By Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - The entry list for the Friday-Saturday January 12-13 "Gambler's Classic" Atlantic City Indoor Race presented by Pepsi runs the gamut of short-track racing. Drivers from a wide assortment of racing divisions have filed entries for the fifth running of the event on the floor of Atlantic City's historic Boardwalk Hall.

Racers preparing to wage war on the tight confines include past M&R Midget (Three Quarter Midget/600cc Micro-Sprint) event winners Lou Cicconi Jr. (2006) and Joey Payne (2004) of the ISMA Supermodified ranks and DIRT big-block Modified
star Jeff Heotzler (2005).

Heotzler, 48, of Wallkill, N.Y., will be part of a two-car team fielded by Long Islander Michael Sweet. Heotzler's son, 18-year-old Jeff Jr. (an improving Modified talent), will drive a second car, numbered Four, while the Jeffer's mount will be painted up red with the No. 66 to match his Mike Petruska-owned DIRT big-block Modified, which he campaigns weekly at N.Y.'s Orange County Fair Speedway.

A first-time A.C. visitor will be four-time Super DIRT Week Eckerd 200 Modified stock car race winner Billy Decker of Sidney, N.Y. Decker, 42, is a superstar driver on the DIRT MotorSports NorthEast big-block Modified circuit and will drive a car out of the Lou Cicconi stable. In 2006, Decker won 11 main events for car owner John Wight, including an October score in the Eastern States Weekend 150 358-Modified event at Orange County.

Rick Eckert of York, Pa., a standout on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, will once again tackle the one-eighth-mile in Boardwalk Hall as a teammate to his 17-year-old nephew, Red Lion, Pa.'s Cory Darrah, a Central Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Car up-and-comer.

Last year, Darrah shocked Boardwalk Hall observers by winning one of Friday night's Triple 20s as an unheralded 16-year-old Micro-Sprint driver.

From Central Pennsylvania's tough 410 Sprint Car circuit, Doug "The Hammer" Esh of Lancaster, Pa., plans to battle Boardwalk Hall. Esh, 35, was the Williams Grove (Pa.) Speedway National Open winner in 2006, earning $50,000. He also annexed the points championship at Lincoln (Pa.) Speedway.

Popular Stevie Smith of Lancaster, Pa., a big winner in the 410 Sprint Car wars, will pilot the No. 1K Team RAACE/Wee Bee Audio mount.

Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn., a controversial, aggressive star from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, is set to contend aboard a No. 13 owned by himself and Ralph Solhem.

NASCAR Modified hotshoe and Garden State hero John Blewett III of Howell, N.J., will be in action. It will be a busy weekend for the 33-year-old Blewett, who will be honored at the Motorsports 2007 presented by VP Racing Fuels show on Saturday afternoon as the Northeast's winningest driver in '06 Asphalt Modified competition.

Local Wall Township asphalt Modified campaigner Marc Rogers of Brick, N.J.,
has also filed an entry for the event.

Legendary Billy Pauch of Frenchtown, N.J., in search of his first "Gambler's Classic" win, is another top representative from the dirt Modified stock car contingent. Pauch has over 630 victories in his storied career.

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., resident Stewart Friesen, a prominent figure in the 358-Modified ranks, has confirmed his intentions to race in A.C. in a car owned by veteran car owner Harry Macy.

A second-generation talent from New York's North Country - Ryan Bartlett, 23, of Adams, N.Y. - will compete in A.C. Bartlett has found success at Thunder Alley Speedpark and Can-Am Motorsports Park in the DIRT Modified ranks.

Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway Modified contender Mike Iles of Medford, N.J., will also be in action driving another car from the Lou Cicconi stable. Also part of the Cicconi team is young Sportsman talent Tim Nye, who races regularly on Sunday nights at Utica-Rome (N.Y.) Speedway. Nye was also a winning car owner during Fulton (N.Y.) Speedway's '06 Victoria 200 weekend. Matt Janczuk drove the Nye No. 52 to the DIRT Sportsman victory.

ABC Sports personality/part-time racer Jack Arute of Suffield, Conn., will again be in the A.C. pit area. Arute's family, of course, runs the immaculate Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, a half-mile, paved oval that features Friday-night NASCAR-sanctioned racing.

Second-generation racer Bubba Broderick, 17, of Brookfield, Conn., who made his mark in 2006 by winning 10 features in the 1200cc Mini-Sprint division, plans his first assault on the A.C. concrete. Broderick's father, Jimmy, is a former NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Regional titlist and four-time asphalt Modified track champion in New England.

Among those representing the Micro-Sprint wars will be Pat Bealer of Walnutport, Pa., the 2006 Kutztown (Pa.) Speedway 270cc Micro-Sprint champion; Scotty Smith aboard a Stallard house car; Bridgeport winner Jack Conover of Sewell, N.J.; Glenn Heverin of Townsend, Del.; and Heath Hehnly of Manheim, Pa.

In addition to the diverse field in the M&R Midget ranks, large numbers of Slingshots and Sr. Champ Karts will congregate in Boardwalk Hall. The Sr. Champ Kart field has reached its capacity of 50 and no further entries will be accepted.

Complete, up-to-date entry lists are available online at: www.aarn.com.

Racing begins at 7:45 p.m. on Friday and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The full schedule of events, rules and other info can be found on the official website.

For further information, contact Danny Sammons at: (609) 888-3618 or via e-mail: danny@aarn.com.

Tickets are currently available by contacting the AARN office at: (609) 888-3618, through Boardwalk Hall's box office or through Ticketmaster at: (800) 736-1420 or www.ticketmaster.com.

The "Gambler's Classic" will run in conjunction with Motorsports 2007 presented by VP Racing Fuels at the plush Atlantic City Convention Center, within walking distance of Boardwalk Hall. Motorsports 2007, with some sponsorship support from Pepsi, will feature over 250 racecars, free national driver autographs (NASCAR stars Denny Hamlin, Dave Blaney, and Matt Kenseth along with NHRA drag racing star Ron Capps are already committed), appearances by many popular local and regional racing personalities, free seminars, the always popular U.S.Tobacco Ms. Motorsports Pageant and over 270,000 square feet of nothing but racing. The show will run Fri.-Sun. January 12-14.

Both events are presented by Len Sammons Productions.

Affordable hotel rooms are still available in Atlantic City for this huge weekend of motorsports activities. Log onto the website at www.aarn.com or call AC Central at: (866)790-9934.

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