Indoor Auto Racing has become a winter tradition in Atlantic City. It returns to Boardwalk Hall Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28 and 29.
Ryan Flores is one of the top drivers in Indoor Auto Racing. He’ll be looking to win big this weekend at Boardwalk Hall.
TQ Midgets may look like go-karts, but that is where the similarity ends.
When you think of things that are synonymous with Atlantic City, your mind generally goes to images of the Boardwalk, the casinos, the beach and maybe an Italian sub from White House Subs. But what should also be scrolling through that imaginary Viewfinder in your head is Indoor Auto Racing.
Yes, Indoor Auto Racing has forged a lengthy history with America’s Playground, with its first event taking place in 2003. Its popularity within the city and the racing community has led to the upcoming races - 7:30 p.m. Friday Jan. 28, and 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall - becoming the premier event of the sport.
More well-known outdoor racing series such as NASCAR and Formula 1 have their merits, but neither can match the intimacy and excitement of watching cars race around the cement floor of Boardwalk Hall just mere feet from the seats.
The vehicles, including Slingshots and Champ Karts, will all get their time on the track, but the main focus is on the TQ Midgets, which are the kings of this wintertime sport.
One of the drivers to watch this weekend is Ryan Flores. Flores is the current leader in the championship standings for Indoor Auto Racing as well as a past winner in Atlantic City. A native of Manasquan, he currently lives in North Carolina, where he works as part of the pit crew for the Penske Racing NASCAR team. Flores took some time out to speak with us about his love of racing and his thoughts on the upcoming event.
RYAN LOUGHLIN: How did you first get involved with Indoor Auto Racing?
RYAN FLORES: I went to the first event they ever had in Atlantic City back in 2003. I was racing a Bandolero then and just kind of fell in love with it over the years. I started racing (for Indoor Auto Racing) back in 2011. I bought a car and have been doing it ever since.
RL: Your day job is working with the Penske Racing NASCAR Cup team. What are some of the main differences between NASCAR and Indoor Auto Racing?
RF: Obviously the resources on the NASCAR Cup level are infinite, but at its core, it’s all just racing. No matter how many resources you have, at the end of the day it’s all about trying to get your car to go around in a circle faster than the others. But there is a lot of stuff that I have learned from the Cup side about the way I approach racing. Penske has us meet with sports psychologists every other week, and a lot of the stuff I have to do on the pit stop side correlates to the decisions I make in the car when driving (for Indoor Auto Racing.)
RL: You drive TQ Midgets. To the untrained eye they look like really fast go-karts. Are they as fun to drive as the ones you see on the boardwalk?
RF: If you race on the Boardwalk with your friends, it’s a lot of fun, but when you race inside Boardwalk Hall the stakes are higher. Obviously they are really expensive race cars, and you are going really fast – you are doing 7-second laps inside there, and there is a lot going on in that 7 seconds. You have two straightaways and two corners, and you are trying to beat 30 other guys on the track and avoid wrecks at the same time, so it’s a lot to process. They look just like go-karts when you first look at them, but there is a lot more to them than that.
RL: What is the most dangerous element about indoor auto racing?
RF: With Indoor Auto Racing, unlike most other races, the grip level is really high because they spray Coca-Cola syrup on the track. So the room for error is very small. When something happens right in front of you and you catch a corner, that’s when you go up in the air, go upside down or hit the fence really hard. And with open-wheel cars, there are no fenders on them, so the tires hang out. And if you are hit a corner, pop a wheel and go airborne at 70 miles-an-hour, you are at the mercy of gravity. And that’s where you find the biggest wrecks.
RL: Being an N.J. native, is the Atlantic City race something you specifically look forward to as opposed to other races?
RF: Yeah, for sure, it’s the biggest. I get to do some really cool stuff during my day job - the Daytona 500 and things like that, but I grew up on the Jersey Shore in Manasquan making pizzas on the Boardwalk, so the Jersey Shore is really home to me. I have always been kind of a beach rat. All my memories are of being close to the ocean, so a race on the Boardwalk is always really special to me.
RL: Any predictions for the upcoming race?
RF: I won a couple years back, and the goal is to go in there and win again. We are banking on ourselves, that’s for sure!
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January 26, 2022 at 04:00AM
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Indoor Auto Racing speeds back to Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City Weekly
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