The Angelillo Memorial: Honoring Gene, Marilyn
Gene and Marilyn Angelilo celebrated well over 115 victories in midget racing, 106 of them in the Northeastern Midget Association. The first victory with Drew Fornoro aboard came at Hudson Speedway on Aug. 2, 1981.
Marilyn had already died when Gene, who passed away on March 1 of this year, tasted his final triumph at Waterford Speedbowl on August 18th of last year. So it is fitting that NEMA and the NEMA Lites return to the Speedbowl for the second Angelillo Memorial 45 (35 lap feature, 10 lap heats) Saturday night.
The couple added immeasurably to NEMA’s legacy as officers – Gene as president and Marilyn as secretary. The passion Gene had for midgets in general and NEMA in particular bubbled over. Marilyn’s calmness and organizational skills were extraordinary.
History, however, ensures their incredible success as owners with three primary drivers – Fornoro, Joey Payne and Russ Stoehr, the latter currently in his second tour.
Every car carried “Dumo’s Desire,” a tribute to Gene’s father Dominic, better known as “Dumo.” With few exceptions, the car was No. 45, Gene’s age when Johnny Kay convinced him to go midget racing in 1980. Both identities were Marilyn’s doing. The team, now run by daughter Laura Kibbe, continues both traditions.
Gene honored Marilyn’s memory with the Marilyn’s Passion race last year at Monadnock. Now Laura honors the memory of both at the Speedbowl.
Angelillo and Kay went racing with a car secured in a pouring rain at Cleveland Airport prior to the 1980 season. Perhaps fittingly, one of the club’s great stories accompanies the first win. While waiting for the track to be cleared following an accident that involved Drew’s brother Nokie, the #45 had a tire go down. It was replaced by a tire off Nokie’s Mike Scrivani-owned machine and Drew came from the back to win.
The Angelillos and Drew Fornoro are one of the most successful owner/driver teams in Midget racing. In addition to over 80 wins it resulted in nine NEMA and one ARDC crown for Angelillo and nine titles for Fornoro. The Angelillos went on to win races and championships with Stoehr and Payne, races with Nokie Fornoro and Ted Christopher.
Angelillo is on record as picking win No. 36 – Pocono International Speedway in April of 1986 – as his favorite. He had lost a leg during the winter and “walked into the pits that day.” The win, he recalled, was a fitting end to a struggle in which Fornoro played a key role. “He got me off my ass,” he said.
Win No. 36 actually came with Nokie aboard on the dirt at Georgetown, DL. He also won with Nokie at Accord, NY that year. There were wins everywhere; another favorite was a victory at Flemington in 1993 with A.J. Foyt present for a tribute to Nick Fornoro. Who can forget Christopher’s win at the 1998 Waterford opener? They scored with Drew in an All American Midget Series event at Hialeah, FL in 1992. That was win no. 65.
Payne, who was second at Hialeah, gave the Angelillo’s win no. 100 at Thompson Speedway’s 2000 World Series. Driving the Autocraft-powered second car, Payne came from 24th to pass Stoehr, in the Gaerte-powered car, with four laps to go. Stoehr’s second was more than enough to win titles for himself and Angelillo
Payne’s first NEMA title in 2003 was the sixth in a row and the 14th overall for the Angelillos. A strong field including Payne and Stoehr is expected to celebrate Marilyn and Gene’s memory. Among the other contenders are point leader Randy Cabral, Boston Louie winner Jeff Abold, Waterford Wings & Wheels winner Chris deRitis and last year’s Marilyn’s Passion winner Greg Stoehr.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR