NEMA Takes 900th Race To Maine ’s Beech Ridge
Scarborough, ME – The Northeastern Midget Association moves on to Maine ‘s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Saturday to take part in Pass 400 weekend at the historic facility. It will be the 20th race at Beech Ridge and 900th feature for the 56 year old club.
Driver Randy Cabral and owner Tim Bertrand will take the point leads into the unique afternoon race. Cabral has a 217-point edge on Joey Payne Jr. while Bertrand leads Bob Santos Jr. by 87 as the season heads into the stretch drive.
NEMA action will start at noon.
Jeremy Frankoski, now a Cabral teammate, will be looking for two straight at Beech Ridge. He beat Aaron Wall and Joey Payne last year in the Power Point #99 car. Jeff Horn (1993) and Payne (2004) are the only other active drivers with wins at “The Ridge.”
A five-way battle rages behind Cabral and Payne for the lucrative top-five spots in the final driver standings. Bobby Santos III ( Santos 98), Adam Cantor (Cantor 7ny), Erica Santos (Breault 44), Greg Stoehr (Stoehr) and Frankoski are all involved. All have won or flirted with victory this year.
The third-mile Beech Ridge, one of the premier short tracks in the country, replaces All-Star Speedway on the NEMA schedule. “When things didn’t work out at All-Star, Beech Ridge called and asked if NEMA would like to be part of PASS weekend,” said club Vice President Tim Bertrand. “It was a great opportunity for us.”
Rain last week at Lee pushes up the 900th feature celebration. Beech Ridge has been part of NEMA since 1955 when George Tilton won on the dirt.
Four races will remain for NEMA following Beech Ridge – Open Wheel Sunday at Twin State on Sept 28, The Finale at Waterford Speedbowl on Oct. 4-5, and the DAV at Seekonk Speedway on Oct. 11-12 and the World Series at Thompson Speedway on Oct. 18-19.
NOTES: Last week’s rain washed away the opportunity to see NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman in a Bertrand Midget. The Bertrand team, reports however, they plan on getting together again with Newman perhaps this Fall in Arizona and then next summer when Newman returns to New Hampshire International Speedway …Beech Ridge winds up hosting the 13th feature of the year. Nokie Fornoro and Dave Humphrey have each won the 13th race five times. Cabral won the 13th in 2002 and again last year. Santos won it in ’03.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR