ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Tanner VanDoren, the 15-year-old who shocked the motorsports world by winning the TQ Midget Indoor Auto Racing Championship opener on Jan. 6, will race on Jan. 26-27 during the NAPA Auto Parts Atlantic City Indoor Race weekend.
VanDoren will again be racing as a teammate with defending series champion Anthony Sesely.
The event will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT affiliate DirtTrackDigest.tv.
VanDoren won’t turn 16, the legal age to compete in the state of New Jersey, until two days after Saturday’s Gambler’s Classic is held. However, the state police have granted him a waiver to complete based on his experience. This weekend he’ll be back behind the wheel of the Jeff Ulrich/ Rick Kluth-owned No. 22 he drove to a win and a fourth-place finish in the first two series races.
The Schnecksville, Pa. teenager wasn’t supposed to race in Allentown, only test Sesely’s backup TQ. VanDohren, however, was towards the top of the charts in practice and the car owners made the decision to let him race. At the end of the night, he became the youngest winner in series history.
VanDoren backed up his accomplishments with a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s feature netting the team $5,200 for allowing him to race. While he left the event as the points leader, it wasn’t certain if he would be allowed to compete in New Jersey.
Jason VanDohen, Tanner’s father, had already filed paperwork and was approved by the state to race a big-block modified this season in New Jersey. That sped up the process and he was additionally allowed to race in Atlantic City late last week.
Over 50 TQ Midget teams have filed entries for Atlantic City where they’ll race this year not only for a win in Saturday’s 40-lap Gambler’s Classic, but on Friday in the new Black Jack 21 TQ Midget feature race.
Should VanDoren pull off a win he would become the youngest ever TQ Midget winner in New Jersey. Erick Rudolph won his first of three Gambler’s Classics in Atlantic City when he was 16 years old.