Greg Stoehr and Russ Wood, Jr. Notch NEMA Victories at Lee USA Speedway
Lee, NH — Greg Stoehr claimed the 25-lap Northeastern Midgets Association feature at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway on Friday evening. It was the veteran racer’s first main event win of the season.
Quickly establishing himself as the man to beat, Stoehr passed pole sitter Paul Scally on the second-lap and was never seriously challenged. He easily pulled-away from the field following the events only two restarts.
Action behind the leader was highlighted by an intense battle for second spot between Jeremy Frankoski, Randy Cabral, and Jeff Abold. The action was halted when Cabral suddenly slowed on the backstretch signaling the event’s first yellow flag. Restarting from the back, Cabral rallied to a 6th place finish.
The final caution occurred with only 2 circuits remaining when John Zych Jr. stopped on the back chute. Again Stoehr set the pace on the restart, easily maintaining his position at the front.
Frankoski held-on for second followed by Abold. Completing the top-5 was defending NEMA champion Russ Stoehr and Anthony Nocella.
“It feels like it’s been a long-time coming” stated winner Stoehr who early in his career was a Late Model competitor at Lee. “The car was just-perfect tonight, and I was able to take advantage of that. Things really went out way right from the start. I’m really happy for our team.”
An animated Frankoski seemed elated with a second-place finish. “We’d been experiencing a lot of motor problems, so grabbing a second is almost like a win for us” he commented.
Third-place Jeff Abold stated that he’d been fighting his car throughout the feature. “It was really, really tight coming out of the corners. This finish was a real labor of love for the team; we worked really-hard tonight.”
In the 20-lap LITES division main event it was second-generation racer Russ Wood Jr. taking the victory. Wood passed leader Anthony Marvuglio following a restart with only five circuits remaining.
“The car was absolutely-perfect tonight,” stated the winner. “I simply can’t thank my dad enough for the setup he put under me tonight. That was some intense racing. On the last restart I really stepped-it-up, and fortunately it worked our way.”
Rounding-out the top-5 was Jake Sturgios, Marvuglio, Andy Barrows, and James Santa Maria.
The NEMA Midgets next see action at Seekonk Speedway’s “Open Wheel Wednesday” on July 20. The NEMA LITES next event happens on Friday evening July 22, also at Seekonk.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR