ALLENTOWN, Pa. — When the Indoor Auto Racing Series returns to the PPL Center on Jan. 3-4 for the 8th Annual Ironton Global Allentown Indoor Races, TQ Midget drivers will have another opportunity to capture the $10,000 Ironton Auto Body Challenge.
Last year, Tanner VanDoren and Ryan Flores split the TQ Midget main events held on the one-tenth-mile concrete oval.
VanDoren, scored the surprise victory on Friday night after Flores and longtime rival Andy Jankowiak made contact while battling for the lead. Flores returned to form to score his sixth career win inside the PPL Center on Saturday, VanDoren came home a strong third.
While both drivers enjoyed a successful weekend the $10,000 weekend sweep eluded them.
With renewed support from Ironton Auto Body, a sweep of Friday and Saturday night’s TQ Midget A-Mains means the possibility of a $10,000 weekend inside the PPL Center returns.
“Last year both Ryan and Tanner felt they had a legitimate shot to complete the sweep and take the big money,” stated series director Danny Sammons. “The $10,000 challenge makes both nights equally important and adds a level of intrigue to the event, not to mention the potential for a serious pay day.”
To complete the challenge, Friday’s winner will be offered a guaranteed starting spot in Saturday night’s main event, with one caveat — its the 10th starting spot. As a bonus for agreeing to start 10th, and accepting the challenge Friday’s winner will be given $1,000.
If the Friday winner can race from the tenth starting spot and complete the weekend sweep on Saturday, another $4,000 bonus will be theirs. Combining the $5,000 in bonuses with their winner’s share of the purse will earn them an even $10,000.
“Stan Stanzek and everyone from Ironton Auto Body are huge supporters of the Indoor Series and racing in general,” said Sammons. “When we developed this program last year, our goal was to create excitement for both nights while offering a significant financial reward.”
As an added bonus, if the weekend sweep isn’t pulled off, Ironton Auto Body will roll over a portion of the challenge to the Atlantic City Indoor Race.