Granite State Weekend Ahead For NEMA
Brockton, MA – The Northeastern Midget Association will spend the weekend in New Hampshire. The “winged wonders” will be at Twin State Speedway in Claremont on Friday night and Monadnock Speedway in Winchester on Saturday evening. It’s a rare “back-to-back” situation for NEMA that will appear with the American/Canadian Tour for the first-time ever at Claremont.
The NEMA Lites will be at both tracks as well.
The NEMA point races have tightened up following Adam Cantor’s victory last weekend at Waterford Speedbowl. Cantor and Cantor Racing have climbed to within 33 points (623-590) of Randy Cabral and car owner Tim Bertrand. Russ Stoehr and car owner Gene Angelillo sit third with 514.
Both Cabral, a crash victim at Waterford, and Nokie Fornoro, who ran out of gas on the last lap while leading, both come into the weekend with added incentive. Cabral had three wins and a second heading into Waterford while Fornoro has been the fastest car two of the last three races. He and car owner Mike Jarret sit fourth with 501 points.
Cantor hopes his habit of doubling up continues. He had two fifths, then two thirds before the win. “The win is definitely something to build on,” said Cantor who was second to Bobby Santos III last October at Twin State.
Unlike most venues on the schedule, Twin State is not rich in NEMA history. This will be only the fourth race at Claremont. “There’s still some things to learn,” offers Fornoro.
Cabral won the ’09 season opener at Monadnock, turning a sizzling 12.301 seconds lap in the feature. He joined a win list that also included Greg and Russ Stoehr and Fornoro. Russ Stoehr, back in the seat after several years away, has a fourth and a second the last two times out.
Greg Stoehr (430), rookie Chris DeRitis (418) and Erica Santos (369) are fifth through seventh in the driver standings. DeRitis has had two straight top-five finishes for the Power Point Race Cars team.
Newcomers Eddie LeClerc Jr. and Anthony Nocella, a winner last week at Waterford, and Jake Stergios, in his second season, head ups the Lites contender list. It is the second season for the division whose car count continues to grow. Stergios was a winner at Lee earlier this season.
Todd Bertrand, Anthony Marvuglio, Russ Wood Jr. and Paul Luggelle have all had impressive runs as interest in the Lites continues to grow.
NEMA NUGGETS: Something to shoot for: Drew Fornoro was the last driver to sweep back-to-back weekend shows, winning at Star and Hudson on Sept. 12 and 13, 1989 for Gene Angelillo. The last time NEMA ran back-to-back shows on the same weekend was May 10 and 11, 2003 at Star and Waterford, the latter a rescheduled race. The last time NEMA scheduled back-to-back shows was July 13-14, 2002 at Star. The latter was part of NEMA’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Cole Carter’s first NEMA race lasted one lap, the motor in the Bertrand 74 exploding at Waterford. The Bertrands will have the car ready when the son of legendary Indy 500 competitor Poncho Carter returns for the Boston Louie Memorial at Seekonk on Aug. 8.
Claremont makes the first time NEMA has shared a docket with the ACT cars. On Aug. 15 at Waterford’s Wings & Wheels, NEMA shares the agenda with two other major Northeastern Tours, the International Supermodified Association and the True Value Modified Series.
NEMA Winners at Monadnock Speedway
No. Driver First Last
11 Drew Fornoro 1982 1997
5 Dave Humphrey 1972 1985
2 Greg Stoehr 2007 2008
2 Bobby White 1976 1981
One-time Monadnock Speedway winners: Randy Cabral (2009), Nokie Fornoro (1981), Jim Lowrey Jr. (1986), Joey Payne Jr. (2008), Bobby Santos III (2008), Mike Seymour (1984), Russ Stoehr (1995)
NEMA Winners at Twin State Speedway
One-time Twin-State Speedway winners: Kyle Carpenter (2005), Dave Humphrey (1973), Bobby Santos III (2008)
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR