ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The 2022 Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP roars to life in five weeks inside Pennsylvania’s PPL Center, and Max McLaughlin will be amongst the competition.
The Super DIRTcar Series driver will be driving a TQ Midget owned by Frankie Caprara, as both driver and owner will be making their first starts in the Indoor Auto Racing Series.
The race weekend is set for Jan. 7-8, and the races in Allentown will be the first since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic conditions cut the season short before the finale at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, N.Y.
Among the drivers McLaughlin will have to beat is local favorite Briggs Danner, a Lehigh Valley, Pa., native who drove a TQ Midget to victory at New Jersey;s Wall Stadium last Saturday, Nov. 27.
“We expect that competitor interest in the TQ Midget, Champ Kart and Slingshot classes will be at an all-time high since we haven’t raced at all in over a year,” series organizer Len Sammons said.
TQ Midget race cars will headline all the programs competing on speedways set up on the concrete floors of three arenas. Slingshots and Champ Karts will complete the tripleheader programs.
The most notable Indoor Auto Racing Series PPL Center TQ Midget race winner is Ryan Flores of Mooresville, N.C.
Like Danner, Flores won a race at last weekend’s Turkey Derby, only his came in a 100-lap Factory Stock race.
Flores, who works for Roger Penske’s NASCAR Cup Series organization, will be seeking his fifth victory at the PPL Center in January.
Erick Rudolph is the only other repeat winner of the event. Justin Bonsignore, Scott Kreutter and Matt Janisch each have one victory.
Andy Jankowiak of Buffalo, N.Y. was the 2020 Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP TQ Midget Car champion by a slim margin over Rudolph.
Doors in Allentown will open at 6 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, doors open and a Fan Fest begins at 5 p.m., with racing starting at 7 p.m.
After Allentown the series will head to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Jan. 28-29 and conclude in Syracuse, N.Y., at the NY State Fairgrounds Exposition Center March 11 -12.