TRENTON, N.J. – The Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled by VP Race Fuels championship races, scheduled for March 13-14 inside the New York State Fairgrounds Exposition Center in Syracuse, N.Y., were canceled as a result of COVID-19.
As a result of the cancellation, the BELFOR Property Restoration Concrete Series champions were crowned based on the current point standings.
TQ Midget driver Andy Jankowiak, Champ Kart king Tyler Brown and Slingshot ace Scott Neary, who were leading in series points heading into Syracuse, have been declared champions of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series fueled by VP Racing Fuels.
It marks the first championship for each driver.
Jankowiak earned his first career TQ midget championship by just two points over Matt Janisch.
“This isn’t the way I wanted to win this championship,” said Jankowiak, who drove over two hours east from his home in Tonawanda, N.Y., to pick up the award on Friday afternoon at the Exposition Center.
He arrived inside the building as the last of the concrete blocks that had made up the indoor track were being loaded on a flatbed trailer.
“I really invested myself in this deal this year, I wanted this championship bad,” emphasized Jankowiak. “That’s why this is so hard. I think we were ready to go prove we deserved it.”
Jankowiak’s prize – The TC Cup – is named after late two-time Indoor Series champion Ted Christopher, who passed away in a plane crash in September of 2017 at the age of 59.
“Ted meant so much to so many of us and the fact I got to race him for this championship and now win the Cup in his name means the world to me,” reflected Jankowiak.
Janisch described himself as being “very disappointed” at not having had the opportunity to race for the title he lost by just one position in any of the two events that were held inside Allentown’s PPL Center or the one in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
Erick Rudolph, a four time series champion, finished third, 14 points behind Jankowiak but within striking distance of the title had the two features scheduled in Syracuse, N.Y., been held.
In the Hoosier Tire Champ Karts, Tyler Brown won the title by 45 points over Todd Crenshaw.
Scott Neary won the Action Track USA Slingshot title by 35 points over Brett Bieber.
After the crowning of the 2020 series champions, the focus now shifts to the 2021 Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series.
The series will return to the same venues, with stops in Allentown, Pa., at the PPL Center January 8-9; Atlantic City, N.J. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall on January 29-30; and Syracuse, N.Y. at the Exposition Center on March 12-13.
The series will again have a special non-points dirt event on Feb. 19-20 at the Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J.
Plans are also in the works to make-up the canceled Syracuse Indoor Race, with a possible fourth concrete event later in 2020 or in 2021.