NINTH ANNUAL GAMBLER’S CLASSIC INDOOR AUTO
RACING WEEKEND - BOARDWALK HALL
Promoter: Len Sammons, Len Sammons Productions - 609.888.3618
MEDIA CONTACT: Ernie Saxton
Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.
215.752.7797 - office
267.934.7286 - cell
Esaxton144@aol.com - e-mail
215.752.1518 - fax
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE WITH OUR THANKS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BERTLING READY TO REHASH SOME GOOD MEMORIES OF BOARDWALK HALL
69 Year Old Set To Race In Gambler’s Classic Events
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ January 25, 2011 . . . Jack Bertling isn’t one to gloat over the number of wins he has at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
He’s old school.
The checkered flags collected over the years were a product of what he did as a race car driver. The details are forgotten.
So when asked how many victories he collected over the years, Bertling, 69, answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“I don’t really know, but I know it was a few times,” Bertling said. “I think my first might have been in 1969 and my last one was in 1979, but I don’t know how many total wins I have in Atlantic City.”
For the record, Bertling, a former New Jersey resident who now resides in Kannapolis, N.C., has five wins in Atlantic City, and he will return to the track this weekend for the Gambler’s Classic as he’ll drive a well prepared car that was formerly driven by Donnie Adams
“I always loved that race track,” Bertling said. “Man, we could fly around it. It had a great feel to it. Atlantic City. … my, I loved racing there.
“It’s not the same as it is now, you know. It used to be a lot bigger. We would actually vanish from the fans when we were on the straight stretches, because we went underneath the bleachers. Let me tell you, that place was really cool.”
Today, the ice hockey rink is transformed into a racing surface. When Bertling was racing indoors, Boardwalk Hall hosted many activities including the Liberty Bowl college football game.
“It was so big that they could play football in there,” Bertling said. “In fact, they even offered a money prize if someone could punt and throw a ball and hit the roof. I even once saw a helicopter in that building.”
The racing surface has been trimmed from the days when Bertling zipped around it, but there is still a common denominator that you still have to be aggressive behind the wheel.
“I am sure that hasn’t changed,” Bertling said. “I haven’t seen a race at Boardwalk Hall in two years, but I am sure you have to be up on the wheel.”
Bertling’s first time behind the wheel will come this Friday.
“I’d like to be competing in the practice session on Thursday, but I don’t believe we can pull it off,” Bertling said. “We’ll just have to be ready and get some practice time on Friday.”
It’s not like Bertling needs the practice.
He might be a bit rusty, but his experience and expertise of racing TQ-Midgets speaks volumes and will help when the engines are fired.
In fact, Bertling was so good in his time that he earned the nickname “Black Jack.”
“I got it from a promoter at Pine Brook Speedway,” Bertling said. “A lot of people didn’t like me and one night they had this deal at Pine Brook.
“I went there and the fans in the grandstands were wearing either blue or yellow shirts. It was incredible. I was like, ‘What the devil is going on?’”
Bertling was, in fact, the reason for the promotion.
“The blue shirts had I love Jack Bertling writing on them, while the yellow shirts had I hate Jack Bertling on them,” Bertling recalled.
It gets a bit worse.
“Before the feature, I went to walk on the track and the track crew said, ‘No Jack, hold on.’
“Out of nowhere, a stretched limousine pulls up. The door opens up and they tell me to get in. They ended up taking me to the frontstretch and when it stopped, they rolled out the red carpet. My, oh my, the fans started booing and I had nothing to do with it.”
Bertling, who is married to Nick Fornoro Sr’s daughter, spends his days and nights in North Carolina. He moved south just slightly more than six years ago.
He has sent out a countless number of resumes in search of involvement in some NASCAR-related team, but with the current state of the economy he is finding it hard to procure employment.
For this weekend, Bertling won’t care about finding a job.
Instead, he’ll focus on what makes him happy – driving and competing.
“I can’t wait for it,” Bertling said. “I can’t wait to get back racing behind the wheel of a TQ-Midget and I can’t wait to see a lot of my buddies from that area.”
Tickets for the Atlantic City Indoor Race are currently on sale through Ticketmaster (1-800-736-1420) or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/.
Tickets are available with no extra fee applied at the Boardwalk Hall box office,
Activity in Atlantic City will begin on Thurs., Jan. 27, with paid practice from 5-10 p.m. Weekend activity will begin on Fri., Jan. 28, at 4:30 p.m. with time trials. The night will include heat events for TQ-Midgets and B-Mains for the 600cc Micro Sprint Cars, Slingshots and Champ Karts. It will culminate with a 20-lap 600cc Micro Sprint Car main event and a 30-lap TQ-Midget feature race.
The Sat., Jan. 29, program kicks off at 5 p.m. with the Fanfest, which will be held on the indoor racing surface.
The Saturday-night portion of the show is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Heat races and semis will lead up the 40-lap "Gamblers Classic" for TQ-Midgets, with Slingshots and Champ Karts also on the schedule.
-End-
NOTE: This release written by Jerry Reigle
No comments:
Post a Comment