Atlantic City, NJ (Saturday, Feb. 1) – Ryan Flores etched his name into racing immortality Saturday night by capitalizing on an Andy Jankowiak flat tire in the late stages and holding off a charging Matt Swanson to win the 23rd Annual Gambler’s Classic at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall as part of NAPA Auto Parts Atlantic City race weekend.

The victory was the 37-year-old Huntersville, NC native’s tenth with the Indoor Auto Racing Series Championship, putting himself firmly atop the Series’ all-time wins list.

As a result of the win, Flores took home $10,000 which includes bonus money from the AC Sports Commission, Visit Atlantic City, and the Ironton Auto Body challenge. He fell one spot short of the Ironton Auto Body-sponsored prize during the Indoor Auto Racing Series opener inside the PPL Center Jan. 3 and 4.

“To get back on top with a second Gambler’s Classic and to become the first TQ driver with double-digit victories indoors, it means the absolute world to me,” Flores, who won the race in 2018, said post-race. “Especially since I got to do with the same car, the same guys and the same motor I’ve had for ten years.

Flores’ path to the victory was rather unorthodox as he fell back to seventh from his second-place starting spot during the opening 12 laps. However, Flores found a new gear and sliced his way back up the running order like a knife through butter, eventually finding himself right on Andy Jankowiak’s rear bumper for second.

A yellow on lap 29 put the two Indoor heavyweights side-by-side for a restart. Jankowiak had the advantage going into turn one as Flores tucked in behind when the duo roared passed the start-finish line. But in the center of the turn, contact between the two caused Jankowiak’s left rear tire to go flat, giving Flores the top spot.

From there, Flores had to deal with multiple restarts, including a green-white-checkered as the yellow flew right before he zipped by the start-finish line to get the white flag. Second-place runner Matt Swanson threw everything he had at Flores, including giving Flores’ No. 15 a couple of shots in the rear going into turn one.

But Flores held his nerve like a champion and rocketed away to the win. Swanson had to settle for second as Briggs Danner, Andy Jankowiak, whose comeback drive made him the 2025 Indoor Auto Racing Series champion and Joe Bailey completed the top five.

Jankowiak of Tonawanda, NY topped the Indoor Auto Racing Championship standings besting Flores by nine total points.

             The Ray McCabe sponsored Larry Michaels Fast Time Award was earned by …. following a speedy group qualifying session. Tanner VanDoren’s red hot time of 7.742 seconds was also good enough to pocket an extra $393.39. Andy Jankowiak (7.845) pocketed the $200 Tony Romit Second Fast Time Award sponsored by Dr. William Lowe. Shawn Nye (7.909), Matt Swanson (7.913) and Kyle Lick (7.942) completed the top five.

Before the Gambler’s Classic, the TQ Midgets ran six heat races. Trevor Catalano, Andy Jankowiak, Tommy Catalano, Jeremy Haudricourt, Kyle Lick and Ryan Flores came out of the fast-paced events victorious. A pair of B-Main’s set the rest of lineup with Ryan Smith and Billy Pauch Jr. claiming them.

Various special awards were handed out to deserving recipients throughout the day Saturday. The $555.55 Doug Craig Hard Charger of the TQ Gambler’s Classic, sponsored by Penn NY TQ Midgets and Ray McCabe, was earned by Scott Kreutter, who started 23rd and came across the line in sixth.

The $200 Walt Chernokal Best Appearing TQ Midget Award, presented by Dave Adams and Ray McCabe, was awarded to Mike Corigilano, who owns a pair of bright blue and yellow No. 19 TQs driven by Tyler and Bob Wagner.

The $200 Bruce Kinberg Best Engineered Car Award, sponsored by Margaret Kindberg and Ray McCabe, was presented to Chad Jones for his self-made TQ Midget.

Mike Perry, of Dighton, Mass., put on a dominating display of driving in the 20-lap Champ Kart by charging to the front early and rocketing away all the way to the checkered flag. Missy Bootes came across the line in second to become the Indoor Auto Racing Series 2025 season champion.

13-year-old Paulie Hartwig, of Galloway Township, NJ, looked like a 30-year veteran in the 20-lap Slingshot feature as he wrestled the lead away at the start and made his drive out front look effortless by gapping the field by more than two seconds. As a result of the victory, Hartwig was named the 2025 Indoor Auto Racing Series season champion.

Scott Kreutter, of Cowelsville, NY, took advantage of some early misfortunate from Tom Fraschetta to inherit the lead before withstanding late-race pressure from Kyle Lick to take home the 20-lap Dirt 600 Micro feature.

Although the Indoor Auto Racing Series ‘Concrete Series’ is finished, race fans still have one more event to look forward to as Dirt 600 Micro racing’s best will sling mud around the CURE Insurance Arena Feb. 21 and 22 for the East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals. Tickets for both nights can be purchased on Ticketmaster.

For more information about the Indoor Auto Racing Championship visit www.indoorautoracing.com

23rd Gambler’s Classic (40 Laps) — 1. Ryan Flores 2. Matt Swanson 3. Briggs Danner 4. Andy Jankowiak 5. Joey Bailey 6. Scott Kreutter 7. Matt Janisch 8. Tyler Catalano 9. Mike Christopher Jr 10. Tim Buckwalter 11. Shawn Nye 12. Billy Pauch Jr 13. Tyler Ferris 14. Nick Ladyga 15. Tommy Catalano 16. Anthony Payne 17. Kyle Lick 18. Trevor Catalano 19. Jeremy Haudricourt 20. Cory DiMatteo 21. Jonathan Reid 22. Tanner VanDoren 23. Steve Kemery 24. Tyler Wagner 25. Ryan Smith 26. Kyle Herve

Slingshots (25 Laps) — 1. Paulie Hartwig 2. Tyler Ulsh 3. Scott Neary 4. AJ Gerhart 5. Mark Mohr 6. Cody Kline 7. Matthew Mertz 8. Chris Laureigh 9. Brett Putnam 10. Dylan Hoch 11. Alex Reinsmith 12. Michael Lapicki 13. Cody Bleau 14. Alex Lizotte 15. Cody Kohler 16. Josh Roth 17. Danny Spellmon 18. Jimmy Spellmon 19. Lucas Pittenger 20. Jared Silfee 21. Jon Laureigh 22. Louden Reimert 23. Dennis Garl Jr 24. Justin House

Champ Karts (25 Laps) — 1. Mike Perry 2. Missy Bootes 3. TJ Reed 4. Steve Adams 5. Logan Crisufulli 6. Milton Decker 7. Brandon Tiezzi 8. Doug Stearly 9. Chase Williamson 10. Dustin Gagne 11. Preston DeMello 12. Ryan Borges 13. Bryson Murray 14. Chase Keister 15. Alyssa Vanderpool 16. Tanner Emmons 17. Spencer Smolders 18. Max Pfeifer 19. Ryan Kendall 20. Jonathon Keister 21. Joe Mingoia 22. Quentin Graham Jr 23. Todd Crenshaw 24. Alex Smolders

600 Micro Sprints (20 Laps) — Scott Kreutter, Kyle Lick, DJ Shuman, Sean Case, Gary Bozowski, Louis Horvath, Stephen Fleetwood, Chris Malaterre, Connor Mirabelli, Dan Lane, Tom Fraschetta, Matt Chowns, Tim Buckwalter,