NEMA Lites Win for Scott Bigelow at Evans Mills Motorsports Park
EVANS MILLS, NY — East Hampton, CT’s own Scott Bigelow made it two wins in as many races for the Bigelow family at the fast NY track Saturday. It was a popular win for the driver of the #32, chased across the line by Logan Rayvals (#94) and Matt Swanson (#9).
With brother Paul, the winner at Waterford two weeks ago, looking on, Scott, took the lead from the pole at the drop of the green. On lap two the yellow flew for a Randy Cabral (#35) spin in turn one. On the restart, Scott took off and was followed by Jake Smith (#93) and Rayvals.
Rayvals quickly overtook Smith for second. Lap six saw Swanson also get by Smith for third from his eighth starting spot. and Danny Cugini (#51) had moved up all the way from thirteenth to fifth.
The running order from the middle laps to the closing laps was Bigelow, Rayvals, Swanson, Smith, and Cugini.
The Cugini Hawk chassis was on rails as Danny was digging hard to run down Smith. Danny completed the pass in the closing laps to claim forth, placing Smith back to fifth.
Said Scott post race, “Everything was good until halfway, then I started losing my tires. After that I just concentrated on hitting my marks and hoped for the best. The motor was overheating all day, and I have dropped out of races because of that that problem. But today it all worked out.”
Second place Rayvals, “I Needed a caution, my car was a little loose, but happy with second.”
“Just ran out of laps,” Swanson said later. “I did gain some ground on him before the end.”
Star Speedway, Epping N.H., is next up on the Lites schedule on May 31st when they join the EKEYS MODS, LEGENDS, WOODY’S STRICTLYS and ROADRUNNERS.
The 26th Lap
Brandon Igo, Megan Cugini and Ryan Krachun stepped up and tossed souvenir tee shirts into the stands, a fan favorite.
Bob Blanchette and Mike Scrivani met with the Evans Mills safety crew to familiarize them with the layout of a NEMA race car by pointing out the location of the fuel shut offs and other safety aspects.
All NEMA Midget / Lite teams participated in an on-track driver Meet and Greet session that was enjoyed by both the fans and drivers.
NEMA LITES – EVANS MILLS – 5/24/14
Pos. # Driver Hometown Owner
1 32 Scott Bigelow E. Hampton, CT Scott Bigelow
2 94 Logan Rayvals Brockville, ONT Craig Rayvals
3 9 Matt Swanson Acton, MA Matt Seymour
4 51 Danny Cugini Marshfield, MA D. Cugini
5 93 Jake Smith Stroudsburg, PA Ted Smith
6 45 Brandon Igo Wilbraham, MA David Igo
7 46x Andy Barrows New Ipswitch, NH Jeff Johnson
8 31 Paul Bigelow Kensington, CT Paul Bigelow
9 29 Ryan Krachun Neschanic Station, NJ Mike Krachun
10 21 Anthony Payne Fairlawn, NJ Jennifer Scrivani
11 04 RJ Ritskes – Craig Rayvals
12 16 Dennis O’Brien Deerfield, NH Chris O’Brien
13 41 Megan CuginI Marshfield, MA D. Cugini
14
DNF 35 Randy Cabral Plymouth, MA Glen Cabral
Heat 1: 32 – 29 – 9 – 93 – 94 – 45 – 51
Heat 2: 31 – 21 – 46x – 04 – 16 – 41 – 35 (DNS)
Sources: Bill Vanslyke/NEMA PR
Mark McKeon photo