ATLANTIC CITY — While many others fell victim to incidents and mechanical gremlins, Trevor Catalano kept his nose clean and held off Kyle Lick in a jaw-dropping side by side battle that lasted multiple laps to win Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts Gambler’s Classic at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
The victory, worth $6,500, was the Ontario, N.Y., driver’s first with the Indoor Auto Racing Championship.
“These are the things you dream of at night,” the 19-year-old said. “Going into this weekend, I was just hoping to finish both races inside the top five. We made some big adjustments after finishing second in Allentown, and I think that’s what pushed us over the edge. There were like three or four different wrecks in front of me, so I was just lucky to miss them. Then I felt like (Kyle) Lick and I battled for like 20 laps. It was so intense, but it was all clean and I’m glad we did enough to hang on.”
Catalano started the 40-lap affair in the eleventh spot and hovered between the sixth and tenth positions for the opening 20 laps. However, he found himself on the bottom step of the podium on lap 26 after watching his older brother and leader Tommy climb over the left side of Anthony Sesely going into turn three, taking both out of contention.
When green replaced yellow, Catalano followed Lick by Tanner VanDoren to move into the runner-up spot on lap 28. As the laps continued to click off, Lick’s car was getting loose on off the bottom, and like an animal stalking its prey, Catalano was waiting for his opportunity to pounce.
His chance came with five laps to go as he forced his way completely inside Lick to take command. However, the race was far from over as a multi-car incident in the middle of the field brought out what would wind up being the final yellow.
On the ensuing restart, both Catalano and Lick sent those in attendance into a frenzy, racing wheel to wheel inches apart with Catalano squeaking ahead each time they crossed under the start-finish line.
As the pair roared down the backstretch and into three and four with the checkered flag waving in the wind, the exceptional battle saw Lick spin out and Catalano to rip off the corner to the victory. Ryan Flores, Shawn Nye, Anthony Payne and Tommy Catalano trailed at the finish.
The Ray McCabe sponsored Larry Michaels TQ Midget Fast Time Award was earned by Andy Jankowiak following a lightning quick group qualifying session. The Tonawanda, NY driver zipped his No. 57 around the speedway in 7.852 seconds to collect $393.39.
Prior to the Gamblers Classic, the TQ Midgets ran six heat races sponsored by E. Schneider & Sons. Anthony Sesely, Tommy Catalano, Andrew Nye, Paulie Hartwig III, Briggs Danner and Justin Grant emerged victorious in the fast-paced affairs. A trio of Dr. William Lowe sponsored B-Main’s set the rest of the lineup, with Anthony Payne, Josh Sokolic and Tim Buckwalter claiming them.
Various special awards were handed out to deserving recipients throughout the day Saturday. The $555.55 Doug Craig Hard Charger of the TQ Gamblers Classic, sponsored by Penn NY TQ Midgets and Ray McCabe, was earned by Anthony Payne, who stormed from nineteenth to finish fourth.
Paulie Hartwig III received the $100 Nick Forono Award presented by Dr. William Lowe for leading the first lap of the TQ feature.
The $200 Walt Chernokal Best Appearing TQ Midget Award, sponsored by Dave Adams and Ray McCabe, was awarded to multi-time Gamblers Classic winner Ryan Flores.
The $200 Bruce Kindberg Best Engineered Car Award, presented by Joe Grandinetti and Ray McCabe, was given to Zack Myers for his No. 41x TQ driven by Cap Henry.
Doug Stearly marched to the lead on lap six from his fifth-place starting spot, but had to knife around Quentin Graham Jr. after losing it with five laps to go to win the 25-lap Champ Kart feature by a narrow 0.137 seconds. With the victory, Stearly became the 2026 Indoor Auto Racing Series champion.
Dylan Hoch continued his dominance in the Slingshot division as after Cody Kohler went around at the front of the brigade, Hoch kept Cody Bleau at bay for multiple restarts and eventually blasted away on a green-white-checkered to win the 25-lap feature. Hoch also claimed the 2026 Indoor Auto Racing Series Championship.
Stephen Kemery seized the opportunity when early race leader James Roselli suffered a flat left rear tire by fending off relentless pressure from Kyle Lick and Scott Kreutter to whiz under the checkered flag first in the 20-lap Dirt Micro 600 feature.
