Coming off of a very successful 2019 racing season, Billy Pauch Jr. only has one regret. He feels that there is one race that he feels he should have won. The one that got away was the 2018 East Coast Dirt Nationals. Pauch says it still bothers him more than a year later.
The Indoor Dirt Nationals return to the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey February 21-22. This is the third year for the event which features 100 wingless 600cc Sprint Cars on the banked clay oval. Pauch expounds:
We ran a close second to Erick Rudolph. He was hugging the bottom and I was trying to make something happen on the top. I got to him but by the time I did, the top of the track had changed. I didn’t want to dump him which was the only way I was going to pass him. It was a tough loss. You hate to let a race you feel you should have won get away.
The 2017 Indoor Nationals were also disappointing for Pauch. He was a strong contender but got dumped during the feature race and the car’s steering was broken in the process. That was the end of his race.
Pauch will enter the Indoor Nationals in the same car he has driven in the past two races, owned by Lamar Schaffer from Pennsylvania. Schaffer is a popular Micro Sprint engine builder. Pauch has driven for Schaffer for the last eight years.
Race teams will arrive in Trenton for the Indoor Nationals on Thursday, February 20 for a closed practice session on the tacky dustless black clay. Friday will be the draw in which the field will be divided into ten heat races. The top sixty from the heat races will run four A-Main qualifying races. The top three from those races will lock in their spot in Saturday’s fifty lap A-Main.
For Saturday’s racing program, all drivers who were unable to qualify will be split into qualifying races by their Friday results. Each of these events, starting with twin F-Main races, transfer the top four to the next main until two B-Mains are reached. In the final B-Main qualifying races, the top six transfer to the A-Main which will start 24 cars.
Tickets are available at indoorautoracing.com
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