Inside Line Promotions - TRENTON, N.J. (Feb. 27, 2020) - Joey Amantea kicked off his 2020 racing season last weekend by qualifying for the feature in impressive fashion during the 3rd annual East Coast Indoor Dirt Nationals held inside the CURE Insurance Arena.
Friday night saw Amantea struggle with mechanical woes and had the Mt. Pocono, Pa., native wondering if he'd even have a chance to run during the finale on Saturday let alone qualify for the main event.
"I'm really proud of the determination my team showed all weekend as we easily could've packed it in and not even ran Saturday," he said. "We had multiple teams helping us get the car fixed so we could run and it took a complete effort to get to where we could race at all."
Amantea opened the event on Friday by finishing second in a heat race after lining up third. He then started sixth in a qualifier and was looking at advancing directly into the A Main before he hit a rut on the track and the engine stalled. Amantea got the car fired back up and tagged the back of the field before the car once again stalled on the final lap and he settled for a ninth-place finish.
"It stinks that we had issues as we had a really good car and I think we'd have been set up really well for Saturday," he said. "The car had a lot of speed and I felt comfortable behind the wheel for it being the first time out this year."
Amantea was slated to run a C Main on Saturday. However, it appeared the team would have to scratch as they could not get the engine fired up on his 600cc wingless micro sprint. Multiple teams pitched in and worked all day to get the car running again and he started fourth in the race.
Amantea gained one position to finish third to advance into a B Main. He then charged from 11th to win that race, earning the 13 th starting position in the feature. During the main event Amantea advanced as high as sixth and was looking for more before he got caught up in an accident that ended his night early. He was credited with a 21st-place finish.
While the result was not what he was hoping for, Amantea was extremely proud of his team's effort and feels like it was a defining moment in his young career that proved he belongs with the best drivers.
"The stats will show we finished 21st, but I think everyone who was there knows we are going to be a contender when we show up at any track this season," he said. "I used to look at a lot of these guys as heroes and don't know if I felt we truly belonged. After running as well as I did, I can look at these guys as fellow competitors and I think I earned some respect."
Next up for Amantea will be multiple test sessions at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., in March when the youngster will make his first laps behind the wheel of a wingless 360 sprint car.
"I'm just excited to get behind the wheel and get this deal started," he said. "We're more than ready for the micro sprint season and testing the 360 is going to show where I need to learn on that side of things."
QUICK RESULTS -
Feb. 21 - CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. - Heat Race: 2 (3); Qualifier: 9 (6).
Feb. 22 - CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. - C Main: 3 (4); B Main: 1 (11); Feature: 21 (13).
SEASON STATS -
1 race, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 top 15s, 0 top 20s
UP NEXT -
TBD
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.joeyamantearacing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeyamantearacing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeyamantea88J
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Amantea Real Estate
Amantea Real Estate is a residential and commercial real estate company based in Mount Pocono, Pa. For more information, visit http://www.AmanteaRealEstate.com .
"I'm very happy to have an esteemed company like Amantea Real Estate back our team," Amantea said. "I'm very grateful for their support and look forward to continued success together."
Amantea would also like to thank JPA Masonry, Hyper Racing, Jet Signs, Radical Race Gear, Pensyl Enterprises and Gilroy Northeast Inc. Excavating and Construction for their continued support.
Friday night saw Amantea struggle with mechanical woes and had the Mt. Pocono, Pa., native wondering if he'd even have a chance to run during the finale on Saturday let alone qualify for the main event.
Amantea opened the event on Friday by finishing second in a heat race after lining up third. He then started sixth in a qualifier and was looking at advancing directly into the A Main before he hit a rut on the track and the engine stalled. Amantea got the car fired back up and tagged the back of the field before the car once again stalled on the final lap and he settled for a ninth-place finish.
"It stinks that we had issues as we had a really good car and I think we'd have been set up really well for Saturday," he said. "The car had a lot of speed and I felt comfortable behind the wheel for it being the first time out this year."
Amantea was slated to run a C Main on Saturday. However, it appeared the team would have to scratch as they could not get the engine fired up on his 600cc wingless micro sprint. Multiple teams pitched in and worked all day to get the car running again and he started fourth in the race.
Amantea gained one position to finish third to advance into a B Main. He then charged from 11th to win that race, earning the 13 th starting position in the feature. During the main event Amantea advanced as high as sixth and was looking for more before he got caught up in an accident that ended his night early. He was credited with a 21st-place finish.
While the result was not what he was hoping for, Amantea was extremely proud of his team's effort and feels like it was a defining moment in his young career that proved he belongs with the best drivers.
"The stats will show we finished 21st, but I think everyone who was there knows we are going to be a contender when we show up at any track this season," he said. "I used to look at a lot of these guys as heroes and don't know if I felt we truly belonged. After running as well as I did, I can look at these guys as fellow competitors and I think I earned some respect."
Next up for Amantea will be multiple test sessions at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., in March when the youngster will make his first laps behind the wheel of a wingless 360 sprint car.
"I'm just excited to get behind the wheel and get this deal started," he said. "We're more than ready for the micro sprint season and testing the 360 is going to show where I need to learn on that side of things."
QUICK RESULTS -
Feb. 21 - CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. - Heat Race: 2 (3); Qualifier: 9 (6).
Feb. 22 - CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. - C Main: 3 (4); B Main: 1 (11); Feature: 21 (13).
SEASON STATS -
1 race, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 top 15s, 0 top 20s
UP NEXT -
TBD
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.joeyamantearacing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeyamantearacing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeyamantea88J
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Amantea Real Estate
Amantea Real Estate is a residential and commercial real estate company based in Mount Pocono, Pa. For more information, visit http://www.AmanteaRealEstate.com .
"I'm very happy to have an esteemed company like Amantea Real Estate back our team," Amantea said. "I'm very grateful for their support and look forward to continued success together."
Amantea would also like to thank JPA Masonry, Hyper Racing, Jet Signs, Radical Race Gear, Pensyl Enterprises and Gilroy Northeast Inc. Excavating and Construction for their continued support.
