William Wall Among NEMA’s Young Stars
Racing wise, things have always fallen into place nicely for William Wall. The 2008 Rookie of the Year, the 17-year old is one of the Northeastern Midget Association’s brightest young stars.
So, when he says he’ll “take things as they come” in 2009, it’s best to pay attention. NEMA opens its 17-race season Saturday night, May 23 at Monadnock Speedway.
“We’re going to make as many races as we can,” says Wall. “We’ll run the tracks we believe we can do well at.” The team, headed up by father/owner Steve and including older brother Aaron, runs Autocraft-powered Hawk chassis. Aaron, three years older, is a student at the University of Connecticut.
The team is “anxious to try some new stuff we’ve thought about over the winter.”
He was “a little bit surprised” with his first-ever experience in a midget. Coming from Whip City Speedway – he was the 270 Micro Sprint Champion in 2007 – it was a learning process. His three top-fives came later in the season.
He and his dad wound up seventh in the respective standings. He had a very impressive fifth-place run at Seekonk’s DAV.
“The hardest things was learning how to communicate back to the car owner,” says Wall, a junior at Assabet Valley Technical High School near his Shrewsbury, MA home. “The Midgets are so technical, so tricky.”
Driver Adam Cantor, “was a real big help all year ” as was car owner Mike Jarret “who knows the right questions to ask a driver.” Cantor was part of the great young movement in 2001 that turned NEMA around. Engine builder Mike Seymour was also a big factor.
Wall followed Aaron into racing. “Aaron wanted a go- kart but somebody suggested Quarter Midgets and that’s the way it went,” he says. The family raced as far away as Indianapolis and Georgia but was basically mostly at Thompson’s “Little T” facility.
He moved to Whip City, spending a season in the 250 sprints before winning 270 Rookie honors two year ago. Still, he credits the Quarter Midget experience with helping make the transition to asphalt. “Quarter Midgets are suspension cars and I could relate that to the full Midgets,” he explains.
It took a couple races to control the higher speeds (“Thompson is where you really feel it”) that have become NEMA’s trademark.
Studying welding, Wall “hopes to advance” as a race driver but would also find satisfaction in a career working on racecars.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR