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Amantea Scores Career-Best Fifth-Place Finish With USAC East Coast Wingless Sprint Cars

Inside Line Promotions – SHOEMAKERSVILLE, Pa. (Sept. 29, 2020) – Joey Amantea earned his career-best result behind the wheel of a 360ci sprint car last Saturday when he recorded a fifth-place outing at Bridgeport Speedway with the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Wingless Sprint Cars.

Amantea also competed in three nights of wingless micro sprint racing last week. He finished fourth and ninth during a pair of shows at Shellhammer Dirt Track to go along with a 21st-place result at Linda’s Speedway.

“We had great results all week, but even if we had run terrible the other three nights the top five at Bridgeport made it all worthwhile,” he said. “Not only did we check an accomplishment off our bucket list, but we did it behind the wheel of a No. 88j and it was probably my favorite race of the year so far.”

Amantea kicked off the week last Wednesday at Shellhammer Dirt Track by winning a heat race from the fifth starting spot. He lined up on the inside of the second row for the feature, but struggled to find grip throughout the race and finished fourth.

“We went fifth to first in the heat race in three laps and I thought we had a good chance heading into the feature,” he said. “We were not bad in the feature, but the front three drivers were all running great lap times and it was just hard to really capitalize.”

On Friday Amantea ventured to Linda’s Speedway in Jonestown, Pa., and he began the night by finishing second in a heat race. After lining up second for the feature courtesy of a redraw, he led early but an incident in traffic caused him to wreck while battling with the second-place car. He advanced back up to the 11th position after going to the rear, but his car jumped out of gear and ended his night. Amantea was credited with finishing 21st.

“We had a really good car early in the night and lucked out in the redraw getting the second starting spot,” he said. “We led the first handful of laps and I got shoved up the track and ended up wrecked. We had a car good enough to finish on the podium, but luck just was not with us.”

Amantea jumped behind the wheel of his wingless 360ci sprint car and headed to Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J., on Saturday. He finished third in a heat race to earn the fifth starting spot in the A Main. He ran as high as third and was inside the top five throughout the feature before ending fifth. The top five was his 19th of the season, but his first in the 360 sprint car division.

“I’ve had this race circled on my calendar since we started this deal and it wasn’t a letdown at all,” he said. “The cushion was all the way up to the wall and I used every inch of the track to move up to third. We slipped back at the end, but to get a top five against that competition with only a handful of starts to my name was pretty special.”

Amantea wrapped up the week on Sunday back at Shellhammer Dirt Track to compete in the Shellhammer Slam IV. He finished fourth in a heat race before winning the B Main to earn the 18th starting spot in the feature. His hopes of taking home the $1,000 winner’s share were dashed when he got caught up in a wreck on the opening circuit. Amantea rebounded to finish ninth for his 36th top 10 of the season.

“It was a pretty uneventful night, but we got caught up in a wreck on the first lap and spent the entire race making up ground,” he said. “If we’d had more laps we would have gotten a better finish, but it just didn’t work out.”

Next up for Amantea is a planned three-race weekend highlighted by a trip to Georgetown Speedway in Georgetown, Del., on Friday with the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Wingless Sprint Cars. He will then jump behind the wheel of his family owned wingless micro sprint car for two consecutive nights of racing at Spirit Auto Center Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J., for the $4,000-to-win Danny Serrano Skyscraper Spectacular.

QUICK RESULTS –

Sept. 23 – Shellhammer Dirt Track in Shoemakersville, Pa. – Heat race: 1 (5); Feature: 4 (3).

Sept. 25 – Linda’s Speedway in Jonestown, Pa. – Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 21 (2).

Sept. 26 – Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J. – Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 5 (5).

Sept. 27 – Shellhammer Dirt Track in Shoemakersville, Pa. – Heat race: 4 (5); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 9 (18).

SEASON STATS –

53 races, 3 wins, 19 top fives, 36 top 10s, 41 top 15s, 44 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday at Georgetown Speedway in Georgetown, Del., with the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Wingless 360 Sprint Cars and Saturday and Sunday at Spirit Auto Center Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J., for the Danny Serrano Skyscraper Micro Sprint Spectacular

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.joeyamantearacing.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeyamantearacing/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeyamantea88J

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – JPA Masonry

JPA Masonry, which is located in Mt. Pocono, Pa., is a trusted and experienced masonry leader in the Poconos. Although established in 2001, contractor and owner, Joseph P. Amantea (JPA), has almost 20 years of experience in the masonry field, including custom stone and design. For more information, visit http://www.JPAMasonry.com.

“JPA Masonry drives our race team,” Amantea said. “Without their support I wouldn’t be able to race. I’m very appreciative of all they do for me.”

Amantea would also like to thank Amantea Real Estate, Hyper Racing, Jet Signs, Radical Race Gear, Pensyl Enterprises and Gilroy Northeast Inc. Excavating and Construction for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations, and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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