Twin State Visit Begins Busy Finish For NEMA
Brockton, MA — The Northeastern Midget Association will close out the season with a grand slam – four headline events starting with Twin State Speedway’s Open Wheel Sunday on Sunday, Oct. 4.
The battle for the owners championship – Tim Bertrand (47) leads Mike Jarret (4) by a scant 18 points – grabs the spotlight as NEMA returns to the Claremont, NH facility. Bertrand’s’ driver Randy Cabral and Jarret’s driver Nokie Fornoro staged a textbook battle in NEMA’s last visit to Twin State.
Following Twin State, NEMA will make traditional October stops at Seekonk Speedway’s DAV (10-11, Thompson Speedway’s World Series (17-18) and Lee USA Speedway’s Oktoberfest (24-25). The NEMA Lites will be part of all the events with the exception of Thompson.
With seven different winners, it has been a very competitive season. There have been six different Lites winners.
Cabral, clearly NEMA’s “Mr. October” in recent years, is the man to beat but capturing a title for his owner motivates Fornoro. The battle for third spot is equally intense, Adam Cantor (7ny) leading Gene Angelillo (45) by 48. Russ Stoehr is Angelillo’s driver.
“It is always a challenging finish for NEMA,” says club president Mike Scrivani Jr. “There are four different race tracks. There is the lastest place we visit and one or two of the most demanding handling wise. We’ve had lots of surprises in October.”
NEMA will be returning to Twin State, Seekonk (where Cabral and Jeff Abold have won) and Lee (Cabral and Jeff Horn). It will be the first visit this year to Thompson. Fornoro, Cantor, and Russ and Greg Stoehr have also won this season.
Cabral carries a comfortable driver’s point lead into October. Fornoro and Russ Stoehr, in second and fourth place, both missed a race because of health problems. Third place Cantor had two devastating results.
There are, however, torrid battles for the rest of the top-10 and top-15 spots in the respective standings. Greg Stoehr, top rookie Chris DeRitis, Erica Santos, John Zych Jr. and Abby Martino, the latter coming off a strong effort at Lee, are all hoping to protect top-10 point positions.
POINT STANDINGS
Drivers: 1. Randy Cabral 1269; 2. Nokie Fornoro 1171; 3. Adam Cantor 1082; 4. Russ Stoehr 1004; 5. Greg Stoehr 893; 6. Chris DeRitis 831; 7. Erica Santos 777; 8. John Zych Jr. 729; 9. Abby Martino 670; 10. Jeff Horn 665.
Owners: 1. Tim Bertrand (47) 1269; 2. Mike Jarret (4) 1251; 3. Cantor Racing (7ny) 1082; 4. Gene Angelillo (45) 1034; 5. Greg Stoehr (26b) 839; 6. Power Point Racing (99) 831; 7. Ed Breault (44) 782; 8. Jim Miller (3m) 732; 9. John Zych Sr. (9) 729; 10. Joan Martino (21a) 670.
NEMA NUGGETS
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Jeff Horn is the 13th driver to reach 20 on the all-time win list. Ahead of him are Drew Fornoro (84), Dave Humphrey (72), Nokie Fornoro (43), Russ Stoehr (40), Bill Eldridge (33), Johnny Mann (29), Randy Cabral (25), Bobby Seymour (23), Joe Csiki (22) and Lee Smith (21). He joins Johnny Coy on the 20-win level.
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Drew Fornoro needed only four seasons (1981-1984) to reach 20 wins. Csiki (1961-1965) and Dave Humphrey (1965-1969) needed five.
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Cabral is the only active NEMA driver with a Twin State victory. He is NEMA’s all-time winner at Thompson with seven and sits one behind Fornoro (8) atop the Seekonk win list. Horn’s three wins is tops among active drivers at Lee.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR