NEMA: Payne to Pilot Bertrand No. 74
Former champion Joey Payne of Fairlawn, NJ will return to NEMA competition at Oswego (NY) Speedway July 11. The NEMA Midgets and Lites will accompany the ISMA Supermodifieds’ King of Wings VII card. Payne recorded his most recent victory in the 2013 Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial at Monadnock (NH) Speedway. Previous drivers of the third Bertrand Motorsports entry include Cole Carter, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby, Jeff Horn, and Anthony Marvuglio.
“I’m really excited,”Payne said. “I’ve known them guys for a long time and I’ve never driven for the Bertrands. We always talked about it, I always hound them for a ride, and finally last summer we were at Oswego and he (Car Owner Tim Bertrand) said to me, ‘We’re coming back here next year and you’re going to drive the 74 car.’ … They have great equipment and all three of their cars are fast on any given day. It’s kind of a top quality ride for my home track is going to be a real good thing.”
Payne is open to additional races for Bertrand if the scheduling can be worked out. “We went into it as a one shot deal, but now Timmy’s talking about some more races, and once I get in that car maybe I won’t get out.”
Despite the weekly 4.5 hour trek, Payne now considers Oswego his home track. Oswego hosted 26 NEMA races from 1990-2005 and returned in 2012. Since NEAR Hall of Famer Drew Fornoro’s inaugural win, 13 drivers have won: Howie Bumpus, Randy Cabral, Seth Carlson, Lou Cicconi, Jr., Joey Coy, Drew Fornoro, Nokie Fornoro, Jim Miller, Chris Perley, Bob Resco, Jr., and Mike Roselli, Jr. Recently elected NEMA President Russ Stoehr leads all drivers with eight wins. Payne owns a pair of NEMA wins at Oswego in 2003-04.
“It’s always good to have the Super guys in other classes because the fans go crazy when we all compete in different classes and the fans up there love open wheel racing.?
A Novelis Supermodified regular at Oswego, Payne finished sixth in the standings last season. It was the fourth time since 2010 that he was sixth or better in the points. He set fast time and a new track record for the Budweiser International Classic 200 last August.
The fast paved 5/8 mile oval opened in 1951 and expanded to its current configuration from a 3/8 mile track in 1961. The track hosts the annual Race of Champions Modified race, the Race of Champions Modified Tour, ATQMRA Three Quarter Midgets, in addition to weekly Supermodified and Small Block Super races.
“The track is over 50 years old, and it’s the original asphalt, and its pretty much wore out, so with the Supers we have a lot of problems handling. You really got to get on the car and keep after the car ’cause the track changes so much. It’s not as bad for the Midgets because they’re not really as heavy, so they’re not as hard on tires as a Super. But it’s a flat track, very little bank, and its just such a big track for the Midgets. It makes it very fun because it’s a large track also, and there’s been times you can go five wide in the corner there.”
A former victor in Boardwalk Hall, Payne will return in the Mike Jatikin TQ Midget for the NAPA Atlantic City indoor race January 30-31. Payne debuted the car at Trenton last month and ran well until late problems.
“He doesn’t hold any expenses back when it comes time to building a car and it really shows. The last two cars we’ve had have been the best looking cars I’ve ever seen as a TQ, and we haven’t have such good luck doing it. Indoor racing is all about luck and we started 26th on Saturday night at Trenton and got up to fourth before we got taken out, but they knew we were there, so I’m looking forward to AC.”
Payne’s priority this year is capturing the elusive Supermodified crown at Oswego. Payne estimated that he has seven to 10 runner-up efforts in the points. Payne began last season in the Strong No. 99 car, awaiting his new Ray Graham car to be ready. Once he had his new car, Payne won in his second race and frequented the top five the rest of the year.
“It’s definitely a bucket list item. I’ve won tons of races throughout my career, I’ve won championships in every division except the Supermodified division and … Its time we knocked that off the bucket list and get a championship. …Money is no object. We have the best of the best. He has Paul Colloca, who builds the cars, on his payroll and he works on the cars 24/7. And we’ve got a great group of guys who are all hungry for wins and championships and it’s really a great team to be involved with in just the short time I drove for them.”
“I’m with a team that we’ve got four rockets that we have in our shop and it’s a really good situation to be in. We shattered the track record at the Classic this year and Xtreme chassis are unbelievable cars and I really wish it was May already because I can’t wait to get back to Oswego.”
Despite 10 wins on the ISMA circuit, Payne would rather watch his son Anthony race than pursue a ride there. Payne would consider local races for ISMA, especially the Oswego races, but is no longer interested in traveling. “I have no ambition to go to Canada or Michigan or wherever they go.”
Anthony ‘The Tornado’ Payne finished tenth in his rookie NEMA Lites campaign and was a recipient of the Pat Thibodeau Youth and Determination Award. Anthony will return for his sophomore year in the club’s junior series. Once he turns 16, Anthony would be able to drive a Supermodified, and his father may allow it get some seat time in hot laps.
Last season was one of new surroundings for Anthony, who raced Quarter Midgets for seven years in cars with 4.5, 6.5 and 15 horsepower. While they visited some other tracks, the Quarter Midgets track are a uniform 1/20 mile.
“You go to some of these tracks where he gets in a NEMA Lite he’s doing 125 miles per hour. It’s a big adjustment and I think he did pretty well.”
Anthony nearly won in the Scrivani No. 21 at Waterford coming from fourth place to lead laps 12-20, before coming home second. While Joey was proud of his son’s accomplishment, he knew Anthony shared the same competitive fire. “This is just going to make you work harder a win and once you get the first win the other wins are going to come real fast after it.”
Payne said he is driven to continue his career by his family, wife Sue and children.
“They’re 100 percent behind me. … Without their support it wouldn’t happen, so I owe everything that I’ve accomplished to my family. There’s no better feeling than winning the race and your wife and kids come running into victory lane and maul you.”
While he often travels to New England to watch Anthony race, Payne has reservations about competing because he usually is unable to watch his son race. He would consider making an exception for Bertrand. “This deal with the Bertrand gang, it’s a top notch car and a threat to win at every racetrack, so that might sway me a little bit towards taking a NEMA ride and racing when Anthony’s racing.”
If he does, Payne will be back in front of a familiar crowd that has watched him race throughout his career. Payne
carved (his) career in the Supermodifieds and Midgets at Lee USA and Star, particularly with Jeff Miller’s team.
“I’ve got a lot of friends up in New England and I really miss getting up there and catching up with everybody.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com
Photos by Randy Lindblad and Crystal Snape