ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Briggs Danner delighted his hometown crowd Friday night by rallying around the outside of Shawn Nye on a mid-race restart and holding off a hard-charging Trevor Catalano to win the Ironton Global Allentown Indoor Race at the PPL Center.
The victory was the 24-year-old’s first with the Indoor Auto Racing Championship.
“It will probably start to settle in when we come walking in tomorrow (Saturday). But it’s an awesome feeling; there’s nothing like it,” Danner said post-race. “We put a lot of time and effort into this. We’ve shown speed out of the box the last two years here, so to finally put it in victory lane is cool for myself and the people that help me.”
Danner started on the pole for the 30-lap feature and maintained the lead through a flurry of early race cautions. However, his biggest challenge would come in the form of Nye, who managed to knife under Danner for the top spot off turn two following a lap-11 restart.
But Danner wasn’t going to go down without a fight. When the yellow flew again a lap later, he punched the gas pedal through the floor of his No. 78 and used the momentum on the top side of the speedway to storm around Nye and jump down in front as the pair headed toward turn three.
He wasn’t out of the woods yet as Paulie Hartwig III spun off turn two ten laps from the finish, allowing Nye to get alongside him once again. Danner must’ve been able to see the trophy dangling right in front of him as he roared clear of Nye, while Trevor Catalano, who was slicing his way through the field like a knife through butter from 15th, followed suit into second.
Danner didn’t let the charging Catalano faze him as he strung together ten perfect laps to zip under the checkered flag. Catalano and Scott Kreutter rounded out the podium.
The E. Schneider & Sons sponsored $125 TQ Fast Time Award Friday was earned by Tommy Catalano following a lightning quick session in which the top ten locked into the inaugural Will Cagle Shootout.
Joining Catalano in the shootout was Scott Kreutter, Briggs Danner, Jon Reid, Matt Swanson, Shawn Nye, Kyle Lick, Logan Watt, Tim Buckwalter and Trevor Catalano.
Catalano got to choose where he wanted to start for the 15-lap affair, and elected to go with track position. Picking the pole wound up paying off as he kept hometown driver Briggs Danner behind in an action-packed event that featured multiple restarts to pocket $240 courtesy of Ricky Harring.
Doug Stearly, of Hephzibah, GA, took the lead from Missy Bootes on lap 12 with a daring move down the inside going into turn three before inching out Quentin Graham Jr. in a three-wide photo finish with a lapped car to grab the checkered flag in a thrilling 20-lap Champ Kart feature.
Pocono Raceway sponsored the Friday night Champ Kart heat races. Those were claimed by Tyler Brown and Tanner Emmons. John Berger captured the B-Main.
Dylan Hoch, of Mertztown, PA, kept a pressuring Tyler Ulsh behind and held his nerve like a champion when a gaggle of slower cars nearly got together in front of him coming to the checkered flag to win a gripping 20-lap Slingshot feature.
Watch Saturday’s event on SPEED SPORT affiliate DirtTrackDigest.tv.
The finish:
TQ Midgets (30 Laps) — 1. Briggs Danner 2. – Trevor Catalano 3. – Scott Kreutter 4. – Nick Ladyga 5. – Shawn Nye 6. – Jonathan Reid 7. – DJ Shaw 8. – Billy Pauch Jr 9. – Matt Swanson 10. – Joey Bailey 11. – Tyler Ferris 12. – Paul Hartwig III 13. – Logan Watt 14. – Stephen Kemery 15. – Kyle Herve 16. – Mason Hanel 17. – Timmy Catalano 18. – Tyler Catalano 19. – Kyle Lick 20. – Matt Janisch 21. – Tim Buckwalter 22. – Tommy Catalano 23. – Tanner VanDoren 24. – Ryan Flores