23 & 24. The Indoor Auto Racing series is a relatively new and small organization but gathers talented racers from all over the East Coast to put on some action-packed racing in the winter. If you’re in the area you should check it out! We had a blast and if you’re into tiny cars going fast in circles, we know you will enjoy it too.
