Kibbe Back in Swing with #25 NEMA Car
Brockton, MA — Opening days are special for Carl Kibbe. The greatest day in his racing career, in fact, remains the 1985 Northeastern Midget Association opener at Star Speedway. It was the first win for the four-time NEMA owner champion. “I’ll never, never forget it,” says Kibbe who returned to NEMA last season as the trackside crew chief of the Keith Botelho-driven No. 25.
Waterford Speedbowl’s April 1-2 will mark the beginning of NEMA’s 59th season. Kibbe, part of the NEMA scene since the mid 1970s, would like to get another lasting memory. The Russ Stoehr-owned, Gaerte-powered No. 25, a winner last fall at Seekonk, will be ready to go reports Kibbe. It is the first of 14 scheduled NEMA races with more expected.
“It took nine years before that first win,” recalls Kibbe who, along with brother Don, decided “to go Midget racing” right in the middle of building a Modified in 1976. “We had actually won a championship (1980) before we got that first win.” It almost didn’t happen.
Dave Humphrey was the driver. “On the green he went right to the back,” Kibbe begins. “After three laps there’s a yellow and it just saved us from going a lap down. I’m yelling for Dave to come in but he didn’t. They started again and again he goes right to the back before a spin out and this time he comes in. I had forgot to take the covers off the injectors. He gets back out and, boom, boom, boom, he starts picking them off. He got outside Drew Fornoro who was leading in Angelillo’s car and they banged wheels. Humphrey went to the outside of the track in all the dirt but got back in shape, caught Drew again and passed him. I’ll never forget it.”
It was the first of 18 wins – seven with Humphrey in 1985 and ’86 and 11 between 1989 and 1996 with Joey Coy.
Last year’s DAV with Botelho provided happy vibes as well. Stoehr, chasing down the title in the Dumo’s Desire car, had asked Kibbe and son Curt about taking the job a few weeks before. It was the third race.
Carl and Don actually followed their dad into the sport and raced stocks for several seasons before they decided to take a different route. “I always liked Sprints and Midgets,” he explains. “It was too far to go to race Sprints, so it was Midgets.” They purchased the old Leader Card Kurtis from the Campanale family, installed a Chevy II and went racing with a young Joey Coy.
He recalls “a ton of second and thirds” with Johnny Evans driving earning the first championship. The rest came in 1989, ’91 and ’93 with Coy. Before the DAV, his last visit to Victory Lane as an owner and or crew chief was Aug. 10, 1996 at Riverside Park Speedway. He won the previous race at Riverside Groveton as well. Still, he was tired and faced new job demands. He decided to quit. The last couple seasons he has worked with the Angelillo crew.
He jumped at Stoehr’s invitation. Much of the preparation is done in the Stoehr garage, Botelho lending a hand as well. ”Of course you want to be as close as possible with things out of the garage,” Kibbe says. “Usually having to do a lot of adjustments at the track is not good because getting too far behind can be an insurmountable thing.” Experience is a major advantage and Kibbe brings that.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR