Heotzler Pulls Off Last-Lap Pass To Capture Atlantic City Indoor Race
Gambler's Classic; Program Abbreviated After Snowstorm Creates State Of Emergency In New Jersey

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- A dramatic turn of events propelled dirt Modified veteran Jeff Heotzler to victory in Saturday night's Atlantic City Indoor Race "Gambler's Classic" at Boardwalk Hall. Heotzler's chances appeared to be evaporating late in the 40-lap feature as his TQ Midget's engine soured. But his fortunes changed completely mere seconds after he relinquished the lead to another dirt Modified star, Billy Pauch, on lap 38.

Before Pauch could even officially lead a lap, he lost control of his Don Adams-owned car and spun entering turn three. The resulting caution flag was a godsend for Heotzler, whose engine came back to life thanks to some slow circuits.
Heotzler hung with leader Mike Dicely of Lewisberry, Pa., when the green flag flew. He made his move on the final lap, diving underneath the Micro-Sprint standout rounding turns one and two and surging ahead.
Heotzler, 47, of Wallkill, N.Y., beat Dicely to the finish line by a couple car lengths. He pocketed $5,000, including a $3,000 bonus for posting a $100 "gambler's fee" upon entering the race.

"I can't believe what happened," said Heotzler, who started 10th behind the wheel of a car owned by Long Island's Michael Sweet. "The car was on rails all weekend, but I thought we were done when the motor started laying down. We're just lucky that Billy spun and the caution flag let the motor cool down enough to let me take one more shot."
Tim Adams of Hamilton, N.J., finished third after starting 18th. His advance earned him the Doug Craig Memorial Hard Charger Award, worth an additional $555.55.

Completing the top five was Jon Gambuti of Point Pleasant, N.J., and Nathan Hauck of York, Pa.
Doug Esh of Lancaster, Pa., a central Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Car regular, led laps 1-11 before a scrape with Stewart Friesen of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., caused him to spin from contention between turns one and two.

Officials sent Friesen to the rear of the field for initiating the contact, elevating Heotzler to the head of the pack for the first time.
Ten caution flags and one red slowed the rough-and-tumble main, which saw half of its 26-car starting field still running at the finish.

Though the state of emergency prohibited highway travel starting at 8 p.m., state officials allowed Sammons to continue the racing program because it was slated to begin before the travel ban took effect. But state officials mandated that the event must be completed by 9 p.m., so Indoor Race officials scrapped the evening's four planned TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint heats and ran one last-chance B-Main for the top-24 time-trialers not already qualified for the feature.
Spectators who braved the weather to attend the nighttime program were given a 7:30 p.m. deadline to apply for ticket refunds, but a majority of the crowd opted to stay for the abbreviated event.
The racing program ended almost precisely at 9 p.m.

TQ Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint Feature Finish (40 laps): 1. Jeff Heotzler, 2. Mike Dicely, 3. Tim Adams, 4. Jon Gambuti, 5. Nathan Hauck, 6. John Ivy, 7. Mike Tidaback, 8. Frank Polimeda, 9. Chris Arnold, 10. Jack Spence, 11. Ryan Bartlett, 12. Billy Pauch, 13. Bill Thomas, 14. Lou Cicconi Jr., 15. B.J. MacDonald, 16. Stewart Friesen, 17. Chris Zrinski, 18. Doug Esh, 19. Brad Gerhart, 20. Ryan Tidman, 21. Steve Stull, 22. Curtis Friesen, 23. Joey Payne, 24. Scott Martel, 25. Steve Buckwalter, 26. Mike Iles.
Slingshot Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. Jesse Hartman, 2. Dan Santabarbara, 3. Michael Glass, 4. Joe Inglin Jr., 5. Jack Arute, 6. Floyd Knabb Jr., 7. Bill Vaninwegen, 8. James Pollard, 9. Randy Smith, 10. Pep Corradi, 11. Keith Tucker Jr., 12. Dave Pecko, 13. Mark Kislowski, 14. Travis Nolan, 15. Lenny Boyd, 16. JJosh Flach, 17. Curtis Truex Jr., 18. Bill Bracey, 19. Jeremy Markle, 20. Jeff Trombley, 21. Ed Windt, 22. Steven Intravaia, 23. Steve Hicks, 24. Marc Daniels

Click on a thumbnail below for a closer look!