Cabral Wins; Seitz Champ In NEMA Season Finale
Randy Cabral and Ben Seitz were both opportunists Sunday. Cabral won the caution-free 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature at Thompson Speedway’s World Series. Seitz’ sixth place finish turned out more than enough to capture a record fourth straight driver’s championship.
It was the 16th and final event in NEMA’s 55th season.
Starting sixth, Cabral snuck the Bertrand #47 under teammate Shane Hammond heading into one ten laps in and went on to post his third victory of the season. It was the second World Series checkered for Cabral who gained two spots on the initial green and ran second for seven laps.
Greg Stoehr came from 23rd to grab third. Nokie Fornoro, Hammond and B.J. MacDonald completed the top five. The top six finished in the same lap.
The turning point for both Cabral and Seitz came 17 laps in when Joey Payne Jr., running second and closing on Cabral, went out with an over-heating problem. The point leader going in (six up on Seitz) started 12th and moved into second by lap 12 with Bobby Santos III following.
“A yellow and I was done for. Those guys were fast yesterday,” said Cabral who “almost didn’t want to make the pass” on Hammond, the outside pole sitter and only other leader. “He bobbled down the front straightaway and as soon as I saw it I just dove underneath him. I even pushed up a little bit because I thought he would come back around me.”
It was, continued Cabral, “survival of the fittest. I guess when it’s your day, it’s your day.” Seitz, who shares the championships laurels with car owner Peter Valeri, saw it as “being in the right place at the right time, being in position to capitalize.”
Seitz (11) and Payne (12) started side-by-side. Inside of two laps Payne was moving away. “I knew right from the start he was faster,” said Seitz. “Our car was not right. It was actually bad so I just kind of took it easy because the only real chance we had was for him to break. Our only shot was to finish.”
Payne, who had the fastest lap (18.25), was fourth by lap sixth. He was third by lap nine and second three laps later. A brief Payne-Bobby Santos III battle ended when the latter dropped out 14 in. Then Payne slowed in the backstretch and rolled to a stop on pit road.
“I passed [Payne] down the backstretch,” continued Seitz. “I knew I had to finish. He broke and I could have broke just as easily. If we both broke, he would have won the championship. I wasn’t celebrating until I crossed the finish line.”
“Quite a commute,” said Stoehr of his heroic run. “I got up this morning knowing what I had to do to get to the front – drive every lap like it was the last and the leader is two cars ahead of you. I had to pass as many cars as I could.”
He took second from Nokie Fornoro (who started fifth) two laps from the checkered. “I went under the checkered thinking I was sixth or seventh,” Stoehr continued. “My brother (Russ) told me I was second and I went back out.”
Jeremy Frankoski was the top rookie, finishing eight.
Results:
1. Randy Cabral, 2. Greg Stoehr, 3. Nokie Fornoro, 4. Shane Hammond, 5. 5. B.J MacDonald, 6. Ben Seitz, 7. Erica Santos, 8. Jeremy Frankoski, 9. Mike Horn, 10. Drew Fornoro, 11. John Zych, 12. Paul Scally, 13. Jeff Zuidema, 14. Rich Gerbe, 15. Matt O’Brien, 16 Steve Powers, 17. Shawn Torrey, 18. Mike Keeler, 19. Paul Luggelle, 20. Joey Payne Jr., 21. Bobby Santos III, 22. Kyle Carpenter, 23. Cory Cleary, 24. Kevin Park, 25. Troy Bousineau.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR