Consistency Keys Cabral’s NEMA Crown
Randy Cabral, the Northeastern Midget Association driving champion for the third time in four years, vividly recalls a dinner conversation with his dad Glen. Like his dad, he wanted to drive Midgets and hoped to become “somebody’s that’s noticed.”
The weekend after clinching the title with a second at Thompson’s World Series, Cabral at Lee Speedway’s Octoberfest. “Everybody was talking about the NEMA champ being there,” Cabral says. “It was kind of nice.”
Cabral and car owner Tim Bertrand, together since 2006, will be the guests of honor at NEMA’s annual Awards Banquet Saturday, Nov. 19 at Whites of Westport in Westport, MA.
It is, Cabral continues, “a privilege to be the champion because so many drivers have fought so many times and missed out by just a little. To have one championship is amazing. Never did I consider three.”
Point chasing and defending championships are, however, not something Cabral or Bertrand enjoy. “Tim says ‘looking at points can lead to bad things,’” Cabral declares. “This season we didn’t pay attention to points, not even after we took the lead. This year was more about having fun.”
Nothing was more fun than the last race – he was second to Russ Stoehr in a classic performance for both. It pleased Cabral to no end. “I went to Thompson extremely excited,” he explains. “I wanted no one to fall out of the race. I wanted this to come down to a great race for the fans.”
He takes pride in how close he and Stoehr ran, both aware of what the slightest bump could do. “I did have the most to lose,” adds. Cabral and Bertrand wound up with a 25-point edge on Stoehr and Dumo’s Desire racing, the latter five time winners.
The sixth second of the campaign (he won twice), the World Series capped an amazing season that didn’t start that well. “We had small issues because of a new motor. We had some handling problems. As usual, Tim figured it out and we got going pretty good.”
Stoehr won the first three races – Waterford, Thunder Road and Stafford. Cabral, 11th at the latter when a sparkplug wire fell off, recalls thinking “Ok, we know who’s going to win the championship.” He and Bertrand agreed to “let’s just go racing.”
They were second to Jeff Abold at the Boston Louie, the turning point of the season. While Cabral had a “perfect car,” Stoehr had a horrible finish. Cabral and Bertrand took over the point leads.
Victory wise, it was the worst season since 2006 for Cabral/Bertrand. It terms of consistency, nine podiums in 13 starts, 2011 was astonishing. More often than not, his seconds were sensational, chasing Mike Horn home at Thompson and teammate Todd Bertrand at Waterford examples. More often than not, his seconds were sensational, chasing Mike Horn home at Thompson and teammate Todd Bertrand at Waterford examples.
Over the last eight races, he was on the podium seven times.
“We really had good set ups wherever we go and we made adjustments once we got there,” explains Cabral. He also believes “I drove better this year once the car got to handling. I was communicating better.”
He is noticed.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR